I Won’t Accept Your Regrets

"He must have missed his father a lot."

Marquis laughed as if it looked sweet to him and dismissed Edmund.

Then Edmund stomped towards Raymond with gentle steps. Faced Raymond, Edmund reached out to him.

"Sire."

At that moment, I saw Raymond take Edmund's hand.

A playful smile appeared on Edmund's face.

"Mom will dance with His Majesty!"

Edmund screamed loudly.

The music stopped flowing for a moment.

All the nobles who heard the child's words suddenly fell silent, because it was very embarrassing.

The waltz of beautiful couples usually gets everyone's eyes at banquets, but Raymond and Lisa is simply worthless as a couple.

And besides, I was in front of them.

Ex-husband, his first love, ex-wife, and illegitimate child.

This relationship was already a circus.

All the eyes of the nobility were now riveted on us.

While everyone maintained their awkward silence, Lisa's voice rang out.

"Eddie, no. Don't bother His Majesty," Lisa said hoarsely to Edmund.

Edmund shouted again:

"…Mom and the emperor can't dance?! Mom, you said that if people love each other, they dance at the ball! Eddie wants mom to dance with the Emperor."

Edmund took Lisa's hand and pulled her toward Raymond.

I saw the darkness in the emperor’s eyes.

Even then, there was nothing he could do but frown and shake off the child's hand.

I didn't intend to sit up in the middle of such an awkward scene, and at the moment when I was about to turn around and leave, Lisa called my name.

"Lady Croft."

"Yes?"

Why suddenly?

Her green eyes turned to me. It was a bad omen.

"Lady… do you mind if I do Edmund's request?"

And my premonition did not disappoint me. Lisa still managed to entangle me in this situation.

There is no point in asking your ex-wife's permission. Don’t you know?

It would be correct to ask Raymond's own wish, but not mine. However, Lisa asked me, as if Raymond couldn't dance with her precisely because of my presence.

Again, a sharp blade was hidden in her soft words.

I didn't answer her right away.

What the hell are you going to get by pulling me into this story?

Lisa has already acquired the status of empress, and she is the mother of the crown prince.

Well… Whatever it is, I don't even want to know it.

But it's enough to puzzle over these intricacies. Even if she embroiled me in this situation, it's okay if I chop off the shoulder.

I will never see them again.

I smiled, looking at Lisa, who was anxiously expecting an answer.

"You really need my permission…? Then my answer will be this. His Majesty and I are no longer bound by marriage, so do as you please."

I answered her and turned to Raymond, who was staring at me.

Our gazes met.

Raymond reached for Lisa.

"Lady Sios, I invite you to dance."

Lisa took Raymond's hand with a smile like a blossoming flower.

"It is a great honor, Your Majesty."

When they entered the center of the room, a soft waltz was heard everywhere.

And, as an abandoned person, I felt the sympathetic looks of the nobility.

But I couldn't leave this place right now. It's like running away from them.

Even though I was leaving the empire, I didn't want to be remembered like that.

I pretended to be calm and kept my back straight.

It's like I'm just looking at the perfect pair of strangers.

"Beautiful lady, don’t think I’m rude, but can I ask you to dance?"

Reaching out for a glass of champagne, I froze at an unfamiliar voice.

I don't know when he came to me, but now he was kneeling in front of me.

I looked at his strange platinum hair. It seemed to emit soft sunlight and sparkled under the bright light.

Where… have I seen you before?

I don't know why, but I thought that I had already seen such hair.

But then the man looked up, and I could no longer think of anything else.

Amber eyes with a golden glow.

The moment I met that gaze, my eyes widened.

You.

That mysterious man who recently helped me in front of the dressing room.

Although I couldn’t exactly remember the face, the mysterious eyes of this man, like gems, were seared in my memory.

There was a moment when I became curious who he was. He made a strong impression on me.

Who would have known that I would meet him here again.

The man smiled broadly and opened his red lips.

"Beautiful lady, please don’t deny this request."

As his words were spoken, the whispers of the nobles were heard.

"Who is this man?"

"What family?"

"Nobody knows such a handsome man?"

There was a lot of noise, but no one knew who this man was.

A person with extraordinary energy hovering around him.

It was obvious that he wasn’t easily forgotten. But that's all.

I didn't have such a hobby – dancing with a man I didn't even know anything about.

But the moment I tried to say no to him, I met with persistent black eyes.

More precisely, it was Raymond's gaze, checking what was happening to me.

Looking at me, he slowly lowered his gaze to the floor. I also looked at the man in front of me.

Raymond's eyes suddenly flashed as he saw the stranger holding my hand.

As if it annoyed him terribly.

As soon as I saw this, all other details became irrelevant to me.

I impulsively said to the man who politely extended his hand to me.

"I will gladly accept your request."

His hand was blistered, perhaps because he held the sword for a long time.

However, unlike his rough hand, the man gently took my hand and stood up.

"Come on, beautiful lady."

It might sound vulgar.

However, whether it was because the man's amber eyes were full of playfulness, or because the man was attractive to me, I felt at ease.

I followed him with a light laugh.

Occupying the center of the hall, as well as the center of the crowd's attention, I felt the eyes of Raymond and Lisa now drill us.

His hand touched my waist.

"I don't dance very well. Please be understanding, young lady."

"It will be difficult for someone who has no skills."

"It's not that I can't dance at all… It was just a joke."

You should have seen his embarrassed face.

"Don't worry, because I'm very good at this," I told him with a soothing smile.

Born an aristocrat and, moreover, having been an empress, I perfectly mastered the etiquette of the nobility, including dancing.

His amber eyes opened a little wider, as if he was surprised by my confident words, and then he quickly smiled.

"Then thank you very much, young lady."

Our bodies moved smoothly to the music of the waltz. Contrary to his words, this man led me very well.

I looked doubtfully into the man's amber eyes.

Who are you?

When he appeared in front of the dressing room, I thought he was a mercenary from a distant eastern country.

However, he was not a mercenary, because I can clearly see his imperial manners and dance style. You can't get it just by training.

Moreover, his appearance didn’t even resemble a person from the east.

Rather, Raymond looked similar, with his dark hair and dark eyes.

At the end of my thoughts, I blinked slowly at the sight of Raymond.

To get him out of my head.

"You stepped in the wrong place. I think it's because of me."

He strained the hand with which he held mine. As if asking to focus on him.

As soon as I forgot my thoughts and looked at him again, the man smiled.

I opened my lips, looking at the man's handsome face.

"Who are you?"

"Are you interested?"

"I have no choice but to ask such a question. After all, we have already had two sudden meetings."

"We've never met before."