Grand Duke’s Beloved Granddaughter

“You said your name was Mirabel, right?”

Adrian asked her. She nodded and Adrian muttered her name a few times.

“Your name is pretty.”

Adrian, who responded with a bashful smile, was a little cute.

“Thank you for saying that. The crown prince’s name is also cool.”

“Well. This name was given by His Majesty the Emperor himself.”

Adrian said with a majestic spirit. Then he suddenly looked at her and blinked as if he was looking at her for the first time.

“You know, Mirabel.”

“Yes?”

When she looked at Adrian, wondering why he was suddenly like this, Adrian opened his mouth with a shy face.

“Dance… will you?”

“Dance?”

It was an unexpected proposal. She looked at him in bewilderment, as she had no idea he would offer her a dance.

“Huh. Everyone did. If you come to the ball, you will dance.” Adrian looked at her and said.

She was already expecting that she would be dancing at the ball too. But since she thought there wouldn’t be many people her age at the prom, she wondered if she could dance with Elliot, but she never thought that the first dance at the prom would be with Adrian. Well, she didn’t really have any reason not to like it. Because she was expecting it to come out anyway. Moreover, if while Her Majesty the Empress was watching from the side, Adrian’s request to dance was rejected, it would be very noticeable.

“Great. Then, would you like to formally request a dance?”

Adrian opened his eyes wide as he proposed to her to dance, not expecting her to readily accept. Then he sighed and nodded.

“Huh! Wait for a sec!”

Adrian took a step back from her. Then he reached out to her, bent on one knee, in an awkward motion, as if recalling as much as he could of what he had learned.

“Beautiful lady, would you like to dance with me?”

It seemed like he memorized even the dance request line. My, even memorizing this much at such a young age is good enough.

She smiled and put her hand on top of his.

“It’s an honor, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

As soon as she affirmed, Adrian, who had bent his knees, stood up. Still, as if he had learned it from a young age, Adrian brought her to the center of the venue. Then he awkwardly held out his hand to pose for the dance. She also took a posture, recalling what she had learned from Viscount Maynard.

“I will!”

Adrian, who had not yet learned to start naturally, notified her. Then, slowly, he started to step up. It was a more natural motion than she thought. She checked Adrian, who was leading her with a new gaze. Then she couldn’t stop laughing and laughed out loud.

“One, two… one, two…”

It was because Adrian was dancing hard and counting the beats. He was so focused that he didn’t even seem to notice her laughing. So she decided to pretend she didn’t see Adrian’s efforts. Fortunately, thanks to his concentration, the steps only got twisted twice. It was just that Adrian, who missed the beat, stepped on her foot or tripped on her foot and almost fell. Fortunately, she was able to naturally catch Adrian, who was about to fall, and avoid the awkward wallowing situation. Every time they showed a breathtaking appearance, they could hear people sighing in the distance. People’s attention seemed to be focused because it was the dance of the main character of this ball, Crown Prince Adrian. Perhaps because of that, Adrian tensed his body even more while dancing. She could clearly feel that his body, which was supposed to support and lead her, was stiffening up, so instead it was like she was leading.

The lively music that was bouncing like the dance of butterflies on a spring day gradually stopped. In her own way, she thought she did well for her first dance at the ball, and let go of his hand just as the song was ending. As she had learned, she took a step away from him, grabbed the hem of her skirt with both hands, bent her knees, and lowered her head.

“It was an honor, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Adrian also hurriedly became polite and greeted her.

“It was an honor for me too, Lady.”

It was the moment when they looked at each other and said hello that applause began to be heard all around.

Startled by the sudden applause, she looked around and saw that the people at the ball were clapping at the two of them. They had a delightful smile on their faces.

“Looking at it this way, His Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Mirabell look really good together.”

“That’s right. You two are just like a young bride and groom.”

“Did you just see them dancing? How can they be so cute!”

Amidst the applause, people could be heard trembling. Only Adrian blinked, still not fully understanding what the sound meant. Mother and Her Majesty the Empress looked at each other as if they were embarrassed by the sound, then burst out laughing at the same time. They seemed to think that the Grand Duchess of Crichton and the royal family would recover the relationship they once had and reconnect.

She didn’t dance with Adrian with that in mind, but for some reason she felt a bit embarrassed. It was then.

“Mirabel!”

She heard a familiar voice calling her. She turned her head to see Elliot approaching with a smile on his face. Beside him was a young girl with blond hair. She was a child three or four years older than Mirabel.

“Greeting Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Elliot nodded his head at Adrian. Adrian was also greeted by Elliot with only a nod of his head.

“I heard you learned it in a hurry, but you danced really well, right?”

Elliot said after he had finished his greetings to Adrian, he turned to her in an admirable tone. She looked at Elliot and shrugged her shoulders.

“Do this quickly. But the person next to you…”

She asked cautiously and Elliot glanced at the girl, her face flushing. Then the girl spoke to him before Elliot.

“Hello, Your Highness the Crown Prince and Princess Crichton. I am Jeniel Spern, daughter of Countess Emberle Spern.”

It wasn’t until she heard the introduction of Jeniel Spern that she realized that she was Elliot’s crush.

“Nice to meet you. I am Adrian Castro.”

Adrian introduced himself to Jeniel Spern. She glanced at Elliot once, then she smiled broadly and she greeted Jeniel Spern.

“First time seeing you. I am Mirabel Crichton.”

“Yes, I heard a lot from Elliot. He said you returned to the grand duchy with Princess Crichton.”

“That’s right. I’m a bit clumsy as I haven’t come yet, but I’ll take good care of you.”

Jeniel, who smiled kindly, was so cute and pretty that she even took her eyes off her. Even though she was a child, she was surprised to see someone who had a lily-like feeling for the first time.

She glanced over at Elliot. She knew that the two of them would get married in the future, and she was aware that Elliot still liked Jeniel, so she was playful.

“But don’t you two dance? The Crown Prince and I danced.”

After her joke, Jeniel and Elliot looked at each other. It was quite cute seeing both of their faces blush up to their ears.

“You can’t dance, Elliot, can you?”

She innocently asked the hesitant Elliot.

“I? It’s not? I dance well.”

Elliot answered with a slightly creaky voice, then glanced at Jeniel again before turning his body away.

“I, Jeniel…”

“Ugh, ugh.”

“Do you want to dance with me?”

The natural and dignified appearance she usually showed when she was with Maribel disappeared completely, and the awkward and stiff Elliot asked Jeniel to dance. But, funny enough, Elliot wasn’t the only one who did this.

“Is that so?”

Jeniel, who had been smiling brightly and beautifully until recently, also stiffened like a wooden doll at Elliot’s suggestion of dancing. Still, it wasn’t that they didn’t like each other. Rather, it seemed that they could not help being ashamed because they liked each other.

Soon after, Elliot escorted Jeniel. Then they started dancing to the music of the orchestra in the center of the hall.

She wondered if they could dance properly because they showed a shy side, but strangely, when they danced, they were natural and elegant. This was the first time she felt that children were graceful in dancing. Was it like that when she danced? It’s embarrassing, but it didn’t seem like it. In fact, Adrian wasn’t a very good dancer, and although she had learned everything, she didn’t have enough time to practice anyway, so it probably wasn’t as natural and elegant as Elliot and Jeniel danced.

Seeing them and clapping their hands must have felt like watching children playing tricks. Besides, Adrian was the crown prince, and she was a young princess of the Grand Duchy of Crichton. Everyone deserves to be praised, so they must have reacted that way.

She liked the look of Elliot and Jeniel, so she stopped for a while and watched them dance.