I Grabbed the Tyrant’s Heart - Chapter 36
Come to think of it, Mother knows the original Tess, so if she look at her now,
“Unbelievable.”
In my life, I’ve never seen Mother so agitated. Her fists clenched, she shook her head in disbelief as she held back her astonishment.
“Ciel?”
Father was surprised by Mother’s reaction. She was shaking her head alone, as she hadn’t heard Father’s call.
“This…….”
Suddenly, Mother turned her head and looked at Father’s hand, which was still holding me.
“Millen, you should be the only dancing partner for Euel today. Understand? Neither the first, nor the second, nor the third. Until this ball is over! You can’t give anyone a chance. Alright?”
“Oh, that’s welcome for me. You don’t know how nervous I am to dance with Euel.”
…… what about my will?
“Actually, I practiced dancing in my spare time for this day!”
Father even had a blush on his cheeks. Well, at this point, my will doesn’t seem to have any chance to dig in.
I glanced at Ethyl and Nus, and the expressions on their faces seemed to express mine.
Ethyl, at least he’s gotten used to Father, but Nus was astonished. It would be hard to believe for Nus, someone who had a bad relationship with his father, to see that someone who was famous for being the iron-blooded Hardland would look like this.
The Emperor reached the front of the hall while Father excitedly held my hand. Climbing the steps, his gaze glanced in my direction.
I saw some of the ladies in the front blush, but chills ran down my spine.
“In the 273rd year of the Imperial calendar, a New Year’s party is held with the hope that this year will go well.”
Tess’s voice was clearly transmitted despite the distance, and people were looking at him, possessed.
Only I did not lose my mind. Unlike the other ladies who raised their heels towards the Emperor, hoping that he had seen them, I took a step back.
“I hope you all enjoy it with all your heart.”
When Tess finished, he let out a quiet breath.
“Congratulations to someone here whose birthday is today.”
However, in the following words, I couldn’t help but look at the pattern on the floor.
Oh, the materials are marble and gold. Those diamond patterns must have been inlaid with gold. Is this the skill of the artisan, Almomura?
“It would be nice if everyone would congratulate Lady Euseniel Hardland on her birthday.”
— Clap clap clap clap.
I decided to pretend I didn’t hear the applause and congratulations that filled the hall in an instant.
Almomura’s descendants are still doing this, so should we entrust the floor work of our mansion to them too?
I thought about it, but soon the familiar shoes that I seemed to know the owner of came into my sight. So I have to stop observing the floor anymore.
“I hope you will receive more blessings than anyone else.”
I looked up and saw a man smiling with his eyes curved. He stood with his beautiful lips drawn to the sides. The red petals opened and a captivating voice came out.
“Lady Euseniel Hardland, I request you to the first dance.”
Not ‘Will you be?’ or ‘Can I be?’, but ‘I request.’ Giving no room for rejection was quite Tess-ike.
I have two options given to me. Grab this hand in the spotless white glove or shake it off.
Tess won’t do anything to my family if I don’t dance with him. Maybe.
Then what about other people’s opinions?
First, criticism would pour down on Lady Hardland who dared to shake off the Emperor’s hand.
Or second, they would look up to Hardland, who shook off the hands of that terrifying Emperor.
Which of the two? I decided on one of the options that passed through my mind in an instant and took a deep breath.
So the hands-
“No!”
– Was caught. By Father. Father’s hand, which had loosened up a little, grabbed me more tightly and cried out sadly.
“My daughter has decided to dance with me! All day!”
It was so loud that even people who were quite far away from us flinched too.
“That’s a good idea, but please give me the first dance. I would like to offer a brighter place for Hardland.”
If the Emperor asked for a dance, it was clear that the lady who received the request and her family would become objects of envy. If they refuse here, they are also rejecting the Emperor’s favor.
Well, Tess can also talk logically?
But Father did not back down easily too.
“Thank you for the generosity, but Your Majesty, I’m going to dance with Euseniel all day long. Please understand what Euseniel has promised.”
“But the Duke, isn’t this the first dance for Lady Hardland? I understand that this dance is to be performed with peers, am I wrong?”
“It’s not, but…….”
Dancing for the first time after entering the social world is very meaningful, but since the person who applied for it is the Emperor, for others, I must have used up all my life’s luck.
Despite the Emperor’s attack, Father held his ground.
“Euseniel is so precious that I can’t let just anyone hold her hand!”
“I am not anyone.”
Seeing Tess grinning, I wonder if he may have provoked Father. If Father says ‘yes’ here, he is cursing the Emperor, and if he says ‘no’, he has to give my hand.
Instead of the speechless Father, Mother with a cool expression looked at Tess and said.
“I appreciate your words, but Euseniel has already promised to dance with her father. Right, Euel?”
I opened my mouth to say yes, but suddenly, Tess bowed his head forward.
Gasp.
For a moment, I stopped breathing, thinking that this crazy bastard was about to kiss me in front of the people. But to my dismay, he whispered in my ear.
“Aren’t you curious about the red jewel?”
“…… Let’s go, Your Majesty.”
“Eeeuuel!”
Leaving behind Father’s small screams, Tess held my hand with a victor’s smile.
“No, Euel!”
Father opened his eyes wide and tried to run towards me, but the orchestra started playing at the Emperor’s movement.
But Tessa did not coordinate it.
This is absurd.
With the performance starting, Father could no longer approach me.
It is a rule of the dance that the music being played separates the dancing floor from the rest of the space. This was old enough to be called sacred in a way.
No one entered the floor when the Emperor, who was no different from the main spotlight of this place, appeared.
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