1st Kiss Was Intentional - Chapter 6
Only then do I notice the strangeness and carefully look up at the emperor.
It’s surprising since he’s known to be the Mad Emperor! Instead of anger, he is sitting on his golden seat in a dignified manner as if nothing has happened.
Before I knew it, the breathtaking silence was gone, and just below the stage came a disheartening voice. “Well, it probably wasn’t a big deal, but I like the emperor too. I also want to be a concubine. Who is she?”
“It’s a concubine who forgot to say her greetings. The 30th concubine. I don’t know anything about her except that she’s from humbled background.”
‘I can hear you!’
When I hear their subtle voices treating me like a fool, I naturally frown. Then I realize that I was still in front of the emperor, so I quickly fix my face, bow to the emperor, and walk down the platform to save myself.
‘I’m alive! I’m alive!’
As the last, brightly lit up steps appear in front of my eyes, tears well up. My legs shake, and I almost fall again because the tension has left my body.
Before I know it, the surrounding returns to its original party atmosphere. The orchestra begins playing the cheerful dance piece again, and the aristocrats in fancy clothes each dances, in search of their dance mate.
Gosh, I’m so exhausted.
I notice eyes around me because whenever I pass, I could feel them turning my way.
I desperately pull up the corners of my mouth and make a desperate appeal for, I don’t know anything. Fortunately, it happens so quickly that no one seems to notice the shared looks between the emperor and me.
When the emperor stopped looking at me, people soon turn way from me.
When it became known that I was a concubine, no one comes near me. Even the Tarantella sisters, who were with me earlier, slip away and I stick to a corner, sipping wine alone.
On the other hand, Yuri Sina, who became the 31st concubine, is smiling and talking with five ladies.
Thanks to her shiny appearance and role as today’s protagonist, people are constantly around her. Because of her status, the men don’t ask for a dance, but neither young or old men could take their eyes off her.
Regardless, I aim to be as unobtrusive as possible, so it was good. There might be an accident if we come into contact.
Though no matter how much better it is for me to stay away, it’s not fun to drink alone among this many people.
There are so many people that I don’t need to be there. Why would you call me as one of the two concubines?
I am envious Yuri Sina, who shines among the people, so much that I couldn’t stop looking at her.
‘I want to laugh and talk to people, too! I’m lonely!’
The party’s a social arena, so young men and women dance in pairs, giving off a sweet atmosphere. When marriageable men and women hug each other, they will have feelings that they have never felt, like blushing as if they’re in a flower garden.
The moderately old middle-aged aristocrats cheer for the match up of their children or gather among themselves to talk about difficult stories that only they know about, such as politics and economics.
Eventually, I get up from my seat, finished all the champagne in my glass. I can’t stand loneliness and being envious of others.
‘Why won’t you talk to me, too?’
I feel like I should approach people.
It’s so unfair to fall into a novel all of a sudden and become a social outcast. Why am I so pitiful?
As I look across the room, toward the fire in the far distance, I could see the emperor still sitting upright on the left. He’s concentrating on reading a thick scroll or something even though he’s at a ball like this.
Quickly turning my head and looking at the table in front of me, Yuri Sina is still smiling gracefully among the countless ladies.
As I glance around again, the rest of the people are either dancing or chatting against the backdrop of orchestra music.
‘That means no one cares about me!’
I creep along the wall quietly, making sure that my shoes wouldn’t make a sound. Then I hurry to the door like a rabbit with fire on its tail.
Of course it isn’t the door that I came from, but a small one that’s near the end of the wall. In addition to the official entrance, there is one more like a side door in the Imperial City. It’s one for waiters to use when they’re bring in food or are in a hurry.
There’s something like this at my castle. Since I don’t have any maids, I use to use them as a shortcut when I’m too lazy to get to the front door.
I hurriedly open the door and go out before the busy food-carrying servants show up. I heard the ball would be all night long, and it wouldn’t be over till daybreak.
‘Is that even possible? I’ll never be able to stay up until then! It’s too hard!’
I’ll go to my castle and take a nap. Then before the ball ends, I will make my appearance. If I stay here, I will run out of energy. Also, what if I stay in the same place as the emperor and Yuri Sina and make a mistake then die? Rather, it is best to sneak away now.
The corridor is quiet, with no knights or servants passing by.
‘Where can I call the carriage?’
I walk through the corridor thinking hard. There is a cool breeze in the serene hallway. Perhaps somewhere, there’s an open window.
The moment I turned the corner, I see huge fires on both side of the walls. My eyes become hazy and my breathing shallow. I stop in my place and touch the wall to take in calming breaths.
“It’s like this again.”
Perhaps I, of the previous life, died without having being heard.
‘It’s also because of fire.’
In my last memory, I fell asleep while reading a novel, and then I smelled something burning. In retrospect, it seems like I was choking for air. I can’t hear the fire blazing. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have developed the phobia I suddenly had.
If you reach for a burning, hot fire, or suddenly a large light comes closer, your breathing will become short and dizzy. Therefore, I usually use small ember, but I was careless this time. This is the castle where the emperor lives, so I should have expected to see a big fire.
Fortunately, my head clears after taking a lot of deep breaths. Gradually, my eyesight stop blurring.
‘Thank goodness.’
I’ll be in big trouble if there’s a strange rumor that I was trying to escape when I fell down!
The moment a concubine, who is evidence of a peace treaty, escapes, it is considered a rebellion and a war will break out. The thought gives me chills. Quickly, I strut faster to get back to my castle and rest.
“Lydia Odette?”
Then, a pointed voice pulls me back.
Shock, I stop in my track.
‘Hyuk—What is it? Who is it?’
“Where are you going so urgently?”
It’s a pretty but nervous voice. I swallow my saliva and turn around with an uneasy face.
A hair as red as a flame catches my eye.
‘Carolyn Rayleigh?’
She’s a concubine that’s invited to the ball with me. Why, for some reason I’m anxious?
‘Are you following me?’
The closer she gets, the more apprehensive I become.
Oh, what should I say? I haven’t been around other concubines before, so I am not prepared for this. I studied a little bit about historical culture before, but I don’t know the rules of etiquette between concubines, only the emperor or the empress.
“Lady Rayleigh —”
I quickly bend my knees, and Carolyn Reilly, who stops right in front of me, presses my head down.
I could feel her nails stuck to the back of my neck. I was so embarrassed that I almost shake her off reflexively. Then I try to bite the urge down and endure, reminding myself that I shouldn’t do anything rash.
“This 30th bitch.”
She then squeezes. Her fingernails poke into the skin of my neck.
‘What’s she doing?’
“How did you do that? How did you receive an invitation that I, the 3rd concubine didn’t even receive? Someone as trivial as you? Is it because of the Chancellor? Did you offer him a dance? Tell me, you seduced him!”
“Lady Rayleigh, let me go!”
The ring on her finger tangles in my hair and it hurts a lot. I grab her wrist with a frown. It’s simply a reflex, intended to stop her, but she grabs me by the hair because she thought I was trying to get one over her.
“Aah!”
“You fox! You’ll be stuck in a corner like you used to! How dare you covet his majesty?”
‘Ugh, this woman! When the hell did I do?!’
Her wrists are slender and strong. Carolyn, who grabbed my hair first, shake me in a flash, but I couldn’t push her away. The pretty hair is all tangled up, and a few strands were pulled out, causing tears to form.
“You must have been nervous about the 31st coming in, huh? Right?”
“…”
“Me, I’m not like that!” (meaning she’s not a threat)
I couldn’t grab her hair, but it hurts too much to be beaten like this.
Carolyn, who’s holding me and yanking me for a while, suddenly pushes me toward the wall.
‘Ow, my back! My ass!’
My pretty dress and hair are now a mess
‘Oh, what should I do with that? I really want to forget my rank and grab her hair!’
However, if I do that, there will be rumors. It doesn’t matter if people of the same rank fight each other. If a subordinate hit a superior, it’ll be a mess.
‘Oh, I have to suffer like this so I can live a good life? It’s so miserable!’
I shake my fist and hold back my surging anger. I then hear Carolyn’s voice full of ridicule.
“I’m already annoyed by the first and second concubines, so I don’t have any mercy to see a little naughty thing like you running around without knowing the rules. If you have stayed in your corner, you’d have been fine. This is all your fault.”
Carolyn, with her proud arms folded, says sarcastically.
I was dumbfounded. It is not fair that I have to live as a voluntary outsider for three years, but this misunderstanding is enough to make me cry.
“I didn’t do anything! There must have been some misunderstanding—”
“Every girl I’ve ever confronted made excuses like you. You think I’m stupid?”
I try to talk as best I could, enduring the seething feeling, but Carolyn shoves my forehead with her index finger.
At the same time, she snaps her finger. A man with a torch in one hand comes from behind her. He looks big and strong. Base on his clothes, he’s not a knight or servant, but a stranger. “I think I should leave now. I’m a little impatient. Ted?”
“Yes, miss.”
Carolyn looks over with a cold look. Then a big man called Ted comes closer to me.
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