Yet another party

‘I must be crazy.’
Both myself, for almost pouncing on her to suck those red lips right away at her words, and the woman who would make such a suggestion just to improve her piano playing skills.

“Because I only say things like this in front of you, Mr. Cox.”

Strictly speaking, was the crazier one me, whose heart pounded like mad at Selene Ashcombe’s meaningless words?
No, it’s because that woman is so beautiful.
What man wouldn’t be momentarily dazed by a woman with such a bewitching appearance that makes everyone stare?
Theron convinced himself of that, but he couldn’t help but be tormented by dreams and fantasies of kissing Selene, like a paranoid patient.
It was always like that, but the symptoms had worsened in the past few days after he actually received such a suggestion.
However, it wasn’t entirely his fault that he had been having such lewd fantasies about Selene like a pervert.
While he still believed that refusing the suggestion to kiss in that situation was the right choice, Selene’s words at the end had continued to bother him.

“I can kiss other people, can’t I?”

Those words, which flowed out as easily as, “If I can’t go to the art museum, I can just go to some other museum, can’t I?”
In fact, it wasn’t just bothering him; it popped up as often as her red lips and messed up his already cluttered mind.
‘So what, am I supposed to just let her grab another man and willingly be her kissing experiment for the sake of her piano skills?’
‘No matter how much men are crazy about pretty women, there’s no way any man would fall for such a bizarre temptation, right?’
‘Of course not.’
Theron, who had been unknowingly biting the tender flesh inside his mouth hard, suddenly opened his eyes wide.
‘No, these bastards.’
Absolutely not.
That was a very complacent thought.
Whether the other party seemed sane or not, with a face like that and a chest size like that, anyone would pounce on her like a dog that had been starving for days.
Even if he tried to deny it thoroughly, the objective fact that there would be no man who would refuse Selene Ashcombe’s suggestion made Theron more and more anxious.
So much so that his secretary, Gary, who had come to pick him up for the party that evening, looked a little reluctant.
“Sir… women, cigars, alcohol, whatever, but absolutely no drugs.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
Theron roughly put his arm into the jacket Gary handed him.
Then he muttered, “You’ve never even seen drug addicts up close.”
The back alley where he grew up always smelled of dried piss.
He learned that it was cheap drugs through his father.
That man was always high on drugs or alcohol.
His only pleasure in his gutter-like reality was to corner his young self with bloodshot eyes and swing his fists.
As Gary opened the passenger door of the sedan parked in front of the mansion, Theron swept back his falling hair with his hand and got in.
‘Well, it’s not like I have anyone to look good for anymore, so my hair can be a mess…’
“Oh, by the way, sir, did you know? They said Lady Ashcombe might be coming to the party today.”
At that name, his clogged ears instantly cleared.
“…Selene?”
“Yes. I think the host of today’s party is Lady Evelyn Ashcombe’s fiancé.”
Theron, whose eyes had been languidly open, opened them wide.
He actually didn’t know who was hosting the party today.
In the capital, Cantora, parties were held almost every day, and everyone wanted him to attend their parties, so he would go and mingle if he had the time.
It was also true that he hadn’t checked the host properly because he had been very busy lately.
But this was a fatal mistake.
He had always shown a neat and well-dressed appearance in front of Selene, but to think he might meet her on a day when he was so disheveled.
Theron hurriedly started to fix his hair using the car’s side mirror.
Normally, he would have thought that even this disheveled look could be a charm, but since it was after he had refused her kiss, he absolutely couldn’t appear before her like this.
Because there was no way he would let her think that it was a good thing she didn’t kiss him.
And if she went a step further and decided she had to kiss another man…
His jaw naturally clenched, and Theron’s eyes hardened.
Even in the car that had started and begun to run, he managed to neatly fix his hair as if by magic.
It would have been much better if he had pomade to fix his hairstyle, but he made do by neatly combing back his hair.
Even with Gary’s incredulous stare when the car stopped at a signal, Theron did his best to tidy up his clothes.
The only way to make Selene regretfully propose a kiss again was to look cool, even if it was a bit simple.
Somewhere along the line, things like a gentleman’s manners or a woman’s first kiss had long since disappeared from his mind as if to be thrown to the dogs.
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘Better than letting some random guy steal those lips.’
Fortunately, as he got out of the car and the familiar gazes landed on him as usual, he knew that his effort to tidy up his appearance had not been in vain.
Theron hurriedly looked for Selene among the crowd.
‘Selene Ashcombe, Selene Ashcombe…’
Just as he was worrying what he would do with his empty heart if Selene didn’t attend the party, contrary to Gary’s words, she appeared.
It was when the party was in full swing.
As soon as she appeared, Selene immediately came into Theron’s sight.
“…”
This time too, Selene Ashcombe stood out as if she were wearing a halo.
It was a damn illusion that had caused him to be so unfairly misunderstood.
A bright light and a rose scent.
The area around her really was as bright as if she were standing alone under a chandelier.
Although he still didn’t know the source of the strong rose scent he had smelled.
Theron didn’t immediately approach Selene and speak to her, but stayed where he was.
He was aware that he shouldn’t act impatiently.
If he approached her as soon as he entered the ballroom, he would look like a dog waiting for its master with its neck craned.
It was always important to know when to take a step back and wait.
The more anxious one was, the more important it was.
However, even while being aware of that fact, Theron couldn’t take his eyes off Selene.
Selene, as usual, had taken a spot in a corner and seemed to be wishing no one would talk to her, but the brave bastards wouldn’t miss that opportunity.
A lanky man with a greasy face finally approached Selene and spoke to her.
‘Who the hell is that guy?’
As Theron stared at the two as if to burn them with his gaze, Gary said with a pathetic face, “You really can’t take your eyes off her.”
“Who?”
“That’s Second Lieutenant Eldport. He’s handsome and from a good family, so he’s popular with women.”
“Eldport? Sounds like the name of a kettle.”
“I heard he’s tall, so his military uniform suits him well, and he has good manners.”
Theron’s mood soured in an instant.
‘Why is he telling me all the good things as if it’s something great?’
“Do you like men? Why do you know so much about that guy?”
“I’m telling you not to be so relaxed. Even if you confessed publicly, sir, the men who are after Lady Ashcombe are still piled up like a mountain.”
Theron’s face crumpled as if he had chewed on rotten food.
Just as Gary had advised, he couldn’t just watch from afar.
The kettle-like guy who was talking to Selene disappeared, and a new man appeared, making Theron tense.
That man looked a little more human than the soldier he had talked to before, and was a little taller.
Moreover, the slight change in Selene’s expression, which had been as cold as if it were engraved, came as a great shock to Theron.
At first, Selene looked at the man with an expressionless face, but then she smiled slightly, and soon the two of them went off alone…
‘Alone?’
As the man took Selene out to the corridor outside the ballroom, where no one would be, Theron gripped the cocktail glass he had been holding like an ornament so tightly that it almost broke.
Selene and the man had already disappeared from his sight, but a lewd scene was vividly drawn in his mind, consuming it.
A scene where Selene proposes that he become her new subject of observation, and that idiot of a guy readily accepts her proposal.
His neck stiffened and his head felt like it was about to boil, and Theron could no longer watch anything.
“Hold this.”
Theron handed the cocktail glass to Gary and walked quickly towards the door where Selene and the man had disappeared.