An Early Engagement - Chapter 17
The men and women exchanging subtle glances, imagining the faces behind the masks, secretly signaling their interest in each other…
Shirley took in the scene of the masquerade ball, and irritation bubbled up inside her. Everything about it just made her angry. Everyone was eagerly searching for a partner, but that didn’t apply to her.
She already had a fiancé, a future husband. No matter who she danced with, she was destined to end up with Damian.
*How boring.*
Shirley let out a small sigh. What did it matter if everyone thought she had the perfect fiancé? Her heart didn’t race. Their relationship was too predictable. Even dressed up like this, even hiding behind a mask, she felt nothing.
She glanced around the hall half-heartedly and then slipped out to the balcony to escape the crowded room.
The cool night air would help calm her overheated emotions, she thought.
As she stepped onto the balcony, the sound of water from the fountain reached her ears. Finding the most secluded spot, she finally felt like she could breathe again.
“Idiot, Damian. Where did you go?”
Leaving his fiancée alone and disappearing like that. Did he really fly away with those wings on his back? Shirley felt like grabbing the butterfly wings on her own back and tearing them off.
She vividly remembered laughing when people said she and Damian made a perfect pair as they matched their costumes. Now, it all just felt cumbersome and annoying.
When she found Damian, she would tell him she was tired and wanted to go home. Until then, she’d hide here.
Her feet, in high-heeled shoes, were starting to ache. She had insisted on wearing them to avoid looking like a cicada on a tall tree next to Damian. Now she was paying the price for not listening to her mother’s warning about her feet hurting.
“I should’ve listened to Mom.”
Regretting it now was pointless. No, she should’ve just stayed home. Hearing people say how perfect they looked together or how they couldn’t wait for the wedding didn’t bring her any joy.
“Ah…!”
As she walked toward the balcony railing, Shirley suddenly felt her ankle twist and let out a scream. At the same time, her foot slipped, and she lost her balance.
I felt like I was falling.
The railing was far, and there was nothing to grab onto. It was only a matter of time before I would collapse. Shirley tightly closed her eyes.
“…”
Contrary to her expectation of falling in an unsightly manner, she found herself suspended in mid-air. No, to be precise, she was held in someone’s arms.
At the very moment she was about to fall, a savior had reached out their arm.
Shirley cautiously opened her eyes. She saw a gloved hand firmly holding her, and as she lifted her head, she saw a man wearing a pitch-black mask.
Unlike the half-masks she and Damian wore, this mask completely covered the man from the top of his head to his chin, excellently concealing his identity. And at the same time… it was eerie.
The man didn’t reveal a single inch of his skin, from his face to the tips of his fingers.
As they locked eyes and she blinked a few times, her half-lying body was suddenly lifted up.
“Ah.”
As she straightened up, Shirley realized that the man was quite tall. His imposing presence was amplified by his full-body outfit, the mask, and his height. Moreover.
[Are you alright?]
“…”
Shirley flinched at the sudden sound of a foreign language. The unfamiliar accent and words. But she could guess what it meant.
It was the language of the Reichen Empire.
Though speaking it was difficult, she had reached a level where she could understand and interpret everyday conversations without much trouble, so she could easily understand what the man was saying.
“Uh, well…”
Shirley quickly racked her brain to recall the Reichen language.
[I’m fine. Thank you.]
At her awkwardly spoken words, the man nodded his head. Fortunately, it seemed he had understood. However, further conversation was impossible. While she could comprehend his words, she didn’t have the skill to fluently speak a foreign language.
[You understood what I said?]
“Ah, well, yes, no—”
The man’s low laughter echoed softly at Shirley’s fumbling response.
[It’s alright. I, too, can understand but am not skilled at speaking.]
“Oh, really?”
Shirley’s eyes widened in surprise.
[How about we each speak in our own language? That is, if you’d be willing to tell me your name.]
“Ah, I’m Shirley,” Shirley quickly replied.
[I’m Seyden. As you might have guessed, I’m from the Reichen Empire.]
“Ah, yes.”
Shirley suddenly wondered if this was the man Amy had been enthusiastically talking about earlier in the lounge.
[I’m here at my uncle’s request, but a crowded place like this doesn’t seem to suit me very well.]
“Ah, yes. Me too.”
The conversation continued smoothly, each speaking in their own language. Shirley found it both strange and oddly amusing.
[But it seems Miss Shirley is the same way.]
“……”
At the man’s sharp observation, Shirley was left speechless.
