Chapter 10
The official season’s final ball held at the imperial palace drew more guests each year than usual.
Unmarried men and women who hadn’t found partners by the end of the season gathered in hopes of a last chance.
Moreover, because of the special nature of it being the ‘last’ ball, even nobles and newly wealthy people who didn’t usually attend made their way to the banquet hall.
Seeing the vast palace banquet hall filled with people, my palms grew clammy—a kind of compulsion that had arisen since I became a Marchioness.
“Wow! There are so many people here today, right?”
Chloe asked with an excited face. She was dressed up in everything we had chosen together.
She wore a bright pink off-shoulder dress with sparkling fabric accents, and a necklace and earrings adorned with Delapo pearls.
Chloe wore even the most vivid colors as if they were made for her.
She was a woman who knew her strengths exactly and how to use them.
Her long eyelashes fluttered as she looked up at people, her graceful walk was like a ballerina’s, and the way her hands swayed lightly like flower petals drew the gaze of countless men in the banquet hall.
Chloe enjoyed the attention and smiled contentedly.
I unconsciously gripped the hem of my dress. The ivory dress I wore, which came up to my neck, was a design carefully chosen to display the dignity of the Marchioness.
It was a kind of Wolfhaze family tradition, made under the direct supervision of my mother-in-law, Melinda, and Hayden himself, without much regard for trends or personal taste.
Compared to Chloe’s voluminous and dazzling dress, mine looked all the plainer.
But I couldn’t wear a dress like hers. I had to be a proper Marchioness.
‘I’m glad I decided not to wear the pearl earrings after all.’
Ever since I saw Chloe’s earrings last time, I hadn’t worn mine, perhaps out of a strange sense of guilt.
I quietly touched the ruby earrings I was wearing tonight.
“You really haven’t changed. You still like going to crowded places, huh?”
Hayden, who had come with us, said as he affectionately wrapped his arm around my shoulder, speaking to Chloe.
Maybe his words sounded like a slight, because Chloe pouted her lips and shrugged her shoulders.
“I can’t help it if I enjoy being around lots of people.”
“It’s a good thing you became an actress, or what would you have done?”
“Enough with the nagging! Since we’re here, I’m going to have fun tonight.”
Chloe shook her head, then took a glass from a passing waiter and handed one each to Hayden and me before downing her own in one gulp.
“Chloe, you’ll get drunk if you do that.”
“I want to get drunk, so don’t worry about it.”
“What are you going to do if you do?”
“With you and Hayden here, I’ll be fine! How could I spend this last night at the palace being bored?”
Chloe’s eyes sparkled as she looked over the crowd filling the banquet hall. Occasionally, men who made eye contact with her blushed and quickly looked away.
At Chloe’s antics, Hayden let out a helpless laugh.
“It’s been a long time since the three of us got together like this,” Hayden said, sounding nostalgic.
“It really has. Back in the academy, we used to always stick together.”
“It’s thanks to you two gracious ladies that you let a humble fellow like me tag along.”
“Ever since you two got married, there haven’t been many chances for all three of us to meet.”
Chloe pouted and looked back and forth between us.
“I never imagined things would turn out this way,” she said, half complaining.
I thought Chloe must be thinking about how our relationships had changed.
“Anyway, let’s stop reminiscing and enjoy the ball now. You two go dance for a while. I’ll be busy looking for a handsome guy to dance with in the meantime.”
“A handsome guy? Think you’ll find one?” Hayden teased with a chuckle. “With your standards as high as they are, I doubt there’ll be anyone who measures up.”
Watching the two of them banter, I suddenly felt a pang in my chest.
‘A lot really has changed since those days.’
Even though the two of them acted just the same with each other as they always had, it somehow made me uncomfortable.
‘Was Hayden always this sly?’
Hayden, who had always been gentle and soft-spoken, was now making teasing jokes, something that felt new to me.
Suddenly, I wondered if maybe I was the only one who had changed in this relationship.
Chloe and Hayden still got along as close friends, but I was now treating Hayden as my husband.
Even just the way we spoke to each other showed how much had changed.
Although we’d been friends, after our marriage I began using formal language with Hayden, following my mother-in-law’s teachings that, as my husband, he deserved that treatment.
“Really now. Do you honestly think this Chloe here won’t get asked to dance by a man more handsome than you?”
“That’s some confidence you’ve got.”
“Of course. If by some miracle there isn’t a single man here who meets my standards by the time you get back, then I’ll give you a chance.”
“If Winter allows it, I’ll be happy to,” Hayden replied.
“Oh, you lovebirds. You’re too much!”
Chloe giggled and lightly tapped my shoulder.
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