Survive As the Villain’s Cousin - Chapter 10

“Why? You can dance with Father.”

“I’m going to dance with Sister!”

“What? You want to dance with girls?”

“Yeah. Got a complaint? Even if you don’t, I won’t hear it.”

Ariel grabbed my right hand and pulled it. However, Erial also snarled, holding onto his left wrist as if he had no intention of losing.

“Who dances among girls?”

“Me. I do! There is no problem legally. So wouldn’t you mind and let go of that hand?”

“No! I won’t blame you for dancing with Sister, but I asked for a dance first. You’re the one who should let go of that hand, okay?”

Is it because of the mood that it felt like electricity sparked?

While the twins were engaged in a war of nerves, the party was in an uproar.

At the center was the crown prince.

‘The Crown Prince has chosen a partner.’

Who could it be?

I got curious. Even in the novel, the party was less than a page long.

“Isn’t it too much that the prince’s beauty is over a page long, and the scene where our Riel falls in love with the prince is less than a page?”’

Feeling bad about the writer’s favoritism, I stared at the prince dancing in the center of the hall.

“Do you want to dance with the Crown Prince?”

The duke, who had not even looked at the twins who were still fighting, asked me in a low-pitched voice.

Did you mistake my glances of anger as gazes of longing?

I shook my head violently because I never wanted to get involved with the crown prince.

“No.”

“Then who do you want to dance with?”

At his question, the twins stopped fighting and looked at me.

Why do these three people’s eyes sting more than when I entered the party?

I hesitated about how to answer.

‘Let’s act innocent.’

“The Duke!”

Smile.

A harmless smile that has been polished for 17 years!

I tried my best to look as innocent as possible without any hostility.

The twins were dissatisfied with my answer, but they couldn’t refute it, and the Duke was expressionless, but he looked satisfied.

‘Of course. When you have to choose, you have to choose the most powerful person.’

At the end of the Crown Prince’s first dance, several nobles came out to the center of the hall.

I also stood at the center with the Duke’s escort. Finally, it’s time to show the effort that the Duke has made!

How many times was I scolded by the teacher while taking classes with Ariel?

‘Ariel and Erial are excellent, and I’m average.’

I’m usually average at everything.

Life was just average. However, I was a little nervous because it was my first dance and the other person was my opponent.

I calmly took a deep breath.

“It’s fine. Just look at me.”

‘That makes it more nerve-racking!’

To be honest, the prince, who is the male lead of the novel and the writer’s one-pick, was handsome, but he was not my cup of tea. My taste is a decadent beauty. They’re the best men in the world!

Therefore, it was more burdensome for my heart to keep looking at the Duke’s face, which is my taste.

The song had started. An easy waltz song. I tried not to step on the duke’s foot, counting the beat in my mind.

“Sernia.”

“Yes?”

Why are you so gentle? Making people excited.

I looked at my feet and raised my head at the call of the Duke, and met his radiant emerald eyes.

“How long are you going to call me Duke?”

“What?”

I thought deeply again because I wondered if I didn’t hear the beginning of the conversation.

I don’t know if I should think about it again. Should I call the duke or what?

“I am…”

“…….”

It was the first time that the Duke showed his emotions on his face.

The green eyes that were facing each other shook slightly. After a long pause on his lips, he opened his mouth.

“It’s uncle.”

???

The blue screen appeared in my head and it felt like a system.

Press it.

My head and body stopped altogether and I lost my footing.

And I stepped on it. The final boss’s foot.

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. So what’s your answer?”

As if to prove that I had not misheard, the duke forced another answer.

It was a word I had never thought would come out of his mouth.

Press it.

I twisted my steps in embarrassment and stepped on the Duke’s foot again! I couldn’t see the Duke’s face because I turned pale. Let’s turn around first! I didn’t think for long.

“Uncle! I’m not good at dancing… I didn’t step on it purposely. Uncle.”

I’m sure you wanted to hear me call you uncle.

I wrapped the beginning and the end of my words with uncle.

“Well….”

Did his feet hurt a lot? The duke swallowed his saliva. When the Duke didn’t answer, I became restless and looked at him. Maybe I should’ve just danced with Erial. I blamed myself for five minutes, but I couldn’t change the past.

“So, uncle.”

“What? Oh, yes.”

What. Were you savoring the word uncle? It was not a face I hated when I saw it, which I had always noticed from the duke. It looked rather pleasant. The slightly raised corners of his mouth were different from a mischievous laugh.

‘So this is what you were trying to say before the Emperor entered?’

The waltz was over. I stepped on the duke’s foot twice, but no one pointed it out. Anyway, it’s a relief that it was over safely. I returned to the twins under the Duke’s escort.

But for a short time, my eyes met with the prince. The moment I thought I encountered him, he averted his eyes, but the feeling of hitting him in the air was clear.

‘What? Did you see me dancing with the Duke because it wasn’t Ariel?’

He was the only duke of the empire, and even though he didn’t have a duchess, he appeared with someone who wasn’t his daughter, so it made him the talk of society.

“Sister! I’m next! I won rock-paper-scissors!”

“Sister, I lost this time, but I’ll win next time. Instead, Ariel, you have to dance with me next! I can’t give up dancing with anyone else!”

There was no time to think about the crown prince.

As soon as I came out of the center, the twins who were waiting said the words they had endured.

So they decided the winner by rock-paper-scissors.

“Okay, let’s go.”

“Yes.”

I thought I was worse than Ariel and Erial, but after dancing with the Duke, I realized that I was just not good at it.

Ariel, who danced well in consideration of me, played the male part.

‘As expected of the future flower of society!’

Gazes gathered as I stepped up to the center of the hall. Was this the case with the duke? I was nervous about the first dance, so I couldn’t afford to look around because of the Duke’s face.

Ariel’s expression was bright the whole time. I was amazed by how natural she was leading as if she were flowing.

“You’re relaxed now, aren’t you?”

“I saw you step on the Duke’s foot earlier.”

“You step on people’s feet when you’re nervous. I actually expected you to step on it.”

“What? Then I’ll make it happen.”

“Hm. I definitely stopped him. I asked sister for the first dance, but you chose him.”

Ariel inflated her cheeks and pretended to sulk. It was so cute that I laughed without realizing it. She looked at my smile and laughed with me without the air in her cheeks.

“I’m glad.”

“What?”

“I came with my sister. If it wasn’t for you, I would have died of boredom.”

Ariel and Erial had no childhood friends.

The exchanges between families were cut off as the current uke changed, and the Duchess didn’t go out to social gatherings because the Duke wasn’t there.

If I locked myself in fear of the original story, the twins would live a life of passive confinement.

“Let’s make a lot of friends.”

“I just need you.”

“No, I want you to see a wider world and meet a lot of people.”

She was surprised when I spoke firmly as I always respected the twins’ opinions.

Ariel, who was hesitant about my attitude, turned her eyes and muttered.

“But I still want to be with you.”

It was in a smaller voice. What am I supposed to do with this little fool?

The girl looked so soft with her sharp eyes and big lips. I sighed inwardly and held her waist tight.

“Yeah. I’m the place you’ll come back to. I’ll always be here.”

“Yes, it’s a promise.”

I claimed myself to be the babysitter of the twins, so of course, it was my job to do.

Where they come back from their adventure. I promised to be a sanctuary for them.

The second song was over. I grabbed Ariel’s sleeve, trying to drag her out, begging her to spare me.

“I can’t keep up with three songs in a row.”

“Okay, take a break. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Erial went to get something to drink, and Ariel was wiping the sweat off my forehead with a handkerchief.

“You’re the Duke’s hidden treasure.”

It was the Crown Prince who approached me with a gentle smile. Ariel’s face stiffened at his appearance, and I greeted him politely.

“I see the Crown Prince, the descendant of the sun, the glory of the empire.”

“Greetings are fine.”

Helios Aslande.

The male protagonist of “Restoration” and the Crown Prince of Aslande. He was a man like the sun. Helios was an Emperor who was rational, perfect, and his existence itself glowed. Of course, it’s not fun to be perfect.

Helios, who fell in love with the heroine, showed off his charm as his rational judgment became clouded and he began to obsess over her.

‘I used to be a fan of Grendwin.’

T/N: One of the sub male leads in the novel

When I read romance novels, I liked the sub-male, and my taste was consistent even if the genre changed. Strangely, I liked when they remained silent on the side lines and confessed to the heroine and get dumped.

‘Erial was the perfect villain, so I didn’t like him from the beginning.’

Of course, it’s a novel! Not my brother, Real, who was running away with a drink.

“I see the Crown Prince, the descendant of the sun, the glory of the empire.”

“Are you Ardentine’s next lord, Erial? Nice to meet you.”

“Yes.”

Erial held the prince’s hand and blocked the distance between me and the prince. Ariel, who was next to me, tried to hide me behind her while holding my hand tightly. I was puzzled at first, but soon I could read their thoughts.

‘You’re still worried about the Crown Prince’s love for me. That’s not going to happen at all.’

Watching the twins protecting me, I laughed in the tense atmosphere.

The heroine usually doesn’t know her beauty. Because novels are always from the main character’s point of view, they don’t express their appearance very well.