Chapter 25: Invitation to the Big Night Party

“I’m probably going to be working that day too.”

“You should be able to take some time off. I would like you to wear a dress and dance with me, not as a Konoe mage. As long as I am your escort, you can attend without an invitation.”

That’s not the problem. In the first place, your lover is the partner for the soiree.

(As usual, he’s doing something that doesn’t make sense to me…)

“But aren’t there other women you have to invite?”

“Liesel, you said the same thing when I asked you to the graduation party. I’ll say the same thing again. That’s why I’m asking the woman I would like to take out to dance. I didn’t get to dance at the graduation party, so I want you to come this time.”

But we are no longer just casual students at the Academy of Magic. Inviting me to the night party means a lot more than it did back then.

I gripped the small box tightly and looked up at Gideon in front of me.

“Why are you, a duke, inviting me?”

Gideon’s hand leaves mine.

The clear blue eyes of the southern sea go downcast, looking a little pained.

“Why …?”

I look at the brooch and Gideon alternately.

Why were you, along with the Saint, so happy about my execution last time?

“Gideon, I doubt it, but… I know this sounds crazy, but can I ask you a question just in case? Do you… by any chance like me…?”

There was silence for a few moments.

After that, he smiled awkwardly.

“What else do you think it is?”

He answered with a question and I was at a loss for a response. His blue eyes darkened, and Gideon continued.

“I invited you to the most important graduation dance of all and I always went to the library even though I had no books to read. There was only one reason why I went through the trouble of majoring in spear classes.”

The events I was bombarded with pierced my heart one after another.

The truth is that I knew. I pretended that I didn’t know, because I didn’t want to notice.

“I know…”

“Why do you think I gave you my one and only white robe, the proof of my five years of honor?”

Gideon sighed painfully.

“–I have only had eyes for you at the academy. Five years, truly…”

The words resonated deeply and heavily in my heart.

Oh, what should I do?

I know. The truth is, I’ve already figured it out.

I know Gideon’s feelings, and I know he’s a really good person.

I was so taken back by Gideon’s first image that I didn’t look directly at the Gideon in front of me.

If I hadn’t had that memory, I might have liked him quite naturally. And I’m sure I would have been very happy here.

I traced my thumb over the surface of the small box in my hand and thought while checking the smooth texture of the leather.

Gideon’s personality had changed. In the same way that the crown prince’s personality was different from the last time.

(In fact, if you only consider his words and actions, the current Gideon is more like the former Crown Prince Ulysses that I know… What’s going on here?)

As I was pondering, Gideon gently dropped his hand on my shoulder. He smiled awkwardly.

“I want you to come with me to the Grand Night Party. All you have to do is pretend to be my lover for one night.”

“Pretend?”

I was so surprised that I had to ask him back in a hoarse voice. Gideon’s eyes, on the other hand, were somewhat sad.

“If I can dance with you at the soiree, just for that night, just to pretend to be your lover… I’ll be happy. If you dance with me and still can’t think of me as anything more than a friend, I won’t want to be anything more than that in the future, be rest assured.”

It was a very sad confession.

I don’t think there was any lie in his eyes as he looked at me earnestly.

“But I’d be working that day, too. I can’t get any vacation time easily…”

“Vacation is a right granted to all magicians by the Magic Agency and I’ll ask His Highness.”

Gideon lowered his eyes and looked painfully at the brooch in my hand.

“I regret that time very much.”

“That time? Did you mean the graduation party?”

Gideon did not answer.

I remembered the outdoor party with Mac and Cynthia.

Gideon mixed in with that…?

Gideon eating a marshmallow stuck in a tree branch with a sticky mess around his mouth?

That’s a little hard to imagine…

“I don’t think you could have missed the graduation party, being a duke and all. I had to give an answer. But I’m glad you feel that way. Thank you.”

I raised my right hand and gently touched the back of Gideon’s hand resting on my shoulder. His blue eyes slowly lifted to catch mine.

I can’t be so mean as to refuse the invitation of such an anxious and hard-working man.

“Thank you, Gideon. –If it’s not too much trouble for you, you can take me to the grand soirée next month.”

“Really?”

Gideon’s sweet blue eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Just so you know, it’s only the big night, okay?”

“I know.”

Gideon smiled wryly. The first corner of his eyes lowered and the corners of his mouth slowly raised in a gentle smile.

The way he smiles looks just like my Ulysses and it makes my heart ache. It’s that smile that I loved so much.

I was so confused that I looked away.

When the dance was over and the chatting began, I returned to the Crown Prince.

The saint was accompanied by her father, the Marquis of Zefarm and was chatting with the ladies in the hall.

The crown prince took one look at me as I approached and raised his eyebrows.

“Where have you been? You’re a Konoe Mage.”

“If I had been near you, I would have interrupted your dancing. I’ve been waiting by the wall.

“Have you tried the chocolate?”

“Yes. It was very good!”

I can’t say that I dropped a piece.

“It’s a Piaran. Of course it was good. –You and Gideon were acting strangely by the wall. What were you talking about?”

“You were watching us? We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we were talking about work.”

The crown prince snorted.

Then Gideon appeared beside him and interrupted the conversation.

“Thank you, Your Highness, for inviting us to next month’s grand soirée.”

The crown prince took a tall glass from a waiter who was passing by and poured white wine down his throat.

“It’s only natural to invite the Lancaster family. Your presence will make the soiree more glamorous. It would be a shame for Leia’s royal palace to be filled with only ugly men.”

“There is one thing I would like to ask you regarding the Grand Night Party.”

“What is it?”

“I would like to borrow Liesel, Your Highness’ bodyguard, for the duration of the Grand Ball.”

“Why? You don’t need an escort. You graduated at the top of your class from the Academy of Magic.”

The crown prince tilted his head in a puzzled manner.

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