ITMWG 83

Chapter 83…

 The reaction is cute.

It was true that ladies who returned home without anyone asking them to dance were often targets of ridicule. The gentleman who returned after being rejected by all the people he asked was also an object of mockery.

Usually, married people are free from such gossip…

From the moment Altair reached out to her, Nadia felt that all the nobles around them were paying attention to them with sparkling eyes. They all wanted to see Baron Aylesford, who had appeared in the capital’s society like a comet, dancing.

I can’t turn Altair into a poor gentleman rejected by his wife.

“In places like this, even men who don’t dance are ridiculed.”

“Then I guess my wife will have to bail me out.”

Although she was nervous, Nadia tried to put on a gentle smile, grabbing Altair’s hand and moving toward the centre of the ballroom. Music ringing in her ears, the noise of people, and even gazes that wanted to pierce her entire body. For a timid person like her, it was nothing short of a dilemma.

Let’s just look at Altair. Only Altair!

Nadia focused only on Altair’s face and blurred out the surrounding scenery. And it seemed to have an effect, as her mind started to calm down. In social dance, the role of men leading women was important. She thought Altair would struggle a bit since he was not used to ballroom dances, but his moves were surprisingly smooth as he led her.

“Why are you so good? Have you been practicing?”

Nadia whispered to him, and he sighed with a somewhat weary look on his face.

“Before going to the capital, Marie requested this of me.”

“So… You are able to do this well just because she asked you to?”

“I did imagine the moves by looking at ballroom dance instruction books. This is a method I often use when learning new sword techniques.”

“Sword techniques…”

What’s this? Martial art…? As Nadia giggled, thinking that it was somewhat funny, Altair’s large hand lightly brushed across her back.

“Now you’re smiling a little.”

At the sound of relief in his voice, Nadia felt like a person who had been caught cheating.

“Ah, I’ve been smiling for a while though.”

“That’s a fake smile. This is a real one.”

Altair glanced at the corner of her mouth. Nadia was pretending to be as familiar with the social world as possible and to appear to be enjoying the party, but it seemed she couldn’t fool Altair’s sharp senses. She clung a little closer to Altair. The closer they were to each other, the easier it was to hide her face, which was flushed with embarrassment as she muttered.

“As you saw today, you must know… I am not one of the capital’s lovely ladies. I’m sorry.”

“What do you mean by ‘the capital’s lovely lady’?”

“Well, it is literally what it sounded like.”

There was a fantasy that people often had about the noble ladies of the capital. A lovely lady who was good at socialising, enjoyed parties, and had many friends. Nadia was very far from that kind of image. There were very few social events in Aylesford, so her shortcomings weren’t too obvious, but in the capital city where social activities were central, it’s inevitable that she would show some clumsiness.

Not to mention, I was always compared to Mellissa wherever we went together…

Nadia slowly turned her head and followed Melissa’s movements with her eyes. She was leading the mood among the young nobles, smiling cheerfully. Not only men but also women liked Melissa’s chill personality, which was rarely seen amongst the ladies of the social circles. Her uncle would force her to go to parties on days when she didn’t like it, and he would compare her to her Melissa to point out how lacking Nadia Vine was. Of course, such criticism was made ‘because I was worried about my niece…’ He never forgot to wrap it up with a good reason. Altair followed her gaze, glancing in the direction where Melissa was, and let out a scoff, dumbfounded.

“Don’t tell me ‘that’ is what you call a lovely lady from the capital?”

“Everyone says that.”

“Is other people’s judgment the standard for a lady?”

Altair tilted his head slightly as if he didn’t understand, showing the attitude that only those who were confident in themselves could have. Those people would never be concerned about other people’s evaluations.

Actually, I wanted to be someone like that rather than a decent lady of the capital.

A person with an upright mind who was not shaken by anything people said. When she remained silent and did not respond, Altair spoke.

“You’re lovely.”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to comfort me.”

“Am I the kind of person who will say empty flattery? Lovely is lovely. I don’t say things that I don’t mean.”

As Nadia raised her head and looked at Altair, she saw unwavering eyes looking back at her. With an expression like this, it could only be nothing but sincere…It’s something that never crossed her mind. Unable to bear the bashfulness, she lowered her head. She felt Altair stare at her face in confusion at that reaction.

“Did you just compliment me?”

“I did. It’s kind of embarrassing to say it though…”

Nadia could feel her face heating up.

“… lovely.”

“Huh.”

“You’re very lovely, Nadia.”

“Why, why do you keep doing this!”

When she raised her head in retort, Altair’s mouth was curved up into a smile.

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No. I meant it. It’s just when you react, your ears…”

“Ears… ?”

Altair bit his mouth shut, trying to stop himself from speaking. She didn’t know what she as trying to say, but he seemed hesitant to say those words. As Nadia blinked and waited for Altair to continue, he visibly avoided her gaze and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“There is no reason to be ashamed to tell the truth. It’s just I’m not used to saying it out of the blue. Still, I’ll tell you until you get used to it and get sick of it. You’re lovely, Nadia.”

When he said the word ‘lovely’, their eyes met again. At that moment, the emotions rushing through Nadia were so overwhelming that she felt like she was on cloud nine. Their steps, moving along the music, were so light that it almost felt surreal.

The gazes and voices of people around them, which she tried to forget, had all faded. If someone full of such confidence told her that she was lovely…

I want to believe it.

That she was, in fact, quite loveable. At least that’s how she was to this person. Nadia looked up at Altair with a genuine, wide smile on her face at the sweet words. Altair, who faced such a bright expression, froze in surprise. Just then, the music ended and the dancers greeted each other before returning to their original positions. The only ones left were Nadia and Altair.

“…Altair?”

Only when Nadia asked with caution, did Altair come to his senses and finally began to move. The smooth movements when he danced were nowhere to be found, but were replaced with an awkward walk instead.

What’s wrong?

All of a sudden, Altair did not feel like his usual self. Did he feel unwell? No, it couldn’t be. He was too strong to get sick over a fleeting moment. While Nadia was wondering why, a group of men approached them.

“Madame, if you don’t mind, may we borrow the Baron for a while? There are many things we would like to discuss with him.”

Now it was time for full-scale socialising. It looked like the gentlemen had something to share with Altair, so Nadia sent him away.

Hmm. I’m a little worried because Altair suddenly seems strange…

But when she glanced at him again, she saw that his expression had returned to normal. After all, if it’s him, there’s no need to worry.

“Of course. I shall not disturb the gentlemen.”

Nadia bowed politely and hurriedly withdrew.

I am simply giving Altair a chance to socialise, not running away.

Still, Nadia couldn’t help but sigh with relief at the thought of finally being able to get away from the centre overflowing with people. However, the thought of ‘finally escaping’ was a big mistake.

“Oh my, Baroness Aylesford! Would you like to come over here and have a chat with us?”

“That’s right! Come join us!”

Unlike before, when her presence was faint, now she was so popular that everyone was paying attention to her, so it was impossible to sneak out to a quiet place…

“Well, sure…”

And so, she walked toward the gathered ladies, holding back tears.

❈❈❈

Altair felt the gazes of the nobles scrutinising him as he took a sip of the champagne given to him by a servant. People often thought that the fight between ladies in a group was fierce, but in reality, the fight between men was just as tense. ‘Is this guy above me or below me, or is he not even worth joining this group?’ When meeting each other for the first time, people always went through the process of establishing a hierarchy.

Though of course, I have never been underneath in a fight like that.

Altair was relaxed. Of all the people there, he probably had the lowest rank, but position was not necessarily determined by that. The gentlemen who were looking for him were slightly daunted by the appearance that only those who sat at the top could have. While everyone was just observing with caution, one person stepped forward.

“Umm. … Is this Baron Aylesford’s first time attending a banquet hosted by the Emperor?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I guess we’ll see each other often from now on.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“I guess that should be the case, since it seemed like you had a connection with His Majesty and the Duke of Viosques…”

There was a moment of silence as the man mentioned Altair’s connections. They seemed to realise once again that the position of the newcomer who appeared like a comet was different from theirs. In situations like this, there was bound to be someone who forcibly found the opponent’s weaknesses in order to drag them down, and this time as well, was no exception.

“Anyway, I’m sure you must be very disappointed. If you had known things would turn out like this, you would have wished to have postponed the wedding a little longer.”

Altair’s eyebrows twitched at his tone, which had a clear hint of sarcasm, and the people around him gasped. It was because of the terrifying impression of Altair. However, the man who opened his mouth to challenge Altair was so absorbed in his goal that he could not properly see his grim face.

“Isn’t that right? Even though the baroness is from a marquis household, she is an estranged person from her own family… No matter how much the current Marquis takes care of her as his niece, there are limits to that. She didn’t really do any good to your in-laws’ family’s image, I would say.”

“…”

“I heard that the Baron got married in a hurry because you were concerned about the successor, but if you had known it would turn out like this, you could have chosen a better woman and married her. Considering that there is no news of a successor yet, the original purpose is also…”

Crack-! The champagne glass in Altair’s hand shattered. Blood dripped from his hand that was holding the glass as he quietly listened so far. Nevertheless, Altair just looked at the rude man calmly.

“(Gasp)!”

As the man flinched and took a step back at the terrifying sight, Altair grinned and shrugged his shoulders at the surprised people.

“The glass is too weak. Perhaps it is defective.”

The champagne glass used by the imperial family couldn’t possibly be defective! It must be the best product made by the best craftsmen!

Then that man just broke it into pieces with the strength of his hand alone…!

The faces of the people gathered around him turned white.