[A/N: An update for my dear fishes (⌐■-■)/🐟🐟🐟]

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"!!!"

Loud gasps filled the area out of surprise from the emperor's announcement.

Everyone's faces were shocked except Eurielle's. Eurielle's face was more of confused than shocked.

'What's an engagement?' She thought.

In her entire life, she never encountered the word engagement. She doesn't know what it is.

"Pft-"

Eurielle heard Clayton laughing for a moment. But when she looked at him, his face was serious and straight.

"???"

"??"

"I have something to ask." Eurielle whispered. "What's an engagement?"

"A chain of marriage." Clayton responded.

Eurielle still doesn't get it.

"It means that you and the crown prince are betrothed. The two of you are going to get married soon per the emperor's order."

"Oh."

"Your Majesty!" Gabriel's angry voice echoed around the place.

He couldn't believe that his father engaged him to someone like Eurielle.

He doesn't even like her to begin with. He only wants one woman to be with him and that is Abigail.

"What's the meaning of this?!" The prince roared.

All the people started gossiping. They were really shocked from the emperor's announcement.

"Then what will happen to Lady Brown?"

"Does that mean Lady Eurielle will become the future crown princess?"

"Doesn't the prince love Lady Brown?"

The emperor noticed the noble's confused reactions. Even Abigail's face was in dilemma.

"Don't forget who you're talking to, prince. This engagement is already set and it will remain that way til I die." The emperor's decision was firm.

"Please, your majesty. Think about it. Did Grand Duke Deidamus consent to this engagement? You didn't even ask for my consent! And I would never consent to something like this in the first place." Gabriel looked at Eurielle.

"??" Eurielle tilted her head.

"And I don't even love Eurielle! My heart belongs to Abigail and she will always be the woman I'll choose."

"Your highness!" Abigail hugged the crown prince.

Eurielle could see Abigail's face tearing up whilst blushing.

"Let's go, Abigail." He took her hand and left the area together with her.

Though she was crying, Abigail's lips mysteriously crept upwards as she locked gazes with Eurielle.

'Is this what it feels like watching a movie?'

"Pft- ha!"

Once again, Eurielle heard Clayton laughing. And this time, she caught him on the act.

She wondered what's so funny that it made him laugh.

"Ahh, this is really amusing. Had I known it was this fun I would've come here earlier." Clayton mumbled.

He looked at Eurielle and her face was serene and calm. It's like she doesn't care about what's going on right now.

Honestly, Eurielle doesn't care. Right now, the only thing she wants to do is go home and take a rest.

"I apologize for the prince's behavior. Regardless, let the banquet continue." The emperor uttered.

After the emperor said that, music started and some nobles started dancing.

It was like the prince's action earlier didn't happen in the first place.

But deep inside their minds, the nobles were still contemplating about what just happened. They could never forget something like that. For now, they could only ignore.

"Can I have this dance?" Clayton offered his hand.

Eurielle had no choice but to accept it. And so they started dancing.

Though Eurielle doesn't actually know how to dance, her body knows what she's doing. She danced flawlessly.

There were also other nobles dancing around them then suddenly, the music's cue changed.

It was time to separate and change partners. Eurielle faced a new partner and continued dancing.

"You look dazzling, my lady." The new partner praised as he received Eurielle.

Eurielle looked up and saw that the man was wearing a mask. Though he was with a mask, she can still see through his blonde hair and his jeweled amber eyes.

He seemed oddly familiar.

"..Thank you." She briefly answered.

They danced a bit more without mistakes then the music's cue changed once again.

It was time for her to leave her current partner and return to Clayton.

But before they separated, the man hugged her tightly and whispered, "I'll see you later tonight, my lady." He then landed a kiss on her neck.

Some of the nobles who saw this were also surprised of the sudden gesture.

The emperor just announced that Lady Eurielle is already engaged to the prince yet she had the audacity to show that kind of thing to them.

"Rion?" She recognized that voice.

Asterion showed a grin and walked away from her.

The two of them separated ways and Eurielle was finally back to Clayton.

With this, the dance was over.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Clayton asked with a smile.

He too, saw what Asterion did to Eurielle earlier. His sight landed on her neck, the part where Asterion kissed earlier. This made him frown a bit.

He walked closer towards Eurielle and he took out a handkerchief. He wiped the area where Asterion left the mark until he was satisfied.

"There, it's all clean." Clayton muttered.

"Is something the matter?" Eurielle asked as she rubbed her neck.

"It's nothing. There was just a filthy bug that left a filth on your neck earlier."

"Oh, thank you." The clueless Eurielle replied.

'I'm sleepy. When is this party going to end?'

"Shall we leave now, my lady?" Clayton asked a question that made Eurielle smile a bit.

She didn't know this but her expression lightened up a bit.

"Yes, let's get going."

..

***

..

Somewhere..

"Hahh. It was a long night." Clayton sighed as soon as he sat on his sofa.

"Coffee, young master."

"Thank you, Nathan."

Nathan was the coachman who drove the carriage and he was also Clayton's butler. He bowed and left after.

Just earlier, Clayton escorted Eurielle home and bid his farewells.

If only Eurielle's father didn't order him to escort her, he would never actually go to a banquet especially from the crown prince.

Just like Theo, Clayton is also the grand duke's disciple. The two of them were the duke's assistant in the battlefield.

If Theo is called as the crazy war dog, then he was called as the clean freak. He always wipes out the enemy neatly and he doesn't like filthy things- literally.

But there was one thing that changed his mind.

It was Eurielle of course.

Eurielle may not remember but she already encountered Clayton before.

That time where he was lying on a road, he was actually on a disguise at that moment.

Clayton rejected the idea of having dirt all over his body but he was curious of Eurielle personally since her name is recently famous.

He wanted to know what his master's daughter's reaction will be after seeing an unconscious man on the road.

Will she take him with her? Will she call for help? Or take care of the poor man?

Alas, she did none of them.

He didn't take him with her in fact, he even called the coachman to drag him on the sidewalk. And then she ignored him.

"Pft-"

'What's an engagement?'

'Is this what it feels like watching a movie?'

'I'm sleepy. When is this party going to end?'

Suddenly, he recalled Eurielle's inner thoughts earlier.

"So adorable." He chuckled.

Clayton Edevane. A Duke from the East.

From generation to generation, there was one bloodline that had a special ability and that is the Edevane's. They were given a gift.

The ability to read minds. But Clayton never regarded it as a gift. Rather, it was a curse for him.

Hearing other people's filthy thoughts makes his head hurt. He never wanted that ability in the first place.

Then there's Eurielle.

Her thoughts were like a fresh of breath air for him. It was like her mind was like a child's, so pure, clueless, and innocent.

He even wondered if such thing is possible.

But either way, he wanted things to remain as it is.

And, engagement? He wondered what his master's reaction would be once he knew that the emperor decided such thing without consent.

'Such a foolish man the emperor is.'

"Eurielle huh.."

If only he knew his master's daughter earlier, then he would've met with her often.

"Ha." He scoffed.

He hated the idea that all this time, Theo was keeping Eurielle to his self. Theo stood silent about that matter.

"F'ck you, Theo."