Man #3 replied in a deep, confident voice, interrupting Man #1. I gave the hand that was proudly extending to me a squeeze.

“You cut your hair, Lacius?!”

“I figured that doing this would increase my odds of winning because it would be difficult for you to find me.”

“Oh, just for that reason?”

“Yes. Getting a day of your time was the most important thing to me.”

God. How am I going to defeat him? A man who speaks like this.

Only I could see the face of the real Lacius as he lifted his half-mask. I moved away from the man wearing a cat mask and joined Lacius on the dance floor.

I wasn’t even curious about the Cat Mask Guy.

“It’s a shame. I liked your long hair.”

“I believe there is magic that can restore it.”

“That’s a relief, then.”

Although Lacius is unbelievably gorgeous with short hair, his long hair is his signature.

Like that particular evening where the sound of the violin was surrounding us pleasantly, we stood facing each other.

He said at that time that it’s disrespectful not to make eye contact while dancing. A breathtaking deep gaze fell on me, and it was really hard to endure.

“Silver hair suits you really well.”

“Right? It’s actually burdensome. There’s nothing that doesn’t suit me no matter what I do.”

Lacius laughed at my joke.

The lips that drew an arc beneath the half mask, on the other hand, were far too desirable. I swallowed and cleared my throat.

“So, when did you find me?”

When the vibration of the music became stronger, everyone turned around at the same time.

Then, when I approached him again, Lacius responded in a cheerful tone.

“I knew from the start.”

“Who am I?”

“There is no way I won’t find out. Even if you hadn’t drawn the attention of others, I would have recognized you.”

Lacius gently pulled me by the waist as I was thinking that I should have had normal brown hair instead of silver hair.

“Even if you went for an ordinary appearance, I would still find you.”

“Ah.”

“Because you shine the brightest anywhere.”

Whoever says that he is not the original male lead, I’ll treat that person like a gem. 

To be honest, liking him and then regretting it seemed to happen faster than finding a way to dislike him.

‘But that’s stupid.’

‘Since when did you become such a coward?’

Two egos fight each other inside me.

I’m afraid I’ll throw everything away and end up hurting myself like Shay in the original story.

I don’t want to get closer to him, even though my heart is shaken, because I’m afraid it will make my life difficult.

But I had this thought at the same time.

‘So what?’

Will I be happy if I deny my feelings now because I will be hurt later?

Is it wrong to try to love as much as possible, even if it’s unrequited love that won’t end well?

The original Shay and I are completely different people. I’m not going to be that broken.

‘Even if I end up regretting it…’

I want to cherish this feeling right now.

In fact, there was no reason to worry about which path I should go further.

Because I want to feel this feeling slowly and build it up day by day.

I put my palms on Lasius’ and made another turn.

The hem of the white dress, which sparkles as if sprinkled with starlight, spreads out and scatters. It was velvet on the outside but full of chiffon on the inside, which concealed the red shoes; needless to say it was much more convenient than it looked.

This fabric was Madame’s first test piece.

It is still far from the finished work that made the original female protagonist shine, but it is still beautiful enough.

As evidence, people kept looking at my dress. What’s so special about a plain white dress?

The fabric stands out so much. Of course, they’ll want it.

“By the way, Shay.”

“Hm?”

One song is coming to an end. I was slowly twirling in Lacius’s arms. Lacius pressed his lips into my ear and whispered so that no one else could hear him.

“Earlier, the one you called Sir Aragon. Are you familiar with him?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you about him.”

“It looks like he dressed like me on purpose.”

“Uhm, so it was like this…”

Lacius, who listened carefully to what I had to say, suddenly stopped.

At the same time, the music also ended.

Hiding their regrets, people disperse. Half of those who left were in search of dark corners, empty rooms, or grass. While the other half are staring at the people around them because they have no partners.

Sir Aragon had disappeared somewhere in the meantime.

I tried to move to the champagne table with Lacius to rest for a while.

I don’t know what might be in it like last time, so I decided to pick up anything from the table at random and drink it instead of having what the maid will bring to me.

However, before I could take a few steps, I heard the whispers of the gathered young ladies.

I swear I never tried to eavesdrop, their voices were just so loud I couldn’t help but overhear it.

“What?! She was a slave?”

“Oh my gosh. You’re kidding.”

“A slave archduchess! It will go down in history.”

The giggly conversation is shady.

Anonymously talking about a specific person is a scene that I’ve seen a lot somewhere.

‘Aren’t they like those malicious commenters*?’

*(People who publicly attack others by posting comments that slander others with specific or false facts.) 

From crazy fans to malicious commenters. I stopped and crossed my arms.

Lacius, noticing that my mood soured, also cast a dull gaze toward that direction.

“I think we shall give her a nickname from now on. Slave Archduchess! What do you think?”

“It suits her so well!”

When a young lady burst into laughter, everyone laughed as if it was a signal.

“Since Archduke Schweiden is not familiar with women, he must have naively fallen for her after she acted flatteringly and coquettishly.”

“Right.”

“The more naive a man is, the quicker he falls into bad things, right? These things should have been taught to him by his mother, but since the former Archduchess died early… he couldn’t learn it.”

As I listened quietly, the level of the words got more extreme. They must honestly be enjoying this. I’m aware they’re somewhat forced to say these things, but to lower themselves to this point? Besides, don’t they look elated at first glance? 

Because of their masks, I have no idea who is who.

“I should make a little fuss.”

“They’re just jealous of you. Other than that, Schweiden’s enemies could have made their daughters do something like that.”

Lacius, who heard my muttering, gently patted my shoulder as if telling me not to care.

It made me feel all the more foul because he didn’t seem to care at all. Why are you praising me when you should be cursing instead? My resolve to step up vanished in an instant that I can’t help but feel ridiculous. 

It was then.

“Isn’t that too harsh?”

“To say such vulgar words. As a fellow aristocrat, I feel so ashamed.”