Almost instantaneously after she called, Silas made his way over to her, not once glancing at the stunned older brother standing by his side. When he reached her, he spoke with a bright smile. “Yes, my lady?”
The corner of Ruelle’s lips arched upwards, controlling herself not to suddenly burst into a laughing fit. Silas’ response was so out of character that she couldn’t help but think about how he must have been feeling on the inside. “I wanted to introduce you two,” Ruelle gestured towards Cleo as she closed her fan with a loud ‘snap!’. “Lord Silas, you two have met before, this is my elder sister, Lady Cleo Peregrine.”
Without skipping a beat, Silas gave Cleo a graceful bow with an unwavering smile. “Good evening, Lady Cleo. I hope you are enjoying the banquet so far.”
Since she needed to react fast, Cleo had no time to worry about the fact that Ruelle just snapped her fan at her. After returning Silas’ greeting with a curtsy, she replied. “Yes I am, thank you for your invitation, Lord Silas.”
“Oh, you should be thanking my father,” Silas took a quick look at Ruelle, finding her looking at him from the corner of her eyes as well. “He was the one who sent the invitation. We left all the preparation to the elders, you see, since we are inexperienced in hosting a party.”
‘What the hell is your endgame, Circe?’
‘Play along with me. Let’s have fun.’
Cleo chuckled in response, hovering her hand near her lips. “Of course, that is understandable, after all, my sister is very clueless about these types of things,” by then, the crowd’s attention had already fixated on them, and quiet whispers filled the ball room’s atmosphere, so much so that the calming music failed to dispel the uncomfortable feeling that hung in the air. “I hope that her numbing sense of fashion has not caused you too much trouble, Lord Silas.”
“Numbing sense in fashion?” Ruelle found her sister’s words rather hilarious, so instead of feeling anger, she suppressed the urge to laugh. Casting a glance at Silas, she noticed the bewildered look on his face that disappeared just as quickly as it showed. “How will he respond to this? Damn, meaningless drama is sure fun.”
“…Lady Cleo,” Silas’ tone lacked the warmth it had before, now replaced by a frigid cold as he stared Cleo down with a steely gaze, his azure blue eyes starting to resemble his father’s terrific stare. “Are you implying that I have a numbing sense of fashion? Since it was me who chose this dress for my lady.”
Ruelle could only face Silas in silence, her expression frozen from the unexpected response. “He…got angry? Ah! He must be going for ‘that’ troupe, nice taste.”
Cleo’s eyes went wide with surprise and she swiftly answered with a nervous chuckle. ”What…What makes you think that, Lord Silas? I did not say anything about her current dress, I was simply—“
“Really?” Silas cut her off, causing Cleo to flinch as she averted her gaze to the floor. “But since earlier…I’ve seen you stare down my fiancee when you were conversing with her, so I apologize if your words just now sounded to me like…an excuse.”
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At his words, the banquet hall’s whispers grew louder.
‘Lord Silas is very perceptive of his fiancee, huh?’
’He was watching her even from across the room.’
’So he saw what Lady Cleo did? I’ve heard rumors that the sisters weren’t so fond of each other…’
‘The rumors are true, I’ve seen their disharmony at other parties before too.’
By that point, Cleo’s face had turned a bright shade of red, matching well with her carmine dress. With her hands balled into tight fists, she couldn’t do anything but lower her head as if shame had pressed down her neck. Seeing that she’d kept quiet for long enough, Ruelle decided to intervene, tugging at the cuff of Silas’ shirt while looking up straight into his cold eyes. “My lord, please stop, this is quite enough.”
As the ice in Silas’ gaze melted away, a panicked look replaced his frigid expression as he responded in a frantic voice. “Ah! My lady, I’m very sorry for not keeping ‘our promise’,” Ruelle almost laughed, though she hid it behind an understanding smile as he continued. “But how could I, as a man, stand still and listen as his fiancee is getting insulted? I hope you can find it in you to forgive me, Lady Ruelle.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, my lord,” Ruelle widened her smile, looking up at Silas and spoke as if the two of them had gotten lost in their own world. “You stood up for my honor, that alone is enough to move me. I already cannot express my gratitude, so how could I show you anger?”
‘Ding ding!’
”Ahem, attention, please.” Creston Salvador spoke after garnering everyone’s attention with a click of his fork against glass. Beside him, the marchioness eyed her young son with a merry expression, clearly intrigued by his lovely attitude towards his fiancee. “As a display of friendship and love between House Salvador and House Peregrine, I, Marquess Creston Salvador, have hosted this banquet to officially commemorate this joyous occasion, along with exchanging engagement rings to finalize their connections.” Creston paused as he turned to the main stars of the event. “If our lovely couple could please spare the time…?”
Without hesitation, Silas extended his arm to Ruelle, and together they made their way towards the marquess. Creston presented his son with the ring box, and Silas promptly dropped to one knee, opening it to reveal a stunning ring crafted from gold and amethysts. “Lady Ruelle Peregrine, would you marry me?”
To the people around them, Silas Salvador’s wide smile made him look like the happiest man in the world, but since Ruelle stood directly in front of him, she immediately spotted the dull, lifeless look in his eyes. ‘Hurry up’, they seem to say. She didn’t hold back her chuckles this time as she extended her left hand. “Yes!”
At her words, Silas swiftly slid the ring onto her fingers, and the crowd clapped in congratulations while he got up from the floor. Unexpectedly, he planted a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, earning him multiple surprised gasps from the nobles. “This means I get to have your first and last dance for every event, right? My lady?”
Ruelle nodded eagerly. “Of course, my lord.”
“Before that,” Creston glanced at Silas, as if checking if his son would speak up or not. “I would like to thank everyone here for coming to the banquet. I hope all of you will continue to find House Salvador and House Peregrine as your trusty companions. That is all, please enjoy the rest of the night.” The compacted closing speech matched someone like Creston Salvador perfectly, and right on queue, the musicians amped up their music, signaling the start of the dance.
As the focal point of the ball, Silas and Ruelle walked to the middle of the hall, and after exchanging a graceful bow, they locked hands and began to dance. While they glided across the floor in an elegant waltz, murmurs of amazement from the onlookers filled the hall once more.
‘I never knew that Lord Silas could dance so well.’
’Isn’t it obvious? He probably practiced just for this occasion so he could dance with Lady Ruelle.’
’The lady is quite good too, her form is perfect.’
Soon, their voices faded into silence as they watched in awe of the sophisticated beauty that radiated from their forms. The nobles’ low expectations for the engagement party stemmed from their belief in Silas Salvador’ terrible rumors, and the trust of those nobles who’d seen the vicious side of the young aristocrat further made the scene before them even more unbelievable.
‘Silas Salvador has changed.’
’Ruelle Peregrine, his fiancee, is the one who induced this positive development.’
When the song ended, Silas and Ruelle parted before bowing to each other once more, immediately, the nobles began to clap in admiration for the two of them.
The only one who didn’t was Cleo Peregrine.
She stood at the very back of the crowd, her hands shaking from how tight she’d balled them into a fist. Blood seeped from her bitten lips as she glared at Ruelle with widened eyes. ‘…Why you of all people…You’re not supposed to be happy.’