All too quickly, the day of the royal ball arrived. Roman and Prillance were expected to enter the Imperial Palace through a route different from ordinary noblemen.
“The carriage of Duke Tonz has arrived.”
Roman’s carriage, which arrived early, entered Marquis Weiand’s estate. The women were still preparing Prillance, who was in the final stages of dressing up.
“I greet the Duke.”
Duke Tonz encountered Ver before anyone else upon getting off the carriage.
“It feels strange that the first person to greet me in Marquis Weiand’s estate is Viscount Grant.”
He may be joking here, but his statement was not altogether a lie. He’d been bothered by the image of seeing Prillance be so close to Ver.
“Lady Weiand is in the process of preparing, so she will come down as soon as she finishes. I came here to speak with you briefly before that.”
“If the conversation won’t take long, then let’s do this here.”
Roman climbed back into the carriage and Ver followed after him.
“This is of my own volition.”
As soon as he sat across from Roman, Ver spoke those words.
“What do you mean?”
“I meant about joining Marquis Weiand as a knight.”
Ah. It was only then that he knew it was the answer to the question he had pressed Prillance with a few days ago. Roman beckoned for Ver to continue speaking.
“I’m saying that there seems to be a misunderstanding. On the contrary, Lady Weiand tried to stop me.”
Those words were a little unexpected for Roman. That woman’s action of stopping him was surprising.
Roman had been able to easily assume that Ver would join at his own will. Though it was because he thought that someone, whom he highly suspected Prillance for, may have done something behind the scenes to coerce Ver until he chose to become Marquis Weiand’s knight.
“The Lady is still opposed to me being a family knight.”
Of course, these were Ver’s own thoughts on it, but he supposed he’ll believe it as he says it is.
Although Roman also benefited from Ver becoming a knight, he was still curious about the reason behind her refusal.
“And then, I requested to be the Lady’s escort and for a dance.”
“All of this is of your own volition. I witnessed you making your vow, even.”
It was ironic that Ver said everything was by his own will. And then, he asked if amid this, he intended to cover up for Prillance.
“Yes. This is all my choice. And I don’t have any plans on changing that.”
The look in Ver’s eyes were as firm and unwavering as ever. That look told Roman that there was more to it than meets the eye.
“Regretting one time is enough.”
Ver’s eyes were as always, like that of a man’s, as if he was making a pledge. Whenever he spoke of Prillance, he always looked that way.
“It sounds as if this is a confession.”
“And so if the Duke has to be angry, then place it on me.”
Ver’s response deftly avoided Roman’s statement. He did not wish for Roman to know of his feelings. Roman assumed a crooked smile.
“Even if you didn’t know Lady Weiand is engaged to me?”
“Yes.”
He had not been concerned about Ver’s answer. Roman knew well that he was the type of man who would not make such a choice if he had any. He had been in the middle of deciding not to choose Prillance; on the contrary, in confirming the depth of Ver’s feelings for Prillance, he intended to make applicable use of this information.
“The Duke is in the middle of comparing the Weiand and Royne families, aren’t you.”
Ver looked straight at Roman.
“There’s no reason for the Duke to be angry, nor for me to explain myself.”
Despite the sound of Roman’s absurd laughter appearing blatantly on his face, Ver did not hesitate.
“Nevertheless, I am offering to tell you this for the sake of Lady Weiand.”
Ver had no reason to explain every single little thing to him. But he decided to take this meaningless action because of Prillance’s feelings for Roman. He didn’t want to be misunderstood because he knew how much she liked Roman. He was concerned about her continually gloomy appearance.
“It seems you’ve really become her knight.”
His behavior had exposed his thoughts and feelings for Prillance. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Ver himself to come and tell him such details. Unless he had not wished for the misunderstandings to be taken as him liking her ardently.
Ver’s behavior towards Prillance with that honest heart, as well as the circumstances building up to this, made a strange feeling enter his heart. Before entering the Marquis Weiand estate, the feeble expectations he had held onto changed unknowingly, falling to a low. And not having the right to express it was one of the things he hated the most right now.
“Well then, I’ll be going now. See you later.”
Ver inclined his head lightly towards Roman and left the carriage, only to run into Prillance who was just coming out of the residence.
“You two were together.”
Prillance was surprised at the fact that he came out of Roman’s carriage.
“I had to speak with the Duke for a while.”
He wanted to conclude their conversation before she came down, but she finished dressing up faster than he thought. However, Ver pretended not to be flustered and answered calmly.
“It looks like I’m very late.”
“Not at all. Even so, the Duke will surely be generous and understanding when he sees my lady’s lovely figure.”
At the words he spoke with a gentle smile, Prillance avoided his eyes a bit. It was because she didn’t want to be caught blushing every time she met him.
Ver looked hurt at her behavior for a brief instance. But it was very momentary.
He readied himself to take care of her as the escort in an unaffected manner. However, he didn’t get to. Because Roman came out of the carriage. Prillance held her dress up slightly in greeting.
“I’ll do it.”
Ver stepped back to the rear. He watched as Roman and Prillance stood level with each other, side by side.
Their clothes were not completely the same color. Instead, the base color of their individual clothing was the key point that harmonized well with each other. It wasn’t until the two stood together that, for the first time, it nailed home the fact that they were clearly each other’s partner.
“It was a good thing I listened to you.”, Roman said while escorting her.
By all appearances, Prillance was his partner. He was satisfied with that. The carriage left at once, leaving an empty space behind, and Ver took another carriage to follow after.