Chapter 91: The Ballroom
Evelia, dressed in her elegant gown, sat properly in the carriage. The skirt of the dress was so long and wide that it completely covered the seat, so she didn’t dare to move much, worried she might accidentally dirty it.
Armand sat quietly across from her. He was calm and relaxed, unlike Evelia, who looked a little stiff. He crossed one leg over the other and rested his hands on his knee.
He had been staring at Evelia the whole time, but the moment their eyes met, he realized that staring like that wasn’t very polite. He quickly turned his gaze away, a bit embarrassed, and looked out the window instead at the people on the street.
Because the public celebration had already started, the streets were full of noise and excitement.
There were a lot of people, but not so many that the carriage couldn’t move forward. After all, this carriage had the royal crest on it. No one dared to block the way, and everyone respectfully stepped aside.
Whoosh—Boom!
As they passed by a firework stand, a small firework shot into the sky and exploded with a loud pop. Evelia instinctively looked toward the light. The colorful glow reflected on her face.
“Do you like fireworks?”
Armand tilted his head slightly as he looked at her watching the sky.
“…They're okay.”
She had seen the opening fireworks from the top of the clock tower. But back then, the heavy tension in the air made her feel breathless.
Now, even though this firework wasn’t as grand as that first one, in the small space of the carriage, Evelia actually felt a rare sense of peace.
Maybe... it wasn’t because of the fireworks.
“There will be another fireworks show later tonight,” Armand said. “It’ll be even more amazing than the opening one. Want to go?”
Evelia looked over at Armand when she heard his voice. He was sitting properly across from her, the soft light shining on his warm smile. For a moment, Evelia’s eyes stayed on his face.
“I want to go.”
It didn’t matter where. She just wanted to say yes to Armand’s invitation. Whether it was a ballroom or a fireworks show, as long as Armand would be there, she wanted to be there too.
“Okay. Leave it to me.”
Armand nodded and turned to look out the window again at the fireworks. But before long, he wasn’t looking at the sky anymore, he was looking at Evelia’s reflection in the window.
Sigh…
Armand leaned his head lightly against the window and sighed to himself.
These eyes of mine… really can’t behave.
All the way to the royal palace, Armand’s attention stayed on Evelia. And Evelia, who was very sensitive to being watched, could clearly feel his eyes on her the whole time.
She had done something that might attract attention, and she hadn’t handled it very neatly. So her heart was tense the whole ride. She didn’t know what Armand was thinking as he kept looking at her.
Luckily, Evelia had a perfect poker face. Her expression didn’t change at all, so Armand, who was in a good mood, didn’t notice anything odd. They made it through the ride smoothly.
The carriage swayed gently. Normally, Armand might’ve already started dozing off,
but not today. Today, he was wide awake.
As the royal palace gates came into view, he softly called out to the girl across from him, who was also wide awake.
“Eve, we’re here.”
“……”
Evelia silently looked at the grand and shining palace in front of her.
If it were any ordinary maid, she would’ve been overwhelmed with excitement by the sight of the kingdom’s most magnificent building.
But Evelia was different.
Not only did she not have that emotion called “excitement,” the palace was not unfamiliar to her at all.
While the House of Nightingale hadn’t gotten bold enough to try an assassination inside the palace, Evelia’s training had included lessons about the layout of the palace, just in case.
As for when that knowledge might be used… that would depend on the second prince’s plans.
Evelia had learned from the second prince what each room in the palace was used for, where people would be at different times of day, and how the secret passages and traps worked.
But he had only told her most of it. Even if the second prince trusted Evelia, he would never tell her everything.
Click.
The carriage door was gently opened. Armand got out first and stood by the door, holding out his hand to help Evelia down.
The appearance of the Captain of the Royal Knights immediately caught everyone’s attention. This man, who had never brought a dance partner before, had suddenly shown up with a woman.
Everyone around turned to look at them. The noble ladies leaned forward, eager to know who this mysterious young woman in the carriage was.
They gathered in small groups, whispering guesses about which family’s daughter could possibly be Armand’s partner.
But the girl who stepped out… was someone none of them recognized.
Evelia slowly stepped down, holding Armand’s hand. Everyone outside turned to stare at them in unison.
Evelia hated loud crowds and the way people stared, especially when all their attention focused on her.
She instinctively felt annoyed and took a deep breath through her nose to try to calm her nerves.
“Don’t pay attention to them.”
Armand patted the hand Evelia had linked through his arm. He leaned down a little and whispered in her ear.
“Just think of them as silly deer who pop their heads out at the slightest noise.”
After hearing that, Evelia glanced around. The people really did look like curious animals craning their necks to see what was going on. Armand’s comparison was strange, but also very accurate.
“Captain, you’ve arrived!”
Since this was a royal ballroom, the gate was guarded by members of the Knights as well. Although it was supposed to be their day off for the festival, many of them had taken the post anyway, for triple pay.
“Everything going well?” Armand asked.
“Of course, Captain! Oh, by the way, His Highness the Crown Prince said that if you showed up, you should go see him.”
“Got it.”
Armand nodded. He still wore his usual smile, but at the mention of the Crown Prince, his expression subtly changed for a moment.
Evelia noticed too. This was probably the closest she had ever been to the Crown Prince.
If the second prince had actually given her an assassination order, she might’ve found the perfect chance tonight. But clearly, the second prince wasn’t ready to go that far yet.
So Evelia simply kept quiet, silently holding on to Armand’s arm.
Since Evelia had never learned formal etiquette, she didn’t know that she was supposed to keep some distance when walking arm-in-arm with a man in a formal setting.
Armand didn’t point this out, either. He let her stay close to him. So close that, to others, they didn’t look like a pair coming to a ballroom. They looked more like a couple on their honeymoon.
“Then, Captain and Miss, I wish you both a wonderful evening!”
The knight guarding the gate gave a small bow and stepped aside to let them enter the ballroom.
“Is that the captain? Hey, stop eating. He’s here!”
“He brought a girl this time! That girl’s really pretty. Whose daughter is she?”
“Never seen her before~”
This was the Knights' Hall, and Armand, as their top commander, naturally caused a stir when he arrived.
The mood here was a lot more relaxed than in the hall for nobles. The knights, dressed neatly for the ball, happily welcomed their captain.
At the same time, they all looked curiously at Evelia, hoping to figure out who she was and if there was a story between her and Armand.
They were full of energy and excitement, but they also knew not to make things difficult for a lady at a ballroom.
So they focused their teasing and questions on Armand instead of bombarding Evelia, which she was secretly grateful for.
On the second-floor balcony not far away, the second prince seemed to be speaking with someone. Out of the corner of his eye, he casually glanced at the group of knights gathering downstairs.
At first, he didn’t care much about what the knights were doing, he was only here to speak with the person in charge of the ballroom and give some instructions.
But before he realized it, his eyes had already stopped on that pink figure below.