Night of the Nobles III

I grip Sir Rutherford's coat as the breeze once more sneaks up to my face. My hands shake as soon as I contact the warm cloth. I continue to clutch onto it as if it were my life. My eyes then start to enlarge. I’m able to get my mouth open, but I am speechless. Like the young man before, the young man in front of me has hair that is lime blonde. But he appears to have good boy features. Ones who can’t kill even a bug.

He has the power to enthrall anyone, even when he smiles. I may have been in a previous life, but now, I don't have any prejudice when it comes to someone being beautiful or appealing. Right now, their true feelings are all that matter to me.

I've come to understand that after suffering my first traumatic death.

People will always decide to support the side that has the advantage in the end. They won't ever want to play the losing side of the game like I do or turn out as I did in that first terrible existence.

People who have had luxurious lives are unable to function without them. Once someone becomes reliant on having servants around, costly clothing, and presents, it might be difficult to accept a new existence without such opulent habits.

I've learned that most people in the empire struggle to earn enough silver coin to put food on their family's tables while nobles live lives unlike any other, giving in to temptation, being power-hungry, and even killing members of their own families to obtain noble titles.

In the end, no one seems to care about the underprivileged.

Although I am equally to blame, that is how it has been. With the exception of the one person, I've come to set my sights on, I've become blind, like them, obsessive, and insane among the people of the empire in my first existence.

I used to believe that he was the only person I couldn't live without until I was executed.

Realizing is not difficult, and it is in fact beneficial. I'm still not used to it since it makes reality more apparent to me.

One day, nobility will understand what it's like to be a commoner, and I hope those selfish ones will understand how difficult it is to live in that position.

“Isn't it a little chilly outside?” I almost forgot the young man in front of me. I shake my head as some startling thoughts cross my mind. "You're not cold?" he repeats. He is already close to me as I tried to glance at him.

I can even make out his green eyes and how dilated they were.

I exhale and take a step back, but I move at the wrong moment because my right foot’s sandal heel twisted, and I'd been about to fall if the young man hadn't caught me by the waist and pulled me closer while grinning.

My brows are furrowed.

I took an early stride backward because it appears that our distance is smaller than it had been. Instead, I've brought us closer together because I can't hear the venue's music or the audience's laughing, or its great remarks.

This young man is all I can see, and his labored breathing is all I can hear. He still has his hands around my waist. His face is now closer to my ears, and I put my hands on his chest, feeling a flaming warmth that sends shivers down my spine.

Even his heartbeats are audible to me. My eyes flutter once more as I hear how it beats. No one will contest that we are performing a miracle or even imitating the ones I have already witnessed, in my opinion, if they see us in this position.

But it's not. That is not how it is. We are only close by, and I have a fiancé.

Although I want to push the young man away, my hands are frozen in place. In the young man's chest area, they remain motionless.

"Lady Solstice, if you're not chilly, why are you shivering?" My name is finally audible in his voice. But now I have chills. How is it possible for this young man to talk in such a low, whispery tone? Like an invitation, it. An offer to go beyond simply being near one another.

His hands are still around my waist, and I started having trouble breathing. I have no idea what's going on. Since I can't seem to understand my surroundings, I even don't know how to respond.

I am suddenly dizzy.

Like his perfume, which is both lethal and addictive.

I'm not familiar with the scent, but I believe it to be sufficiently minty.

"Lady Solstice, are you okay?" he asks as my body relaxes and my eyelids droop till darkness engulfs my vision. The words of the familiar face of the man who is holding me in his arms may still be faintly heard, but I can clearly hear them.

Then suddenly, I recall who he was in my previous existence. On the day of my execution, the only person who wept before departing even before seeing how my head was severed from my body.

***

"Xander, this is enough play for you this evening. I want to warn you.”

“Yeah? How about you, then? Even on this night, Auster, you're bringing a person you've hardly met.”

"Xander, she's not just any woman I just met. Show her respect.”

“Show her respect? Do you even understand what you're saying?”

"I knew you detested females. Because of your past, I know you're just playing around with them, but Xander, not all women are like what you imagine them to be.”

“Yeah? Then hold your breath till you go through that kind of torture, Auster. Mark my words”.

"Xander, it will never happen."

“What is it about her that makes you unable to leave her alone in that balcony?”

“Leave her alone and unconscious in that place? With those people you know who have evil thoughts? Xander—-”

"I'm leaving here,"

“Okay, little brother, it's better than watching her awake with your haughty expression.”

“I despise you so much, Auster.”

"I also love you, little brother."

I even heard the door slam after that.

Maybe I'm in one of the rooms of this household? I'm not sure. The young man, whose name I assume to be either Auster or Xander, is already gripping mine before I can even move my hands. I can even feel he touches his face with the back of my hand.

“What do you know, Xander? Besides, Lady Solstice, you are the same as always. But why do I feel like you've changed in any way?” He speaks softly. On my hand, his warm breath still lingers. I couldn't keep closing my eyes forever, so after a few moments, a warm texture came forward to the back of my it. "Oh, so you're finally awake, Lady Solstice," the young man, whom I don't know if he's Auster or Xander, says while placing his lips on my hand.

Therefore, why is he kissing the back of my hand? “I suppose I'm late for introducing myself, but don't worry, I'm not a nasty guy you can report to the knights, Milady," the young man chuckles as my eyes widen and he winks at me. He then shows off his entire set of pearly teeth, which are capable of making any woman drool. But I'm not.

 Simply put, I find his actions surprising. This young man, who I initially believed to be lonely, actually has a lot of smiles.

"Lady Solstice of the Lafera household, I'm Auster Crese, and I know you might be startled, but I've been after you for quite a while now and I have some important words to say.”