“I can dance, can't I~?...
This body is so good and I can move it easily.
What do you think of the last step I made!
It's amazing, isn't it~♡”
Suddenly, hearing Annette's voice shouting around cheerfully, Theodore came back to his senses.
Her voice always drowned him deep in his dark thoughts and then suddenly woke him up and brought him back to a bright and colorful world.
After that the two waltzed again.
That was fun.
If just holding Annette's hands while dancing was fun and made Theodore feel so happy, how would he feel if he became closer, closer and closer to her?
Suddenly Theodore began to feel curious about this.
No…
He'd probably been wondering about this for a long time already without realizing it.
He will go to the concert with this woman and will dance with her in a body other than her original body.
But the fun of dancing with “her” will be real.
Even if she was now in a different body than the real one she had in her world, it was the Annette he knew who was sharing this moment with him.
***
The two continued dancing all night.
Like a child getting a new toy, Annette kept saying:
“Just one more song and then we're off!”
Theodore, who saw her happy like this for the first time, was enchanted by her sincere smile and continued to accept her request again and again.
In the end, Annette lay on the floor as if she had collapsed from dancing all night, and then fell asleep, completely exhausted.
Theodore very quietly removed her shoes from her tired feet, then lifted her head and placed it on his lap.
He obviously didn't like this woman, so Theodore wanted to get away from her and put a lot of distance between him and her, but contrary to what he was thinking, his hand continued to pull Annette towards him more and more so that she could find a comfortable position to sleep on his lap.
Just then, the gramophone stopped playing.
As the sound faded, the room, which had been large enough for them to dance together in, suddenly became very small and cramped.
It was a strange feeling of a woman sleeping on top of his legs.
An unfamiliar tickling that he had never felt before in his life pierced Theodore's heart.
A wave of feelings swept over him which would never become familiar to him, no matter how many times he felt them, and which he could neither define nor regulate.
Theodore couldn't touch his messy hair because he was afraid it would wake Annette or disturb her sleep, so he arranged her messy hair instead.
Since the Floris Palace was a large house, Theodore thought it would be a good idea to create a ballroom where this woman could dance as she wanted and whenever she wanted.
***
Ernest compared the little note he held in his hand with the address in front of him more than ten times.
He rubbed his eyes and checked the address again, but the letters were identical.
According to Annette, this house was where Yvonne lived.
But this place was completely different from what he expected.
Yvonne left the Dillburg area as if she were a criminal on the run.
Dillberg was not originally a wealthy area.
So compared to that place, this house in the middle of the Lieder Capital was much larger than what Ernest had expected.
It was clearly not a house that Yvonne bought on her own.
“Wait here.”
A woman named Yvonne's maid accompanied Ernest to the living room.
Even when Yvonne was Lord Delburgh's daughter, she had no servants.
However, Yvonne was now in Laider, the place she had fled to, while living in a large palace-like house with servants.
Ernest kept thinking about Annette's words and felt a strange feeling for Yvonne, whom he felt like he no longer knew.
Perhaps because of the maid's sharp eyes, his body shrank in confusion even though he had done nothing wrong.
But there is no need to be afraid.
Ernest will prove Annette wrong today.
He would meet Yvonne and proudly state that she was still the same kind and beautiful girl he had known in the past, and that her friendship with Ernest had never changed.
Then he was planning to convince Yvonne to return to her hometown.
Then they would return there together and he would proudly ask her to become the new Lady of Dillburg after he expelled that bastard and criminal lord.
Wasn't Ernest going to endure the humiliation and work under the rule of the bastard lord while doing rather illegal things for the sake of this day when he would meet his dear Yvonne?
Thinking of the past years made him feel proud even in the ornate living room that did not suit his low status.
It is time to revive his lost courage.
"Ernest?
I couldn't believe it, but it's really you!"
Seeing Yvonne, Ernest almost flew with joy.
His first love whom he had not seen for a long time was so beautiful today.
The luxurious dress and sparkling jewelry she wore were completely different from the clothes she wore when she was a tomboy climbing trees in the forest, but she was still very beautiful.
Fortunately, her mysterious smile was the same old smile he knew.
The fact that Yvonne had recognized Ernest so overwhelmed his heart that he could think of nothing to say to her.
"Oh my God~ I'm so happy to meet you!
But what are you doing here in Lider?
How did you know I live here?"
"this …."
Ernest forgot everything he had planned to say when he saw Yvonne's sparkling eyes.
After a while, Ernest could hardly open his mouth.
“Laurel just had a little boy, he's so cute.”
"Huh?
By Laurel, do you mean Aunt Juliana's dog?"
Yvonne seemed taken aback by Ernest's out-of-context words, but she quickly showed interest in what he was saying.
Ernest was originally a friend who often talked nonsense in front of her, so it was not uncommon for Yvonne for his greeting to her after their long separation to be so ridiculous.
Instead, Ernest was the one who could not accept his words easily.
He skipped all the words he'd been planning to say for years and wanted to slap himself for starting to spout nonsense, but still he pretended he didn't feel embarrassed in front of Yvonne.
“This… I have given birth to five puppies and they are all healthy.
And your favorite market bakery… The owner has changed, so the taste of the baked goods is not what it used to be.
Instead, there is a pie shop in the alley across the street.
I-If you try the meat pie, you will undoubtedly fall in love with it.
And...”
"Wait a minute, Ernest.
What the hell are you talking about?
You still haven't answered me yet.
How did you get here?"
“What I want to say is…….”
Ernest said nothing.
The words he wanted to say when he met Yvonne all came out of his mouth at once, so he couldn't decide what order he should speak first.
He should have told her that he wanted her to return with him and become the new Lady of Dillberg, and he should have told her that he had been protecting her palace and her title in her absence.
“D-Let's go back.
Let's go back to Dillberg together.”
The words he had been hiding in his heart finally came out of his mouth.
But Yvonne didn't give him the answer he was looking forward to hearing.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?
Why would I even go back to Dillburg?
The Lord has forgiven me of the debt on the condition that I never return to that place again.”
Yvonne smiled awkwardly.
“No, I have gathered strong evidence of everything the new lord did to your father and the crimes he committed after he became ruler of the region.
You just have to go back and point the evidence at him and then take your place back.
People want you back too.
Laurel will be happy to see you too.”
“Wait, aren’t you so naive, Ernest?”
"Sorry?"
Ernest's body stiffened in embarrassment at Yvonne's unexpected words.
The smile on her face belonged to a friend he knew, but her voice was as unfamiliar as the sparkling ruby necklace around her neck.
"I don't know who the new lord of the region is, but I have no right to interfere with his way of ruling.
Moreover, the position of a lord is not a position from which we can expel people at will."
“But… but everyone wants someone who loves the land like you to become the owner of Dillberg.
If everyone joins hands and we cooperate together, not even the current lord will be able to hold out and will withdraw...”
“But I don’t want to go back.”
"What?"
Ernest opened his mouth stupidly.
"Did I hear you wrong?
I think you just said you didn't want to go back to Dillberg, didn't you?"
"I still love Dillberg and have many memories there, but that's all.
My future is now in Lieder.
So I won't go back to that place and get stuck in the spiral of the past again."
"Is it because of that bastard?
Do you want to stay here because of the prince or something?"
“How reckless it is to call His Highness the Crown Prince a bastard!
If anyone else hears you, you might be punished for insulting the imperial family.”
Yvonne looked around in horror.
The way she reacted upon hearing the prince's name hurt Ernest's pride.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Ernest.
But it is best that you leave today.
I have to prepare for a ball that I must attend as His Highness the Crown Prince’s partner as a noble girl in this society.
So I ask you to please leave politely.”
Yvonne's stern look startled Ernest.
The friendly looks she initially showed Ernest quickly turned to angry looks towards him.
Ernest could not believe that she had expressed hostility towards him so easily.
What was even more shocking was that she mentioned the word “noble” in front of him.
This was the first time Yvonne had mentioned her position to Ernest, who was a member of the public.
Ernest couldn't find the girl with soft pink hair he remembered from the past anywhere.
The woman in front of him now was just the prince's mistress.
And her heart was now with Hugo and not with Ernest.
“Next time we meet, I hope you will avoid mentioning Dillberg in front of me.
I have already forgotten about that place.”
And now Yvonne had disappeared from him, leaving Ernest alone in the living room.
“Why?”
The devastating grief poured from the heart of the man who had lost his first love and had stolen the colors from the spacious living room and made it seem as narrow and stifling as a grave.
The reflection of Yvonne's cruel gaze also echoed in Ernest's head and continued to torture him without mercy.
He never thought that Yvonne would avoid him like this.
Ernst believed that as long as they saw each other, he would be able to tell her his plan and return with her to Dillberg immediately and live as they had lived in the happy days of the past.
However, the present Yvonne was talking about the present, as she was looking forward to the future…
Ernest had no place in her dreams or that future.
Ernest always thought about the future just to meet her, and he never imagined a future without her.
What will he do now if his lover's future is separated from his own?
Ernest finally realized how naive he was.
Why did he think that Yvonne would remain like him and never change over the years?
It is normal for people to change over time.
However, even after Yvonne's intentions and feelings were confirmed, the feelings of love in his heart did not subside.
Instead, her cold rejection touched his twisted desires and corrupt heart.
The reason Ernest suppressed his corrupt heart and pretended to be upright and righteous was because he wanted to look good in Yvonne's eyes.
However, if Yvonne changes and decides to abandon him along with the past that brings them together, there will be no reason for him to live as an innocent man anymore.
His proud girlfriend who cared for and cherished Dillberg more than anything else in the world was gone.
So he had to change too.
“…I will return Yvonne to you.”
Annette Scheringen.
Ernest remembered what the Grand Duchess had told him.
Annette was the only person who knew Ernest's true heart and the only one who could deal with Hugo.
Will she really return Yvonne to him?
Whether it was true or not, he had no choice but to hold Annette's hand in order to survive.
Annette was the only way he could hold on to the edge of the past and not lose himself in the vortex of the present after his first love abandoned him.