Translator: Nox

60 - Chapter 60

As the sky was tinged with sunset, the Blissbury ballroom was already filled with the cheerful laughter of people.

As the orchestra prepared to play music, people stood in the ballroom as if they had been waiting for it.

In the capital, they would have started the ball with a quadrille, where men and women pair up. But the trends of the capital had not yet arrived in Feltham, so it began in a more classical form.

People stood in a line, women on the left and men on the right, facing each other based on the ballroom door.

Usually, elders would be given priority, but at this time, those who had just turned 18, the age of majority, could attend in order of youngest. And the first dance was prioritized for the young people of Feltham.

The young ladies and gentlemen who had just turned 18 this year were overwhelmed with emotion, their faces full of excitement that they could finally dance in Blissbury.

Everyone knew. That dancing in such a magnificent mansion at this age, living in such a rural area, was an absurd stroke of luck that could only happen in a popular novel.

The children all waited to turn 18 and saved money to buy the ball gowns they would wear on that day. And on that day, they dream of dancing with someone they usually have a crush on. Of course, with expectations for strangers as well.

Unlike those who were overwhelmed by the moment they had always dreamed of, those who were now 17 looked at the people preparing to dance with envious eyes, expecting that they too would be in that place next year.

As the music began, the excitement was short-lived, and everyone in line swallowed hard, unable to hide their tension.

The older ones watched the scene from behind and laughed as if it were amusing.

“When I danced my first dance, I was so frozen and didn’t know what to do.”

“Me too. I don’t even remember how many feet I stepped on.”

As the ladies said, the posture of the young people dancing their first dance was clumsy. But even that was bound to be seen as youthful charm at this time.

When the first dance of the adults was over, light applause poured out.

Fortunately, this year, the first dance ended safely without anyone falling or bumping into each other.

A few years ago, a man and a woman mistook the direction of rotation and collided and fell in the middle.

That became an opportunity and led to marriage, but the parties involved still blushed and were embarrassed when the story was brought up.

After the young people went in while receiving applause, people of the next age group lined up and waited for the music to start again.

The participants of the age where they should be looking for a marriage partner were full of traces of paying attention to what they wore.

And now, Ryan was attending the second dance.

As the host of this ball, he has the privilege of attending the second dance, regardless of his age.

So every year, Mr. and Mrs. Suberton danced the second dance together, and they playfully told people to understand, even though they looked shameless.

When he first heard that story, he grumbled inwardly that there was a troublesome rule.

But now, as he looked at Eloise standing across from him, he was sending thanks to whoever made such a rule.

<The Summer Ball dance? I’ll dance it once, but after that, it’ll be impossible. There’s so much work in the kitchen, so there’s a lot to help with. I’m comfortable with that anyway. From the second dance onwards, the power struggles are amazing. Besides, I can get away with that, so I don’t have to pay much attention to my clothes… Ah, Mr. Palmer! Please take that over there.>

He remembered having such a conversation during the preparation.

Certainly, Eloise's clothes looked very simple compared to the clothes of others who had put a lot of effort into preparing, as she said.

She must not have paid much attention to it because she was only going to dance once out of courtesy.

‘Still….’

Ryan's eyes looked at the clothes of other women.

Most of the women's clothes worn at such balls are pure white muslin dresses.

At first glance, the clothes may look the same, but if you pay a little attention, you can see how different the texture of the muslin is, and how delicate the shape of the white lion embroidery is in various places.

Ryan, who was usually indifferent to women's clothes, strangely noticed such things at this moment.

Eloise's clothes were excellent. As the daughter of the most prestigious family in Feltham, it was natural for her to wear such clothes.

But there were faint traces of time. Perhaps her clothes were not the ones she wore for the first time today.

He recalled the clothes of the women he had seen in the capital before coming down to Blissbury.

Perhaps because the war was over and many things from other countries had come in. In the capital, fancy silk dresses were slowly becoming popular.

He thought it was excessive at the time, but now that he thought about it, he thought Eloise would have looked good in such a dress.

A light orange silk with a subtle sheen, matching gloves, and a reticule decorated with all kinds of beads.

Ridiculously, the image of Eloise wearing a silk dress came to his mind clearly.

Then the music started. Ryan quickly came to his senses and looked ahead.

First, walk forward and greet your partner.

As he walked over and greeted her, Eloise said in a small voice.

“You dance better than I thought?”

And lightly turn as you pass each other.

“It’s mandatory for junior officers to learn it.”

Look at each other again and then hold hands lightly.

“I didn’t see you practice, so I wondered if you were confident or if you had given up altogether. To be honest, I thought it was the latter.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t show you what you expected.”

The usual bickering words came and went. Even so, the two focused on the dance.

They didn't want to show an clumsy appearance. They didn't want to step on or bump into each other by mistake. It was natural that they didn't want to be ridiculed, but there was an even bigger heart than that.

Both of them didn't want to show a lacking appearance to the other person.

The body, which had been tense at first, began to take light steps with the soft melody.

Lightly pass each other and immediately turn around. Hold hands and take three steps together, then turn again. Move away while holding hands and then approach again.

In the meantime, a smile spread across the faces of the two.

The two of them had been working tirelessly from morning to night for the past few weeks for today.

Especially this year, with the absence of Mr. Suberton, who had always been in charge of this ball, they were worried that there might be something lacking.

But without that, today's Summer Ball is being held safely with everyone enjoying it.

“We succeeded in the Summer Ball.”

When they held hands and looked at each other, Eloise said happily.

“That’s right. Well, it would be strange if we didn’t succeed, since you and I were both passionately attached to it.”

Eloise couldn't help but giggle at the word passionate.

Once, when their opinions did not match and they raised their voices, Mr. Palmer asked from outside the mansion in a worried voice if anything was wrong.

At that time, Ryan roughly swept his hair back with one hand and shouted outside.

<It's okay! I guess my voice got louder because I was passionately expressing my opinion!>

Since then, whenever the other person got excited, they would ridicule them, saying that they were very passionate now.

At that time, he really wanted to kick her in the knee if he could.

Now, thanks to everything going well, he just laughed even when he heard those words.

Ryan also smiled and continued to step. It was the first time the two of them were dancing together like this, but the two people's steps were natural, as if they had practiced together for a long time.

Soon the seats changed and they faced the next partner.

Eloise's next partner was a young man from Cambon.

Younger than Eloise, he tried to be polite to his partner, but failed to completely hide the disappointment on his face.

Eloise also swallowed a bitter smile at the other person's expression.

She had forgotten for a while because she was so busy.

She was someone who had been pushed back in this marriage market a long time ago.

Because of that, her dance partners, unless they wanted to strengthen their friendship with the Suberton family, treated Eloise with only the most basic courtesy when dancing with her.

At first, she was hurt by the attitude of wanting to move on to the next partner as soon as possible while dancing with her.

But the next year, she became dull, and now she even understood and sympathized with the other person.

They want to talk to someone who has more potential for marriage, but they must hate the fact that they have to dance with me.

So every year, she made excuses to help in the kitchen and didn't dance anymore.

That was good for her and the other person.

So every year, she just wanted the dance to end quickly.

But a little while ago, when she danced with Ryan, she enjoyed dancing without such thoughts for the first time in a long time.

Eloise knew it was rude, but she turned her head to find where Ryan was.

At that moment, she met Ryan's eyes, who had gone next to her.

Still as if the two were still each other's partners.