An Early Engagement - Chapter 29
Instead, she was trapped in his warm, firm embrace, listening only to the pounding of Damian’s heartbeat.
Her mouth felt dry again, and her stomach kept twisting. Was her breathlessness due to being tightly held by Damian, or was it because she had danced so vigorously earlier?
The noisy surroundings suddenly fell silent.
“…They’re gone.”
Damian whispered. The pressure that had been squeezing her body eased. Shirley let out a deep sigh as she freed herself from his embrace.
“Are you okay?”
Damian brushed aside Shirley’s sweat-damp hair and asked. Shirley nodded silently.
“Were you really shocked?”
“……”
Should she call it shock? Of course, she was flustered. But more than that…
“It feels just like that day.”
At Damian’s added remark, Shirley’s body trembled slightly.
“Our coming-of-age ball, remember?”
“Yeah.”
Shirley nodded cautiously. They were both thinking the same thing.
How could she forget that day? It might not be an exaggeration to say that everything started from that day.
“I had no idea Scholph and Sienne were that kind of couple.” As Damian calmly recalled the past, Shirley’s ears burned.
Scholph was the eldest son of the Earl of Ferre, and Sienne was the second daughter of the Baron of Ford.
Both were engaged to others through arranged marriages, yet they shamelessly entangled themselves in the lounge during the coming-of-age ball. And then…
…afterward, they returned separately and danced with their respective fiancés.
Coincidentally, Shirley had witnessed that scene, and Damian had been there with her.
“It was when we went in to look for your earring.”
“In the end, I never found that earring.”
Shirley had been so shocked by the sight of the two rolling around in a frenzy that she completely forgot about the earring, hiding behind the curtain to avoid being noticed by them.
Hiding behind the red velvet curtain, she held her breath, fearing even the slightest sound might give them away, waiting for Scholph and Sienne to finish what they were doing.
Back then, just like now, she had been pressed close to Damian.
Though wrapped in the red curtain, the sounds of the two entangled bodies reached Shirley and Damian in raw, unfiltered detail.
Trapped in that narrow space, pressed against Damian, they had stayed like that for a long time.
“Honestly, we didn’t really need to hide… It wasn’t like we did anything wrong.” Damian chuckled as he spoke.
“But I didn’t want to be caught. Just like earlier.”
What if Scholph and Sienne had known that Damian and Shirley were watching them?
It would have been incredibly awkward for them to be caught cheating on their arranged fiancés by another arranged couple.
“Seems like we ended up watching again, huh?”
Damian’s tone was cynical, as if such things were trivial to him.
“Watching…?”
Shirley stammered, flustered, as she looked at him.
“Yeah, watching. We hid in the dark and saw everything.”
“I-I didn’t see anything. You covered my eyes the whole time.”
“But you still heard it, didn’t you?”
Damian added with a sly smile, causing Shirley to flare up momentarily before biting her lip.
“……”
Even with her ears covered and her eyes shielded, she had definitely seen and heard enough. The scene had vividly imprinted itself in her mind, to the point where it felt even more obscene.
“Shirley.”
“……”
“Shirley?”
“Huh?”
Shirley flinched and looked at him.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.”
Shirley pushed Damian away, who was still blocking her path.
He stepped back as she pushed him, giving her space, and Shirley quickly slipped through the gap.
She had thought the heat from dancing earlier had cooled down, but it felt like an unresolved fire was still rolling around inside her.
She wasn’t a child anymore, nor was she a fool. She repeated to herself that seeing such things meant nothing, that it was nothing at all, as she walked aimlessly.
There was no destination. Right now, she just wanted to get away from Damian.
The scent of roses from the garden still seemed to linger on her body.
“Shirley.”
Damian, who had followed her, grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“I… uh…”
Shirley hesitated, unable to give a straightforward answer. If she said she was just trying to avoid him, he might make that hurt expression again.
“My throat is dry,” she finally said, gesturing to her neck. It was true that her throat was dry, but she had forgotten about it until she used it as an excuse.
“Ah, right. I forgot.” Damian quickly turned and ran off, blaming himself for not remembering.
Watching Damian’s retreating figure, Shirley sighed.
It felt strangely uncomfortable being close to Damian lately. She kept stumbling over her words and her actions felt unnatural.
Before speaking or acting, she found herself overthinking and second-guessing everything. It was an odd change.
As she wandered around the square, pondering this inexplicable feeling, she wondered how much time had passed.
Where did Damian go?
It felt like quite a while had passed, but Damian still hadn’t returned. For someone who just went to get a drink, it was taking an unusually long time.
Shirley turned and ran in the direction Damian had gone. It didn’t take long for her to find him.
Or rather, she found Damian surrounded by a group of women.
“You’re a new face. Are you here traveling?”
A black-haired woman stroked Damian’s arm as she spoke. Her dress was loosely tied, revealing a deep cleavage.
“I saw you dancing earlier. You’re really good. How about the next dance with me?”
A blonde woman leaned in close, whispering into Damian’s ear, her body pressing against his chest.
“How much can you drink?”
Another woman, and then another, all seemed desperate to touch Damian, to press some part of themselves against him as they vied for his attention.
