<Chapter 10>
As soon as I arrived, I had already forgotten my purpose, but Daisy had diligently continued to carry it out on her own. To make matters worse, she huffed indignantly and tattled on my negligence.
“Yes! And with less than a week until the imperial banquet… She just told me to pick any dress and roughly alter it. I’m so upset I could cry.”
“The imperial banquet, you say?”
It could be considered rude in some ways, but no one pointed it out. Perhaps because we saw each other often, but more likely because the three of us shared a common link: “Dianta.”
In fact, Seren was listening to Daisy’s complaints with genuine interest.
“You must’ve been tired helping with the engagement party prep, and I figured you wouldn’t want to go, so I didn’t ask. But if I’d known, we could’ve prepared together.”
She couldn’t hide her regret.
Then, as if a good idea struck her, her eyes lit up as she looked at me. After chatting softly with her maids, she personally picked out a dress.
“Dianta, how about this one?”
It was pure white overall, but dazzlingly extravagant.
The shoulders were partially bare, the upper part was all pleated lace, and in the center of that lace was a bold red gem embedded.
The lower part was no different.
Over the skirt was a layer of transparent lace fabric, and at the hem, crimson roses were beautifully embroidered like a flower field.
“I couldn’t pull it off at all. But I think it would look perfect on you, Dianta.”
It was clearly too expensive to shamelessly accept.
As I hesitated to say yes, Seren, sensing my reluctance, tried to hand the dress to Daisy to give to me.
Then, as if to assure me it suited me, she asked for others’ opinions.
“Don’t you think so too, Daisy?”
“Yes! I really think it would suit her!”
“And you, Your Grace?”
Of all people, she asked Iberk.
I didn’t even need to hear his answer to know it. Someone looking at me with such a terrifying gaze couldn’t possibly pay me a compliment. Especially when, to his eyes, the most beautiful person in the world was right beside him—his sister, Seren.
I didn’t have high hopes.
“Hard to say, just by looking.”
As expected.
It was more or less what I anticipated.
But the problem came after that. Iberk did something I hadn’t predicted.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Iberk took the dress that Daisy was holding.
Leaving Daisy stunned like she’d just been robbed, he strode toward me with his long legs.
It was so sudden. I instinctively held my breath.
I felt a dark shadow fall over me. When I slowly tilted my head up like a creaky old machine, I saw Iberk standing right in front of me.
Then he held the dress up to my body.
“Just as I thought.”
At that moment, one of his fingers brushed against my bare arm.
Since I was already wearing an off-shoulder dress, the cold touch landed directly on my skin. I gasped and reflexively took a step back.
“Gah!”
“My lady? What’s wrong?”
Maybe it was because we were face to face.
I could see every tiny movement of his facial muscles. Despite his actions, Iberk wasn’t even looking at the dress.
He was staring straight into my eyes.
“…I just thought… maybe the dress doesn’t suit me that much.”
I rushed to make an excuse, but his crooked smile didn’t fade.
Instead, he stepped closer. No, two steps closer. He began matching the dress to my shoulders with painstaking care.
Then he murmured to me,
“Over the next month, I’ll be coming even closer and touching even more deeply. Are you going to keep running away like this, my lady?”
He used formal language, but his tone was anything but respectful.
Iberk chuckled smugly as if issuing a warning.
As I looked up at him dumbfounded, he finally took a step, then another back, satisfied.
And he added lightly,
“It’s… perfect.”
“…”
“Very much so.”
With those final words, Iberk turned his back on me without hesitation.
He returned the dress to Daisy and didn’t glance at me again. Just like when we first met, Iberk kept his eyes solely on his sister, Seren.
I felt like I’d completely lost my mind.
Of course, I was the only one in that state. Iberk’s manner was so proper—like a model knight—that no one questioned his words.
They just nodded, saying they knew that dress would suit me.
“Still, let’s try on a few more just in case before deciding.”
Seren seemed genuinely pleased that her judgment hadn’t been wrong.
She approached me even more enthusiastically than before, grabbed my wrist, and dragged my dazed self behind the curtain.
“W-wait a sec—”
“It’s fine. You trust me, right?”
Was this what it felt like to be caught in a storm?
I was swept up in the whirlwind that was the Raphael siblings, unable to get my bearings. I didn’t even have time to process Iberk’s behavior properly.
Because Seren didn’t give me the chance.
“I still think the first dress looked best. Try it on one last time and let’s be done.”
“Then we should’ve just tried that one from the start.”
“Nope. The prettiest dress always comes last.”
Ugh. I’ll wear this last one and leave this mansion right away.
If I stayed any longer, they’d force accessories, shoes, even makeup and hair styling on me. No thank you.
“By the way, Dianta…”
“Yeah?”
“Did Hynt get home okay yesterday?”
At this moment, Seren whispered so quietly I could barely hear her, sneaking glances at the curtain like she was worried Iberk might be eavesdropping.
I whispered back,
“Of course. He was all smiles, even though I left alone in the carriage. I didn’t hear the full story, but it looked like you two had a good talk?”
“…Yeah.”
Seren blushed and lowered her gaze shyly.
I didn’t even need to ask. I could already picture it. He probably fumbled about, saying he didn’t say anything earlier because he was unsure about me, and ended with a heartfelt, “But I love you!”
So instead of commenting, I just focused on fixing the last dress.
Swish.
When the curtain was pulled back, the sunlight poured in brighter. Thinking the dress might look different in this light, I asked Seren,
“Does it look okay? Does it suit me?”
Seren looked me over carefully.
But before her small lips could open, someone else answered first. A calm but firm tone, like a knight’s.
“It suits you very well.”
It was Iberk.
“Th-thank you.”
It was just a compliment, and I was merely thanking him, but my lips trembled and my cheeks grew hot.
I tried to smile and turn my head away from Iberk casually.
But even after looking away, my cheeks still stung. Was it just my imagination?
I usually preferred to leave quietly, without a send-off. But today was different.
Iberk stood next to me as I waited for the coachman and Daisy. He was holding a bag full of dresses and accessories Seren had given me.
With so many things to carry, I needed the help. Though it seemed there was another reason too.
“You got mad all on your own, and now you’re fine again? Is that young man always so simple?”
“…You were eavesdropping just now?”
“I had no intention to, but it was very easy to hear.”
We had whispered behind the curtain on purpose—how could he hear that?
I’d heard about his monstrous strength, but it seemed even his hearing was beyond human. I’d have to be more careful during conversations from now on.
“Seren was always weak and timid as a child. I always hoped someone strong and capable would stay by her side, but…”
Iberk didn’t finish his sentence.
Yet strangely, his swallowed words echoed in my ears like tinnitus. No doubt he wanted to say, “And yet the best she could do was that pathetic guy.”
So I replied subtly.
“Sometimes those kinds of people can be so stubborn about their own views that they don’t really listen to others. Seren is very gentle and calm, so it would be hard on her.”
“But if both are cautious, wouldn’t that be difficult too?”
“In daily life, that’s not the case. It’s just that they’re being extra careful because they really like each other.”
It was like saying, “Only I get to criticize him.”
Since Iberk was clearly unimpressed with my brother, I felt the urge to defend him—despite how often I’d complained about him myself.
Our conversation gradually turned strange.
“Seren’s always been someone who listens to others well. That’s one of her most lovable traits.”
“…My brother is terrible at hiding his emotions. He probably thinks he’s being discreet, but it’s painfully obvious to others.”
I held back from saying, “That’s why his flailing is obvious.”
This was the hardest part of the day—praising my own family like some doting mother!
But perhaps out of sheer competitiveness, I kept scraping together whatever praise I could.
Of course, I ran out quickly.
“Since her debut, plenty of nobles lined up to be Seren’s partner.”
“Well, my brother might be… the most handsome in the empire?”
“…”
It was sort of true, but I hated to say it out loud. The words came out awkwardly, and I stared off into the sky.
Right then, Daisy’s voice sounded like salvation.
“My lady!”
I was so glad to hear it.
Even before the carriage fully stopped, I hurried over to her with the happiest face I’d worn all day.
Though I did grumble a little.
“Took a while, huh?”
“It took a bit to pack everything they gave us. But everything’s secured, so we’ll get back to the mansion quickly!”
“Good. Let’s head out before it gets any later.”
Usually, the knight would escort the lady, but I didn’t wait for Iberk. I opened the carriage door myself.
Holding my skirt, I prepared to climb up.
But—
“My lady.”
Before I could board, a long, pale hand reached out before me. Iberk, from behind, extended his hand.
He placed it gently on my shoulder—not firmly, just enough to hold me—and whispered near my ear.
“Let’s be honest. Don’t I easily beat your brother in looks? Compared to that, our Seren is truly the most beautiful lady in the empire.”
