The Caliginous Villainess

Chapter 23

"Rose, would you like to dance with me?"

"Huh?! What? Me! You are asking me?" I was sure that my mouth was hung on the floor and my eyebrows were up on the ceiling.

"Who else? Come on, don't leave your new Archduke hanging." Alvin said to me with glistening eyes.

"Are you nuts? Why me? There are hundreds of ladies here!" I said to change his mind.

"I want to dance with YOU. Not the others!" He scolded me.

"But, I don't want to!" I said grudgingly. I can't let this guy find out that I can't dance!

"Why not? Don't tell me you are scared?!" He teased me. 

Bruh, you are not getting away easily after mocking me!

"Let's dance then!!" I told him, stubbornly. He used the oldest method in the book and I still fell for it!

"Good, here" He held up his hand to me. I took it internally cursing my pride. He escorted me to the middle of the room. A lot of nobles focused their eyes on us. He put his hand on my waist and held my other hand with his.

"There's a problem." I told him in a low whisper.

"Yes?" He asked me.

"I...um...I can't dance." I blabbered out. Is that hole still there?

"That's your problem?" He asked me, surprised. I nodded meekly, not being able to look up at his face. I don't want to see the look in his face. Unexpectedly, he started to laugh.

"Relax, I thought it was more serious than that. Just follow my lead." He said calmly. Stop beating irregularly fast, heart!

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" I asked him.

"Of course, I am! It's rare to see our warrior flustered." He chuckled.

   He pointed me out on where I should place my feet and I followed obediently. I was stiff at first but Alvin's instructions made dancing more clearer. I will never admit it to him but I enjoyed dancing with him.

  Soon enough, I was laughing and smiling at his dumb jokes. Carlisa and the Crown prince hovered near us.  Carlisa blew a flirty whistle at me and shimmied along with her partner out of our sight.

    I blushed hard and I stole a glance at Alvin. His ears were bright red and I started to laugh at him. He joined in with me. At the end of the music, we bowed down in respect.

"So, should I be calling you archduke now? As I've mentioned before, I really don't want my head to go swoosh!"

"Don't! I'll hang you if you start calling me that. It's embarrassing if you call me that." Alvin whined.

"Sure, sure. Alvin, it is then."

"Good! You should be proud to have the privilege of using my first name." He exclaimed with a raised cocky eyebrow.

"Whatever! I'll take my leave then. " I called out to him to get out of this mess faster.

"Wait, don't you want to explore the castle?"

"Can I?" I asked him, a little taken aback. Maybe a little digging won't be too bad.

"Of course. Want to join me?"

"Sure!" The word flew out of my mouth before I could think twice.

   I followed Alvin outside. We walked around a few places together. The ceremony was on the first floor so we took the staircase down to the ground floor.

   We passed through a few rooms. Some were parlours used to entertain guests. Those rooms reminded me of karaoke back home.

"Is there a labyrinth in the castle for protection?" I asked with curiosity remembering some certain details about an event in the web novel. Apparently, there was an attack where Lily was restrained by some villains. I shook my head to reorder my thoughts.

"That I don't know. Maybe we should check ourselves. " He answered back with a huge grin.

   We finally ended up in a garden. There were many flowers. Tulips, roses, shoe flowers, bluebells and many more. I carefully caressed a blue tulip. It resembled my dress.

"It suits you." Alvin told me.

"Thanks." I replied unable to form a sentence.

 Something rustled across us and I peeped through the bush.

   My eyes shot up to the sky for the second time. I saw Mum and Father kissing in a secluded part of the garden.

   The bushes had covered them. On impulse, I skipped a few steps forward and signaled Alvin to follow quickly. He hadn't seen the scene because his confused expression confirmed it. I breathed a sigh of relief.

'Now, that's eternal love!' Erebus spoke.

'Dude, did you just...'

'Focus, the guy is trying to talk to you.'

   I turned around with Erebus's warning and Alvin looked surprised as well.

"Is there anything you have to ask?" I asked Alvin.

"Huh? No. Not really." He replied, fast.

"Ok then." I said back tilting my head at him. His clothes and perfect face made him look handsome. I'm sure that there would be at least hundred ladies with grabbling hooks trying to catch this extra-ordinary fish. I wondered why I felt a sigh coming out through me.

   We walked along a few more steps with no firm destination. Alvin joked about the sword that I broke in two pieces. The owner of the sword wallowed about it. I sent a telepathic apology to the knight. Being with Alvin was cheerful. His extroverted personality can charm anyone.

"Has there been anything hard on you?" I asked because after close inspection, every character seems to have gone through heartbreak, abuse, or some sort of juvenile treatment.

"Why did that pop in to your brain?"

"No specific reason."

"Well, excluding the torment from your brothers and your teasing, probably not." He proclaimed with a wink.

"Hey, don't blacklist me!" After I said the words, he started to laugh.

"Of course not. I can't lose you or your challenges now that I've got a taste." Why did that make my heart skip a beat?!

   I had no suitable reply so I just awkwardly laughed at him. I couldn't tell him that these challenges and fights we have will be over when I leave.

   Our ears picked up a rustling sound. We looked at each other and shrugged. A voice startled us.

"I have a confession to make."

Hi again!

Who do you think the voice belongs to? And what kind of confession do you think it is? Let me know in the comments and feel free to leave a vote. See you in the next chapter!