Chapter – 14
The evening of the ball.
As the sun began to gently lose its light, Adam arrived at Juliet’s grandmother’s mansion to escort her.
The moment he saw Juliet dressed up, he became visibly flustered, letting out a series of inarticulate sounds that barely resembled words. With awkward, trembling hands, he presented her with a white tulip pinned to his chest.
Before a party, it was customary in the Kingdom of Efilante for a gentleman to offer his partner a single flower.
“G-g-g-good evening, J-Juliet! H-h-here you go!”
He was clearly nervous—his words stumbled one after another.
Juliet couldn’t help but laugh softly as she accepted the tulip, slipping it into the ribbon on her bodice like a small adornment.
“Goo—hello, Adam. Thank you for the lovely flower.”
Out of habit, she had almost said “Good evening” in the formal noble manner, but quickly corrected herself. While some among the middle class did use that phrase, it was safer to avoid it.
Luckily for her, Adam was far too nervous to notice such a minor slip. His face flushed red, he was doing his utmost to show proper courtesy to his partner.
“N-no! I, um, I heard your dress would be blue, so I picked a flower that I thought would suit you—uh, that would suit Juliet! Y-you look very beautiful!”
“My!”
Juliet’s smile blossomed—not out of amusement this time, but because Adam’s straightforward words genuinely made her happy.
As he said, Juliet was wearing a blue gown that day. Around her neck hung a delicate jeweled necklace, and her softly draped hair was adorned with a white artificial flower on a headband—an elegant, refined look.
Her makeup, applied carefully by Mary, was chosen to make her look quite different from usual.
To others, she probably appeared to be the daughter of a well-off middle-class family.
Of course, the dress and accessories were, as planned, borrowed from Thomas’s daughter.
As for Adam, he was dressed in the formal uniform of a provisional knight.
The design itself wasn’t much different from that of a full knight; the main distinctions were the color of the trim, the aiguillette, and the shoulder insignia.
For full knights, those details were silver. For provisional knights, they were a reddish bronze. The commander’s attire, by contrast, would be gold—rank could be identified by color.
“You look wonderful too, Adam.”
“R-really!?”
“Yes. I hear many young ladies have been invited tonight—perhaps one of them will take a liking to you.”
For a brief instant, Adam’s face lit up like a flame—but just as quickly, it dimmed, as though someone had doused it with water.
“…My lady,” Mary muttered behind her in an exasperated tone.
Juliet blinked, puzzled. She had meant it as a compliment, so what had she said wrong? When she turned, she saw that Mary was wearing the same face she made after sipping overly bitter tea.
Just then, footsteps pattered rapidly down from the second floor—the grandmother was hurrying down the stairs.
“Welcome, Adam!”
“Grandmother, please don’t run! You’ll twist your ankle again!”
Juliet’s warning came almost in unison with Mary darting forward to stand by the grandmother, ready to catch her if needed.
Fortunately, the grandmother reached the bottom safely—but seeing Adam in his knight’s uniform for the first time, she became terribly excited.
“Welcome, dear Adam! Thank you for coming to pick up Juliet. You always look lovely, but today—oh, you look so handsome! Your hair’s so neatly brushed, you look rather grown-up!”
Sensing that her grandmother was about to launch into one of her long-winded conversations, Juliet panicked.
They were supposed to take a public carriage to the city, pick up the bouquet and book they had ordered as gifts, and then attend the ball.
If she indulged her grandmother’s chatter, they’d surely miss the carriage.
Juliet grabbed Adam’s arm firmly and pulled him away.
“W-we’d better go, Adam! Or we’ll be late!”
“Eh? O-oh, right!”
Ignoring his confusion, Juliet practically dragged him out of the house.
Behind them came the grandmother’s cheerful voice: “Take good care of Juliet!”
“I’ve never ridden a public carriage before,” Juliet said with excitement as they walked toward the stop.
Since she usually used the Viscount family’s private carriage, it was only natural—but the thought of sharing a large carriage with strangers made her heart flutter with curiosity.
“Really? Then… how do you usually travel long distances?” Adam asked, sounding surprised and a little confused.
Only wealthy merchants could afford private drivers—most non-noble young women typically used public carriages.
Juliet, of course, had anticipated this question.
“Our family owns an orchard, remember? So we have wagons for transporting goods—and my father uses a small carriage for business trips. When I go out, I usually ride along in that.”
“Oh, right! I remember seeing a carriage outside your grandmother’s house the first time I met you!”
Adam nodded in understanding, slapping his knee.
Juliet hadn’t specified how large the orchard was, but judging from her grandmother’s comfortable lifestyle and Juliet’s refined manners, he probably imagined a fairly prosperous middle-class family.
Chatting pleasantly, they reached the stop—where several others were already waiting.
They joined the line and waited for the carriage.
But even as the scheduled time passed, the carriage didn’t come.
At first, everyone—including Juliet and Adam—waited patiently, assuming it was just a minor delay. But as time dragged on, unease began to spread among the group.
“Um… what could be keeping it?”
“This is quite late…”
“Maybe there was an accident?”
The strangers exchanged worried glances.
Juliet looked at Adam; his face said it all—if this keeps up, we’ll definitely be late.
But there was nothing to be done.
They waited, and waited—and when the carriage finally arrived, it was nearly the exact time the ball was supposed to begin.
“I’m so sorry, Juliet! I can’t believe the carriage got stuck in the mud and delayed us like that!”
“P-please, don’t apologize so much. It wasn’t your fault…”
Juliet gave a small, helpless smile as she waved her right hand. In her left, she held the bouquet and book they’d just collected from the shop.
By the time they reached the castle gates, the ball had already been underway for an hour.
All the while, Adam had been apologizing profusely, heedless of anyone watching.
“No one could have predicted that. Really, don’t worry about it. In fact, we should be thankful the carriage didn’t get stuck halfway—we might have had to push it out of the mud!”
If that had happened, every passenger—including Juliet—would have had to wade into the muck and shove, even in her gown.
Compared to that, a mere delay was nothing.
“Juliet… thank you,” Adam murmured, his nose reddening and tears welling in his eyes.
Seeing that, Juliet suddenly understood why he hadn’t yet found a partner. He was too kind. The sort of man who always ended up “just a friend.”
“Well then, we’d better make up for lost time and enjoy ourselves tonight.”
“Yes. Let’s have as much fun as we can.”
Smiling at each other, Juliet followed Adam through the castle gates.
While he presented their invitation to the guards, she looked up at the towering castle walls.
Ashen Castle, glowing in the evening light—just as she remembered it.
“From today on, this castle will be my home. It may not be dazzling, but it’s grand… and beautiful.”
The words she—back when she was still Lydel—had once spoken from inside her carriage echoed in her mind.
Mina had been beside her then, and in the following carriage rode several ladies-in-waiting from the royal household.
It had been a royal marriage procession; the escort was immense.
Ashen’s count had promised to provide attendants as well, and her parents and brothers had urged her to bring as many as she liked.
But once the marriage was set, Lydel was no longer a princess—she was a count’s wife.
Though not entirely severed from the royal family, she wished to avoid special treatment.
Besides, her attendants had their own lives in the capital; she couldn’t uproot them.
Lydel had resolved to live not as royalty, but as a noblewoman’s wife—to embrace her new life, learn local customs, and become one with the people.
“Mina, I truly think… I’ll come to love this place—Ashen—as my second home.”
The gentle echo of Lydel’s voice faded.
Juliet closed her eyes, standing still for a long moment before quietly opening them again.
Whether it was her own feelings or Lydel’s lingering memories, she couldn’t tell—but to her, the castle bathed in orange light seemed to exude a quiet, wistful solitude.
