This kind of courtship is complicated - chapter 1
"#001 Winter, Christmas, Ball"
For true love, three chance encounters are necessary. This was an absolute truth and belief for Vellia Devereux. Even if there were those who pitied her, she believed that for perfect love, such destined conditions were necessary.
The pale winter sunlight filtered gently into the room through the curtains. Vellia, who had just awakened to the one and only Christmas morning of the year, slowly got up as if she were still lost in a pleasant dream, rubbing her eyes.
A novel that had captivated her all night long was spread out by her bedside. "What time is it... Oh my!"
Vellia, who was still not completely awake, suddenly sprang to her feet. Everything was incredibly bright. Vellia's reaction this time was much quicker than before.
She placed the book on the bedside table and, with a trembling heart, went to stand in front of the window in less than a minute.
Carefully, she pulled the curtains open. "Please, please."
In Vellia's vision, which murmured earnestly but was small, the outside landscape gradually filled up. There was no sign of snow anywhere.
A week of fervent prayers had been in vain. "A green Christmas! It must be Evan's fault for jinxing it with his words!"
The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment, and expectations tend to be much larger when spoken aloud than when kept to oneself. Vellia stared at the clear sky, leaning her elbows on the windowsill, her rosy cheek pressed against her palm. A sigh as heavy as her wrinkled forehead escaped her lips.
"Even the sky is indifferent. How can they make a Christmas without a lover so dreary?"
If it had snowed, it might have been easier to endure a lonely Christmas. After all, the white snow piled up in the streets would have helped fuel romantic fantasies. Or maybe it would give her a chance to meet her destined one.
Last Christmas, her childhood friend, Lisa, whom she had learned about through a governess, told her about the man who had saved her from almost falling on the snowy street. They had shared a kiss under a holly tree, as intense and passionate as the red berries on its branches!
Vellia had been yearning for a snowy Christmas ever since she heard that story from Lisa.
Unfortunately, it had become an unfulfilled wish. "Ha, when will I ever meet my destined match? I'm so curious about what it feels like to fall in love. Lisa said that when your heart flutters, that's love. Is it really? If things continue like this, I might die unhappily without ever experiencing it!"
"Why don't you lower your gaze a bit?"
A laughing voice came from behind. Vellia, who had straightened up, turned around. Evan Arcas approached closely. He was a young man with a limited impression, like white clouds floating in the clear sky, which he thought was tragic on a Christmas day.
"Knock on the door!"
"I must have done it about ten times. You were so engrossed in your romantic musings that you probably didn't hear it."
Vellia gave Evan a thin glance. Evan, who was quite tall, could easily ignore the cold glances from below with just a slight turn of his head.
Thanks to that, he noticed a pink-bound book lying precariously on the side table.
"You borrowed another novel secretly from Holt's bookstore, didn't you?"
"No, I didn't."
Vellia looked puzzled, and Evan gestured to the book on the side table.
"Isn't it?"
Vellia, who was trying to look cool, blinked several times.
In the sunlight that was seeping into the room, Vellia's pupils and her slightly tousled hair turned an even brighter chestnut color.
"You know, Evan?"
"What?"
"Don't tell Mom and Dad. If they find out, they won't even let me go near the bookstore. And I didn't borrow this; Mr. Holt just lent it to me!"
"You probably borrowed it because you paid the membership fee."
"Anyway, don't say anything, okay?"
"You're doing it, aren't you?"
Evan shrugged his shoulders, amused, but Vellia reluctantly raised the corners of her mouth.
Since it was known that she had visited Holt's bookstore, enduring the monotonous volumes of history and the Bible that were piled up in the mansion's study would be much worse than a momentary patience.
"By the way, what's the story about this time? Did the prince fall in love with a maid again?"
Evan sat down at the end of the bed and opened the book.
"Memories, from so long ago that I can't even remember, since I was very young, Evan had been following the Devereux's mansion in Brichen with the Arcais Marquis couple, so all his actions here were natural.
Evan didn't even pay attention to the fact that Vellia was in her nightgown for the same reason. For someone who had ventured into the thicket to find a fairy on a rainy day and ended up stuck in a swamp, he had seen too many surprising things with Vellia to be shocked by just her nightgown.
Evan's childhood spent with Vellia, who possessed whimsical romance and a rich imagination, was a bit strange and quite special. Of course, it still was.
Evan quickly closed the book he was flipping through and glanced playfully at Vellia, who had suddenly sat down next to him.
"Oh, a meeting of a judge and a legal counsel, how romantic and cruel. Love regardless of social status is bound to be unhappy. Besides, it can't be called the love of the century, right? It's not like we're going to have a Yavan like last time."
"Don't make fun, Evan. You might not know, but this is real love."
"Miss, how many times do I have to tell you? Novels and reality are different."
"True, not all love stories are passionate. But a life of dreaming is as much as you imagine it to be. Well, time will tell whose words are true."
Vellia countered Evan's overly rational words with overly idealistic ones.
"Indeed, will it?"
Even with such efforts, what came back was a half-hearted response. Vellia got up abruptly and put her hands on her hips.
"If it turns out that what you said earlier was wrong, Evan, you'll have to dance a quadrille with an olive branch in your left hand without any music. How about that? Can you promise that?"
Vellia's dimples deepened on her cheeks, and she had an attitude that seemed to say, "Just wait and see."
Having imagined something terrible, Evan shook, and without hesitation, he handed her the book.
It seemed that it would be better to give in to her unreasonable romanticism than to become ridiculous. Although he knew it was an unreasonable confidence, it was Vellia, so who knew what she could do. Besides, dancing a quadrille with an olive branch in his left hand without music was just absurd.
"In that case, I'll pray for you to meet your destiny, Vellia. I've changed my mind just now."
"If possible, can you say it's not someday but today? And this time, while you're praying, don't open your eyes to see the snow."
After a short but fast prayer-like act, Evan slowly opened his closed eyes.
"Today, I'll pray once again that my prayer works."
"You only need to pray once. By the way, what's going on on Christmas morning?"
"Seriously? You don't know?"
Deon, with an incredulous look, asked Vellia with her eyes widened like they had just doubled in size.
"Oh my goodness! I completely forgot!"
"First, hurry downstairs. I'm about to pour brandy into the Christmas pudding. Count Devereux is eagerly waiting for his daughter."
Nodding vigorously, Vellia quickly regained her composure and rushed Evan out, ringing the bell to change her clothes. The opportunity had come, even without snow. A chance to fall in love destined! Winter, Christmas, a ball. There couldn't be a more romantic collection of words.
With the determination to love very affectionate lovers and have a very affectionate romance, Vellia pondered the three chance encounters for true love once again. Once again, the winter sky was as clear as the day, just as she had wished."
***
"The paper knife on the table sparkled silver. Helios placed a letter on it. Deon, who had been lying on the sofa, idly staring at the chessboard with pieces that had come to a standstill, looked at him with anticipation as soon as he placed the letter down.
However, there was no special expression on Helios's face, making it hard to tell whether he had received a summons or sent one. He simply looked the same as before, lounging on the sofa and showing off his long legs as if basking in the winter sun.
"What's the rush, Deon?"
Unable to contain his curiosity, Deon was the first to speak. Helios brushed his black hair away from his forehead, and his eyes, the same color, shimmered faintly.
"Just because."
"Just because?"
"Rosanne said she's coming to Devereuxiana."
Deon could be certain it was a missive. For the Arcais family, especially the Arcais Marquises, it was an unspoken truth.
"What? Rosanne is coming, like, she's really coming? When?"
"Sometime next summer."
Helios spoke with the same leisurely tone he had always used, even when Deon had hurriedly straightened up from the sofa.
"Then are you really going to get engaged to Rosanne?"