“Walking around with a plain woman is no fun,”

Silvio’s opinion overrode her objections. The boldly opened neckline, due to the corset cinched at the waist, caused her chest to swell up and carve an indecently deep cleavage. Although she had hidden her chest with a silver lace shawl before leaving the room,

“Why hide something beautiful?”

Silvio had stripped it away. Because of that, she strangely felt the gaze of the surrounding male guests. When she shifted uncomfortably, she noticed her sister Beatrice approaching.

“My dear sister, you came…!”

Beatrice said cheerfully, first giving Idyllia a light hug. She then whispered quietly in her ear.

“So? Did you find out anything?”

What kind of revenge Silvio was planning against the Leveaux family. Even though she was told to find out, it was quite difficult.

“No…”

In response to her unreliable sister, she scolded her quietly behind her fan.

“Hurry up. If you prove useful, I’ll release you immediately.”

Without waiting for a reply, she closed her fan and turned to Silvio.

“Your Highness Noelheim! Are you enjoying yourself?”

Silvio bowed gracefully.

“Your Majesty, thank you for hosting such a grand ball.”

“Please, no need to be so formal.”

Fanning herself widely, Beatrice smiled brightly.

“I heard the delegation was at the battlefield on the border until last month. Tonight, please enjoy a graceful time befitting the city of flowers here in the palace.”

“I appreciate it.”

“In our country, men who are good at dancing are very popular.”

“Well then—”

Seeing it as an encouragement to dance, Silvio took Idyllia’s hand, but the queen shook her head theatrically.

“Oh, please don’t trouble yourself. Unlike your country’s dances, our steps are quite complicated.”

“I’ll do my best not to disgrace myself.”

As Silvio began to walk away, Beatrice clapped her hands ostentatiously.

“Tell the orchestra to slow down the tempo. We wouldn’t want to embarrass His Highness Noelheim.”

The surrounding guests seemed to stifle their laughter. Silvio whispered something to a subordinate who approached him, then turned to face Idyllia. As they began to dance, she found herself apologising on her sister’s behalf.

“I’m sorry. My sister said something rude…”

Her comments had mocked the delegation, implying they couldn’t handle complex dances. It was the kind of insidious court behaviour that masked insults with politeness. Silvio, born and raised in this country, surely knew how to dance. Yet he only shrugged lightly.

“They want to show off their superior culture. It’s all just bluster.”

His steps were light and graceful. The music, initially slowed by the queen’s order, gradually returned to its normal tempo without causing him any trouble. Meanwhile, Silvio’s subordinate, Robert, asked the queen to dance. With his wavy brown hair loosely tied, Robert was the most dashing of Silvio’s men. The queen accepted his invitation with affected elegance. Idyllia couldn’t help but worry.

“Will it be alright? Sometimes my sister intentionally messes up the steps to be mean.”

Silvio smirked cruelly.

“No problem. Watch.”

“What?”

As they watched, Robert began to dance, pulling the queen around without regard for the music or steps. The queen screamed and tried to escape, but Robert held on, spinning her wildly. Then,

“Here we go!”

Robert called out, tossing the queen to a nearby comrade, who caught her and began dancing, spinning her erratically before tossing her back to Robert.

“Did you enjoy the battlefield-style steps?”

The queen, dizzy and disoriented, collapsed at Robert’s feet. Her beautifully arranged hair was now in disarray from being thrown around.

“I’m terribly sorry, Your Majesty. I got carried away.”

Beatrice slapped away Robert’s hand, standing up on her own.

“What a boorish country bumpkin!”

She yelled and stormed off, with the king chasing after her.

“Queen! Queen, wait…”

As they watched, Silvio’s men burst into laughter. Silvio himself wore a cold smile.

“Sir Silvio…”

“We’re here as representatives of our country. We can’t just be laughed at.”

He said this with a thin smile and then turned to look to the side. Following his gaze, Idyllia saw a stern-faced man approaching. The well-dressed, middle-aged man looked furious as he began to protest.

“This is outrageous! How dare you treat our queen so rudely!”

Silvio whispered.

“Who is that?”

“My father’s cousin and the current head of the Leveaux family.”

She replied succinctly, and Silvio stepped forward.