Chapter 61: Live To Sienna Pt.61
“Your Royal Highness, First Princess, please tell me. Whether the story is true or not, it’s not something we should listen to and think about ourselves.”
Sienna talked helplessly at their urging.
“It is said that a half-hearted girl from a family that owns large farmland in the south fell in love with a minstrel from the Castro Empire. I don’t know if the minstrel’s singing was beautiful or because of his glossy brown hair and dark brown eyes. They sang each other’s beauty day and night for days, but there was a wall between them that they couldn’t cross.”
“Oh, my God!”
“Sure…”
“You can’t ask for a single song today, can you?”
“It’s a debut banquet for the First Princess, but it’s ridiculous that the main character isn’t offered a dance.”
There was a relative sense of superiority in her face, though Sienna spoke in a tone of pity. She had been prepared for today, but she felt ashamed. Sienna struggled to smile with an indifferent face.
It was then. The voice of a clean man penetrated between them.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you during the conversation, but…”
It was a footer in a white tailcoat. He asked them to forgive him with a soft smile. The aristocratic wives looked at Arya as he greeted her. The Empress was, of course, a prickly face.
Normally, he would have boasted of his son, but the conversation just happened to have been inappropriate. Now his appearance was like giving evidence to the story of a bastard with brown hair and brown eyes.
Sienna avoided Valore’s gaze. It is to embarrass Empress Arya, but she is also embarrassed by her own self. Empress Arya hated it, but her feelings for Valore were not. On the contrary, there was a sense of regret.
Valore reached out to her without noticing Sienna’s heart.
“Would you like to dance to a song if you don’t mind?”
“What?”
“As Carl can’t attend today, can I have the honor of dancing with Lady Sienna?”
The women around her roared, and Arya sang to Valore in a cool tone.
“Valore!”
He gave Sienna an eye, pretending not to hear his mother’s call. He seemed to say that he would stand like this forever if she didn’t allow it.
“I’m not good at dancing…”
Sienna wanted to refuse anyway. She was worried about her steps and she felt uncomfortable about what happened earlier.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m a lot of trouble in dancing, too.”
She flew like an arrow, unable to bear the eye of the striking surroundings, and overlapped her hands on Valore’s hands. Valore led her hand toward the hall. The two stood side by side to look at those who were dancing and had a desire to dance together when the next song started.
“Hah.”
A deep sigh came from Sienna.
“Do you hate dancing with me so much?”
She made an excuse when she realized that she had behaved rudely to Valore.
“No, I’m not. I’m nervous to see so many people dancing together.”
It was not because she didn’t like him, but just because of the tension that she had to dance.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure I can dance right between the cracks where everyone is moving in one movement. Mrs. Minyu Kitrol, who says I can’t keep up with imperial etiquette dance classes, thinks of me so poorly that she can lift up both hands and feet in defeat. During those times, It was a mess in a quiet space without anyone else, and I think my poor dancing skills will get more attention if I’m in a crowd as such.”
“It’s okay because no one’s going to realize a little mistake from Sienna.”
‘It wouldn’t be a small mistake.’
As the song neared its end, Sienna became tense and stiff. Valore whispered softly in her nervous ear.
“Don’t be nervous. We’re going to have a great performance like our ensemble at that time.”
His smile was quite believable, but not all of her tension went away. It was when the song that was playing was over and a short break was given until the next one.
“Your Royal Highness, the First Prince is entering.”
The gatekeeper announced the appearance of a figure that people had never expected.
Carl descended along the red-carpeted stairs. The sight of him wearing a black lotus suit decorated with gold wine fascinated everyone. Some were completely blinded by his beauty, but the question of how he turned out to be so fine physically was being brought up everywhere as he was supposed to be treated near the border with a serious injury right now.
In particular, it has grown in grandeur among male aristocrats. There were many predictions and worried voices about the future of Prince Carl as he appeared here now.
Carl came straight to Sienna, ignoring the gaze of such people. Sienna and Valore were still holding each other’s hands. Carl said, approaching Valore,
“I’m sorry, but won’t you give me this song? Still, it’s my wife’s debut day, and I can’t leave my first ballroom dance to her with someone else.”
Valore moved Sienna’s hand to Carl’s palm with a look of regret at his words.
“Then have a good time, older brother.”
He greeted the two and disappeared among the crowd. The back of Valore somehow looked bitter.
“I have good skills. Did Valore take over while I was away?”
“Take over what. What kind of profanity are you talking about?”
“If not, you don’t have to stare at Valore like that. I’m in front of you like this right now.”
“I just mean, Lord Valore looked kind of down…”
“That’s funny. Wasn’t it you who said that you’d take revenge on Empress Arya. But her blood tie looks pitiful to you?”
“What wrongdoings does Valore have? He doesn’t have any ambition, but I feel sorry as to how he’s swept around by the hands of Queen Arya.”
“There’s no man without ambition. They just can’t reveal their ambitions because of their poor abilities.”
“Yes, Sir Carl is quite ambitious and he’s also big at that. It’s not that big. No one has a greater dream than Carl’s ambition to become an emperor.”
“No. It’s not an ambition for me to be emperor. It’s not a dream or hope, it’s my right to have and find. So, I shouldn’t describe my desire to be an emperor as ambition.”
There was nothing wrong with the remark, but it was quite brazen to say it himself.
“Your costume today…”
Sienna was nervous at the thought of what to say. For the aristocratic women, the emperor Rioli, empress Dijane, and how she stretched out her absurd facts on what she mentioned earlier, made her feel embarrassed for having to wear a black dress that symbolizes prostitution in front of Carl. She didn’t want to hear him say he was a whore through his mouth.
“It’s like a black swan among a flock of ducks.”
Come to think of it, she saw a lot of girls in white dresses in the banquet hall today. A clean white cloth was harder to get than a cloth dyed in other colors It was an unusual case for her to be in a white dress at her wedding. White dresses weren’t made or tailored that well.
Surely not, had he matched his attire with her dress and worn a suit matching hers, had he? If that were to happen, it would really be worth seeing the face of Queen Arya’s reaction.
“I’ll take it as a compliment. Why the hell are you here?”
As Sienna was about to question Carl, she heard a sound signaling the beginning of a new song. Carl pulled her close to him and told her to put her foot on top of his foot.
Sienna’s shoes were carefully overlaid over his shoes. With the music, Carl held Sienna in his arms and began to move vigorously.
“Why the hell did you show up here?”
“It’s not easy to put you on my feet and dance. Can you postpone your nagging so I can concentrate?”
“…”
Carl smiled contentedly as Sienna closed her mouth. They danced and immediately returned to the Palace of Sienna. Although Sienna was the main character of the banquet, it was also the last of the banquet anyway, and she was not in the mood to be in the banquet hall any longer.
It was the first time Carl and Sienna were married and spent the night in the same room, and when the atmosphere of Sienna was chilly, Hain looked at her. Carl smiled unexpectedly and went into the room as if it were familiar.
“Do you want me to water you two for a bath together?”
“No, it’s okay. There’s no need for that.”