The moment I confirmed it was him, my eyes widened.
“Leon, brother?”
“You’re alone right now, aren’t you.”
His face looked angry at the sight of me entering alone, despite having a fiancé.
A moment later, he asked in a deliberately calm tone.
“Why didn’t you contact me?”
“Because it’s obvious I’d end up entangled in a scandal with you.”
A complicated emotion passed across Leon’s face. But he quickly hid his expression and placed the mask in my hand over my face.
“You think I’d care about something like that?”
“……”
“Come on, let’s go in.”
Leon escorted me naturally.
“Two guests have entered the Rose Mansion!”
At a masquerade ball, it’s customary not to reveal one’s identity. That’s why we didn’t expose our identities when entering.
However, wearing a mask alone didn’t truly conceal who we were. Each family’s distinct color was never fully hidden by the mask.
As I stepped into the hall, I locked eyes with a familiar pair of green eyes.
It was Cedric, wearing a mask similar to mine. As if he already knew I’d come in with Leon, a sense of relief flickered in his eyes.
‘So Cedric was the one who told Leon.’
I’d felt it before, but it still seemed like Cedric saw me as a naive little girl.
I really was fine on my own, though.
Even if the family’s stance was different from mine.
“The man beside her isn’t the Duke, right?”
At that moment, I heard whispering around me. It wasn’t loud enough to be bothersome, yet I heard it all too clearly.
But seriously, it’s so unfair.
I did everything I could…!
Ricardo was the one who caused this engagement mess in the first place.
Trying to hold back my resentment, I must’ve unconsciously let the mood drop. Leon casually struck up a conversation.
“Don’t listen to them.”
“I’m doing my best to ignore it, doesn’t it show?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Maybe I failed at keeping a neutral face. But I was already covering half of it, so shouldn’t that be enough?
Perhaps I looked worn out, because Leon guided me to a secluded spot at the ball.
I took a deep breath and sat on the sofa. As the tension eased, my surroundings gradually came into view.
‘Didn’t they say the theme this time was roses?’
Maybe that’s why roses could be seen throughout the ballroom. The balls I’d attended before had always felt solemn and serious.
Just thinking about them was suffocating.
But today’s masquerade felt like it had shed some of that formality.
Perhaps out of consideration for the masked guests, the ballroom was dim. Only the lights from artifacts on the ceiling illuminated the space.
“Bianca.”
Leon crouched in front of me and looked up. His face was serious, like he’d made a decision.
“From now on, feel free to ask me for help.”
“……”
“You promised me once, remember?”
At his next words, I blinked vacantly.
……If it was in the past.
Back then, I wasn’t as close to Cedric, so Leon had taken it upon himself to play the role of an older brother.
He hesitated for a moment. Then he flashed that distinct, refreshing smile of his.
“I’ll stay by your side in the way you want me to. Whatever that may be.”
He was a good person. Almost too good for me.
“You’re hesitating because it feels like you’re using me, right?”
I couldn’t answer. Because he was right.
“I don’t care. Do as you wish.”
“I don’t want to go that far.”
“Bianca, I just want you to be happy.”
Leon continued in an even voice.
“From the moment I first saw you crying, I’ve been thinking that.”
“……”
“If using me is hard, then think of it simply. I said I’d become your family, didn’t I?”
The day I first met Leon.
Back then, I hadn’t yet adjusted to this world and even avoided meeting people.
And to someone like me, Leon had said—
〈If you need a brother, I’ll be one for you.〉
He overlapped with the Leon from that day.
“……You’ll get swept up in pointless scandals. Because of me.”
“If it’s with you, I don’t mind being caught in a scandal.”
Leon gave a mischievous smile.
“Don’t worry. No noble lives quietly in society. Whether it’s good rumors or bad ones, being talked about by people isn’t always a bad thing.”
He lifted one corner of his mouth as if to ask, don’t you think?
“Let’s go. Let’s become the center of the social scene.”
Right, come to think of it, the only families that made no noise in society were insignificant ones.
After hearing Leon’s words, it really did feel like none of this was a big deal.
Even though it probably wasn’t true.
* * *
While Leon stepped away to greet others, I was left alone, anxiously checking the time in a corner seat.
I’d heard that Peril would be attending too, but he was nowhere to be seen.
I couldn’t tell if he was in disguise and I simply didn’t recognize him, or if he hadn’t come at all.
At that moment, I heard a murmur from somewhere. I turned my gaze in that direction without thinking.
“……”
I saw Idette, wearing the exact same dress as me.
So it’s come to this.
This probably wasn’t the kind of rumor Leon had hoped for.
The ballroom was so dark that only the artifacts served as light, which made Idette’s hair look similar in color to mine.
‘Good thing I tied my hair up.’
Just as I expected, Erkishian had come to check what I was wearing.
Similar accessories, and a dress that clearly cost more than mine.
The wavy hairstyle I had worn earlier.
Backed by the wealth of the Imperial Family, Idette looked truly stunning.
From every angle, it felt like I was the one copying her.
“……Ha.”
I let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
Before I knew it, a few onlookers had started whispering about our outfits.
“……Who copied whom, I wonder?”
“Oh dear, how ridiculous. Either way, both of them must be embarrassed now.”
This is why I didn’t want to come!
Just as my mind grew tangled, Idette spotted me from afar and approached with a beaming smile.
“Lady Bianca!”
She called out and rushed over, but stopped short the moment she saw my dress.
Wow, what was I even supposed to say to this?
My vision spun.
Voices around us grew louder and louder.
Some said the dress clearly suited Idette better, others doubted that the granddaughter of a marquis would ever copy someone else’s gown.
Ugh, seriously, how could I possibly win against the female lead?
Idette couldn’t hide her confusion and fidgeted nervously. I was boiling with anger, but the true culprit behind all this—Erkishian—was nowhere to be seen.
……What a coward.
“Lady Bianca.”
Idette called out to me in a trembling voice. In this situation, even I would’ve mistaken it for her copying me.
“Where is His Highness?”
The thought that I was fitted to be kidnapped in her place made me feel like I might take it out on her.
It was a truly petty thought, but still.
Idette flinched at my words. Then, in a flustered voice, she spoke.
“If Erkishian sees this, he’ll get angry.”
Who exactly is angry at whom here?
“Th-there’s a new outfit in the dressing room. If you change into that, you can avoid his gaze.”
“I’m sorry, Lady Idette. But that’s not what your lover would want.”
I continued, my expression cold and stiff.
“Because this situation is exactly what your lover wanted.”
Idette’s eyes widened, but she quickly shook her head.
“I understand that you want to avoid this situation, but I don’t think it’s right to drag Erkishian into this.”
She seemed to think I was lying.
“Ha.”
I didn’t want to waste words on her, so I turned my head away.
“Idette, come here.”
At that moment, I heard Erkishian’s voice. He now appeared in the ballroom in full crown prince demeanor, completely different from earlier.
“Since it’s a fine day, I’d like to let this unpleasant matter end here.”
As Erkishian spoke, music began to fill the hall.
“Oh dear, it seems you have no partner.”
Erkishian tilted his head at an angle, his tone oppressive, as if punishing me for refusing his proposal.
And in that moment—
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Ricardo appeared out of nowhere and seized me.