I walked right behind her, for some reason I felt uneasy as if I had a feeling that something unpleasant was going to happen to me.
Sure enough, this witch approached the middle-aged man who I call my father, Emily, Jannet, Marie and two men and a middle-aged woman. They chatted together intimately.
"Ella?" One of the two men I mentioned earlier called me with a face full of love that made me shudder. He was a young man, seemingly not much different in age from King Zavier and Duke Aiden. He's handsome, but the problem is I hate handsome men.
"So this very beautiful woman is the woman you often tell me about, Henry?" Said the middle-aged man. He smiled proudly and this was an awkward situation I really wanted to avoid as much as possible.
"That's right, Dad! Mom, she's Ella, we met several times at parties." Said the young man. He continued to look at me the same way I looked at a beautiful woman I once dated. That look in his eyes, right, I seem to know what he's thinking.
"So you two know each other?" Mom asked. Even though a few minutes ago she was looking for me as if she suspected something. But now she was asking as if she didn't know anything.
"N-no, I don't at all-" I said nervously. I obviously don't know this guy. I never met him. But he quickly approached me while holding my hand.
"Ella, will you dance with me?" He asked. I was surprised, really surprised. Not only me, father, mother, Emily, Jannet, Marie and the two middle-aged man and woman were equally surprised to hear this man's sudden request.
I leaned back, he kissed my hand and this was the umpteenth time my hand had been kissed, it felt very ridiculous.
"Hey, I didn't-"
"I've been waiting for your arrival. I'm glad you came to this party, Ella!"
"L-let go of my hand! I think you misunderstood! I don't know-"
"That's right, I think you have misunderstood, Mr. Henry!" Said Jannet, who without warning immediately approached this man named Henry with an easy to predict attitude.
"Jannet, what are you doing?" Mother interrupted Jannet because it seemed like Jannet was trying to take part.
"Mr. Henry, isn't there a much more attractive young woman here? Why didn't you notice?" She said softly. Jannet tries to show her charm and that makes her seem like an attention seeker.
Her eyes glanced at me briefly, cruel and cynical as if to show that she was ready to compete with me. Come on, I have absolutely no interest in competing with him, let alone competing for a man's attention, for whatever reason I wouldn't want to do that.
This young man named Henry turned to her, but for some reason his eyes turned cold.
"Who are you? Do I know you?" He asked sarcastically. His demeanor changed drastically, from being very gentle and polite, but instead became cold and cold, making everyone near us immediately focus their attention on us.
Including King Zavier, Henry's firm and cold voice made it possible for almost everyone to hear her. Realizing that everyone was now watching us, I looked around and hoped they didn't really care. But when my eyes caught King Zavier's face, I was sure that this situation would get much worse.
"H-hey, stop it! People are starting to notice you guys!" I said trying to reduce the ongoing tension. I hate being the center of attention like this, I prefer to be in the corner of the room and not be seen.
"Ella, let's dance!" Henry immediately grabbed my hand to follow him onto the dance floor. I, who was not strong enough to hold back his steps, was forced to follow him.
I looked back and saw Jannet who looked very angry while holding back tears. I could feel her disappointment and for once I felt sympathy for her.
"Hey man, wait a minute! I think you misunderstood me. I didn't say I wanted to dance with you and besides, don't act friendly with me!" I said while pulling my hand out of his grasp.
My words succeeded in making him stop walking. He turned to me and stared at me for a moment. Without any warning, he immediately grabbed my hand and kissed me in front of everyone in the room.
My eyes widened, I really couldn't believe this. How can I kiss a boy? Damn, this is disgusting. With all my might I tried to let go of his hug and kiss.
I was gasping for breath, I almost died of suffocation because he seemed to want to suck the soul out of my body through his mouth which tasted exactly the same as the wine I was drinking.
My face turned red, I felt very embarrassed. Around me, everyone was watching us. Without realizing it, my eyes immediately searched for Princess Minka, wondering what she was thinking seeing me kissed like this.
I felt so annoyed that I felt like throwing a tantrum and hitting him. This bastard, how dare he kiss me in front of the girl I like. Unforgivable.
"Ella, I-"
"You bastard...!" I threw my fist right at his face.
"Ella...!"
"Henry...!"
Some people shouted my name and his name. Everyone was freaking out because I actually hit this bastard.
Henry held his face, I could see the corners of his lips bleeding from my fist. I wanted to give him a warning not to mess with me.
"You hit me, Ella?" He said, still in shock. Of course, because he was beaten in front of his parents and invited guests who were present at the party.
"I'll hit you again, bastard!"
Count and Countess Albergen hurriedly approached us. It seems like they're afraid of me hitting their beloved son again.
"How dare you hit my son! Who do you think you are?" Countess Albergen said with a glare. Does this old woman think I'm afraid of her?
"Hey, Madam! Why don't you teach your son how to respect women?" I said acting as someone who knows the rules.
Damn it, should I look in the mirror at myself because for years I have also treated women as objects of my very dirty sexual fantasies and now this inappropriate advice is coming out of my mouth?
Footsteps sounded and broke the tension. People started turning around as a young man with dark hair and light amber eyes stepped right behind me.
I didn't have time to look at the man, but when he was standing behind me, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"She's right, isn't it rude to suddenly kiss a girl in front of her parents and a lot of people?"
"This voice?" I thought. This voice doesn't sound cool. I looked back slowly to make sure my guess was correct.
"Duke Aiden?"
People say his name. I was surprised not to expect that he would also come to this party. He grinned like a wolf and his smile scared me.
"Are you okay? Your body is shaking, you must be very scared, right?" He said to me. Doesn't he know that I'm scared like this precisely because this bastard suddenly appeared.
"I-I-"
"You saw that she was scared, didn't you? Don't treat women impolitely just because you are an upper class noble and also very rich. Your cowardly attitude doesn't show your high status at all! Come on, I'll take you to a quieter place so you can calm yourself down!" He said as he put his arm around my shoulder and led me to walk after him.
Unfortunately, I just followed him without any resistance. His aura was so strong, even stronger than King Zavier's aura. The aura of a bully and a crazy sociopath.
He took me to the balcony where a few moments ago I had come to enjoy a bottle of wine alone. He took off his luxurious, sweet-smelling coat and placed it on my shoulders.
"You're okay, right?"
"I-I-"
"You hit him in front of everyone. You really are my girl, Ella! I love you more and more." He said with a wolf smile that made me even more scared.
Damn it, the more I looked at him, the more he resembled Keith, that crazy bastard who made me almost die many times because of his cruel torture. He was the person I hated most in the world and at that time I swore to myself that I would never forgive him. Even if I had the chance, I would definitely take my revenge on him.
"I have to go back to my family, they must be waiting-"
"Why did you just leave then?"
"W-what did you say?"
"That afternoon at the place we promised, why did you just leave me at that time?"
"I-I just-"
"You want to say that you became interested in him because he helped you when you drowned in the lake?"
"What are you-"
"Listen to me! I warned you not to approach him, you know I will never forgive anyone who dares to break their promise to me!"
***