Chapter 17: 16

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Vivian’s POV

Silence engulfed the entire place. 

It wasn’t just me that heard wrongly, right? 

As I kept staring blankly at the hand that was still holding Edmund’s elbow, I thought about just what I had done.

I was just, I only intended to call out for my sister. 

“…….”

It feels like I broke out in cold sweat. I think that I’ve made a mistake. I didn’t particularly call out with the intention of asking him to buy the painting, but when I thought about it carefully, I think it was because I didn’t want to leave my sister’s painting in the hands of others.

As I slowly paled, the surrounding people began to talk in whispers.

“Goodness.”

“500 million?”

“That’s, 500 million is probably nothing as it’s Deer, but still.”

As murmurs quickly enveloped the hall, the auctioneer’s voice rose above them.

“Anyone else? I’ll start counting down. Three…two…one… Congratulations. This year’s finale is sold to Mr. Edmund Deer!”

After his successful bid was confirmed, the hall quietened instead, and not long after, words that were similar to cheers popped out. When I heard the news that Edmund had eventually renewed the highest bid in history, I bit on my lip. 

When comments such as ‘how much do you love Sasha’ and ‘you’ll get into trouble one day’ started, various discussions began to flood the surroundings, 

In the midst of this fuss, Edmund only remained calm, as if nothing had happened. When I looked up at him nervously, he looked downwards at me and smiled, as if nothing had happened. No, it wasn’t the time for him to laugh like that!

Meanwhile, another man wearing a deer mask approached urgently.

“Mr. Deer, what are you trying to do…? In any case, 500 million is too unreasonable.”

“Then, should I have just passed up Sasha’s self-portrait? To someone with a questionable background?”

“But…”

With a smile, Edmund briefly glanced at the black-haired man’s location, before turning his head again. He then laughed mischievously. 

“Who said that I’m giving it to ‘The Deer’?”

“What?”

“I had only bought it for my personal collection. It’s not related to ‘The Deer’ at all.”

“What?”

He threw out astonishing words without even batting an eye. 

“500 million…?”

He tilted his head slightly to the right. 

“It’s also a large sum for me. It definitely isn’t a small amount. But I’m quite lucky in various respects.”

I couldn’t figure out whether he was bluffing or being truthful now. The words he mentioned earlier, that the art museum business was the smallest amongst the businesses by the Deer family, was it the truth?

In that case, just how massive is the Deer family’s wealth?

“W–what? Wait a moment, Eddie. You had just bought that?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Paying for it?”

Oh, I have yet to pay for it, so it isn’t mine yet. He continued to speak as if nothing had happened. Without looking, I could tell that all eyes were focused on this side. What the heck.

“…Are the Deers that rich?”

Instead of responding, the corners of Edmund’s mouth curved upwards. Was it alright for him to freely use his family’s money to buy a painting? Perhaps because he noticed my eyes that were filled with uneasiness, Edmund shook his head, telling me to not worry.

In that case, let’s change the question.

“Is Sister’s painting that valuable?”

“…Sasha’s self-portrait in itself is valuable.”

His silver-gray eyes gleamed from underneath the mask. He took a step closer to me and whispered softly. His uniquely elegant pronunciation caused the words to roll from under his tongue smoothly. 

“Even so, isn’t she your older sister?”

“……”

I was rendered speechless.

“Even though you aren’t sure of how you should feel about Sasha yet, she wasn’t someone that’s meaningless to you, since she made you grab me desperately at the last minute.”

I felt my heart tingling.

“That’s why, it was enough.”

“But–”

“As I’d said, I’m fine. How about you?”

Edmund cut off my counter and turned it into a question for me. How about you? The fact that it was my first time hearing such a question rendered me speechless. 

“I’m…”

I didn’t have a chance to think about it properly, so the words that came out were broken up. Perhaps he knew about my condition, Edmund shook his head slightly to signify that it’s fine, and a hand reached out. 

“Are you feeling okay? I didn’t want you to pay attention to it, so I covered all of the paintings by Sasha, but how is it that we’d run into her here…”

His finger touched the mask I was wearing. I could feel the magic on the mask unravelling. Before I could catch it, the silver deer mask fell smoothly into Edmund’s hand. 

As I touched my forehead in vain at the sudden feeling of emptiness, Edmund took another step closer. 

Like magic, there was only a fist’s worth of distance between him and me. He slowly tilted his upper body.

“Oh…”

The scent of Edmund’s favourite perfume invaded my personal space. And before I could properly process what was going on, his lips touched my forehead.

It was a kiss that wasn’t filled with other ulterior motives, a kiss that wasn’t desirous but courteous beyond comparison.

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When I raised a hand to touch my forehead, Edmund stepped backwards easily and handed the mask he took off to aside, as if nothing had happened. He then held my hand. The tranquil song that was being played by the orchestra in the background was suddenly changed to a cheerful tune. 

“Eddie, you have to explain what’s going on!” 

“Didn’t I say earlier that you’re the main character of today’s party?”

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Originally, the successful bidder of the finale starts off the first dance of the charity party in the second part of the event.”

Edmund stood in the center of the hall, which had suddenly turned into a dance floor, and gave me a smile. If he gave off a mysterious atmosphere while he was wearing a mask, he seemed like a deity that had descended into the human world when he took off his mask.

“And that person’s partner would always become the main character of the party.”

“…What’s that?”

Edmund used the half-obsolete imperial etiquette from 200 years ago to ask me for a dance, which was very familiar to me.

“So, Lady Summers. Will you grant me the honour of having the first dance with me?”

With both hands on his back and a leg tucked behind, he bowed gracefully and courteously in greeting.

“…Do you know this dance?”

“Why don’t you personally check?”

He lifted his bent upper body again, and whispered while walking over to me, while I tucked a leg behind me while holding the skirt with both my hands. 

Just like that, while I was by his side, he walked behind me. As we stood together in a half-embrace, he held my hand tightly and spun me out to the side. 

After the greetings, the starting introduction of the dance continued like flowing water.

Everyone watched our greetings like they were enchanted. Just as I was about to feel a little burdened by their gazes, Edmund held my hand to assure me. Eventually, I followed him in the dance steps.

In conclusion, Edmund danced very well.

It should have been a dance that he had never seen before, so it was at an excellent level. While it felt like I was the only one jarring as I coordinated the steps with our bodies together, the people watching had probably felt that the all movements were as fluid like water only. 

Although he accidentally stepped on my foot due to a misstep, it was still great. 

“What should I do? Is your foot alright? Does it hurt?

“It’s alright.”

“Isn’t it swollen? Let’s go and rest. Since I have danced already, we can just return now.”

Edmund made a fuss. I was the one that was stepped on, but Edmund threw a fit. Also, as I wasn’t stepped on hard, it didn’t hurt. The top of my foot was only slightly reddened.

“While it’s alright, it’s tempting to return home now.”

Her uncharacteristic excitement about going to a party had completely turned into exhaustion. My personality hasn’t changed, even after 200 years. There was a reason why I liked to bustle about all over the place but wasn’t very willing to participate in high society, 

Like he was intending to leave right away, Edmund jumped up suddenly. But a neatly dressed man approached him and spoke to him about something politely. 

After a small conversation with him, Edmund frowned, He nodded his head with an ambiguous motion, before apologising to me. 

“Vivi. His Highness is looking for me, so I think I’ll need to leave for a while.”

“Is that so? Go ahead.”

“Stay here by yourself for a moment, I’ll be right back.”

“You can take your time.”

If it was His Highness, it would be referring to the Crown Prince. It wouldn’t be unnatural for a family like Deer to have friendly relations with the Imperial Family. 

Soon after he disappeared and I turned around to change my location, the stinging gazes that I felt at the art museum once again reappeared. At the thought that every of my movements were captured within another’s gaze, I would stop, even if I wanted to move. 

Gazes of curiosity and perhaps contacting a more shady undertone followed me wherever I went.

At that place, as the illegitimate child of Summers, I seemed to be something very fascinating. 

“Isn’t it cleaner and more convenient to kill someone?”

“That’s usually true. Its existence in itself is a nuisance to the family.”

“Sasha Summers, she’s quite the oddball. Well, if the family has such a successor, they’d be able to afford half of that, right?”

Those words were a matter of course. 

It was because I was told over and over again by my sister that the only person in the world that was on my side was her, and to never forget that I owe my life to her. 

“……”

As the blood of a family of mages was so precious, every marriage was a contract. In order to prevent blood, which was directly related to mana, from leaking out, even the side branches were thoroughly managed by the main house. 

Before the marriage, the number of children to be born, and even which of the children would assume which family’s surname was all included in the marriage contract. 

As such, the existence of illegitimate children in families of mages was very ambiguous.

As mages themselves were precious, each and every one were valuable resources, but they were also existences that were in violation of the contract. Thus, sometimes they were removed without a trace, and other times they were accepted as a member of the family out of recognition for their ability.

In my case, I was able to live as my sister, the successor, recognised me. Perhaps my dad couldn’t kill me, so he just washed his hands off of me and waited for me to die. 

As a result, I didn’t become a member of the Summers as my father’s daughter, but as my sister’s younger sister.

“That’s why I can’t give up on my sister.”

I couldn’t be established without my sister.

Therefore, it was fine for me to ignore the gazes of people that weren’t my sister’s. I used the back of my hand to press on the corners of my eyes. 

“…Eddie, I shouldn’t have sent him away.”

When my thoughts of the past and the thought of my sister’s paintings came to mind, my feelings became complicated.

The stability of my mood differed similarly to the way it looked when Edmund was and wasn’t beside me. 

I wondered whether it would be better to stay by the wall quietly or to move to a corner while waiting for Edmund to come. 

Looking at the gazes of the surrounding people while trying to slip towards the wall sneakily, I made eye contact with a woman that was standing a distance away. I turned my head, thinking that it was just an illusion, but she quickly approached me.

“Hello!”

And she, to be more exact, she and the man that appears to be her partner, arrived in front of me before I could escape.

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The woman greeted me excitedly, heedless to the way I froze in bewilderment. Before I could answer her, she opened her mouth first. 

“The dress is so pretty. It’s Sasha’s , right?

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