* * *
I almost stepped on his foot trying to keep up with the sudden increase in speed.
I laughed at myself, who had been trying to step on him a moment ago, but was startled by the near miss.
Since we were getting so much attention, I shouldn’t openly look around.
Moreover, I might step on his foot if I made a mistake.
This time, I kept my face fixed on Klen and just rolled my eyes around.
“…!”
Then, the hand that had moved to my waist pulled my body even closer.
Our smiling faces, when viewed from a distance, might look like we were playfully teasing each other.
But if you were a little closer, you would know that a vein was throbbing on my forehead.
Perhaps thanks to that, the speed returned to normal.
As we slowly turned and moved our steps again—
‘Oh? What’s that?’
A light flashed on the far side.
It was clearly the mark Ebony had mentioned.
Following it, I turned my head to confirm the lights, and there were a total of three.
I first checked the face of the most noticeable person, but it was someone I didn’t know.
After confirming two people and trying to turn my gaze to the remaining one, my steps got tangled.
My foot, which landed in the wrong spot, hit Klen’s leg and became entangled.
“Ugh!”
Fortunately, I didn’t step on him.
But my body swayed precariously, threatening to fall.
I quickly maneuvered my leg to plant it on the floor, and Klen grabbed my waist, lifting me slightly and spinning my body around.
The time from when my foot hit the floor until it touched down again after circling seemed to pass in slow motion.
A sigh of relief escaped me only after my foot was stably planted on the floor.
The back of my neck was cool with cold sweat.
If our reflexes hadn’t been good, it wouldn’t have been resolved like this.
“Oh…”
“My goodness!”
Of course, we received everyone’s attention.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem to look like a mistake, as gasps of admiration erupted from here and there.
Among them, some people were astonished while watching Klen’s movements.
“If you want to show off your affection, please tell me beforehand.”
“What did you say?”
Klen, without a word, drew our clasped hands and lightly kissed the back of my hand.
A sound of people catching their breath was heard among the spectators, including me.
The violin melody, which had been flowing, stuttered and let out a sharp, scratching sound.
Crack—
“…Ah!”
But what made me startle was the sound that resonated in my hand.
The glass bead cracked.
If the bead broke now, I would have no further chance to confirm.
I immediately turned my head.
The last person.
As luck would have it, their face was completely obscured by the people around them.
Despite that, as if the mark was considered confirmed, the glass bead finally shattered.
The fragmented pieces slipped out between my fingers and dissolved into the air, disappearing.
A truly perfect destruction of evidence.
Befitting an assassin’s item.
And as if matching that, the music also ended.
At the same time, the tension drained from my body.
There were definitely a few mistakes.
But we finished safely, proving that our practice hadn’t been in vain, and our coordination was quite perfect.
From now on, it was a free-for-all for choosing partners to dance with.
Just as I rolled my eyes to check the people who had shined again, Klen grabbed my wrist and pulled me along.
“Klen?”
“Let’s leave this place first.”
Klen and I passed through the crowd.
People who were greeting their partners as the music ended didn’t notice us quickly moving while suppressing our presence.
This was easier than dancing.
I looked around even as I followed him.
Some of the people who hadn’t been dancing noticed our movement, but they didn’t interfere.
Then, my eyes met the Healer, who was standing to one side.
I raised my index finger and pointed toward the dessert table.
Her eyes turned in that direction, but I couldn’t tell if she understood my intention.
‘Desserts… so delicious!’
It was a pity I couldn’t shout it out.
Since it was obvious that we would stand out no matter which corner of the hall we stood in, the place he headed for was the balcony.
“Oh?”
There was someone there already.
A figure holding hands with a woman while the dance was in full swing inside the hall.
The person, exuding a captivating aura as if standing in the middle of a rose garden, was surprisingly Elliot.
The woman whose hand was held blushed as if she had become one of the roses in the garden.
But the moment she noticed the uninvited guests stepping onto the balcony and turned her head, her flushed face turned pale.
“Ah… L-Lord Klen?! Lady Adrian! P-P-Please excuse us!”
“Ah, wait!”
Elliot’s hand, which was stretched out toward the woman who bowed her head and ran away, wavered in the air.
Soon, his arm dropped as if weighted down, and his shoulders slumped.
He shook his head, straightened his clothes, and stood before us.
“Lord Klen, Lady Adrian. You both look splendid today. Are you enjoying the beautiful melody?”
“……”
My mind felt numb, as if all the events up until now had flown away.
Elliot, who had lightly bowed, ran a hand through his hair and slowly swept it back.
His movement seemed entirely calculated for how he would appear to the other person.
Surely he hadn’t practiced this dozens of times in front of a mirror.
‘What’s wrong with him, too?’
It was a sight that might have made a woman blush, but my eyes stiffened and trembled.
He was so anxious about not being able to attend the ball.
So, there was a reason.
I glanced at Klen’s face, which was unchanged.
Unlike me, he showed no sign of stiffness.
Come to think of it, he was the one who assigned this person tasks under the pretext of attending the ball.
Did he know what kind of person he was all along?
I was starting to understand why the Klen in the novel cut him off after becoming Count.
“Elliot. Would you mind ensuring that no one enters this balcony from now on?”
“…Pardon?”
He stood there with a blank face, as if he didn’t understand Klen’s words.
“Because I want to spend some quality time with my wife.”
“…Pardon?”
This time, I was the one who didn’t understand the words.
Klen moved behind me, gently embraced me, and pressed his lips to my forehead.
At that, the frozen Elliot seemed to snap out of it, blinking quickly, and then opened his mouth.
“Ah! Ah, of course.”
He quickly approached the balcony entrance and drew something with his hand.
The glittering lines that followed his hand were clearly a spell.
Unlike the impression he gave until now, he was drawing each one seriously.
Even though I knew what kind of person Elliot was, the sight felt very mystical.
Finishing the last character, he stood up.
The light spread from the glittering characters, filled the balcony, and then vanished.
“This place will now be far from people’s attention. Most won’t even know it exists. The sound is also restricted, so please enjoy yourselves fully.”
Elliot, who smiled brightly and winked, looked like a different person.
His previous appearance—where he seemed unmotivated in everything, more bothered and lazy than Klen—was nowhere to be seen.
Who is this person?
‘Could it be a twin?’
But Klen called him Elliot, so that possibility was nil.
* * *
