I Want a Divorce, Please Stop Obsessing Over Me!

Episode 9 – The Call for Change (2)

“Thank you, Lehan.”

“It’s my pleasure. I will always save you, no matter where you are or what danger you are in. Even if you are not an earl’s daughter.”

Edelis’ heart fluttered as she listened to Lehan’s words.

“From anyone.”

“…who do you think your opponent will be?”

“If it’s too hard, can I take you and run away?”

Lehan said with a playful smile. Even though he said that, he didn’t seem to be thinking of running away.

“That’s what I was hoping for.”

Because she will always be prepared to run away.

If Edelis were to close her eyes with the emperor’s sword in her chest, even at that moment, Edelis felt that the memory of now would come to mind.

* * *

“…I don’t want to go to the debutante.”

The peaceful days passed one by one.

Before long, the chilly spring weather had turned into summer, the time of the debutante ball.

And in the empire, it was a rule that all nobles who turned eighteen would have their debut at the imperial ball.

In other words, Edelis had to have her debut this summer.

‘I can’t believe I have to attend the imperial ball, when I’ve been avoiding the imperial family. This is impossible.’

But there was a problem.

Earl Brill insisted that she must attend the debutante, even if it was the only thing she would do.

“―I don’t think I can rest in peace if my daughter, who doesn’t even go outside the house, doesn’t participate in the debut.”

When her father mentioned his death, Edelis remembered the memory she had seen in the past.

The scene where her father was charged with treason after her death.

It was a rebellion to avenge the daughter’s injustice, but it ultimately failed.

Edelis couldn’t argue anymore when she remembered the sight of her father screaming in a bloody mess.

In the end, Edelis reluctantly finished her preparations for the debutante and came out of the front door to get on the carriage to the palace.

Then, Lehan, who was dressed more handsomely than usual, was waiting for her.

Squeak, squeak―.

When Edelis made a sound as she walked, Lehan turned his head and saw her coming.

“…….”

As soon as their eyes met, they stared at each other for a moment, different from usual.

Their hearts were beating so fast that they were worried that the sound of their hearts might reach the other person’s ears.

Lehan stood in front of the stairs where Edelis was coming down and waited for her to come down.

Finally, when Edelis came in front of him, he bowed his body and stretched out his arm.

Lehan took a deep breath and asked in a trembling voice.

“May I escort you, my lady?”

Edelis smiled brightly and placed her hand on Lehan’s arm, indicating her acceptance.

“Of course.”

She didn’t want to go to the debutante, but now that Lehan was going to escort her, she felt braver.

‘Even if something happens, Lehan will protect me!’

However, as the imperial palace came into view, Edelis lost her courage and sighed again without realizing it.

Lehan couldn’t help but be concerned about Edelis, who kept sighing.

“Do you want to go back?”

“If you want to go back, I’ll turn the carriage around right away.” Lehan said, as if he was just waiting for Edelis to say that she wanted to go back.

Edelis sighed, knowing that he would actually do it.

“I want to go back, but, ha… I don’t think I should.”

Edelis sat in the carriage feeling like she was being dragged to the slaughterhouse. She knew she couldn’t turn back.

As she sighed, the carriage stopped. They had arrived at the banquet hall.

The carriage door opened and the Earl of Brill came to escort her.

“Lehan, I’ll just dance to one song and then I’ll come out right away. Okay?”

This was a choice because Lehan was not a nobleman and was too young to enter the banquet hall.

“I understand, please go ahead.”

Lehan nodded at Edelis’ words. Earl Brill took Edelis’ hand and led her away.

Edelis kept looking back as she was led away.

Until Earl Brill openly said that he was upset.

* * *

As Edelis and Earl Brill entered the hall, the Earl led her around and introduced her to people.

Edelis filled her seat as if she were not there, and as soon as she danced the first dance to announce her debut, she would attempt to disappear. 

She couldn’t help but feel a little resentful of her father for always dragging her around.

“Edelis, if anything happens to me, find those people I just introduced you to.”

The Earl whispered to her.

Then she finally understood why her father had insisted on her debut.

It was a precaution in case she really did not get married and was left alone later.

When Edelis learned this fact, her heart that was resentful of her father melted like ice.

“Your Majesty, Emperor Ventus de Kronad!”

The emperor entered the room. 

Edelis was standing in the middle of the crowd, and the emperor’s path took him straight towards her. 

As he walked, people parted to make way for him, like the sea parting for Moses.

Edelis could not even catch her breath as the emperor walked by her.

Finally, the emperor passed her and stepped onto the podium where everyone could look up to him.

“Raise your heads.”

The emperor gave a brief speech to congratulate the 18-year-olds who had reached adulthood.

As he looked around and greeted, the emperor’s eyes met Edelis’.

She quickly lowered her head again.

Edelis wasn’t able to notice what the emperor’s eyes were.

She was too busy wondering why their eyes met, even though she was in the same place as the others.

The emperor took a sip of the champagne in his glass and handed it back to the servant. He clapped his hands once, and a melody began to play.

And many people in the banquet hall moved to find their partners one by one.

“Edelis.”

Her father smiled and offered his hand to Edelis.

As she was about to place her hand on his, a voice called out to the earl.

“Earl Brill.”

The earl, who was interrupted in his precious time with his daughter, scowled and turned his head in the direction of the voice.

There stood Earl Mille.

“What is it, Earl Mille?”

“The Duke of Darius is looking for you.”

Earl Bril’s face involuntarily scrunched up in a frown.

“Today is my daughter’s debut, so I’ll be there in a bit…”

“But you have a message from the Emperor. You must come immediately.”

The Earl could not refuse the Emperor’s command.

“Don’t worry about me, Daddy.”

Edelis pushed her father away, and he had no choice but to follow Earl Mille with a forlorn expression.

After her father left, Edellis was at a loss.

‘I have to dance to at least one song… However, I can make an excuse that I don’t have a partner, so it’s not bad to stay here as a wallflower and leave as soon as the song ends. I don’t need to stand out.’

But then, a young nobleman who had passed her by in the past approached Edelis with a blushing face and offered to dance with her.

“Lady Edelis Bril, I don’t know if you remember me, but I am Luta, the eldest son of the Viscount of Weiss. If you don’t have a partner, I would be honored to dance with you…”

To be precise, Edelis was about to suggest.

“Don’t you have a partner?”

She turned around with a creaking sound at the deep voice that came from behind her.

Standing behind her was the emperor, dressed in his finest robes.