When The Count’s Illegitimate Daughter Gets Married - Chapter 117

Chapter 117

The main character disappeared at the party for Laritte that the Emperor himself held.

How sneakily they went out to the balcony! Oscar Iasa, like everyone else, believed the Ducal couple would be at the party. He wandered around the glamorous and crowded banquet hall, looking for the Duke and Duchess.

‘Ian, Ian, Duchess, Duchess.’

He was feeling pretty good at the thought of being praised by his friend and his friend’s wife.

‘I even threw a party, so they’ll love it! I’ve been busy, so I’m just looking for them now.’

…But, where did they both go?

The young brown-haired man, a friendly and affectionate Master of the Iasa Empire and blood from the first Emperor.

A poor man who had been wary his whole life, losing power to his mother, who was the former Empress from the time he was born. However, Oscar’s reign after he was crowned made the nobility aware of his brilliance.

He wasn’t as strikingly beautiful as Ian though the number of ladies who had a crush on him was bound to increase…

‘Who are you looking through the banquet hall to see?’

Every time he passed by, the girls’ hearts fluttered and they opened their thick folding fans. The people dancing in the center of the hall stood up stiffly as if they had an iron core around their waist and took an elegant bow.

There were women, but there were also sometimes men.

Perhaps, even in this brief moment, they might be chosen by Oscar’s eyes as the Empress!

Nonetheless, Oscar didn’t have time to look at others because he had to put up with his face, that was contorted with tears.

‘What, where have you two gone?’

The great Emperor was now just a poor young man, searching for his friend and his friend’s wife. Oscar’s shoulders drooped while looking for Ian and Laritte, and he trudged and sat down on the gold sofa.

‘They are both gone… I even threw a party…’

Tears came to his eyes as he remembered the hard times of the past when he was holding this party.

He had even been avoiding the nobles and bureaucrats who had been debating all the time about the great political significance of this party! He managed to stop this secretary’s insistence that told him that he couldn’t raise the status of the Duchy in such a public way!

Because he wanted to greet the Madam after a long time, he ignored everything and pushed ahead, but the Ducal couple didn’t even come to greet him.

This treatment towards the Emperor was too much.

Oscar rested his chin on the back of the sofa and thought of Ian.

‘…If I find him later, I’ll stare at you for thirty minutes, you bad boy.’

A moonlit night sky.

Ian and Laritte were having a strange atmosphere on the dark balcony.

“….”

“….”

When they look into each other’s eyes from an eye-to-eye distance.

Through the gaps in the curtained door, the noisy conversations of the banquet hall and the music of the orchestra could be heard. Ian felt the sound as vague as coming from water. The dull ears did not do what they were supposed to do and focused only on Laritte.

“Laritte?”

He was grabbed by Laritte and bowed his upper body to her. With the sword master’s bloomed eyes, he could see his opponent very well. Her white face was shining under the moonlight, or the dark eyes that seem to contain the universe…

His suit and Laritte’s dress overlapped. At the same time, Ian looked forward to something.

…Maybe, a kiss?

With Laritte, he would be satisfied with a kiss…

However, reality, as always, often betrays people’s expectations. Laritte was thinking of asking him to dance.

“Shall we dance to a song? At the same time, I can hear the performances from inside the banquet hall.”

Actually, she wasn’t really asking for an opinion.

She placed her left arm on Ian’s right arm the next moment. To do this, Laritte grabbed him by the collar and pulled him. Well, even dancing would make Ian feel better. This was what she thought.

“…Oh, yes. Should we?”

Ian put a hand on her back, trying not to show any signs of disappointment.

He had tried to propose with a fake ring, so he was grateful for this secret meeting. Besides, as he danced the waltz in a circle with Laritte, the depressed mood of the failed proposal was really disappearing.

As he twirled Laritte half a turn, he asked.

“When did you learn to dance?”

Ian had never seen a dance teacher for her. Although she was a quick learner, she couldn’t learn to dance without a partner.

Laritte had an appropriate answer to Ian’s question.

“I learned it when you left me for months without saying anything.”

“Ah… ah.”

He wanted to tear himself apart for asking Laritte that question ten seconds ago.

…It was his bad past that he had barely buried now!

The harmony in the banquet hall heard through the cracks in the balcony door was light and soft. It felt like flowing water in a quiet river with no people. Soon, they got close to each other and moved slowly.

Laritte asked.

“So, how much did you spend on that fake ring?”

“….”

“Well, you are the type of person who is easily deceived. It’s okay. I’ll just have fun thinking. You have a lot of money.”

Saying so, smirked as she slightly bent her knee and moved one stride to the right.

Ian felt the sweet wine in her breath and blushed. Even though he didn’t even drink himself, he seemed drunk.

“In what way do you think I am prone to being deceived?”

“If you want to deny it, I understand.”

He suddenly felt better, and he let out a low laugh. She was the only one in the whole empire who thought Ian was a stupid man.

‘Well, it’s all in the past. As long as Laritte doesn’t find out that the ring was a wedding ring, there’ll be plenty of opportunities next time.’

At the same time, Laritte glanced at the night sky behind his huge upper body.

“I never thought this day would come.”

Ian asked back with his eyes, and Laritte explained softly.

“Without any worries, feel at ease… Time to laugh and talk. As you know, the time I spent at peace with you is not that long.”

Nodding his head, he was seemingly sympathetic to her words. He was afraid that even touching her would harm her, although it already felt like a thing of the distant past for her. Finally, they were here together.

A moment when he thought I was happy, Laritte fell from his arms and distanced herself from the balcony.

“Shall we dance?”

Laritte uttered the previous question again. But, this time, it was a different dance.

She lightly stomped her feet and stepped her steps. It was more like a dance performed by commoners on the street rather than a court waltz. Ian realized what she was doing and grinned, thinking that this might be a lot more fun than an intricate waltz.

As he approached her, he took steps as light as Laritte’s. Ian’s excellent body dexterity made it look like the dance of the famous Casanova virtuoso in town.

“My dear Duchess. Where else do you learn to dance like that?”

“You seem to have forgotten how I lived before I became an adult. After you get a job and go to the market, you can learn it quickly by looking around a few times. There is no set formality like a court waltz.”

Literally, Laritte moved freely.

She bounced and jumped from end to end of the terrace.

“It’s fun, right? Haha.”

When she laughed out loud, Ian followed suit. He then grabbed her hand and lifted it up, causing her to turn around.

The party congratulating the Duchess was colorful and bright, but the main characters were enjoying the darkness on the terrace covered with curtains. A maid of the Imperial Palace passed under the castle where they were.

Feeling strange, and lifted her head.

‘What is that…?’

She opened her eyes and tried to see the tall terrace.

Two people seemed to move in the dark.

“Hey, don’t you think something is moving over there?”

The other maid heard it, and she lifted her head toward the castle of the shining night. However, the terrace where Ian and Laritte danced could not be seen because of the darkness due to the thick velvet curtain.

“Perhaps, that’s the flowers in the pots that adorned the railings on the terrace. They’re swaying in the spring breeze?”

“Ah, maybe.”

Even then, Laritte and Ian danced haphazardly while moving. They moved their arms and legs as they wanted and imitated their partner. It was such a dance. Ian rolled his sharp eyes unpretentiously, letting go of his lingering attachment for the wedding.

Skinship wasn’t important…

As he was thinking that this was enough for today, Laritte asked.

“So, what jewelry are you going to get for our next wedding ring? Don’t be deceived then.”

…Huh?

Ian hardened like a stone statue.

‘Did she find out… that it was a wedding ring?’

Meanwhile, music was heard in the banquet hall.

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