Chapter 67: 67

“…Really, Pedro that brat.”

Alan sighed softly and supported my back.

Even when the next song began, he did not move.

People avoided us on their own, but somehow they felt awkward.

“Dad. What’s wrong?”

Alan sighed and asked softly.

“…Lily, will you dance with me?”

Alan’s expression was so serious that I was rather stunned.

‘Didn’t you come to me to dance?’

We stood tall in the center of the ballroom where music flowed.

It would seem strange to stop dancing in the middle of this situation.

I grabbed his big hand and smiled softly.

“But we’re already dancing.”

Alan was silent for a moment, then he softly curled his lips.

It was as if he didn’t know what to do because he was so happy that I agreed.

“…Thank you.”

For a moment, I felt as if my body became as light as a feather.

Alan almost lifted me up when I took a step.

It was obviously the same dance song, but his movements were as graceful as a swan’s.

Was it because of Alan’s leading skills? My feet moved on their own without doing anything.

“Lily.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Have I told you that you are really pretty today?”

Alan turned me inside his arm and spoke softly in my ear.

I couldn’t understand Alan’s words.

To think he thinks I’m pretty even though I am covered in a ghost cloth…

“You can see my face?”

“Yes, of course.”

It was half-joking, but Alan answered seriously.

“There’s no way I can’t recognize my daughter’s face.”

The end of his words spoken in a low tone faded like mist. 

As I left my body to Alan, the music ended eventually.

The men and women who were dancing around changed their partners one by one.

“…The song is too short.”

Alan clenched my hand with an unpleasant expression.

“Lily, do you want to change partners?” 

“Uh… Should I change?”

“It’s not necessarily like that. This is my castle, so you can stay with me forever if you want.”

‘In other words, according to the original rules, I can change partners…?’

At that moment, a shrill voice was heard from behind.

“Lily! I heard you danced with Brother before me.”

There was only one person in the world who could say this.

When I turned around, I saw Hugo gasping for breath as if he had circled the entire castle.

Did he just run from the top floor and got so exhausted?

“Please dance to the next song with me.”

Hugo wiped his forehead and hands with a handkerchief, smiling and pretending to be calm.

Still, the glowing face remained the same, and Alan let go of my hand slowly. It seemed to mean that it didn’t matter who I danced with, I should do as I pleased.

Then, suddenly, a woman with short silver hair approached and grabbed my hand.

“Princess, Princess, let’s dance to this song with Roxy!” 

It happened in an instant. I was confused and struggled with my limbs.

“Who, who…?!”

Wait a minute. Roxy? It’s a familiar name. 

Thanks to her wearing the same robe as Pedro, I was able to roughly infer her identity. It was the lady I met at the training hall last time. 

Wearing a rabbit mask, she jumped and trembled.

“I’m excited! I’m dancing with the Princess!”

“Umm… is it okay with this? Brother Hugo was trying to dance with me…”

Could a knight take a prince’s dance partner at will?

Roxy tilted her head as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.

“Ah, but Leader Pedro sent me to dance with the Princess right now.”

…This was intentional, it was obvious. Looking back, it was really obvious. Pedro was drinking champagne and laughing at Hugo, who was dispirited.

I was about to feel pity for Hugo for some reason, but Roxy brought her round face towards me.

“By the way, Princess, how’s the ball today?”

‘What do you mean?’

“Uh… it’s fun.”

“Ehyy, it’s not that. Do you have a boy you like?”

Roxy’s gray eyes were full of mischievous playfulness.

“A lot of handsome young masters have come. Even if they cover their faces with masks, it’s obvious which family they are from because of their smell. This is why the beasts feel drained when they go to a masquerade.”

“What do you mean a guy I like… There’s nothing like that.”

“Uh, really?”

Roxy tilted her head as if it was ridiculous not to be interested in a boy.

I thought she was missing a very important point, so I said cautiously.

You are reading story How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter at novel35.com

“…I’m still 10 years old.”

“Why? Roxy got engaged when she was seven.”

I had nothing to say. After all, it was said that there were some cases in the nobility where a fiancée was decided from the time of birth.

“Well, I’m not married yet. I don’t want to get married without meeting enough men.”

“Huh? Men?”

You’re engaged and you’re dating another man? Can you say it out loud like this? I didn’t understand it well with my common sense, but Roxy had a normal expression.

“Yes, we decided we wanted to have fun with others until we get married.”

Unlike her cute appearance, Roxy was a bold person.

Come to think of it, this person had a history of breaking into the academy and smoking cigarettes using ancient documents.

“Didn’t the Princess also meet Roxy’s fiancé? The one Roxy knocked down in the gym.”

The image of a handsome black-haired man flashed through my head.

“Are you both dating someone else?”

“It’s like we promised that we can date other people. Unlike me, he doesn’t seem to be interested in dating…”

Roxy scratched her head and spun around with me.

Then clap! she high-fived my hand.

“The person you originally need and the person your heart desires are always different!”

Roxy smiled brightly like a child. It was a statement I didn’t quite understand.

‘Can people whom I need and I want be different?’

I always wanted someone I needed.

The reason I cared about Benny was because I needed him. Because it was a battlefield where lives come and go.

“It may have been a little early for Princess… Oh, it’s already over.”

While I was thinking about it, the song was already over. 

As soon as Roxy let go of my hand, Hugo, who was leaning against the wall and panicking, came towards me as if he had been waiting.

However, the four twin maids Pedro sent were faster than him.

“Princess, dance with us too.”

“You’re going to dance, right?”

“Ah, all right.”

The tempo of this song was slow like a spring breeze. The larks hovered around me and glided through the ribbon-tied shoes.

Their group dance was a picture in itself.

In an elegant figure, exclamations burst out around us, people went “Woaah.”

I followed their movements clumsily, but I couldn’t keep up with their beautiful dance lines.

As I was panicking, wind mixed with the scent of lilac suddenly flew around me.

My limbs moved on their own. The larks were leading me with their magic.

As always, a gentle smile hung on the corners of the two pairs of twins’ lips.

After the waltz was over, Hugo came again.

“Lily! This time with me…!”

“Let’s dance one more song together!” 

Even before the song was over, Pedro, who was sitting next to him, grabbed my hand first.

Hugo glared at Pedro with the inclination to overthrow everything with his magic.

Pedro just laughed happily.

I was drunk on the music I heard for the first time in my life and the dance I danced for the first time in my life, so I went around the entire ballroom.

As Pedro said, after changing partners, I met various people. One of them wore a golden mask.

The smooth copper-colored eyes visible through the holes were impressive.

‘This person’s mask, I think I’ve seen it before…..’

I pondered over my memory, then gave up and focused on dancing.

‘He must be a passer-by.’

The boy with the golden mask, presumably the size of his hand, was at best about the same age as Hugo.

He was mature enough to not be called a boy, but still too young to be called a man. Still, his dancing skills were superior to most adults.

Unlike others who tried to talk to me somehow, he didn’t say a word throughout the whole dance. After the slow-tempo song ended, he politely bowed his head.

He whispered like a drowsy cat as I greeted him by waving the ghost cloth.

“See you again, Lilietta.”

It was the first guest to call me by name.

Startled, I raised my head, but the man in the golden mask was nowhere to be seen.

“Lily!”

Hugo, who had another opportunity, came to me.

This time, Alan took me back. In the end, I couldn’t dance a single song with Hugo until the ball was over.

The masquerade ended late at night. 

Alan nodded, hugging and covering me with a blanket. Then he declared that the scheduled fireworks display would be canceled because I might wake up.

Masks hovered in the blurry vision. Peacock mask, half mask, white mask, black mask…

‘…The golden mask.’

In the distant view, the man with the golden mask who I had danced with before, glimmered.

Was it an illusion? The white hair protruding from behind the golden mask’s feathers seemed to gleam softly. Like the hair of Emperor Igdrasil. 

Before I could think any further, I fell asleep.

*** 

Chirp, chirp.

I slowly opened my eyes to the sound of birds singing in the morning.

‘…The sun is too bright.’

The sunlight hitting my cheeks was so warm. More like afternoon than morning.

“…Is it really afternoon?!”

I jumped up and looked out the window.

I couldn’t even remember when I fell asleep, but the sun was already in the middle of the sky.

You can find story with these keywords: How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter, Read How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter, How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter novel, How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter book, How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter story, How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter full, How to Live as the Mad Duke’s Fake Daughter Latest Chapter