* * *
“A ball?”
Kaindel furrowed his brows as his hand reached for his wine glass.
Although he hadn’t yet consulted with Sehir, he planned to leave as soon as his injuries were healed.
Lingering any longer would only delay their quest to defeat the Great Calamity.
Besides, it wasn’t wise to remain indebted to someone like Count Serge.
But a ball?
His fingertips brushed the glass, causing the wine inside to ripple.
Beyond the rim of the glass, Count Serge’s eager face wavered like a distorted reflection.
It dawned on Kaindel that the Count’s generous invitation to the banquet had been a ploy for this very request.
His suspicions, once faint, solidified into certainty.
As Kaindel weighed his words carefully, alternating his gaze between Count Serge and Vivianne, Sehir spoke up, sensing the hesitation.
“The Count mentioned he wanted to host a ball to celebrate your birthday before we depart, Kaindel.”
“Did he?”
“He did.”
So that’s what I missed.
Kaindel stifled a grimace.
He had been so focused on Isa that he had barely registered half of what Count Serge said.
Unfortunately, it seemed that half had included something he shouldn’t have ignored.
“I must have been too tired to catch that.”
“No problem at all. So, about the escort…”
Count Serge, though startled by Kaindel’s excuse, quickly shook his head and forced a neutral expression.
His face darkened, as if vexed by the repeated rejection of his request, yet he pressed on with thinly veiled persistence.
Kaindel’s green eyes deepened as he studied the Count, concluding silently: ‘This man’s greed will be his undoing.’
It became evident that the hospitality extended to him—the accommodations and medical care—was not out of pure goodwill.
The Count expected something in return, and unwittingly, Kaindel had accepted it.
An escort to a ball.
Kaindel glanced at Vivianne.
Startled by his gaze, she quickly straightened her posture and met his eyes.
For a moment, her shy smile seemed to belong to a girl experiencing her first love.
Yet her pale complexion betrayed fear rather than excitement.
If I know the Serge family, there are surely plenty of suitors eager to escort her.
Kaindel pondered as he adjusted his smile.
Just then, a soft cough broke the silence beside him.
“Cough, cough.”
“I’m sorry, cough, I’m so sorry.”
It was Isa. The food Kaindel had given him seemed to have gotten stuck.
His small shoulders shook as he struggled to stifle his coughing.
Kaindel grabbed Isa’s wrist just as he was about to rush out of the dining hall, glancing back at him with concern.
“Where are you going?”
“Outside for a moment… to catch my, cough, breath.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, it’s fine.”
After a brief hesitation, Isa forced a weak smile, his breath escaping in a soft sigh.
Glancing briefly at Vivianne, his red lips curved faintly before his gaze returned to Kaindel.
“Enjoy your evening.”
Before Kaindel could stop him, Isa pulled his hand away and quickly excused himself, offering hasty bows to Count Serge and Vivianne.
Within seconds, his small figure disappeared through the dining hall doors.
Watching Isa’s empty seat in silence, Kaindel finally lifted his gaze.
Count Serge, indifferent to Isa’s departure, seemed far more preoccupied with waiting for Kaindel’s response to his proposal.
Meanwhile, Vivianne watched Isa until he left the restaurant and moved her lips slightly.
Her gaze remained fixed in the direction of the exit.
“What a kind person he is.”
“Is he?”
Kaindel mumbled in a suppressed tone.
He didn’t feel particularly great about someone he barely knew pointing out something he was already well aware of.
Isa, whom Vivianne called kind, had been silent throughout the meal.
How and when exactly had she decided that?
More than anything, it annoyed him that Vivianne seemed to be paying attention to Isa since earlier in the day.
It reminded him of the women in Luther who had fancied Isa—making him feel stifled and like something sour was rising from the pit of his stomach.
An irrational dissatisfaction tightened within him, coiling around his insides.
‘…If I stay here any longer, I might say something I’ll regret.’
Cutting off his spiraling thoughts, Kaindel let out a deep sigh.
He found it unsettling how he seemed to revel in labeling his connection with Isa as personal.
It had only been an attempt to win Isa over, nothing more.
A stone was cast into the dark depths of his mind.
The ripples that followed brought faint embarrassment and self-reproach.
“I think I’ll take my leave now.”
“What about escorting our Vivi…?”
“Only when entering.”
Kaindel deliberately softened his gaze as he looked at Count Serge, who refused to give up until the end.
“I’ll honor my part of the deal and escort her for the entrance.”
After all, if Count Serge had helped him expecting a return, it was only right to fulfill that.
That was how he’d been taught to manage relationships.
Whether it was escorting Vivianne or something more, as long as it was a fair trade, he was willing to agree.
However, Vivianne’s interest in Isa was another matter entirely.
Even if Kaindel owed Count Serge and had to treat Vivianne kindly, he couldn’t tolerate her showing curiosity about Isa.
If she were going to think about Isa, he’d rather she ignored him entirely, like Count Serge did.
That would give him peace of mind.
Why was it that he didn’t mind others but found Vivianne particularly irritating?
He couldn’t figure it out.
But one thing was clear: it was the reason why he had changed his mind at the last moment about repaying the favor with something other than the escort.
“Oh, we’d appreciate it, even if it’s just for the entrance! Please help boost Vivi’s spirits.”
Count Serge seemed delighted even with Kaindel’s lukewarm agreement.
His hearty laughter filled the restaurant.
Ruen shot him an openly disgusted look, as if he’d lost his appetite, but quickly schooled his expression when Owen caught him.
After leaving the restaurant, Kaindel set out to find Isa.
He stopped a servant passing through the hallway to ask for the location of Isa’s room.
The servant hesitated briefly, unsure of how to respond to a sudden question from someone of high status, before recalling that Isa’s room was at the far right end of the second floor.
Following the directions, Kaindel soon arrived in front of a locked white door.
“Isa, are you in there?”
“Kaindel?”
After knocking a couple of times and waiting, a familiar voice called out from inside.
It was Isa.
His tone rose in surprise, as if he hadn’t expected a visitor.
Soon, there was the sound of light footsteps hurriedly approaching, and then the door swung open.
Isa stood in the doorway, eyes wide. His silver hair was tousled, as if he’d been lying down until just moments ago.
His cheeks were faintly flushed, likely from a recent coughing fit.
The rosy tint was vivid enough that it seemed a bite might draw out its juice.
“Why are you here instead of at the banquet?”
“Because you’re here.”
“What are you saying? Go back already.”
“Do you want me to?”
“…”
Isa started to gesture toward the direction of the banquet hall but hesitated.
His throat bobbed, as if he was swallowing down emotions.
The flicker in his eyes betrayed the feelings he was trying to suppress, and Kaindel almost laughed out loud.
But Isa, oblivious to the fact that his thoughts were laid bare, soon bit down hard on his lower lip.
“…No.”
The single word, squeezed out in a subdued voice, was part of his honest feelings.
Kaindel gently stroked Isa’s jawline with his fingers before shrugging.
“Then I’ll come in.”
“…Alright.”
“Excuse me.”
Not that he would’ve left even if Isa had refused.
After all, that was a truth Isa didn’t need to know.
Kaindel brushed past Isa and entered the room, muttering to himself under his breath.
He walked straight to the simple bed in the center of the room and sat on its edge, looking at Isa.
“Come here.”
* * *
🙂