I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 77

I glanced at Jeremiah and opened my mouth.

 

“I just happened to see the crown prince.”

 

“By chance?”

 

Jeremiah raised his eyebrows in disbelief, but he didn’t pursue me. Instead, he flicked at the knot in the handkerchief.

 

“Ah!”

 

The soft material was removed, revealing my wrist beneath the handkerchief.

 

Jeremiah’s face hardened at the sight of a bare handprint. I spoke quickly before he could misunderstand.

 

“Hey, this didn’t come from the Crown Prince! I almost had something happen to me, so…”

 

I suppose I should… about Gale Huons, but that was a little out of place here.

 

As I stammered, Jeremiah’s face grew even colder. His grip on my wrist tightened.

 

“How dare he, knowing you are a man of the Duke of Oppenheim.”

 

“Duke, is that…”

 

“Vanessa, tell me who it is, and if you don’t know his name, describe him. Is he in this ballroom? If you met in the garden, he must be there, right?”

 

“No, it’s…”

 

I shook Jeremiah’s grip on my wrist as if to soothe him.

 

“I know the name, but I’ll tell you more about it when we get back to the mansion, not here.”

 

“…I mean in great detail.”

 

“Yes, I will.”

 

The barely real Jeremiah sighed and ran one hand down his face.

 

I carefully pried my wrist from his grasp and picked up the handkerchief that had fallen to the floor. 

 

‘It belongs to His Highness the Crown Prince, and I shouldn’t throw it away.’

 

‘What if he asks for it back later?’

 

Considering his character, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. I decided to keep the handkerchief for future reference.

 

Then, to lighten the mood, I asked Jeremiah.

 

“Have you said hello to everyone else?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“I’m sure you have a lot to say…”

 

“Nothing.”

 

“…….”

 

I glanced up at Jeremiah, who was giving me a stern look, his face twitching as if he didn’t like something else.

 

It’s getting harder and harder to read Jeremiah’s mind these days. Either way, he seemed unwilling to respond to my efforts to keep the conversation going.

 

The mood between him and I was getting weird at that moment.

 

“Vanessa!”

 

As if on cue, Estella returned.

 

“Where did you go without telling me, I’m looking for you!”

 

She cried, jumping into my arms. I pulled her into a hug and patted her back.

 

“I’m sorry, I thought you were busy, so I left you for a while and didn’t expect to find you.”

 

I glanced back at Jeremiah as I spoke to Estella.

 

So this apology is directed to Estella, but it’s also a second apology to Jeremiah.

 

Jeremiah realizes my intentions, but he deliberately avoids my gaze. Only Estella stomped her foot and whimpered.

 

“No matter how busy I am, you have to come to me first, and I… get so anxious when I don’t see you, so don’t go off by yourself. Okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

Estella calmed down only after I promised her that I would never do it again.

 

It was only after the dust settled that I realized that her hair was a mess.

 

‘She didn’t run around in those heels, did you?’ I thought to myself.

 

I felt sorry for her and ran my hand through her tangled hair.

 

Estella squeezed my hand, ignoring the stares that were slowly gathering around her.

 

Honestly, judging by the looks around, there were still plenty of people who wanted to talk to Jeremiah or Estella. But Jeremiah shrugged them all off and said to us.

 

“I think it’s time we headed back to the mansion.”

 

“Yes, brother. I think we should.”

 

“Can we…?”

 

No matter how much I think about it, I think we should stay. Haven’t the other imperial family members entered yet…?

 

Shouldn’t we at least wait until the emperor arrives? No, the crown prince was outside.

 

“Has the imperial family already come and gone?”

 

I looked at them in bewilderment, but they seemed to have made up their minds.

 

Jeremiah swept a hand through his hair and headed for the ballroom’s exit, Estella following closely behind, dragging my hand.

 

“I thought it was kind of funny at first, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much to it! Come on, sis, let’s go back to our room so we can have some fun.”

 

“Estella, did you dance?”

 

“Mmm… a couple of times. I tried not to dance, but the requests were so insistent that I couldn’t help myself…”

 

“And… the duke?”

 

At my question, Jeremiah, who had just passed the ballroom exit, stopped dead in his tracks and looked back at me.

 

His gaze flickered over me, softening instead of frosty, and then curved.

 

“I’ve been watching Estella dance, and if her partner does anything wrong, I’m going to…”

 

…Estella’s dance partner, I wonder if he felt alive while she danced.

 

“So did you dance with the duke?”

 

I asked, and Estella quickly answered.

 

“I didn’t dance with him!”

 

“…why?”

 

“Because the person I was supposed to have the first dance with wasn’t in the ballroom.”

 

Jeremiah replied playfully, turning around to face the exit. Estella gently released my hand.

 

But I was frozen in his gaze.

 

I hadn’t expected him to remember what we’d said in passing at the duke’s castle.

 

I pursed my lips and then shut my mouth, unable to say anything. Then he held out his hand in front of me.

 

“Speaking of which,” he said, “now that you’re here, maybe we can have a dance.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Miss Vanessa, isn’t it a waste of a lesson?”

 

“…….”

 

If I were to take Jeremiah’s hand here and walk out into the dance hall, there would be a lot of eyes on us. Maybe Gale Huons will be among them.

 

I thought to myself, ‘I may have learned to dance from Jeremiah… but that was for Estella, and I didn’t think I’d ever dance with him.’

 

But when I saw him reach out to me, my heart swayed.

 

I felt sorry for Jeremiah, who had taught me to dance with such enthusiasm, and I felt sorry for myself.

 

‘We’re leaving right after the dance, so it’s okay, right?’

 

The dress is so lavish and beautiful, and I’ve run away from dance practice before.

 

I hesitated for a moment, aesthetically pleased, when a gentle hand patted me on the back.

 

“Sister, hurry up and go. I was going to dance with you, but I’ve already done it, so you’ll have to give way to my brother.”

 

Estella said, smiling sheepishly.

 

As I blinked at her, Jeremiah took my hand in a polite gesture. He kissed the back of my hand and said,

 

“It is an honor, my lady.”

 

…Eh, I don’t know, just one dance, I guess.

 

 

* * *

 

 

As it turns out, the emperor came and made his New Year’s address while I was away.

 

I nodded and felt a little relieved when I heard that the emperor hadn’t been in good health lately, so he hadn’t been at the banquet for long. I felt like I had actually done everything I needed to do at this banquet and could go home in peace.

 

But then why was the crown prince outside?

 

If the emperor had come and gone, the rest of the banquet would have been the crown prince’s solo performance, and he would have been the center of attention.

 

I questioned the crown prince’s presence outside, but I soon put it aside and returned to the Snowflake Mansion.

 

‘Thank goodness.’

 

I didn’t step on Jeremiah’s foot when we danced today. I was just as hands-on as Estella!

 

I even felt a little proud of myself for doing so well. I also got a lot of stares…

 

“Don’t pay attention to anything else, Vanessa, just focus on me.”

 

Jeremiah whispered close to me, and for a moment, I forgot all about my worries.

 

It was as if my whole world had become his.

 

As I pondered the strange feeling, the carriage arrived at Snowflake Manor.

 

The pure white exterior walls of the mansion were dyed in a multicolored glow by the fireworks in the night sky. It was already past midnight.

 

“Estella, congratulations on your new year.”

 

“Happy New Year to you, too!”

 

Estella replied cheerfully to Jeremiah, grabbing his hand and leaping out of the carriage.

 

Jeremiah gave her a puzzled look, unsure of the meaning of her greeting, but he laughed it off and extended his hand to me.

 

“Miss Vanessa, I’m glad you’ll be able to ring in the new year with us.”

 

“…Me too. May the new year bring blessings to the Duke and Oppenheim.”

 

I stared at Jeremiah’s smiling face and took his hand in mine in a weak reply.

 

It had been a long time since I had rung in the New Year with someone, and it felt strange to see Jeremiah again.