Time passed quickly, and one day in May, when the greenery grew thicker, a grand party was held at the mansion of Count Bahnsen.
Invited guests began to take their seats one by one at outdoor tables decorated with colorful lavender.
The count and his wife moved busily between the columns of the gazebo, where white roses and vines were elegantly intertwined. The couple were trying to mingle with the guests who were part of the political and economic world of the Kingdom of Muller.
I also saw officers in military uniforms clinking champagne glasses happily among people of different occupations, nationalities, and even races.
Even though it was an engagement party that was suddenly held, this many people came. The influence of the Rockford family was truly enormous, far beyond what Hermia had imagined.
Hermia looked around at the whole scene, feeling a little unreal. She felt like she was standing on a cloud somewhere, like she was dreaming.
Am I really getting engaged to such a great person? Will I open my eyes and see the old ceiling of a shabby shack?
I was so absorbed in my doubts that I didn’t even notice someone approaching me.
“Do your feet hurt?”
“… … .”
“Miss Hermia.”
“… … .”
“…Hermia?”
When I looked up, the most unrealistic man among them was looking down at me. Hermia flinched and threw up both her hands.
“No, it doesn’t hurt. I’m fine.”
“The shoes look small.”
Hermia then came back to reality and looked down at her feet.
Beneath the light blue bell-line dress, a familiar pain was gathering. I had simply forgotten about it because it was so obvious.
It’s normal for it to hurt, because all the women’s shoes in the mansion are tailored to the size of the countess’s feet.
As someone who wore small shoes every time she went out, she hadn’t even realized it until Walter told her.
“Uh, so… … .”
When I first came to the Count’s house, I didn’t buy shoes separately because my stepmother’s shoes were the same size as mine. My stepmother wore them a few times and then they were left behind, which was soon my share.
As I grew taller, I had to buy separate dresses to wear outside, but unfortunately, shoes were not one of them.
What did he say? You can’t see well and you won’t be standing for long, so isn’t it a waste to buy new shoes? Something along those lines.
Because of this, it was common for the toes of shoes that had been worn repeatedly with the toes bent to become wrinkled.
But Walter saw those bumpy shoes. Blood rushed to his face in an instant.
“Did you… see that?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to look at it. It just happened by chance… … .”
Is this guy feeling embarrassed even though he’s showing off his keen eye right now?
Walter turned his head hurriedly and even coughed.
What the heck. It’s cute for its size… Don’t get excited! Come on!
At that moment, a couple approached the two. Walter and Hermia simultaneously greeted the guests as if nothing had happened.
After a few exchanges of greetings, before the two could even converse, another group approached them. This time, they were cadets from the Korea Military Academy.
Those who saluted Walter with a firm hand raised had faces filled with both respect and tension.
“Congratulations on your engagement, Colonel Rockford!”
“Congratulations!”
“What about the colonel? Call me senior.”
Walter spoke in a slightly softer tone than when he addressed other guests, and patted the shoulders of his juniors in blue uniforms.
‘Why am I looking at you with such pride?’
Hermia shook off her thoughts and smiled naturally as she bent her knees. She felt like she could still feel the Duke’s gaze on her, but she thought it was just her imagination and dismissed it.
Only after the young men in green uniforms had moved to their assigned seats did they have a moment of leisure. Then, as if he had been waiting, Walter began to continue the topic from earlier.
“The party is far from over. You’d better change your shoes.”
“It’s really okay. It’s not as uncomfortable as it looks.”
Actually, I don’t have anything to change into. I can’t wear slippers because my shoes show every time I walk.
Walter raised his hand as he spoke in his mind. Henry came over with brisk steps and displayed his supernatural powers as before.
“I’ll get it ready right away. Size… I think it’s about 5. Just in case, 4.5 and 5.5 too… … .”
“No, no! It’s 5.”
Hermia was flustered and started to spit it out. Henry nodded briefly and glanced at his subordinate, who then gestured to his subordinate.
As a result, I felt a little sorry for the most incompetent soldier who was running around like that.
“It’s really okay… … .”
“If you wear shoes that don’t fit, your joints will be strained, and eventually your pelvis will become misaligned. If you continue to ignore this… … .”
“Oh, I see.”
“I’m a soldier, I’m a doctor,” she said quickly, afraid of using difficult words.
I can’t tell someone who has already left to come back, so I have to accept the Duke’s words. What can I do?
“But how did he get it right the first time?”
“Henry, you mean. When I was in the army, he was in charge of supplies. He could probably tell you your clothing, gloves, and shoe sizes just by looking at your height.”
I nodded in agreement, then heard the sound of a teaspoon tapping against a glass. It was Count Arnold.
“It seems like everyone is here now, so let’s start the ceremony.”
Hermia, momentarily nervous, took a deep breath, placed her hand on Walter’s arm, and walked toward the podium.
Strangely enough, my feet stuffed into the shoes didn’t feel cramped at all, even though I wasn’t putting much weight on them.
Soon, the musicians invited for that night began to pick up their strings and play their violins.
The sight of famous musicians playing the birthday song in a cramped corner of the stage made her feel embarrassed again.
They too thought it was the Duke’s engagement party, and they probably didn’t know that they would be playing a congratulatory song for a countess whose name they didn’t even know.
‘When you received the request, you didn’t hear about the birthday party, did you? Instead, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry.’
After the magnificent performance, the front door of the mansion opened and a huge birthday cake appeared. Everyone’s heads turned at the same time.
Not only was the size large, but the message written on the pink cream was also a mess.
[Happy birthday to my last love, Olivia Bahnsen!]
It was a square cake so large that it filled an extra-large trolley, and the letters could be seen from the neighbor’s window. Hermia screamed inwardly.
‘Last love’? Are you trying to say ‘even though you’re not my first love’ indirectly?
Am I the only one who finds this weird? I looked around the audience with a bewildered face, and I made eye contact with people who clearly had the same thoughts as me. Haha… … . Damn it.
Next came a regular two-tiered wedding cake of decent size, followed by a parade of soldiers.
[Congratulations! Engagement]
Walter and Hermia’s engagement cake looked plain, even plain, compared to the birthday cake with its grand and stupid confession.
The countess who tried so hard to make herself feel like the main character is now respectable.
Hermia, who had just finished her pure admiration, unconsciously glanced at Walter. Sensing his gaze, he lowered his head, and she quickly turned her eyes straight ahead.
Walter studied her profile for a moment, then looked forward again and spoke calmly.
“For the wedding, I will prepare a cake bigger than that.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“then?”
At my engagement party, I want to run over there and turn everything upside down, like, what the heck is going on?
How can you say something like that?
As I watched the count and countess happily sharing a bread knife and cutting the cake, I was confused as to whether this was my engagement party or their twilight wedding.
Hermia swallowed a bitter smile and thought for a moment before deciding to express her feelings in a different way: using the aristocratic style of speaking.
I don’t usually use it or like it, but when I want to swear, nothing is as useful as this.
“He is a true parent who sets a good example for his children who are about to get married… … What made me think that?”
“I see. I will keep that in mind.”
“… … ?”
I get it, what is it? What are you referring to?
That expressionless face, whose emotions are completely unreadable, will probably take some time to get used to.
Hermia, who was rubbing the tip of her nose, bit her lips, which were starting to quiver little by little.
‘But… you’re saying you’ll marry me?’
Asking me to buy new shoes, talking about a wedding, etc. Even the most clueless person wouldn’t be able to ignore this, right?
The duke doesn’t hate himself. Maybe he likes him.
Although the line between manners and favorability is ambiguous, at least I didn’t feel any ‘invisible contempt for commoners’ from him.
This alone is honestly an incredible stroke of luck.
‘Okay. Let’s just get married and get a divorce without any problems.’
It was while I was making that resolution that the peaceful atmosphere was suddenly shattered by an intruder.
“This isn’t real!”
A maid appeared from the open front door and shouted at the people in the garden. Hermia froze, her smiling face still intact.
‘Why is he suddenly coming out… …?’
The person reflected in her eyes was none other than Mel Greenwood, with a face soaked in tears and a pounding heart.
Mel was so shocked by where such strength came from that she pushed the servants who had followed her away to either side and then climbed up onto the platform with angry steps.
The eyes that had gathered all at once drew a long parabola in the sky. Mel picked up the wedding cake plate and threw it into the air with all her might.
She suddenly started to cry like a baby, clenching her fists covered in cream.
“It’s all fake! Marriage was originally, originally, me… … .”
Mel looked at me with a sad and resentful expression. No, the person her eyes were fixed on was the Duke standing right next to me.
“Walter.”
“… … .”
Hermia raised her head at the sound of her name being called without hesitation. Her fiancé was looking at Mel with a blank expression.
What was this situation? It seemed as if the accident had stopped for a moment, unable to keep up with the sight before my eyes.
She turned her gaze back to Mel.
“Ugh! Walter… … !”
As Mel was walking towards this side, she stepped on some cream that had fallen on the floor and slipped. Hermia saw her body leaning backwards very slowly.
“balm.”
A gust of wind blew for a moment, and Walter leapt forward without hesitation.