Chapter 16: Chapter 16

I had to summon all my remaining courage to take Rachel's hand and lead her to the center of the room. Everyone around us immediately turned their attention to us, which only made the girl even angrier.

Many people froze in fear or screamed when it became clear that the cursed daughter of Duke Cassius was also present at this ball. Naturally, no one expected to meet her here.

The silence turned to whispers, which later turned into a hum. But as soon as Rachel took one quick look at them, they all fell silent.

"Do you... do you have any idea what you just did?"

I'd never seen Rachel so furious before.

She pulled her hand free easily, despite my best efforts. Then she swung, clearly aiming to hit me.

I closed my eyes beforehand, expecting a painful beating from her. But surprisingly, the hand stopped a millimeter away from my face.

All because I managed to whisper:

"Please help me!"

Rachel frowned.

The banquet hall has been completely silent since recently. Phillip and Razor stood in the same spot, confused, not quite sure what was going on. Actually, like everyone else.

Even the headmaster shut up, apparently realizing that this wasn't the best time to get involved.

"What?"

"Be my partner," I said, "just for one night."

I tried to keep my voice low so that only Rachel could hear me.

"If you help me, I'll definitely pay you back later!"

"With what?"

"Um-m…"

"How will you repay me?" Rachel asked in a more neutral tone.

I was surprised, because a second ago I thought she was going to tear me apart.

"Well, anything," I said doubtfully.

In fact, I really didn't know how exactly I could pay Rachel back. In terms of finances, the Cassians' fortune surpassed even the imperial family, so I was useless here. As for the rest…

"I'll help you raise your status in society!" I said firmly, "My father is not the last person in the empire, and if everyone knows that I treat you well, then others will stop being afraid of you!"

Rachel looked at me like I was a fool.

"You don't have to."

"Why...?!"

"What's the use of a stupid aristocrat who hasn't even finished high school? Only the Archduke's words carry weight, not yours."

Rachel always spoke the truth, but she spoke it so bluntly that it could easily have been taken as an insult. So this time, I barely restrained myself from being offended by her. Rachel was right, though.

At seventeen, I still didn't have the power to influence the wealthy aristocrats who ran the empire. This would only happen after I become an archduchess. But that was still a long way off.

"Then what do you want?" I asked resentfully, "You're right, I'm still underage, and I can't arrange a coup for you or anything like that."

Rachel looked at me blankly.

"Then we'll put that aside."

"What?"

"I'll think about what I want from you. And when I make my decision, you don't have the right to refuse."

Oddly, I was relieved by the dangerous suggestion.

Most importantly, Rachel agreed to my request. Even if she made me kneel in front of her in front of the entire academy afterwards, I didn't mind. It was better than the two of them chasing me again.

"Music, please!" I commanded as the musicians froze, not knowing what to do.

The order from the Archduke Ashford's daughter sounded very convincing, so they decided that it should be so. After the princes, I was still one of the most influential students in the academy, so the first dance was supposed to go to me.

The orchestra began to play slowly, relieving the tense atmosphere with music for the first time.

I put a tentative hand on Rachel's shoulder and we started waltzing. Fortunately, there shouldn't have been any problems with this.

All the aristocrats learned to dance from childhood, and Leriana was no exception. Despite the fact that I'd never done anything like this in my life, my body perfectly remembered all the movements, which made me move almost instinctively.

The only thing that made me slightly uncomfortable was that our faces were unnaturally close together. We've never had such close physical contact before.

I might even be embarrassed if it wasn't for the fact that Rachel kept hissing at me.

"Fool, if you step on my foot again, I'll definitely strangle you...!"

Her usual brusque tone sobered me up a bit, so I didn't think about it again until the very end.

During the entire dance and after it was over, the children of the aristocrats still stared at us as if we were something unimaginable. No one even dared to clap when we curtsied and thanked each other. So everything that was happening seemed strange to others.

You are reading story Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead at novel35.com

However, this was what I wanted. I'd rather have a reputation that wouldn't make it profitable for Phil and Razor to mess with me. After all, because of my association with Rachel Cassius, I could definitely get all sorts of rumors around me. Before that, no one had dared to even speak to her, let alone ask her to dance in public.

The rest of the banquet was held in an extremely calm atmosphere, as the noise and fun at the beginning, due to the presence of Rachel, was no longer there.

Phil and Razor had to invite other girls to the second dance, which I was very happy about. I followed Rachel's tail around the entire event so they wouldn't come up to me.

Judging by her usual demeanor, Rachel was quite pleased that evening. At least she didn't show any disgust, and she only insulted me a couple of times. You could say that the girl seriously took my offer to become her partner in stride.

At twelve o'clock in the morning, the crowd was already slowly starting to disperse.

Rachel was one of the first to leave and refused when I offered to walk her back to her dorm. It turned out to be somewhat inconvenient that we lived in different buildings, because of this, we could not go home together.

However, it was okay. I've bothered her enough this afternoon.

I was walking down the hallway of the academy, which at one point became completely empty. Most of all, I wanted to go to sleep in my room as soon as possible, because I had never been so tired in my life. Neither mentally nor physically.

Fortunately, the most important thing is that everything went well. So I could even be proud of myself.

I yawned and scratched the back of my head when a hand was suddenly placed on my shoulder.

"Ah...!"

I almost screamed, but I realized just in time that a maniac couldn't show up at such an elite academy in the middle of the night.

And she was right. Fortunately or not, the person who caught up with me was Phil. Or, more precisely, Prince Philip.

"Leriana, I'm sorry… Did I scare you?"

I exhaled.

"No, it's nothing, Your Highness."

Involuntarily, I emphasized the last word, which made Philippe Blanche look apologetically embarrassed.

"Can we talk?"

I decided to agree to this offer in order to clarify everything right away. After all, all these omissions will ultimately only harm me.

We went out into the garden, which was now empty. At night, lanterns were lit all over the academy grounds, so it was really beautiful here. You can say even better than during the day.

I sat down on the bench, but the prince was in no hurry to do the same. He stood there, and for a long time, he didn't dare to speak again.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away."

"Nothing. I don't hold it against you."

Even if I was angry, I couldn't express it. After all, if earlier we were in the same position as ordinary aristocrats, now this was not the case. The imperial word carried the most weight in this country. Philip, being the Crown Prince, had too much power for me to openly contradict him.

"I wasn't going to hide it on purpose," the young man sighed, "just… I was so happy when you addressed me as your friend. And I was afraid that if you found out, you'd... stop communicating with me."

I chuckled.

In fact, it was the perfect opening for a romance novel. Where the heroine, not knowing the true origin of her chosen one, falls in love with him. It was the most classic, but at the same time intriguing scenario in such stories.

As it turned out, the novel did a good job of bringing us together.

If this were an original story of Philippe and Leriana, it would really be very romantic.

That was just… I knew exactly what was coming.

A fleeting love wasn't worth my life. As Prince Philip's companion, I would have to pay a huge price in the future.

And I was definitely not ready for it.

"I understand, Your Highness," I said dryly, trying to get this meaningless conversation over with as quickly as possible.

I got up from the bench and was about to say goodbye to him. But as it turned out, the prince wasn't going to let me go so soon.

"Wait!" He said as I almost turned my back on him, "Even though I lied about my background, everything else was true. I like you!"

"What?"

"I hope we can forget all this and start over."

Philip looked at me hopefully, waiting for me to take his words in and give him a second chance.

But I had other plans.

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I can't be with you. My heart has been occupied for a long time."

At first, the young man seemed taken aback by my words. After which, he was overcome with anger.

"What...?" Prince Philip was furious. "Tell me his name and I'll fight him fair and square! You'll see that I'm much better than him!"

"Your Highness, you see, this is not about a man…"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid the daughter of a cursed duke stole my heart at first sight."

You can find story with these keywords: Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead, Read Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead, Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead novel, Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead book, Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead story, Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead full, Even Though I Was Reborn as the Future Queen, I Decided to Live Quietly Instead Latest Chapter