Chapter 26: ♧ [V1 || Chapter 23] ♧

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The beautiful music coming from the orchestra, the sparkling lights and the sound of laughters across the ballroom. It was all too much for me to take in. I know this is my reality now but, if you told me a year ago that I would be experiencing something like this, I probably would have called you crazy.

I bowed politely according to the etiquette lessons that my mother personally taught me, my mouth stuck in an eternal smile as I greeted each guest that came forward to wish me a happy birthday.

"May the blessings of the Moon Goddess brings you light and joy on your 18th birthday, Lady Evangeline," Baron Escha bowed.

"Thank you, Baron. I hope you enjoy the festivities," I smiled back. I turned towards the baroness who bowed and spoke behind her fan.

"Oh my! How you've grown, Lady Evangeline. Your beauty have blossomed so much since the last we've seen you. I'm sorry we couldn't visit you while you were ill. You know how busy it is being a noble. By the way, have you met our son yet? He's about your age and have become quite bla bla bla...."

I nodded and smiled as if I was paying attention but, I was already zoning out. After a while, it's all the same praise and talk. Since I had to greet the older guests before greeting the ones of my age, I had to deal with many parents trying to introduce their sons as a potential fiancé or their daughters as a potential part of my social circle. It's laughable how not a single noble visited Evangeline while she was sick but, once I was healthy, suddenly they're clamouring for my attention. Either way, I wasn't interested in meeting anybody's son or daughter so, I simply deflected by using the excuse that I've only just recovered from a fatal illness.

"O-oh! Of course! I'm sure you are in need of rest," the baroness replied. Her words were to assure me that she was alright with it but, I could see in her eyes that she was looking at me with disdain.

'A useless daughter of the duke who was spoon-fed from birth... daring to ignore a proposal from our house? Who does she think she is? You're nothing if not for your title.'

Her thoughts were as plain as day.

'How exhausting,' I sighed internally. This was probably the twentieth person I have greeted and almost every single one of them looked at me like sharks towards a dangling piece of meat. There's only two ducal houses in this country so, obviously everyone was looking to take advantage of us. It doesn't help that the original Evangeline was extremely naive and fell for every flattery thrown at her face.

"Shower her with a little bit of attention and she'll eat it up like a hungry stray dog."

"She's naive because she's been sheltered for far too long. Deceiving her is as easy as deceiving a child."

"She doesn't deserve to have the title of a duke's daughter anyways. Let us have it because we know how to utilise it better."

I remembered those words written in the novel as it was spoken behind Evangline's back throughout the story. I guess it was quite lucky that she fell in love with Malakai first since he's unlike the rest of the nobles. Of course, it wasn't like he was interested in her position anyways since he's an archduke.

'Maybe I should pretend to be in love with Malakai too. It might stop the number of proposals from coming,' I thought. Could Evangeline have thought of this to reject proposals? I shook my head quickly. There's no way she could have thought THAT strategically... right?

Just as Baron Escha and his wife moved away, I could already see another mob of old nobles eyeing me from the other side of the room. They were already making their way towards me. I braced myself as I prepared another fake smile. But before they could reach me, a shadow moved in between us and bowed. I looked up in surprise as a tall man stood in front of me. From the corner of my eye, the shocked and disgruntled look of the nobles almost made me giggle. It was rude to interrupt an ongoing conversation so, they could do nothing else but wait until I've finished. Not that I was planning to anytime soon...

"You look like you could use a drink, my lady"

"Sir Klein!" I almost teared up hearing that familiar, monotonous voice, grasping his hand that held onto my drink. My actions almost caused the sparkling champagne to spill.

Sir Klein shook his head and handed over the drink to me, warning me to be careful. I gulped it down greedily, welcoming the tingling sensation down my throat.

"My lady! How improper!" he gasped, snatching the empty glass from my hands.

"Oh, don't be silly! I can handle my liquor," I grinned. How did I know this? It's because the novel mentioned that as one of Evangeline's strengths. Why the author would make this her strength instead of... I don't know, common sense.. who knows? But, eh... I'll take what I have.

"That's not the poi- You know what, just don't drink anymore," he looked at me seriously before mumbling, "Otherwise your father will really have my head tonight for letting you get drunk."

Out of consideration for Sir Klein, I shrugged. I wasn't planning to get drunk on the night of my birthday party anyways. If anything, it would only feed to my already bad reputation.

Sir Klein and I quickly fell into small talk. It wasn't uncomfortable at all since I'm already quite used to Sir Klein's quiet behaviour. All of a sudden, the music shifted to a lively tone and more people joined hands to dance at the centre.

I looked at the dancing crowd wistfully. Although we had a lot of dancing lessons and I've improved significantly, it would be an under-exaggeration if I said I was ready to dance in front of others. It would be fun though since I've always wanted to go to a ballroom party.

"My lady, are you really going to subject me to torture on your birthday?" Sir Klein cleared his throat nervously before I could say anything. I turned my head towards him and he gave me a pitiful look saying 'Please don't ask me to dance. My feet can't take anymore of your stepping'.

"O-of course I wouldn't!" I glared back. I felt my cheeks heating up at the embarrassment. It didn't help that there were a few people around us, their ears turning towards us in curiosity.

"Oh good! I couldn't take your bearlike dancing. In fact, I think a bear might be more elegant."

I was already annoyed and embarrassed at his comment and the fact that some people around us started whispering after he said this made me seething mad. Couldn't he keep that to himself? Of all times he had to let loose his mouth, it had to be now? I decided that I've had enough of his frank attitude for tonight and excused myself to the patio to get some fresh air.

Finding my way through the crowds, I quickly walked to the nearest door I could find, navigating my way around the others looking for a chance to talk. I scanned my surroundings before entering. Mother and father seems to be busy talking to the count and countess. Marise isn't anywhere to be found (likely taking care of things behind the scenes) and Sir Klein was still standing where he was, his eyes following my movement with a clueless expression plastered on his face. That dimwit! He doesn't even know why I got mad! I closed the door behind me carefully before taking a deep breath.

"Learn some tact, idiot!" I yelled towards the door.

It wasn't like I was totally offended by his comment and normally, I would have laughed it off too. But today, I was already in a rough mood from having to walk on eggshells around everyone and having to deal Sir Klein's straightforwardness was a little too much for me to deal with right now.

Admittedly, the cool breeze of the night helped cool my head down a little. I walked towards the marble railing and leaned against it. My right hand glided across the smooth, cool surface as I breathed in the scent of fresh flowers from the gardens below. The night view was gorgeous.

In my previous life, it was difficult to see the stars at night with all the light pollution. But here... I could see it much more clearly without the skyscrapers and billboard lights. As I looked towards the twinkling stars, my mind began to wander towards my family and world I left behind. I couldn't help it. It was my- May's birthday too, and usually around this time, I would have been at home eating mum's special birthday dinner. Dad would be lighting the candles of the cake he bought on the way home from work and older brother would be whining about how I always get more portions on my birthday than he does. As a tradition, we used to go out to the garden to light up the sparklers at night after my birthday because it's summer. And even though we couldn't see the stars, the glow of the sparklers was enough to replace it.

"Are we looking at the same skies, I wonder?" I muttered sadly. I hope they weren't too sad on my birthday. I hope older brother is taking care of mum and dad.

I sighed, trying not to let the sadness overwhelm me once again. My eyes drifted down towards the garden laying below to distract myself and... that's when I saw it.

Amidst the dark backdrop of the rose garden, I saw glistening silver hair swaying in the wind.

And a pair of ruby red eyes staring at me like a beast carefully watching over his prey. How long was he standing there? How long had he been watching me?

"Eli-" I began to mutter in surprise.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, the sound of wind fluttered as the leaves started to dance around in circles around me. I covered my face instinctively, surprised at what was happening. Then, a voice I seemed to have heard before spoke right in front of me.

"I must be incredibly lucky today. What a surprise to meet you here, my lady."

In a blink of an eye, there he stood hovering in the air, the moonlight reflecting his beautiful face as he wore a suit that was entirely white. His eyes looked at me as if greeting a long lost friend, his smile curved into a gentle, upward angle. I couldn't help but gape in awe. If I didn't know the contents of the story beforehand, I would have already mistaken him to be an angel sent from the heavens.

But, I knew that if heaven existed, it wasn't in a form of this man. No... this is the man who will one day betray his best friend, his kingdom and ultimately, humanity itself. He is a devil wearing the skin of an angel.

He is Elijah Soleil... the antagonist of the story.

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A/N: Unedited so there might be quite a few mistakes (^^"    ) Yay! I finally have some time off to work on the novel so, here's Chapter 23.