Eun-woo mistakenly thought that the Duke, who didn't have a single interest in Ikshid's words just a while ago, suddenly showed an enthusiastic expression on his face. She immediately cut off Ikshid's words by answering urgently.
"Ah! Du, Duke…!"
"Yes?"
"My legs hurt so much. I've been walking through this huge venue all day long, and my legs ache like it has cramps!"
At that word, Eun-woo felt that her body was suddenly lifted and supported. He wrapped hands around her arms and waist and pulled it close to his chest.
In an instant, her weight, which had been concentrated on her legs, was distributed to his upper body.
"Your Highness is the one who commanded me to take care of Miss, so that there would be no discomfort here in the venue, therefore, I will follow that order."
After finishing his words, Tashian seemed to be paying a small silent tribute to Ikshid, and stepped to the lounge by supporting her body with a striding step.
Ikshid instantly looked blankly as if he had seen nothing when he was left alone in that area, and caught their backs disappearing from his sight. Once again, around him gathered nobles into twos and threes.
***
The duke walked majestically across the middle of the hall like it was his own bedroom. Eun-Woo could not raise her face at the duke's momentum, which split the crowds like the Red Sea, and followed him with a brisk pace.
The lounge was set up in a small room on the same floor. Nobles of high status were able to receive separate private restrooms with their names on them.
He roughly opened the door of the lounge with the patterns of the Duke and gently put her down on the first visible sofa.
"Oh, Tashian… tha, thank you.…"
As soon as he sat her down without an answer, he bent his tall height and knelt down in front of her. Eun-woo was embarrassed and tried to stand up again, but his heavy hand pressed her shoulder down.
"Stay still."
"Du, Duke… What are you doing??"
Tashian reached up and took her shoes off. Eun-woo was confused and wiggled in embarrassment and grabbed Tashian's shoulder.
"Du, Duke! You don't have to do this…!"
"It's the heels that have some problems."
"Yes?"
Without answering her, he grabbed the woman's shoe, the size of his hand, in one hand and started patting it on the floor.
"I've seen it shaking since earlier."
Eun-woo blushed. What he said was true. Her left shoe heel was shaking gently like it had been broken, down due to the mixed step with the Crown Prince earlier.
"When did you see that?"
Eun-woo muttered, feeling the illusion that her stomach was melting at his actions. Her earlobes turned red, right after.
"Since you were all over the banquet hall who led the Crown Prince's decline like a pet dog."
He replied in a fairly grumpy voice. In the meantime, he was working hard to repair her shoes by hitting them on the floor with his hands.
Eun-woo shouted angrily.
"Wha, what do you mean, a pet dog?! I really wanted to say something to the Crown Prince, so I did that!"
"What was it that you wanted to say? Was there a request that I couldn't fulfill?"
She could feel a strange pain in his voice. However, Eun-woo tried hard to ignore it and replied with a 'hmm' dry cough.
"There's something like that. You don't have to know."
"Is that so?"
The duke bowed his head as it was and devoted himself to fixing her heels.
Eun-woo gently rubbed the soles of her feet with her hands and glanced at him. Since then, he has not spoken a word, as if silently protesting.
His round kiln was seen through the bowing head. There were a few strands of hair which fell out and went straight to his forehead.
'Even if they hate it, it is clear that he is a very kind person….'
She wondered why people don't approach this friendly person. Recalling what the Duke did at the banquet earlier, she could feel how kind he was, but remembering those scenes made her curiosity rise again.
She could notice the strange duality of the capital nobles dealing with Tashian.
'I seemed to be afraid and disgusted at this person….'
Eun-woo was lost in thought as she looked at the kiln at the top of his head. The sound of him tapping the floor with her heels rang.
Is it just because of his origin as an illegitimate child? But isn't he a hero who is envied by the whole nation? And he was the only master of a skilled knight and a Duke recognized by his family.
She was fed up by the sweetness he gave to her, but people's hatred when they saw him doing that increased, and turned their heads away from them, considering his bitter attitude towards them.
'Maybe… Everyone misunderstands this person as a villain just like me…'
But Eun-Woo thought so.
'Is it really just a misunderstanding that he's a villain?'
Obviously, her intervention was changing the story of the novel.
If it had to go by the book, Ikshid should have met Selena in the midst of meeting, and his first love started thereafter. However, due to her interference, they did not know each other's existence, let alone meet.
'Maybe… I might be able to change the story's flow…'
Eun-woo was buried in thoughts that came to her mind like lightning and did not notice him putting back her other shoe.
'Unless he remains a villain, unless he won't be executed by a guillotine… perhaps… !'
"It's done."
Eun-woo suddenly came to her senses and raised her head at his low voice, which was heard momentarily. He was staring blankly at her face with a strange face holding the mended shoes in his hand.
"What's wrong? Are you dizzy? Do you want some water?"
"N, no, it's not. Tashian. I'm fine."
"What do you mean, you're okay? Your face is red. I think you're having a fever again."
He pointed to her forehead with a worried look. Eun-woo was in a hurry and moved back in surprise at the large hand that came up to her forehead in an instant.
"I, I'm really fine. This is just... It's because it's hot."
She flapped and glossed over the stuffy collar of the dress, which could not be felt as tight as this moment.
Then her eyes caught the shoe he held in his opposite hand. Eun-woo opened his mouth wide in the condition of her shoes. She screamed back.
"Tashian! How can you make it like this?"
After a moment of silence, he asked back.
"… Is this not it?"
Both of her shoes had their heels taken off neatly. Rather than correcting one shoe heel, he removed the heels, which she wasn't pleased with and shouted at him, for his powerful repair that removed the heels from her shoes.
"I'm short, but now I'm completely off your shoulders…!"
Eun-woo jumped up in anger and looked up at him. Following her, his huge body slowly stood up.
Wearing shoes that had their heels disappeared, she simply became a dwarf in front of him. At least when she had heels, the top of her head touched his shoulders, but now it was best to face his big chest head-on.
"I'm telling you just in case. Compared to other ladies, you're not that short."
At his absurd consolation, she shouted with astonishment.
"The problem is because you're tall!! Until now, my head was about to hurt from looking up, but now I have to look up completely at the ceiling!"
Suddenly, his head popped down. He bent down and faced her.
Eun-woo was startled by the sudden approach of his face and stepped back. However, as she was sitting on the sofa, her body, unable to retreat any more, only leaned back and could not escape from him.
"I can just lower my head."
Eun-woo replaced his response with a red face. She could see his lips very closely. Eun-woo swallowed her saliva and stared at his eyes to prevent the gaze from being fixed with his close lips.
Her heart seemed to beat so fast. He had a sensual scent that could not be described. It was fresh like a wind mixed with musk scent and smelled so amazing.
Black eyes stared at her without saying a word. For a moment, Eun-woo felt a fear that if she was obsessed with him here, she would no longer be able to escape. It was an instinctive intuition.
She opened his mouth to say something. Eun-woo shouted as if she had been pushed by something.
"Now…"
She turned and got out of the couch.
"… Are you going to go get ready for the masquerade?"
"….That's how you do it."
Tashian answered with a low sigh. He silently followed after Ikshid who had the attitude that he would be in tears if he had seen the scene.
***
The masquerade was a night stage where only unmarried nobles could attend. Aristocrats called this prom a 'courtship night'. The party is a ball, but in reality, it was a place of indulgent indulgence, where young men and women gather to search for each other. Everyone turned on the lights and was frantically looking for a suitable playmate, lover, or even a spouse.
Unlike daytime banquets, which are calm and formal, the masquerade has a splendid and alluring atmosphere in costumes, hair, and accessories. The women dressed up in colorful clothes and dressed up in revealing dresses, and each of them devoted themselves to dressing up to catch their eyes. Points were also given to the men's black tailcoats, such as wearing a dark blue corsage.
Eun-woo asked, looking at Anit, a maid who was busy moving, as if she lacked ten fingers to decorate herself hard.
"Are you supposed to give me such a nice room? To all the guests who attended?"
No matter how many vacancies there are in the imperial palace, isn't this an excessive luxury?
Eun-woo looked into the preparation room assigned to her.
It was a huge and splendid room as much as her bedroom in the Duke. A rare imperial sentence engraved on chandeliers and furniture on a high ceiling. She felt like she was an Empress who had the maids clean the mirror.
"Of course not. The lady was given such a nice room because she was close to His Majesty's descendant."
Anit smiled happily and twisted her hair and braided it.
"Most of the young girls and gentlemen prepare for this ball in the wagon they brought from the mansion. Aristocrats who came up from a distant country estate set up their own lodgings within the imperial palace and attended banquets from there."
Anit's fingers crossed her head.
"So I know how much the Crown Prince cares about you, right? Lady Eleanor. I can't express in words how happy I am right now!"
Eun-woo sweated inside as she saw the maid's eyes twinkling with excitement. Anit muttered excitedly like an immature girl.
"I'm sure Prince Ikshid will exchange masks with the lady."
The mask exchange ceremony was a kind of highlight of the masquerade. The crowd gathered in twos and threes to chat, dance, and enjoy banquets, and exchanged masks with the closest opponent in line with the host's signal. Usually, it was often conducted between men and women, and at this time, accepting the request of the other person who applied for the exchange of masks first was interpreted as accepting the date request.
"Masked martial arts is a treasure-like event in the kingdom that creates countless lovers!"
"Crown Prince Older brother and I, are like real brothers and sisters who are close to each other. I won't have to exchange masks with my brother."
Eun-woo said with an awkward smile, but Anit answered firmly.
"What are you talking about? You have a real brother named Diego; the young master. What are you talking about?"
Eun-woo smiled in vain as he looked at Anit's back, who was determined to make her have the crown prince today.