07. Imperial Banquet (1)

“Miss Herena! I’m sorry. I found the lost hair ornament! I completely forgot that I had put it in a drawer. Oh, Duke Laverion! I greet you, Your Grace.”

Amy, apologizing for her mistake, hurriedly approached while bowing to Kaelen.

“You really found it?” I asked with a bright smile upon hearing that the lost hair ornament had been found.

“Yes, here it is!”

I let out a sigh of relief as I looked at the hair ornament in Amy’s hand. The hair ornament, adorned with amethyst-colored flowers, had been a gift from Kaelen to me in the past.

“I should have taken better care of the hair ornament that you cherish the most, Miss. I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s just a minor thing. Besides, you’ve already found it. Don’t worry too much, Amy. Now, could you please help me put it in my hair?”

I comforted Amy, who was on the verge of tears, and urged her with a gentle smile.

“Yes, of course…”

Upon my request, Amy quickly brought the hair ornament over to me.

“I’ll do it.”

However, Kaelen suddenly pushed Amy aside, snatching the hair ornament from her hand, and approached me slowly.

“Duke…?”

I called out to Kaelen with a voice full of confusion at his unexpected actions. But there was no response, and all I could see in my field of vision was his black formal attire.

What’s going on? What’s happening right now?

Kaelen’s abrupt behavior left me bewildered and anxious. Then, I felt a refreshing scent and a delicate touch on my hair.

And my heart began to race uncontrollably.

Thump, thump.

Why is my heart doing this again?

While my heart would usually beat faster when I saw him, this level of closeness had never happened before. It felt like my heart was pounding as if I had just sprinted 100 meters at full speed.

‘I shouldn’t let him hear it.’

Now, my concern shifted from why he was putting the hair ornament in my hair to the fear that he might hear my heart racing. So, I watched his chest intently, worried that he might hear it as he continued to put the hair ornament in my hair.

Thump, thump, thump.

However, just because I wasn’t breathing didn’t mean my heart would stop. My heart throbbed even more violently, almost as if it were defying my will. I remained in a state of unease, unable to move away from him.

But what was Kaelen doing? Why was it taking him so long? By now, he should have easily finished placing the hair ornament in my hair, yet he continued to stand before me, motionless.

Please, I hoped he wouldn’t notice. I wished I had distanced myself from him before he could realize, but there was no sign of that happening.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, the space between us, which seemed unbridgeable, slowly widened. As Kaelen moved away, I finally exhaled the breath I had been holding.

‘Phew…’

I thought to myself, “It’s just attaching a hair ornament, why is my heart racing like this… I hope my cheeks didn’t turn red or anything.”

“Why are you acting like this?” Kaelen asked as he watched me exhale deeply.

“No, it’s nothing!”

Facing Kaelen’s questioning gaze, I waved my hand dismissively.

“Do you not like it?”

“No, it’s lovely. I mean, it will be. Right?”

I sensed a slight rise in his handsome brow and quickly added, turning to look at Amy, “Right?”

“Yes, Miss. It suits you very well.”

Consciously avoiding Kaelen, I stroked the hair ornament he had placed, trying my best to relax and shake off the tension and the inexplicable shivers.

Even then, as Kaelen’s presence receded, my heart finally began to settle down.

“Now, shall we proceed?”

“Huh? Yes, yes, let’s go.”

However, my once-disturbed heart didn’t have enough time to completely calm down, and as soon as I looked at Kaelen again, it started racing at an incredible speed.

‘Why is this happening?’

No matter how much I liked him, experiencing my heart racing like this was entirely new and left me feeling extremely embarrassed. I concealed my trembling emotions with an awkward laugh and followed him as he led the way.

In the midst of it all, a moment of concern crept in. If we were to share a carriage, we would be facing each other until we arrived at the palace. Would I be able to hold up in my current state? Granted, the Laverean family’s carriage was quite spacious, and the same incident as before was unlikely to happen, but I couldn’t help worrying.

With all sorts of worries swirling in my mind, I approached the carriage, and Kaelen extended his large hand to me.

“It’s beautiful.”

His words came from lips that were thick yet straight and elegant. Looking at his hand, I couldn’t help but entertain a whimsical thought: Did any unattractive part exist on Kaelen Laverion, a person who seemed perfect in every aspect?

Kaelen’s deep voice interrupted my wandering thoughts.

“Aren’t you getting on?”

“Oh, yes. I’m getting on.”

I shook off my distracted state and took his hand, quickly climbing into the carriage and settling into my seat. Kaelen took a seat across from me.

‘Please,’ I silently pleaded.

Although we had been in the carriage for a while, my heart showed no signs of calming down. I was frantically trying to calm myself, placing my hand near the area where my heart was thumping as if it were about to burst out.

Eventually, with considerable effort, I managed to regain some composure.

“Are you feeling unwell?” Kaelen inquired, apparently noticing my strange behavior.

“No, not at all,” I replied hastily, still not taking a breath.

However, as our eyes met, my heart began pounding violently once more, rendering all my efforts useless.

‘I must be going crazy. Please…’

The truth was, I had rarely been alone with him in the same space before. But recently, at Adelia’s wedding and now for the second time in a few years, I found myself in close proximity to him.

‘This won’t do. I have to distance myself from thoughts of him.’

The unease that my heart, racing like this, could lead to something I couldn’t predict had taken over my mind. For my heart to return to normal, the only solution seemed to be to separate from him.

But…

Throughout the entire carriage ride, there was no way to distance myself from him. So, for now, I had to endure it. If I could hold on until we arrived at the palace, I hoped we could naturally go our separate ways during the event.

With this determination, I tried to keep myself from looking at Kaelen for the duration of the journey.

Fortunately, as time passed, my heartbeats seemed to slow down gradually. I let out a relieved breath internally, vowing to endure just a little more.

But then, at that moment, Kaelen’s voice, which I thought wouldn’t address me at all, resonated loudly within the carriage.

“I remember that hair ornament as a gift from me.”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right.”

As soon as he spoke to me, my heart started pounding again, sending palpable beats of anxiety and confusion through me. To regain my composure, I bit down on my lip.

“You gave it to me as a gift on my birthday several years ago.”

And I hurriedly added,

“When I was eighteen.”

“Yes? Yes, that’s right. You remember.”

I hadn’t even thought he’d remember when he gave it to me.

Feeling pleased that he remembered, I smiled slightly and nodded vigorously.

“Is that your most cherished possession?”

“What?”

“A while ago, the maid mentioned that.”

“Oh, yes. It’s one of the things you gave me, and it’s also very beautiful…”

I stumbled over my words, a little embarrassed.

“But do you not wear it often? Perhaps it’s not to your taste…”

In response to Kaelen’s words suggesting that I might not wear it because I don’t like it, I quickly spoke up.

“No, it’s not that! I just… I mean, you gave it to me, and I didn’t want to wear it too often and risk it getting worn out or damaged…”

As I continued to make excuses, I accidentally blurted out something unnecessary and immediately clamped my mouth shut.

“Is it not about your taste but more because of that reason?”

“What? Um, yes. That’s right. It’s because it’s a gift from you on my birthday, and it also holds memories with Adelia. So, I’d be really sad if it got ruined.”

Although I felt quite embarrassed saying this and even sneakily mentioned memories with Adelia, most of what I was saying was true.

The first gift he gave me on my birthday was one of the most precious things I owned, and I wanted to preserve it for as long as possible.