Dear Contract Husband, I Didn't Know You Were Like This? - Chapter 32
“Shall we start with a bath then?”
She was led to a bath that smelled differently from yesterday, adorned with flower petals on the surface, suggesting the addition of scented oils.
Despite the cold, soaking in the warm water was comforting enough to make her think she could fall asleep right there.
“We will wash your hair as well.”
The maids wouldn’t let her be.
After diligently combing her hair, her usually curly locks straightened impressively.
Considering her usual frizz, it was quite an accomplishment.
“What exactly is happening today?”
Maya, who had only been thinking about breakfast, couldn’t guess what Tristan had prepared.
“Shall we go to your room now?”
Once escorted to her room, Maya changed her clothes. The dress suited her figure more than she expected.
“The Grand Duke’s taste is remarkable. It was prepared in haste, yet it suits Your Ladyship perfectly.”
The light green dress exuded elegance, with ruby decorations that perfectly matched her eye color.
“I never thought I was suited for such things.”
It felt like a dream.
But the dream didn’t end there.
Cosmetics she had never touched in her life were applied to her face, tapping, spreading, and rubbing.
The sensation of having her face painted with colors was novel.
Standing in front of the mirror, Maya felt like a lady about to attend a ball, embodying an image she had long dismissed as impossible.
“Let’s go together,” Robert suggested, leading her to the castle’s great hall.
Despite the early hour, the hall was already brightly lit.
In the center of the ballroom, Tristan, now in his adult form, was waiting in a pristine white suit.
“You may enter,” Robert said with a content smile.
“You’ve arrived.”
“…What is all this?”
“This is my gift to you, Maya.”
“This dress?”
“No, I’m talking about this moment.”
After Robert closed the door, Tristan played some music.
“Didn’t I say so when we first spoke?”
The sky, still dark before dawn, resembled the evening, marking the start of the grandest party.
“Though the music comes from an old phonograph and there’s no one here but us, I thought we could still capture the feeling.”
Tristan took Maya’s hand and kissed the back of it in a polite greeting.
“It’s for the debutante ball you never got to attend.”
A memory neither Maya nor Tristan could have.
Tristan’s gift was a reenactment of a moment and a memory she never got to experience.
***
The chandelier in the ballroom shone dazzlingly. The waltz, a blend of piano and violin melodies, was lively.
It was as if it had been meticulously planned, fitting together beautifully.
Maya bit her lip.
She didn’t shed tears but felt something bubbling up inside her.
She understood what it meant for the thought behind a gift to be important.
The giver’s heart mattered just as much.
“How could you give such a gift…”
“I’m glad you liked it.”
How did Tristan know about the debutante ball she always longed for?
Had she made it that obvious? As Tristan led her to the center of the ballroom, he murmured,
“By listening to someone’s words, you can see who they truly are.”
Tristan remembered.
During their first time meeting, the way Maya referred to herself.
‘I’m practically unknown, having not even had a debutante ball.’
‘Practically unknown and useless.’
So, he prepared it.
“Did you know, Maya?”
He wanted to show her that her worth shouldn’t be measured by conventional standards.
“I also never had the common debutante ball.”
To show her that such standards were unnecessary anyway.
“And yet, here we are, living our lives.”
It was actually something he wanted to say to himself.
Tristan saw himself in Maya.
Someone who, despite appearing fine, sometimes gets caught in the self-loathing of a curse.
“Don’t think of yourself as useless.”
It was the encouragement he wanted to hear.
“Everyone is born for a reason.”
Because he thought the consolation he wanted might also be what Maya needed.
Especially on her birthday.
Maya firmly grasped Tristan’s hand.
A first-time experience.
Words she heard for the first time.
“Tristan, I’ve been thinking.”
Maya’s eyes sparkled.
“Yes?”
“I think the biggest gift I’ve received this birthday is you.”
Otherwise, how could so many good things happen?
‘I’ll serve loyally and leave quietly.’
Hoping a perfect woman would appear for the perfect Tristan and planning her exit.
She felt Tristan’s gaze, intensely observing her.
Caught off guard, Maya confessed,
“And, this is my first time dancing. Please watch your feet.”
While she wished he would just let it slide, Tristan was too perceptive.