Eun-woo apologized to Tashian with an awkward face.
"I'm sorry, Tashian. You even gave me your family's jewelry box.."
Tashian was also in trouble.
At the words that came out from her mouth, the sound of 'There is no other woman I want to be a wife other than you', almost slipped out of his throat.
Having managed to swallow his words, he rolled his head to persuade her.
He pondered for a moment and instructed Johannes, who was next to him, to do something small. Soon, Johannes brought a box the size of a palm much smaller than the previous ark. Unlike the collection of gold ornaments of the previous duchess, there were no patterns embedded in the small box.
Tashian, who was holding a luxurious blue-colored black box in his hand, carefully opened the lid.
"This would be okay, right?"
It was a necklace that his hand pulled out of the box. Eun-woo frowned for a moment at the bright light which suddenly emitted from the small necklace.
The deep blue purple jewelry which was wrapped in a silver string reflected a deep color that even black light was reflected from a distance.
Eun-woo opened her mouth to its beauty.
"It is my property, not my family's property. If this is the case, would you be able to borrow it with confidence?"
Tashian approached behind her back, who was unable to open her mouth, and then he hung a necklace around her neck. Behind her neck, the tip of his hand moved close to her skin, as it fixed the silver string of the necklace.
While he fastened the necklace, Eun-woo made a single squeak and hardened her body like a stone.
After finishing putting it on, he went in front of her and carefully looked through her as if he was emotional. Eun-woo guessed that his ears would be dyed red.
"Pretty."
He raised his hand and lightly touched the jewel of the necklace that landed on her neck. Eun-woo stopped breathing for fear that the sound of her heartbeat would flow through his fingers, and watched his lips twitch as he smiled.
"Shall we go now?"
He raised his arm in a polite manner like a gentleman who served a Lady. Eun-woo raised her hand and held his arm without making eye contact with him.
'What kind of necklace is this? Was it a present that he really prepared to give to Eleanor?'
Miscellaneous thoughts disturbed her head, but Eun-woo vowed to focus all her attention on the banquet ahead.
But soon they faced a crisis even before they arrived at the banquet. This was because Eun-woo tripped over her unfamiliar shoes and walked with an unidentified step.
Eun-woo couldn't even raise her face properly because she was embarrassed by her chaotic steps.
"It's not like t, that… I- I'm not used to shoes like this!"
It wasn't just the shoes. In this d*in the empire, women's outfits were so rare, the girdle, the corset, and even the lining of her underwear didn't feel comfortable on Eleanor's delicate body.
"Lean on my arm, it doesn't matter if you go slowly."
Tashian wrapped her entire body around her waist as if supporting her with one arm with a calm face. Eun-woo voluntarily paid attention and held his arm tightly even before her words fell.
She couldn't help it. Wouldn't it be thousands of times better to lean on the villain's body than to fall and be humiliated in front of people from her every few steps?
The only concern was that he was suspicious of her identity when he saw herself unfamiliar with this kind of attire. Wouldn't Eleanor have definitely been a noble spirit who would have mastered these clothes because she was not familiar with them?
In order not to raise such doubts, Eun-woo walked hard with strength at every tip of her foot. Tashian looked down at her with a strange glance.
***
She, who arrived with the Duke's black carriage, which was bigger than any other car in the Imperial City she had ridden, was revealing and more majestic than ever before.
As soon as they got off the wagon, the guards lined up in a row and raised their swords in the air and showed courtesy.
Eun-woo was startled by the sight and grabbed the hem of Tashian's clothes wrapped in a black cape. Tashian held her hand tightly with his glove-free hand and put it back on her arm.
The surrounding area was crowded with people. Eun-woo opened her mouth as she passed by the gentlemen who wore black soft suits, which were separated from the noble women dressed in feathers, veils, and colorful hats.
She doesn't know, but Eun-woo could feel their eyes stuck at her as soon as they passed by. Some of the ladies even dropped the fan they were holding in their hands and stared at them.
Eun-woo slightly frowned at the rudeness.
"Everyone seems to be looking… at us."
When Eun-woo muttered anxiously, Tashian replied without blinking.
"Don't worry about it. It's because you're pretty."
It was when Eun-woo tried to scold him not to make jokes by swelling her cheeks, someone approached them. It was the servant who buttoned up the wrinkled white shirt with no stains to the end of his neck.
Without a word, he showed a polite example and led them somewhere. Eun-woo held Tashian's arm, who was familiar with escorting her, and often followed her orders.
When they reached the Banquet Hall, the servant bowed lightly and led them to the half-draped entrance.
As soon as they entered the hall through the entrance, a loud voice announced their arrival.
"Master of the Black Scepter, Guardian of Griffith Castle, Ruler of the Lailpe Territory, His Majesty, the Duke Verk!"
"Lady Miller!"
As if to inform everyone in the hall of their arrival, Eun-woo grabbed Tashian's arm even tighter at the sound of the servant's announcement.
The first thing that caught her eyes, were the lights created by thousands of candles that made her eyes sting. Eun-woo thought that she would be blinded by the subtle yet intense red light.
The golden and red decorations filled the interior around the ceilings and walls like embroidery, and at the end were three golden jade posts that anyone could tell where the seat of the emperor was placed.
Food that she had never imagined was prepared throughout the hall, due to that, the legs of the table were bent, and servants in white uniforms were busy traveling around it, carrying champagne and refreshments.
The hall was too big to handle. And inside was crowded with so many people that it was incomparable to before.
As soon as they entered, Tashian and her, people stopped what they were doing and threw their eyes at them.
Eun-woo could feel the shock, fear, and curiosity rising from their faces, respectively.
She tried to focus only on Tashian's steps in order not to concentrate on anything in the Hall. However, no matter what they did, the explicit gazes of the people which flew to them did not disappear.
Later, her skin stings because of those gazes. It was enough to feel like that.
'Why are they looking at me like that?'
Eun-woo thought. She didn't know if she was actually stepping on the floor or Tashian's foot, and felt her body uneasy as he led.
"… Are you okay?"
The Duke, who led her to a corner, was the first to ask her with his head slightly lowered. Eun-woo nodded obsessively, ignoring the heartbeat of hers.
"At first, it can be a burdensome position. But don't worry. When you get used to it, you'll feel as comfortable as if it's your bedroom."
He swept her hair that flowed down with a soft touch.
Eun-woo looked suspiciously at whether such a day would come and caught her perfectly pulled hair. His face, which was not hard to find, seemed to dig into her heart, with left and right sides in perfect symmetry.
No matter how much she thought about it, she came to the realization that it was because of this man that people were looking at them.
People's gazes were still into them, but after taking a breath, she could observe the inside of the hall more closely.
There was a lack of words that the inside of the banquet hall was truly brilliant.
Starting with a walls painted in a gold color, where you don't know how gold it was, nobles sitting in twos and threes on a sofa gathered in one corner, five-colored desserts set next to it, main dishes and bands creating light melody in one corner, with clowns and acrobats were showing an unexpected play.
There were laughter and arguments here and there.
Eun-woo looked through the scene with her widened eyes.
"You're supposed to be like this… Are you having fun?"
She imagined a more solemn and heavy atmosphere because it was a victory-celebrating banquet.
As if he laughed silently at his question, a small vibration was felt with his arm in contact.
"It's because it's still before His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Prince arrive. When the imperial family arrives, the atmosphere will calm down a little. There is another official event that requires solemnity such as a coronation ceremony."
This place was also a celebration of the victory, so there was a bright atmosphere all the time.
Tashian bit his lips to hold back his laughter as he saw her clinging to his arm and throwing her gaze like a thief's, around.
"Aren't you hungry? Do you want to eat first?"
Tashian asked, pointing his chin at the dinner place where unknown foods were prepared. Eun-woo, who had never been in such a position, nodded as she wanted to eat.
On the table, all kinds of meat, chicken cooked with garlic, fried herring, hard cranberry cheese butter bread, vegetable sausage, chopped ham, sweet milk and pancakes, black pudding and deer legs, grilled freshwater eel and vegetable stew, pickled fruit. Sauce with cinnamon, pepper, ginger, almonds, herbs, turnips and raw carrot salads, pumpkin jam, wine, and apple wine were stretched beyond measure.
Eun-woo looked up at Tashian with an awkward look on her face, not knowing where to start. He had already removed a large deer leg meat and put it in his mouth.
"What are you doing? Don't eat it right away."
Eun-woo was slightly surprised to see him eating without formality at this place. Although this was not the first time she ate with him.
She recalled the first time she shared a light lunch with him.
Eun-woo sat across from him like a timid student in front of a strict family teacher and watched him eat as gracefully as any noble does.
His hands were moving neatly without a point of disruption. He didn't spill any light crumbs or rummage through food. Each movement of carrying food to the mouth and supporting it, was neat like a picture.
Eun-woo felt his manners on top of his meal.
〈"Why aren't you eating? You don't like the food here?"〉
He stopped eating and asked, lightly stealing his upper lip with a napkin spread out on his hand. Even folding the napkin looked stylish, so Eun-woo hesitated, wiggling her hands under the table.
〈"No, that's…"〉
Eun-woo looked down at each of the four silver knives and forks in front of her. Her cheeks turned red. In front of him, who had almost perfect dining manners, she couldn't honestly confess that she didn't know which fork to use first.
He glanced at her like that. Then, suddenly, except for one fork, all the utensils around were removed. They have the same utensils that appear beside their plates.
Eun-woo was surprised by what he was doing and watched only the amount he was doing. Then he picked up the butter bread in front of her with his bare hands and took a big bite. She was surprised by his free-spirited attitude, which was clearly different from before.
〈"It's good. You should try it, too."〉
He casually cut the bread with his hands, and used the remaining fork in front of him to dip the ham and insert it in between. Then, like a hungry young man, he poured the bread into his mouth. He gulped down with an apple glass next to him one after another. In an instant, he emptied his plate and wiped his mouth roughly with the back of his hand with a loud sound.
And he clenched his fist, held his chin, and smiled at her.
〈"Hurry up."〉
The moment Eun-woo heard him laughing, who had no other way but to explain him as an attractive man, lost her words.
It has been like that ever since.
Eun-woo noticed that he was not aware of this kind of aristocratic manners, and that he was trying to adapt with her, rather than wondering why or making her feel awkward. Recalling his laughter at lunch, Eun-woo felt a strange feeling of warmth.