CH 33

As usual, I was having breakfast with the Weil family, and I was surprised by Bella’s unexpected suggestion to my question.

“Will it be all right if I go to the Igle’s banquet?”

“Of course. Although you’ll have to attend as Suradel’s partner. How is it, are you interested?”

“Yes! I really want to attend.”

Since I was neither the head nor the heir of a family, there was no way I could attend the banquet of the Igle family, which was one of the great families.

I tried to pick up if Theodore would attend later…

It was a series of unexpected good luck following yesterday.

Theodore was Theodore, but my heart skipped a beat at the thought that I might be able to see my father.

It’s been three weeks since I ran away from home.

Since my reincarnation, I had never been away from my father for so long, and I missed him greatly.

Also, I was worried about my father, who must have suffered because I was gone.

“Wow. Then will you dance with me too, Lia?”

“I’ll make a reservation for the second dance. I’m nervous because it’s been a while since I’ve danced with a lady other than Bella.”

I scratched my cheeks at the excitement of the Weil family.

“I’ve never danced before.”

However, Suradel responded with an expectant look on his face as if he really wanted to dance with me.

“…I’ve danced before, so maybe it’ll work out somehow?”

“Will it?”

Then, Bella, who had been silent as if pondering something, spoke up.

“I should have asked you beforehand if you wanted to attend the banquet. It will be a packed schedule because it was decided suddenly today.”

I tilted my head.

“Isn’t the banquet in the evening? We can move with magic, so we can prepare slowly…”

“Lia, what are you talking about?”

“Yes?”

“You need to prepare a dress and makeup to wear at the banquet hall. I don’t want to see a person protected by Weil lose his or her nerves in front of other people.”

“Oh, that part is fine. I’m a demibeast who doesn’t get discouraged at all.”

“Are you really going to be okay?”

“Yes!”

At my clear answer, Bella stared at me with a smile hanging on her lips.

A piercing… stare.

Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

“…Please take good care of me.”

Then, Bella’s smile reached her eyes and she clapped happily.

“That’s a relief. Just yesterday, I heard the news that dresses that fit your size were completed.”

It seemed like it would be a long, long day.

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Ultimately, the dress selected was an empire-line dress that was not tight and made of soft material.

The standout points were the flower decorations hanging here and there and the skirt that fell gently around the waistline.

The process was difficult, but I was satisfied with the result, which was prettier than I thought.

Bella liked the pastel-toned pink dress, saying it suited me very well, who had just humanized.

For a while, Suradel stared at me in awe, but he didn’t seem to have much objectivity, since he was the kind of person who would be happy even if it was rags.

Arriving at the banquet hall of Igle, I entered while being escorted by Suradel.

I seemed to have gotten used to light skinship as he had been tying up my hair lately.

I scanned around the crowded banquet hall, looking for my father.

As I glanced around, Suradel asked curiously.

“Lia, are you looking for someone?”

“No. It’s just that it’s my first time in a place with a lot of people, so it’s amazing.”

It was true that it was my first time coming to a place with a lot of people, and it was also true that this scene was very amazing, which was why lies came out easily.

In the meantime, I searched for my father with my eyes.

If my father had come to the banquet hall, I would have found him right away. It seemed that he hadn’t come because he was looking for me.

It was then.

Theodore came towards us, breaking through the crowds from afar.

Seeing him pretty much rushing forward, I wondered if he was coming to ask for a duel.

‘What. I thought you’re sick, but you’re fine?’

‘…No, I don’t think you’re okay from the look on your face.’

To make matters worse, his expression grew grim the closer he got to us.

Could it be that he found out that it was I who knocked him out in the middle of the hunting ground and ran away…?

‘If that’s really the case, he would know I saved his life, so isn’t that expression too much?’

I didn’t even want to make him faint, he was the one who acted rudely first…!

But fortunately, he didn’t seem to have come this way because of that. It was because he fixed his eyes on Suradel and approached him.

Theodore, who finally got close, scanned Suradel up and down, and for a moment shook his head with a shocked look on his face.

His arms trembled from how tightly he clenched his fists.

“F*ck.”

At last, he cursed, turned around, and left the banquet hall.

Unable to hide my bewildered expression, I elbowed Suradel in the side.

“Did he finally go crazy?”

“…Do you think so?”

“Or did he fall down during the hunting competition and left his sanity there too?”

“He might have hurt his head.”

I raised an eyebrow at the strangely unconcerned expression of Suradel.

“Suradel. Aren’t you angry?”

“Not really?”

“Why? An heir from another family suddenly came and cursed at you.”

Then Suradel tilted his head and uttered a strange analogy.

“Does Lia get angry when a passing ant suddenly curses and stares at you?”

…Wasn’t it kind of weird to compare Theodore to an ant when he’s the male lead?

I expressed my opinion, thinking that Suradel might actually be angry on the inside.

“Yes. I’m really going to get angry and make it pay for making fun of me?”

“…It’s nice to see you value yourself.”

I narrowed my eyes at something that suddenly came to my mind.

“What did you do to Theodore when you went to his house yesterday?”

“I did something, but it wasn’t a bad thing. I also got his consent.”

“Aha.”

It was only now that I understood why Theodore was angry and why Suradel remained calm despite being criticized.

I wasn’t sure what’s going on, but it must have been Suradel’s fault.

After confirming that Theodore was fine, how much did I chatter with Suradel?

Bella, who had been talking with people from other families, approached me.

“Lia, would you please come here?”

Without knowing why, I was led by her hand. The place we ended up at was in front of the wives of other families.

“Ah…! That’s the kid you brought to the last hunting competition.”

Bella quietly smiled at the madam’s words of interest.

“Yes. The introduction is a bit late.”

“Oh no. If she has just humanized, she’ll have a lot to learn.”

The wives looked and admired me over as if they were curious.

“Looking at the hair, it must be a killer whale.”

“What a beautiful child.”

“Come to think of it, Madam Bella’s son has silver hair even though he is a killer whale, right? If so, it’s the first time in a long time that hair like this has been seen.”

When Suradel was mentioned by the wives, Bella’s expression was bitter.

“Yes. As you know, my son knows… He’s a little different from ordinary demibeasts.”

At the somewhat subdued voice, the wives made a fuss.

“It’s good that there are no predators above him.”

“That’s right. The fact that there is no opponent to fear is proof that he is that strong, it’s a pride for the demibeast.”

“There are even rumors that his hair is silver because his natural strength is so strong.”

“Anyway, you must be happy to have one more member of your own kind.”

Forcibly introduced to the wives of powerful families caused an earthquake in my pupils.

I didn’t want to show my face like this.

It seemed that the difficulty of escaping the Weils later was getting higher and higher.

As I swallowed my tears, one of the wives asked Bella carefully.

“Then, are you thinking of connecting this child with your son?”

Bella calmly replied.

“No. Suradel personally doesn’t want to connect with Lia. It seems he has no intention of marrying.”

She gently stroked my shoulder. It was a loving touch.

“Besides, what’s the use of forcing me to connect?”

“That means…”

“I just want Lia to meet the nicest person possible. I intend to fully support whoever she chooses as a mate.”

Then, in an instant, as if they had caught a prey, sparks flew in the eyes of the wives facing each other.

“Since she’s just been humanized, wouldn’t she need a friend? It just happened that my second son showed interest in the killer whale demibeast, who is being protected by the Weil family.”

“Oh. Your second son seems to be busy running around. Our son is…”

“Isn’t it nice to have friends of the same sex? My daughters are very friendly.”

The conversation was all over the place because the wives wanted to introduce their children to me.