Chapter 121: Founder’s ball XVI

Chapter 121: Chapter 121: Founder’s ball XVI

Vivienne remained where Anthony had left her.

Without realizing it...

She touched her own cheek.

A smile threatened to return.

She quickly suppressed it.

No.

Absolutely not.

She was not going to stand here smiling to herself.

"...Viv?"

Claire tilted her head.

Vivienne blinked.

"Hm?"

"You’ve been smiling for quite a while now."

"I have not."

"You have."

Amelia laughed.

"It’s rather obvious."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

Claire folded her arms.

"You look positively delighted."

Vivienne looked away.

"I was simply..."

She paused.

"...Thinking."

Claire looked unconvinced.

"Thinking about Lord Ashford?"

Vivienne nearly choked.

"What?"

"I never said that."

"You didn’t have to."

Eleanor covered her mouth, failing to hide her smile.

Vivienne felt warmth creep up her face.

"...You’re all imagining things."

The three exchanged knowing glances.

Vivienne pretended not to notice.

Anthony...

Actually blushed.

Anthony Ashford.

The Anthony Ashford who remained composed no matter the circumstance.

She hadn’t imagined it.

His ears had definitely turned red.

A tiny laugh escaped before she could stop it.

That actually worked...

Weeks.

She had spent weeks wondering how she could make Anthony notice her.

Wondering whether any of her ridiculous ideas would ever succeed.

Tonight...

For the first time...

She had managed to shake him.

The memory alone made her heart feel strangely light.

Another dance began.

Students gradually returned to the ballroom floor.

Conversations resumed.

Vivienne found herself glancing toward the doors every few moments.

Anthony had said he would return.

He shouldn’t be much longer.

"...Waiting for someone?"

Claire asked innocently.

Vivienne immediately looked away.

"I’m merely..."

"...Looking around."

Claire’s smile became even more suspicious.

Minutes passed.

The orchestra changed to another piece.

Still...

Anthony didn’t return.

Vivienne frowned ever so slightly.

What’s taking him so long?

The thought had barely crossed her mind when—

...

Founders’ Ball.

Eastern balconies.

Moonlight.

A dance.

Her smile disappeared.

No.

...

No.

The memory crashed into her all at once.

The Founders’ Ball.

The eastern balcony.

The scene.

The beginning of Anthony and Evelyn.

Her heartbeat stumbled.

She looked across the ballroom.

Anthony.

Nowhere.

Almost immediately...

Her eyes searched for Evelyn.

...

She wasn’t there either.

Vivienne’s breath caught.

No.

No, no...

She hadn’t...

Had she?

Had everything still led here?

"...Vivienne?"

Claire’s voice sounded strangely distant.

Vivienne forced herself to smile.

"I’m sorry."

"I’ll be right back."

Before anyone could stop her...

She was already walking.

Then faster.

The ballroom seemed far larger than before.

She reached the first balcony.

Empty.

The second.

A young couple looked up in surprise.

Vivienne blinked.

"Oh."

"I’m terribly sorry."

She quickly closed the door again.

Another corridor.

Another balcony.

Another couple.

"...Forgive me."

She retreated once more.

By the fourth balcony...

She no longer cared how strange she looked.

Anthony.

Where are you?

Her footsteps echoed against polished marble floors.

The orchestra continued playing somewhere behind her.

Her heart beat louder than the music.

Another balcony.

Empty.

Another.

No one.

One more.

Nothing.

She slowed before the final set of doors.

The eastern balcony.

The one from the novel.

Her fingers curled around the brass handle.

For a brief moment...

She couldn’t bring herself to turn it.

Then...

Slowly...

The door opened just enough for her to look through the glass.

...

And that’s when she saw him.

There.

Anthony.

Not alone.

He was with Evelyn.

Dancing beneath the moonlight.

The music from the ballroom drifted softly onto the balcony.

Exactly as she remembered reading.

For one terrible heartbeat...

Everything around her seemed to stop.

...

It still happened.

Her chest tightened.

No.

She forced herself to breathe.

No.

It wasn’t the same.

Tonight did not exactly follow the novel.

The beginning was similar, Anthony escorted her and had danced the opening waltz with her. Yes, that much was the same but....

Anthony...

Had blushed because of her.

That must have meant something. Right?

Her heartbeat slowly steadied.

...

Even so...

Her eyes returned to Anthony.

He was...

Her fiancé.

That simple fact settled her racing thoughts more than anything else.

She watched them dance.

Anthony guided Evelyn with quiet patience.

There was nothing improper about his expression.

Nothing romantic.

If anything...

He looked exactly as Anthony always did.

Calm.

Gentle.

Attentive.

She almost sighed.

Of course.

If Evelyn hadn’t danced all evening...

Anthony would naturally ask her.

That was simply the sort of person he was.

Kind to everyone.

Especially to those he considered family.

He probably hadn’t even considered how it might appear.

...

She looked at Evelyn.

Then back at Anthony.

A faint irritation rose despite herself.

Another young woman.

Alone.

With her fiancé.

On a secluded balcony.

During the Founders’ Ball.

Honestly...

How could Anthony not realize how this looked?

She should leave.

The thought came immediately.

The dance would end soon enough.

She could speak with Anthony afterward.

That would be the mature thing to do.

She was twenty-nine years old before she transmigrated.

She wasn’t some impulsive teenager.

She knew better.

She truly did.

...

Then Anthony smiled.

It was only a small smile.

Prompted by something Evelyn had said.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Vivienne stared.

A strange ache spread quietly through her chest.

...

I don’t like this.

She closed her eyes for the briefest moment.

When she first read the novel...

She had often wondered why the original Vivienne insisted on interrupting moments like these.

Why couldn’t she simply wait?

Why couldn’t she trust Anthony?

Standing outside the balcony...

Watching another woman dance with the man she loved...

Vivienne finally understood.

Not the accusations.

Not the tantrums.

Not the possessiveness.

Just...

This feeling.

This unbearable, irrational jealousy.

She almost laughed at herself.

So much for maturity.

Wait until the dance finishes, she told herself.

Just a little longer.

She took one slow breath.

Another.

Then Anthony laughed softly at something Evelyn whispered.

...

Her resolve lasted exactly three seconds.

"...No."

She wasn’t afraid of the novel anymore.

She wasn’t trying to stop fate.

She wasn’t thinking about heroines or villains.

She was simply...

Anthony Ashford’s fiancée.

And another young woman was dancing alone with him beneath the moonlight.

Vivienne Beaumont stepped forward.

Placed a hand upon the balcony door.

And opened it.