[GL] I tamed the female lead

Chapter 5

Orange didn't lie to me and did stay by my side every step of the way. She went back to being silent and would stare at necklaces for long minutes before handing me the one she liked best. She dressed me from head to toe and once ready she stared at me without blinking for half an hour. I started feeling uncomfortable and hid my face behind my hand:

"Can I go now?"

Orange gently took my hand to remove it from my face:

"Perfect."

Orange was the one who would blush usually, not the other way around. I didn't like feeling uncomfortable and I quickly pushed her away to drink some cold water. I hated goodbyes and disappeared as quickly as possible to get into the carriage. On the way to the ball I started stressing. This was the first time I would meet the female lead and knowing what she would do in the future, I couldn't help shaking. I had to stay as far away from her as possible but I knew I would spend the whole night jumping every second someone would walk past me. My plan of action was to find a few people, have my own little circle and so if Astéria came up to us, the others could talk to her and I could disappear behind them.

I could also disappear altogether which was my plan B if people were annoying. I didn't want Astéria thinking I was the same as them just because we were hanging out together. Of course I was also coming to have fun but Astéria was the biggest problem of the night. I was going to be polite and introduce myself but disappear immediately after. She would remember me as someone polite or don't remember me at all and wouldn't torture me in the future when she would take revenge on people who hurt her later on.

For some reason all the stress I was supposed to feel started evaporating as soon as the carriage was getting closer. This meeting would maybe determine if Astéria would remember me and kill me later on but for some reason I could only think about what the buffet would be, feeling my stomach churn. Fortunately or unfortunately, Astéria's temporary residence was really close to my parents' mansion and soon the carriage stopped. Someone came to help me off and I got escorted to the ballroom. As soon as I saw it my chin fell off. This room was gorgeous and I immediately forgot the people around me.

Nobles loved to over decorate with very expensive things but this was something completely else. I loved minimalism and this ballroom was absolute perfection in my eyes. Everything was perfectly symmetrical which was really satisfying. There were white and yellow roses in vases of the same color at even distances and the walls were perfectly white with golden decorations. This in itself was already enough but that was when I spotted the ceiling. Up there were mythological paintings that were retracing my favorite stories. I remembered telling about them again and again to Orange before we went to sleep and I really felt my heart ache. She wasn't here in person but she didn't lie, it still felt as if she was with me.

I loved mythology but I really thought paintings inspired by it were way too colorful and there were too many details which I found very ugly. But this ceiling was just perfect. I had to know who the artist in charge of it was because I felt that I would break my neck looking at it the whole night. I didn't even want to disappear in the gardens anymore, wanting to stay in this room as long as possible.

I was so fascinated by the beauty of the place that I completely forgot about the world around me. I was smiling dumbly, my eyes completely focused on the paintings and didn't even hear my name being pronounced. What woke me up was my chaperone, Miss Ducharge who I had only met once before. Seeing that I was completely bewildered, she coughed before nudging me in the side. I jumped and finally noticed what was going on. Everyone was staring at me with confused or mocking smiles. I didn't care what they thought about me thinking I was in the right. The ballroom was so dazzling that anyone would be crazy not to see it. However, one person stood out in the crowd and seeing her gaze fixated on me, my heart skipped a beat.