Chapter 17
It still felt as though those red eyes, as if they could see right through every last part of her, were fixed on her back.
Unsettled by the feeling, Eleonore fled the spot in a daze.
She brushed off the oily voices of the men who occasionally tried to speak to her,
and simply let the silver shoes beneath her dress carry her wherever her gaze happened to fall.
Eleonore darted around the hall for quite some time.
At last, exhausted, she stopped on the second floor, in the passage lined with balconies beside a long corridor.
Beyond the splendid curtains covering the balconies, there was a railing overlooking the hall.
Eleonore leaned against it and let out a long breath, her ragged breathing finally easing.
Huff.
Today… Hah. I’m really getting a proper cardio workout.
Her breathing gradually began to grow smoother.
The rise and fall of her chest beneath the pure-white dress gradually settled, too.
Only then did Eleonore begin to notice the scene around her.
A huge chandelier hung right before the railing where she was leaning, adorned with dazzling crystals.
It shone over the vast hall from what seemed like close enough to touch.
Below, men and women laughed and chatted to the gentle party music played by the orchestra.
Eleonore rested her arms on the railing and studied the scene below.
Men approaching women with airs of self-importance.
Women nodding along to those men’s words, wagging their invisible tails with abandon.
And herself, standing above them and watching in a daze.
The scene surrounding her gave Eleonore a strange sense of déjà vu.
It was as if she were back at that bar for singles, where she’d gone for the first time after a friend from school talked her into it.
A lively space filled with the mingled voices of men and women caught up in the excitement.
Back then, Seo Juha hadn’t been able to fit into the atmosphere. He’d taken a step back and watched from a distance, just like this.
And now, as Eleonore looked down over the splendid hall, she felt as though she, too, had been left alone and cut off from the rest of the world.
Well, I guess you and I are alike, Eleonore.
Wearing Eleonore’s lovely face, Seo Juha gave a wry laugh and carefully straightened from where he’d been leaning against the railing.
That was enough reminiscing.
Now she had to find somewhere to hide from the men’s eyes again.
After Julian made his move, several men had tried to speak to Eleonore.
Of course, Eleonore, who was completely overwhelmed, had coolly ignored them.
While she’d paused to catch her breath, she’d noticed a few men below the stairs watching her cautiously.
Her sky-blue eyes wandered around before settling on the splendid curtains hanging beneath the balcony arches.
Hmm… If I draw the curtains and hide on a balcony, nothing like what happened earlier will happen again, right?
Besides, I’d like to get some fresh air.
Pleased with her clever idea, Eleonore smiled to herself as she walked down the long corridor.
She began searching for a balcony with no one in it, bringing her ear close to the long curtains at each one to listen for signs of life.
But Eleonore—or rather, Seo Juha—didn’t know.
Reading web novels was Seo Juha’s only hobby,
but since he was a man, he hadn’t been all that familiar with romance fantasy, especially the female-oriented kind.
He’d only read the prologue and bookmarked this novel because it was by his favorite author, not because it was romance fantasy.
So he had no idea what might be happening beyond the curtains drawn across the balconies,
or what might be going on behind the bushes in the dark garden outside.
The platinum-blonde young lady, her face full of anticipation, had reached the end of the corridor before she knew it.
At every balcony she’d checked along the way, she’d faintly heard the voices of men and women flirting.
Only one balcony remained.
Naturally, its curtains were drawn just like all the others. But from the outside, there were no shadows, and she couldn’t sense anyone inside.
And this time, she couldn’t hear any voices, either.
Maybe… just in case, though.
Eleonore cautiously slipped her head between the curtains, which were gently pressed together.
And beyond them, Eleonore came face-to-face with…
“… and the barrier… the goblins’ … is acting stran—”
“Daphne, stop!”
A man and a woman speaking to each other in hushed tones, both wearing intensely serious expressions.
At the sudden appearance of platinum-blonde hair, the man and woman inside the balcony stopped talking in surprise.
The unexpected intruder was just as startled.
I couldn’t hear a thing…
If they were talking that loudly, I should’ve been able to hear them…
Looking completely flustered, Eleonore shouted at the two dumbfounded figures.
“I-I’m sorry! Well, you two have a nice time continu—Eek!”
A hand suddenly shot out from beyond the curtain and grabbed Eleonore by her slender arm.
The force was strong enough to pull her straight through the curtains and into the balcony.
The woman who had dragged Eleonore inside wrapped her arms around her slender waist and neck to keep her from escaping.
Her grip was quite strong even through the stiff material of her uniform.
The soft, plush sensation pressing against Eleonore’s back through her dress tickled terribly.
So the voice that came from beyond her red lips sounded far more awkward and undignified than usual.
“W-what are you doing?!”
“That’s what I’d like to ask you, my lady!”
Then the arm tightening around Eleonore’s neck squeezed even harder.
The woman holding Eleonore in her arms answered her undignified outburst in a sharp tone.
“My lady. No, you! Who sent you here, and how much did you overhear—”
“Daphne, why don’t you calm down first?”
The man standing beside them interrupted the woman.
His gentle voice was the exact opposite of the woman’s, which was bristling with hostility.
“M-My lord, this woman was eavesdropping on our conversation—”
“I said, calm down first. Daphne, let the lady go.”
“But—”
“Daphne!”
The atmosphere changed in an instant.
The man’s voice, which had been gentle just a moment ago, transformed immediately.
It was even deeper and more resonant than Julian’s voice earlier.
Eleonore, who had been struggling to escape the woman’s embrace,
and Daphne, who was clutching Eleonore tightly to keep her from getting away,
could only stare dumbfounded at the man’s jet-black eyes.
“Daphne, the lady you’re holding is the youngest daughter of House Béarn. What would someone from the West do with information about the North?”
But as the man continued, his voice had returned to its usual gentleness.
Only then did Daphne let Eleonore go.
Then she bowed deeply to Eleonore, who was straightening her rumpled dress.
“I-I’m sorry, my lady.”
“Cough. Hey! Out of nowhere! Cough. Who just grabs someone by the throat like that?!”
To make Daphne feel even guiltier, Eleonore snapped at her, punctuating her words with a cough.
Daphne still had her head bowed low,
while the man beside her watched Eleonore, grinning to himself as if he found the whole situation rather amusing.
Before long, the man’s gentle voice echoed through the balcony.
“Lady Béarn, well, of course, we—and our Daphne—were in the wrong, but…”
A glint flashed in his black eyes.
The man continued, gazing at the pure, demure girl.
“You do know what it means when the curtains are drawn around a balcony, don’t you?”
At the man’s question, Eleonore innocently asked in return,
“What does it mean?”
At her utterly pure voice and expression,
both Daphne, who had her head bowed low, and the man, who’d been enjoying Eleonore’s reaction, stared at each other in bewilderment.
Of course, a noble young lady who had only just made her debut might be a little naive about such things.
Though things had changed quite a bit these days, there had been a time when innocence was considered a woman’s virtue.
And judging by the rumors they’d heard about House Béarn, her father and older brother doted on their youngest daughter, so it was entirely possible.
Still, even so…
Drawn curtains around a balcony were practically a social convention.
For a grown young lady not to know something even a child in the capital would know…
“You really, really don’t know?”
The man’s black eyes soon began to sparkle with interest.
His smile as he looked at her was rather irritating, so Eleonore raised her voice and answered him.
“That’s right! I don’t know! It was quiet beyond the curtains, and it didn’t look like anyone was there, so I only came in to rest for a moment!”
At Eleonore’s answer, the man approached her with a grin stretching from ear to ear, like a hound that had found its prey.
At last, as the man spoke in a low voice, Eleonore’s pale face began to flush bright red.
“You see, Lady Béarn, when the curtains are drawn around a balcony, it means a man and a woman are enjoying each other’s bodies and the man’s cock—”
“Your Grace! That’s far too explicit!”
At Daphne’s interruption, the man, Grand Duke Dmitri, grumbled as if he’d been unfairly accused.
“But she’s such an innocent young lady that she doesn’t even know about this. I have to put it this way if I want her to understand.”
Though the Grand Duke’s explanation had been cut off halfway, Eleonore wasn’t stupid.
That alone was enough to tell her what kind of outrageous thing she’d just done.
Ah…
So I stuck my head in while they were getting ready to have sex?
Still, Eleonore had lived as a man for twenty-one years.
She was far more accustomed to men’s bodies than women’s, and she naturally began to feel terribly sorry for the man in front of her for the awful thing she’d done.
But the guilt that had begun to well up quickly faded at the man’s next words.
“Well, Lady Béarn, since we’re all here, why don’t the three of us have some fun together? How about joining me and Daphne?”
“N-no, thank you!”
“Aw, don’t be so shy. Your face is red, so you know all about this, don’t you?”
“Aaah, I said no! Hey! Keep your hands off me!”
Dodging the man’s playful hands, Eleonore leaned halfway out through the balcony curtains.
And on the other side, she came face-to-face with someone she never expected to see.
“Eli! I’ve been looking everywhere for you! What on earth are you doing here?”
“F-Father.”
Ah… I’m done for.
At the sight of her father’s face, Eleonore let out a deep sigh.