Klaus went pale with shock.
The moment he realized the person walking toward him was Loris, Klaus felt his soul shatter into countless tiny shards, drifting away on the wind.
It was awkward. Unprecedentedly, unimaginably awkward.
If being discovered by Margaret and Vera was merely social suicide, then standing before the duke's daughter—whom he had secretly convinced himself “must have a crush on me”—was a different story.
To crash headfirst into her while dressed in full drag was akin to being thrown into the deepest pits of Avici hell to be fried over and over again.
“M-Miss Loris...”
Klaus's brain completely short-circuited.
He even forgot to run.
He blushing furiously, wanting nothing more than to cover his face, pretend they were strangers, and curl up to die. He wished he could claw a three-bedroom apartment out of the Royal Ballroom's marble floor with his toes and bury himself alive.
Yet, fate left him no time for shame or even to adjust his tattered hem.
“Stop! The pervert ran this way!!”
“Quick! Cut him off! Don't let him startle His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the noble ladies!!”
From around the corner of the corridor behind him, the heavy thuds of his Swordsmanship Department peers' leather boots caught up to him like a death toll.
Those guys, usually so full of life on the training grounds, were now shouting slogans of justice, barely a dozen paces away.
Klaus cast a desperate glance behind him at the approaching shadows, then looked back at Loris, who stood before him with a bewildered expression, still carrying the faint aroma of red wine.
If he got caught now, he would not only be completely finished in Loris's eyes but also publicly executed as a creep by the upperclassmen of the Swordsmanship Department.
He was dead either way!
In that single second, the upstart young master's brain unleashed an unprecedented storm of activity.
No! I can't die in vain! Even if I'm going down, I have to tell her the truth!
“Miss Loris! Help!!”
Klaus threw all caution to the wind.
“It's me, Klaus!!!”
He abruptly let go of his skirt, stepped forward with a visually jarring air of tragic heroism, lowered his voice, and rattled off the entire truth like a machine gun.
He practically fell to his knees in supplication!
“It's not what it looks like! I'm not a pervert! That bastard Alden dug up some crucial intel that two wicked women were jealous of you and planned to completely ruin your Midnight Gown with black ink at tonight's Summer Ball, making you a laughingstock before all the nobles of the royal capital!!”
Gazing frantically behind him at the nearing pursuers, he babbled on so fast he was practically running out of oxygen:
“Alden said the family crest of the culprit has a rose pattern! To protect your honor, I was—I was ordered to dress in drag and sneak into the changing room to beat them to the punch. I poured ink all over the dress in that 'rose wardrobe' and severed the straps!”
“I successfully ruined that wicked woman's dress! But I didn't expect them to walk in on me...”
Having spewed out this absurd stream of “truth” in a single breath, Klaus nearly choked on his own spit.
He gagged slightly.
Then, a solemn sense of sacrifice welled up in his heart.
Is this what sacrifice feels like?
If I get pinned down here tonight, my old man will definitely show up at the school tomorrow. My academic life is going to end with a record of crossdressing and peeping... Fuck.
Yet, the wind in the corridor seemed to freeze at this very moment.
The upstart young master, normally so imposing, was now wearing a crooked platinum-blonde wig and a tight dress. As he knelt before her, his emotional display actually held a hint of girlish bashfulness, his eyes brimming with tears.
Setting aside his self-exposure, Loris really hadn't recognized him as Klaus at first glance. She had genuinely thought he was some stunning beauty.
So, this poor, fallen “maiden” seemed to have landed in this desperate plight all to help her.
He was waiting for her to extend her noble, helping hand.
...
Ah... I can't even.
Or perhaps “speechless” was a better fit? Insert sweating emoji here.
Anyway, standing in the dimly lit corridor, I had been holding my handkerchief, absentmindedly preparing to head to the preparation room to change into one of my dozen-plus spare dresses while reviewing Secretary Meretskov's clinical, judgmental gaze in my mind.
And yet, this current scene—
A five-foot-three, platinum-blonde “maiden” clad in a light blue high-waisted dress, face so red it looked ready to burst, was staring piteously at me with a pure gaze that mixed extreme shame, panic, and a touch of tragic heroism.
Then there was that explosive, absurdly surreal “truth” he had just blurted out.
Alden's intel... Margaret and Vera's plot...
The rose-patterned wardrobe... an entire bottle of specially made black ink...
Well, it seemed there were a few more variables to this prank than I had anticipated. Having processed everything, I froze on the spot, my facial muscles twitching uncontrollably.
So Margaret wasn't the only one plotting against me.
There was also someone with a rose family crest.
But I've never met anyone like that. Were they too insignificant for me to remember?
Still, going by Klaus's story, he had already ruined that “Rose family” lady's wardrobe, so she wouldn't be causing any more trouble...
At this moment, I didn't realize who this actually referred to. I simply thought to myself: Has the butterfly effect... has it grown a bit too massive?
Regardless, Klaus had come to help me.
Even if I had no idea where he got his information.
“Stop! The pervert is right up ahead!!”
“Quick! Block the path to the back door and the lawn!!”
In the corridor behind, the heavy thumping of the Swordsmanship Department students' leather boots was practically upon them.
The crisp friction of metal scabbards against uniform leather vibrated through the air. Coupled with the shrill shrieks of those two intensely fake-innocent girls, even the swelling orchestral music from the main ballroom couldn't drown out the commotion.
Watching this guy panic like an ant on a hot pan, all for the sake of defending my honor...
For some reason, the villainess's sneer that usually came so naturally to my lips failed to appear.
When all was said and done, even if his brain didn't work very well and he held some bizarre misunderstandings about me, the price he paid tonight...
...was simply too steep.
Considering he did it to help me, I suppose I can reluctantly bail him out of this absurd mess.
“...Don't move.”
I let out a barely perceptible sigh, instantly wiping the mortified expression that had nearly cracked my composure.
With the mob about to descend upon us, it looked like it was time to put on another performance. Fortunately, my acting skills had improved significantly since entering the academy.
The ultimate, haughty duke's daughter aura!
Activate!
A sliver of disgust—coupled with a highly intimidating coldness—flashed across my emerald-green eyes.
Under Klaus's wide-eyed, instantly silenced gaze, I took a sharp step forward and used my low-heeled shoe to deliver a sharp kick to his ankle, which was hidden beneath his skirt!
“Thud.”
“Ow...” Klaus almost shrieked in pain, but catching my glare, he forced the cry back down his throat.
“Turn your face away. Keep your back to them,” I commanded in a voice only the two of us could hear. “Straighten that blonde wig, and act like a proper lady. Got it?”
Though Klaus's brain was a bit lacking, his body's instincts displayed incredible obedience in this critical moment of life and death for his social reputation.
At my command, he practically scrambled behind me. Shielded by the voluminous folds of my dark blue gown, he frantically pulled the crooked platinum-blonde wig back onto the crown of his head.
He squeezed his arms tightly against his sides, trying to use his hands to cover the long tear under his armpits. Crouching slightly out of sheer tension and shame, he actually cut the figure of a tall, somewhat awkward noble maiden seeking refuge behind the duke's daughter in the dim glow of the wall sconces.
At the exact second Klaus finished his cover-up.
“Clatter!!”
The rushing footsteps suddenly halted at the corner of the corridor.
The ones leading the charge were, sure enough, Margaret Horn—whose voluminous dark brown waves were practically standing on end with rage—and Vera Klein, whose face was twisted in manic excitement.
Tight on their heels were four Swordsmanship Department students wearing dark blue formal uniforms, their hands resting on their sword hilts.
“Where is he?! We clearly saw him run in this direction...” Margaret's sharp voice cut off abruptly, as if she had been strangled mid-sentence, the moment she saw me.
The air in the corridor froze.
The Swordsmanship Department students took one look at my iconic dark blue star-patterned gown and my notoriously icy face, and their expressions instantly shifted.
The hands resting on their sword hilts slipped away in a hurry, their aggressive posture melting.
“Miss Aldheim? What are you doing here?” the lead Swordsmanship Department student asked, thoroughly perplexed.
I slowly and methodically folded the handkerchief I had used to wipe off the red wine, tucking it back into my dark blue sleeve.
Ahem. Here we go.
Slightly raising my chin, I swept an icy, haughty gaze of utter contempt over the uninvited guests.
“I believe that is a question I should be asking you.”
My voice wasn't loud, but it carried the chilling, indisputable authority unique to the Duke of Aldheim's family:
“Since when has the western corridor of the Royal Ballroom become a training ground where the Swordsmanship Department can cause a ruckus and barge through with unrelated women? Is this how you maintain order at the ball?”
Confronted by my interrogation, the Swordsmanship Department students looked deeply embarrassed. Still, none of them dared talk back; in fact, several of them seemed to silently plead to let the matter drop.
After all, I was known far and wide as a difficult person to cross.
“We... we just received a report from Miss Horn and Miss Klein stating that a... a suspicious crossdressing pervert in a light blue dress snuck into the ladies' changing room. We pursued them here purely to ensure the security of the ball...”
“A pervert? In a light blue dress?”
I arched an eyebrow, playing along.
Instead of replying immediately, I shifted slightly to the side, revealing the blonde “maiden” cowering behind me with hunched shoulders, his body trembling slightly from intense anxiety.
In that instant, Margaret and Vera's gazes locked onto Klaus like venomous vipers.
“That's her—no, that's him!”
Margaret pointed at Klaus's conspicuous platinum-blonde wig and claimed righteously:
“That build, that height! Even—even if the hair looks a bit neater now, it is absolutely him! Loris, are you seriously harboring a pervert who sneaked into the changing room to destroy someone else's property?”
“Miss Horn, watch your words.”
I stepped forward, shielding Klaus entirely behind me.
I narrowed my emerald-green eyes, the icy glare within them nearly freezing Margaret where she stood:
“The 'pervert' you refer to is a close friend of mine whom I personally invited to the Summer Ball tonight.”
“She happened to be born a bit taller than the average lady and is rather shy and introverted by nature. That is the only reason she accidentally wandered into the wrong changing room stall while freshening up.”
I honestly felt like a saint.
Continuing in the flawless, poised tone I had honed in high society, I delivered a calm counterattack:
“As for your claim of 'maliciously destroying a dress'... my friend has been standing right here conversing with me this entire time. How could she possibly have touched any dresses?”
“You...!” Margaret gasped, stunned by the blatant cover-up.
But... wait a minute.
Why would Loris protect this guy? The dress Klaus ruined was actually Loris's! The two of them had switched the family crests.
I don't understand... but I am thoroughly shaken!
Could she not know the truth?
Seeing this, Vera's calculating eyes darted back and forth between me and Klaus.
Even though she thought the “blonde maiden” behind me had excessively broad shoulders, the real issue was—
Loris, the most powerful duke's daughter in the Kingdom of Barton and the fiancée of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, was putting her own reputation and the entire prestige of the Aldheim family on the line to vouch for this girl.
Without solid proof, if they insisted on bypassing Loris to strip the girl's clothes and expose her identity, it would be tantamount to declaring war on the Aldheim family.
“Miss Loris... Miss Horn...”
The Swordsmanship Department students were in a bind. In truth, they also realized there was likely more to this situation, and they had caught sight of the supposed pervert earlier.
By outward appearances, the blonde was clearly a girl.
The Swordsmanship Department students began to waver.
“Miss Horn, Miss Klein, since Miss Loris has confirmed this lady's identity as a misunderstanding... I believe we may have truly misidentified the culprit. The incident in the changing room might be the work of another thief. We will expand our search area.”
It's best to take a step back and avoid a conflict.
“...”
Margaret opened her mouth but hesitated.
“Enough,” Vera said, grabbing Margaret's arm and hiding her face behind a feathered fan. “Since Miss Loris has said so, tonight's incident must indeed be an... unfortunate 'misunderstanding.' Let's go.”
With that, the relieved Swordsmanship Department security students retreated back the way they came.
Along with a smiling Vera and a begrudgingly silent Margaret.
Strange.
It was resolved that easily?
Only when the chaotic footsteps completely faded at the end of the corridor did quiet return to the west wing passageway.
“...Whew.”
Behind me, Klaus let out an incredibly long, heavy sigh of relief.
His broad shoulders, previously tensed with terror, slowly slumped. The blonde wig had crooked even further, practically covering his face.
He was a storm of complex emotions, laced with a touch of bewilderment.
“Ah... thank you?”
“So... it's really over?”
I had no idea what he was trying to say, and I was in a rush to change for the evening dance anyway. Looking back at him, his crossdressing appearance was truly comical.
Also, dude, how did your wig get crooked again?
It would be trouble if someone caught him looking like this outside. Since I had just claimed to back him, it would damage my reputation as well.
After a brief thought, I stepped forward and straightened his wig for him.
Now that I think about it, this guy has done quite a lot of stupid things.
“Don't do something so stupid ever again, Classmate Klaus,” I said with a tired sigh, not omitting a smirk. “Though, I must say, you do look rather ridiculous...”
“—”
In a fraction of a second, his face went from pale as a ghost to a deep, burning crimson.
She saw me dressed like this...
And of all people, it had to be Loris...
My reputation in class is totally ruined!
This demoness is definitely going to blackmail me with this in the future! She might even force me to talk to her! I don't actually want to date Loris! I only did this out of loyalty!
As those thoughts raced through his mind, Klaus backed away in a panicked frenzy.
He was utterly mortified.
Suddenly, he tripped and almost fell—
—only for his hand to be grabbed.
His normally carefree eyes went wide as saucers, staring intently at the face close to his own. Her image was reflected in his clear pupils, a volcano of shame and absolute, earth-shattering shock erupting in his eyes.
Damn it!
The beauty saves the beast! Round two!
This was the absolute, inescapable lethality of the Aldheim family's eldest daughter—not just to females, but to all male species alike.
“Alright, the back door is right ahead. Hurry down the path back to your dormitory and get changed before anyone sees you.”
I brushed off my hands and spoke casually.
Without sparing another glance at his steaming red face, I reassumed my proud and noble stance as the duke's daughter, heading toward the preparation room at a leisurely pace.
After all, I still had to change. The stage of destiny for the second half was waiting for me.
The hem of my dark blue gown disappeared around the corner.
And Klaus, left behind, stood frozen in the empty corridor like a platinum-blonde wax statue under a binding spell for a solid half minute.
The evening breeze drifting in through the ventilation pipes finally woke him from that dreamlike, heart-stopping, pink-tinted atmosphere.
“...Fuck!! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!”
The next second, Klaus yanked the platinum-blonde wig off his head and slammed it onto the marble floor.
His face burning hot, he covered his face with both hands, crouching on the floor as a low, humiliated roar escaped his throat like a cornered beast.
He was a grown man! The future heir to a domain!
Tonight, he had not only crossdressed and snuck into a ladies' changing room, got chased by wicked women as a creep, but in the end... he was actually rescued and teased by a duke's daughter who was a full head shorter than him, using that look one reserved for an idiot?!
In a cliché scenario like the beauty saving the beast!
How could his heart have actually skipped a fucking beat at that moment?!
How could he find Miss Loris's hair-flipping gesture... as beautiful as a literal Muse?!
“I'm a man!! How could I be so pathetic?! Ahhhhh!!”
Klaus screamed internally, so humiliated he wanted to crash his head into a block of tofu.
In the end, with tears in his eyes, he dove headfirst into the dark, chilly night lawn outside the Royal Ballroom.
For the upstart young master of the Cross family, tonight's Summer Ball was destined to be recorded as an unforgettable tragedy on the darkest page of their family genealogy.
Meanwhile, the melodious orchestral music in the main ballroom continued, as if laughing at this wonderful night of misunderstandings and chaos.
Of course, let us not forget the two wicked women who had stealthily followed behind.
“Hehe, he still has no idea that the dress he ruined belongs to that Loris girl.”
“Let's go tell him.”
“I really can't wait to see his face.”
Rate on N.U.
