Chapter 108: Founder’s Ball II

Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Founder’s Ball II

Before Damian could answer—

The great doors of the Grand Assembly Hall swung open.

Almost instinctively, Damian’s gaze lifted toward the entrance.

Like countless others throughout the ballroom...

He looked.

And his eyes found her almost immediately.

Vivienne.

For the briefest moment...

The conversations surrounding him seemed to drift into the distance.

She stepped into the ballroom beneath the warm glow of the crystal chandeliers, the emerald gown flowing gracefully around her with every measured step. Diamonds shimmered softly at her ears and around her neck, catching the light before scattering it again in delicate flashes that illuminated her face.

The gentle curls cascading over one shoulder softened the quiet confidence with which she carried herself.

Elegant.

Refined.

Effortlessly graceful.

.

She acknowledged a greeting with a warm smile.

The diamonds caught the light once more.

Then she smiled again.

A different smile this time.

Brighter.

Warmer.

Genuine.

It reached her eyes, carrying a quiet happiness that seemed almost impossible to contain.

And somehow...

His eyes never left her.

...

His thoughts simply...

Stopped.

The question Catherine had just asked—

The answer he had been trying to give—

Vanished completely.

Nothing remained except the quiet image before him.

...

She had always been beautiful.

He had never denied that.

But tonight...

For reasons he couldn’t quite explain...

She left him momentarily speechless.

A heartbeat.

Perhaps two.

Then...

Without realizing it...

The corners of Damian’s lips lifted ever so slightly.

Seeing her smile...

He found himself doing the same.

His gaze followed hers almost instinctively.

It settled on the gentleman walking beside her.

Anthony.

His cousin.

The man Vivienne had loved for as long as Damian could remember.

Of course.

She was smiling at Anthony.

The faint smile on Damian’s lips disappeared as naturally as it had come.

Not from disappointment.

Simply...

Reality settling quietly back into place.

Vivienne had always loved Anthony.

She had never made a secret of it.

Damian had teased her often enough because of it.

Nothing had changed.

Then, as suddenly as the moment had come...

A memory surfaced.

"I chose emerald."

Without thinking, his eyes drifted to the emerald pocket square neatly folded against his coat.

He stared at it for the briefest moment.

He hadn’t thought about that conversation since.

Not until now.

A coincidence.

Nothing more.

His gaze lifted once again.

--

Across from Damian...

Catherine waited.

She had expected a brief pause.

Damian was never one to answer hastily.

One heartbeat passed.

Then another.

Yet he remained silent.

His eyes, usually so attentive during conversation, were no longer looking at her.

Instead...

They rested somewhere beyond her shoulder.

Toward the entrance.

A faint smile touched his lips.

It was small.

Almost imperceptible.

Yet to Catherine...

It was unmistakable.

Without thinking, she turned to see what had captured his attention.

The answer revealed itself almost immediately.

Vivienne Beaumont.

Standing beside Anthony Ashford.

Anthony exchanged greetings with several acquaintances who had approached to welcome him.

Beside him, Vivienne smiled.

The smile was radiant.

Unrestrained.

As though she were genuinely delighted simply to be there.

Or...

To be beside him.

Catherine’s gaze lingered for only a moment before instinctively returning to Damian.

The smile had already vanished.

His expression had settled once more into its familiar calm.

As though it had never existed.

...

Emerald.

Her eyes drifted almost unconsciously to the neatly folded pocket square adorning Damian’s coat.

Then to Vivienne’s gown.

Emerald.

The very same shade.

Again.

The word echoed quietly in her mind.

First...

Friday’s luncheon.

She had not witnessed it herself.

She hadn’t needed to.

By afternoon, half the university had been talking about it.

The shared dessert.

The vegetables.

Students laughing over how naturally Damian and Lady Vivienne had eaten from the same plate.

She had dismissed it then.

Or at least...

She had wanted to.

They had known each other since childhood.

Surely everyone was reading too much into an ordinary interaction.

Then, immediately after...

She had seen it herself.

Damian escorting Lady Vivienne to the Literature Society.

Not because someone had told her.

Not because of another rumor.

She had witnessed it with her own eyes.

That had been the first crack in the explanation she had been trying so hard to believe.

And now...

She had watched Damian fall silent before her.

Forget her invitation.

Forget she was even standing there.

Only to smile...

At the sight of Lady Vivienne.

Her gaze lowered once more to the emerald pocket square.

Then lifted toward the emerald gown.

The same shade.

Another coincidence.

Perhaps.

But how many coincidences could there be before they ceased to be coincidences?

Lady Vivienne was Anthony Ashford’s fiancée.

She should have been the first to draw a line.

Instead...

The distance between her and Damian seemed only to grow smaller.

--

A few steps away...

Adrian had no intention of intruding.

That had been the whole reason he and Julian excused themselves.

Lady Catherine deserved the opportunity to speak with Damian without two friends standing awkwardly beside them.

Even so...

His attention drifted back every now and then.

More out of curiosity than anything else.

Damian wasn’t exactly known for entertaining young ladies.

One of the gentlemen beside him chuckled quietly.

"So..."

"Do you think Lord Blackwood will finally accept a dance?"

Another shrugged.

"I’d be surprised if he refused Lady Catherine."

Adrian smiled faintly.

His eyes wandered back toward Damian.

Just in time to see the ballroom doors open.

He watched Damian turn.

Then...

Stop.

Adrian frowned ever so slightly.

That wasn’t unusual.

Everyone had looked.

What caught his attention...

Was that Damian never looked away.

His gaze followed it instinctively.

Vivienne Beaumont.

Standing beside Anthony Ashford.

"...Ah."

It escaped him almost unconsciously.

The conversations from Friday resurfaced in his mind.

The luncheon.

The dessert.

The escort to the Literature Society.

Back then...

He had accepted Damian’s explanation without much thought.

They had known one another since childhood.

That had seemed explanation enough.

But now...

Watching Damian remain completely oblivious to Lady Catherine still standing before him...

The explanation suddenly felt less convincing.

--

Julian’s gaze settled on Damian.

For one fleeting instant...

He was no longer standing in the ballroom.

He was back in the university cafeteria.

"You looked straight through us."

Back then...

Damian had stared directly past him and Adrian without so much as realizing they were there.

When confronted afterward...

He had looked genuinely confused.

"...You were there?"

Julian had believed him.

Because Damian hadn’t been pretending.

He truly hadn’t noticed.

Now...

Lady Catherine stood only a few feet away.

She had spoken to him.

Asked him a question.

Yet once again...

Damian seemed completely unaware of anyone else in the room.

Julian exhaled quietly.

Again...

Damian hadn’t learned to notice.

Not because he refused to.

But perhaps...

Because he genuinely couldn’t.

--

"...Did you see that?"

One student glanced toward another.

"No wonder people have been talking."

A third immediately frowned.

"Keep your voice down."

"Anthony is right there."

"...Exactly."

Silence.

Someone quietly looked toward Catherine.

"...Poor Lady Catherine."

No one argued.

--

Amidst all these...

Unaware of the quiet ripple his momentary lapse had sent through the ballroom...

Damian blinked.

Then, reality slowly settled back into focus.