Empress of Another World

Short Stories 5.3

The moon was still bright, but it was slowly disappearing as morning approached.

A man and a woman slowly walked out of the garden.

Lucretius picked out a leaf stuck in Bina’s hair and asked worriedly, “Is your dress okay?”

“Don’t worry, I took care not to get it dirty, but just in case, check it for me.”

Bina turned around so Lucretius could confirm. Afterward, he nodded.

“It’s all good.”

Bina fixed her wig and murmured, “Good. If I returned with dirt on my dress, I would feel so embarrassed in front of Samantha and Agnes.”

Lucretius chuckled. “Why would you be embarrassed? They all know you came to the ball with me.”

Bina lowered her voice and whispered, “That’s why I would be embarrassed!”

Bina fanned herself. The weather was still very warm and in her big ballgown dress, Bina was sweating hard. Lucretius took her fan and started to fan her.

“Is that better?”

“… Not really. It’s too hot.”

Lucretius thought for a second before offering.

“Umm, then should I go in and get a cool drink for you?”

Bina seemed interested but shook her head.

“I don’t think I should be alone in the garden, with the way people are behaving here tonight.”

“… I agree.”

Everyone was acting like a cat in heat and they could still hear moaning from different places. It didn’t seem right to leave a woman alone here.

Lucretius looked at Bina worriedly. She did look like she would be very hot. Her already long hair was put up, and she was wearing a wig with even longer hair. She was also wearing much more foundation than usual to hide her unique skin color.

They also danced vigorously, making it even worse for her. When Lucretius tried to wipe off her sweat from her forehead, Bina stopped him.

“If you do that, your clothes will be smudged with foundation and my makeup will be ruined.”

There was a reason why Lucretius felt nervous whenever he saw Bina feeling hot. When she was pregnant with Beatrice, it was an unusually hot summer, and she had a difficult time coping with it. Seeing Bina sweating reminded him of that time.

“Should we just go back to your room? We don’t have to stay. People won’t even know we came or left.”

However, Bina shook her head in determination. She had a good reason for wanting to stay.

“No. The performance hasn’t started yet.”

“…”

She looked very serious.

“I have to see this show with my own eyes. I’m going to see it to the end.” Lucretius continued to fan her as she added, “You spent so much money on it. I better watch it. I have to!”

Lucretius learned a valuable lesson today. From now, he decided not to do anything complicated like this. It was better to order a straightforward show or go out on a secret date to a theater.

***

Ding-Dong, Ding-Dong.

The bell rang twelve times, announcing that the highlight of the night was about to start. People who were strolling in the garden or around the nearby buildings returned to the hall.