My Ex-Fiancée Is the Female Lead in the Romance Novel

4 – Prom (3)

“Older brother, where has your fiancé gone?”

As I was sipping a drink in the corner of the banquet hall, Isis approached me and started talking to me.

After Seria finished her dance, she suddenly wanted to rest and went to the resting room reserved for the family. It was strange that she lost her stamina pretty quickly after hitting her, but she seemed to be having a hard time with her legs shaking a little bit anyway, so she sent me off to rest.

I was able to answer Isis only after I passed all the drinks in my throat.

“I went to the break room because I was tired.”

“Oh. I’ve been in the break room until now, but I don’t think I’ve seen my fiancé…”

Perhaps the resting room that Isis visited was a general resting room open to all nobles. However, since the place Lia went to was a lounge exclusively for the duke, I corrected her misunderstanding.

“There is a common resting room, and there is a separate resting room for dukes.”

Then Isis answered me with a surprised expression.

“Wow… Certainly high-ranking nobles are different. Give them those privileges.”

“Yes.”

Come to think of it, was the family of Isis a noble family? Clearly, in my memory, Isis was a commoner girl. It’s just that we had a lot of money and we lived in the wealthy village where we used to live, so we came to know each other.

“Isis, where did you come from?”

“I am Viscount Serrington. Years ago his father purchased a title from a fallen nobleman.”

As expected, my memory was correct.

“Maybe it’s because you’re changing your birth… Expensive is really expensive.”

Of course. The empire still has a class system based on five ranks, so it does not happen in the empire that the status of aristocrats is sold at a bargain price, as in the late Joseon Dynasty.

“Still, I am glad that I can meet you again. Honestly, when I went up to the capital then, I thought I would never see you again.”

“Yes, I did not expect to meet you again.”

Looking down, the crown of Isis caught her eyes. Because Isis is so short for her age, I, as a man, could capture the entire top of her head at a glance.

Once upon a time I pet Isis quite a bit.

As I suddenly remembered the past, I put my hand on Isis’s head.

“Brother? What are you doing… Ah!”

As I stroked her head, Isis reacted furiously and turned away from me.

“This will ruin her hair! If you’re going to do it, please be a little more kind.”

Are you saying it’s okay if you gently stroke it?

As I was trying to understand what she was saying, Isis reached out to me and said.

“You didn’t dance with me earlier. Let’s dance together now.”

I felt that her face turned a little red when she asked me that.

* * *

“Ria. Are you here now?”

“Cesar.”

Lea called my name once and stared at Isis, who was seated next to me. Ordinary women would get scared and run away if Leah glanced at her or called her name, but Isis was different.

As Lia glared at herself, she started glaring at her Lia too. It was a boldness that was hard to think of as the daughter of a country viscount family, a family that had been a commoner before and bought the title.

Lia must have been taken aback by her attitude as well.

“Lia, did you have a good rest?”

“Yes. Cesar, you look a little tough.”

“Huh?”

What does that mean? The moment I ponder for a moment to understand the meaning of Lia’s words, the ballroom begins to shake.

Because the calm waltz that was originally playing stopped and another song started playing.

And the identity of the song…

“His Majesty the Emperor, His Highness Alan and His Highness Phlox are entering!”

It was ‘Viva el so’, a song that symbolizes the imperial family.

* * *

The current emperor has four children.

There is the 1st prince born from the empress, the 2nd prince born from the 1st empress, the 3rd prince from a maid, and the 4th princess born from an Asian slave.

However, only the first and second princes are actually recognized as children of the emperor. That’s why only the first and second princes show their faces at the ball.

Of course, the other two can come to the ballroom if they want, but they both know that it will be difficult for them to experience good things if they come out, so they shut themselves in their palaces and hold their breath.

When the two princes arrive at the ballroom, people begin to split into two groups. Two groups of people lined up on the side of the second prince, and two groups of people on the side of the first prince, and a few stayed by the emperor’s side, but the number was insignificant.

Of course, Seria and I are not attached to either side, and the aristocrats who have spent their entire lives in provinces that are not involved in politics at all are showing signs of not adapting to this situation.

As if to prove their feelings, I heard Isis muttering to me in a small voice from the side.

“Brother, there seems to be a strange situation…”

As the nobles split in two, the face of the emperor in between came into my field of vision. Now, he was staring at the front with an expressionless expression on his face, as if nothing had happened to him being ignored.

On the contrary, the faces of the ministers who were guarding the side looked even more indignant.

After a while, the two groups naturally began to blend together. Since neither of us can sit still and sip drinks forever, I suggested that they move somewhere.

“Then, let’s go out into the garden. If you stay here for nothing, trouble can happen.”

Knowing that Liadona and herself were the people that the 1st and 2nd princes needed to attract the most in order to solidify her succession structure, she seemed to be thinking of avoiding the position.

“Troublesome? What?”

Isis, of course, didn’t understand at all and followed us as we quickly walked out of the ballroom.

* * *

Seria was relieved to have finally separated from Cesar. She spent so much time walking around her garden that she almost couldn’t make it to the time she had promised with the second prince.

Cesar said he was suddenly busy with something, and if he hadn’t left the palace first, he would have had to make an excuse that he was sick like before.

But Seria couldn’t help but question. As far as she knows, Cesar has kept this secret from her and there is no need for her to go.

Since they have known each other since they were young, and the families are in close contact with each other, when something urgent happens in the family of the Marquis of Lombardy, they naturally know about it themselves. But she never heard anything.

Hiding her uneasy feeling in her heart, she stepped out without hesitation on the terrace covered by her curtains.

“Lady Argenta, you are here.”

“Meet the little sun.”

Going inside, she ran into the second prince whom she had glimpsed earlier in the ballroom.

“You must have heard the story from the Duke.”

“Yes. Prince.”

Then, the 2nd prince continued with an expression that he did not understand.

“I still don’t understand why the hell I have to do this. You just need to support me to the extent that it doesn’t show too much…”

“My father must have a will.”

Actually, she didn’t really understand either. She thought that everything the second prince said was true, but she didn’t bother to say it outside her mouth.

“Young lady has a fiance, too. Perhaps, after this work, the marriage will be broken off. I remember the two of them getting along pretty well.”

“He’ll understand these little things. Because he’s a nicer person than anyone else…”

Then she cut off her words with a laugh that the 2nd prince found absurd.

“If you understand these things, it would be called Hogu, not a good person.”

After Seria was silent for a while, the 2nd prince hugged her small body.

“I don’t really like this kind of artificial act of affection… but the young lady agreed, so I’ll ask for your understanding for a while.”

At first, Seria struggled as if she was surprised, but then she thought it would be over in a while and left her body to the second prince. She was the first woman to be held in the arms of a man other than Cesar. But her feeling wasn’t that special.

Rather, it is a sense that reminds me of when she was hugged by Cesar whenever I met her in the past.

“Yes, you’d rather think of me as a Lombardian style.”

As soon as she said that, the 2nd prince lifted Seria’s body and turned her angle.

“I have made arrangements with the reporters in advance. Maybe when they’re taking pictures, at this angle, they’ll look like they’re kissing.”

After hearing her words and looking at her surroundings, she strangely felt that someone was looking at her.

Tomorrow morning, César will see this too. This magically printed scene will soon be printed and spread throughout the capital. Seria looked at this picture and thought about what Cesar would do.

Are you going to run straight to me? Or would you rather be groaning in the mansion alone?

“I will stop here. It’s a bit like going out right away, so let’s wait a little while and then go out separately.”

“…Yes.”

It was not a very pleasant night for Seria. However, it might have been a relatively good night compared to the nights she had to go through.