Chapter 19.2
Chapter 19.2
One was a girl with a fine lineage, a distant royal relative from a foreign kingdom, and the daughter of a viscount with a few ports and mines. The other was the youngest daughter of the renowned Duke Liovanni, a woman with a high name indeed.
Richard gazed disinterestedly at the swirling white flowers. Naturally, he had no interest.
Since the line of succession was clear, he felt no immediate need for marriage. Apart from a brief physical attraction to the opposite s*x, he had never harbored any particular feelings. Besides, none of the girls here appealed to him in any way.
The only unfortunate thing was his excessive popularity.
“Lord Richard, may I request your first dance?”
With a measure of courage, a young lady approached him, her eyes determined. Richard concealed his bemusement and graciously accepted the lady’s request for a dance. It was the debutante’s day, and he didn’t want to insult anyone. Despite it likely being a somewhat tiring day, he felt obligated to participate.
And so, Richard found himself dancing with about half of the debutantes that day. While his physical endurance held up, the mental fatigue was considerable.
Among those he danced with, he wasn’t sure if any of them were the ones his father had in mind.
As he finished this obligatory task and prepared to exit the party hall, a small hand grasped his sleeve.
“Um, excuse me, could you, um, dance with me too?” The debutante, a petite girl with curly blonde hair, round purple eyes, and rosy cheeks, looked up at him, blushing. She resembled a plum, he thought when he first saw her at the morning breakfast table.
The plum girl boldly extended her hand, and naturally, Richard didn’t refuse. It was just a simple dance, nothing to be surprised or impressed about. It was merely one of many social dances they’d both experienced. The only remarkable thing was how adorably nervous this girl, clearly still in the bloom of youth, looked.
He couldn’t help but think of a younger sister. Though she didn’t have the same rosy cheeks or behave as nervously as this girl, there was something about her that reminded him.
“You dance well. Don’t be nervous,” Richard reassured her as he noticed her startled purple eyes.
The young lady seemed genuinely grateful, whispering her thanks. Her eyes sparkled with disbelief. What was her name again? Ah, she was from the Liovanni family.
“I mean it. You stand out the most.”
It wasn’t a lie. This young lady had a notably lovely appearance, which Richard genuinely appreciated. His sincere compliment brought a bright smile to her face, her cheeks resembling plump, ripe peaches kissed by affection.
As she grew older, she would undoubtedly have many admirers. Richard smirked inwardly, gently kissing the back of the charming plum girl’s hand instead of ruffling her hair as he left her with the standard greeting for debutantes.
And naturally, he didn’t remember Jasmine. There were plenty of girls who admired him, held him in high regard, or expressed interest in him. Conversations and connections among these ladies were commonplace, but none had stood out in particular.
However, occasionally, amidst the group of young ladies who seemed to follow him wherever he went, he would notice the blonde hair he had seen before. She didn’t particularly stand out or draw his interest, just a charming girl who fluttered about like a lively butterfly.
There were times when their eyes met by chance, and he’d hear whispers that she liked him. On certain special occasions, her name would pop up in conversations or her name would be found on the piles of handkerchiefs or chocolates that accumulated at knightly events.
Even if he brushed them aside, these things became part of the routine, something so familiar it almost felt like the natural order of things.
What made Jasmine more noticeable was that she gradually began to shine on her own. That young girl, from being somewhat inconspicuous, had grown into the most beautiful lady in society, like a blossoming flower.
He only vaguely remembered her when it came time to formally send a marriage proposal through her family. Jasmine Liovanni. It was as if he had stumbled upon that now all-too-familiar name while retracing a forgotten memory. The plum girl.
Seven years had passed since then. As he revisited those memories, he realized it was no ordinary weight that had been lifted. It was already so heavy.
And Richard couldn’t help but feel that he had underestimated that weight and her growth.
From the moment he recognized her properly, his heart had changed, much like the way a blue sky turns to a warm hue during a sunset.
First, there was guilt, followed by anger, and now…
“Would you like to be with me?”
Richard’s lips parted slightly. The inexplicable irritation and frustration that had welled up within him, along with the astonishment at himself and the other party, all seemed to recede like an ebbing tide.
In just one hour, so much had transpired, and the blushing Jasmine, who had somehow appeared, trembling and swaying, placed her hand on his chest.
He swallowed, tasting the mix of alcohol and the sweet scent that wafted over him. He stared intently into her blurred violet eyes.