Countess Youngae’s Money-Sweeping Makeup Shop - Chapter 24

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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24

“Huff, gasp, huff…”

Once I had put some distance between us, I stopped running and looked around, then dragged my tired legs to a nearby bench and sat down.

As I placed the basket beside me and caught my breath, my vision and hearing gradually became clearer.

Only then could I hear the soothing sound of birds singing.

“Oh, this is killing me.”

I ran like hell to escape, and you dare betray me first?

Actually, it wasn’t really something worth running for my life over, but somehow I felt like Ricardo would kill me if I didn’t run away.

I felt something like murderous intent!

Damn it, Felix!

And you call yourself a partner?

Felix, you better watch your feet today.

I might really make you crawl to the shop.

While I was desperately trying to calm my rising anger, I heard singing coming from the Imperial Palace.

It seemed like the ball was about to start.

I sighed, wondering when that ball would stop having weekly weekend openings.

“I have to go, I have to go. I have to go to that damn party.”

Muttering to myself like a song, I got up from my seat and slowly walked to find Felix.

***

I entered the ballroom that was so bright it hurt my eyes.

Somehow everything was more sparkling than before.

The shine was so overwhelming it was burdensome.

Thinking about how many people must have suffered to make it this way brought tears to my eyes.

I used to have a terrible time when I had to polish mirrors, tables, and floors until they shined.

“What’s wrong?”

This traitor approached me cautiously, seeming to know he had done something wrong while I was resting.

Thanks to that, I didn’t have to search for him, but my anger hadn’t subsided, so I pretended to get up and lightly stepped on Felix’s foot with my toe as I passed by.

My foot probably hurt more, but I still felt a bit satisfied having gotten my revenge.

Felix didn’t say anything either, so he seemed to be repenting his wrongdoing.

“I was just thinking about how many people must have put effort into making all this.”

“Why are you thinking about that?”

“I feel sorry for them somehow.”

“You sympathize with the strangest things. Everyone gets paid for their work.”

Whenever I saw Felix say such things so casually, I was reminded anew that he was also a noble.

They’d be lucky if they got paid extra for their hard work.

There are so many unscrupulous bosses who don’t do that.

I sighed deeply and naturally moved to a corner area.

Today I didn’t bother with new makeup.

I had the same makeup as the last ball and wore a blue dress that many said was plain.

The person who should be today’s protagonist isn’t me, but our heavenly beauty, Helena unni.

Actually, when I heard Helena’s age, she was younger than me, but if you’re pretty, you’re all unni to me.

Until we entered, the ballroom was emptier than expected.

But when I settled in a corner and turned around, as if people had teleportation abilities, the crowd had suddenly multiplied.

If I hadn’t held my breath and gasped, I would have really screamed in surprise.

I looked at the people and clasped my hands together.

Then I closed my eyes and prayed earnestly to myself.

People, come in droves.

Come in droves and look at the Crown Prince.

And preferably, let the Crown Prince be so shocked that he never holds a ball again.

Let me rest on weekends too.

Tomorrow is Monday.

Oh, but if there are no balls, won’t I be unable to make money?

That would be troublesome.

I want to rest on weekends while making lots of money.

As my prayer was gradually turning into random thoughts,

Today’s entertaining content, the Crown Prince, made his appearance.

***

Helena did not go down to the ballroom alone.

She couldn’t bear to see with her own eyes the scene that would unfold when she went down.

Long ago, in a very distant past that the man wouldn’t remember, the Crown Prince had promised Helena.

He would make her the happiest woman in the Empire.

As much as I love you, I will love you in return.

She always repeated this promise in her head.

So when the Crown Prince was with other yeongaes instead of her, it was because she loved the Crown Prince less,

If she loved him more, someday he would whisper love to her again,

That’s what she believed.

So Helena tried to match the Crown Prince’s preferences, and gave him anything he wanted.

But the result of those efforts was indifference.

It would have been better if he had despised her.

He treated her like an invisible person.

As if she couldn’t be seen, he would drive nails into her heart right in front of her.

Originally, she had planned to make a deal with the Owner of the Mage’s Tower.

Because he had come to the ailing Helena and proposed a deal.

But when he said she couldn’t return once she changed to another person’s face, Helena asked for a little time.

While pondering this, she met Sillia.

Sillia was a very peculiar woman.

She was somehow quirky and bold.

Just when you’d think she was childish, she’d occasionally show adult-like behavior.

Was that why?

She felt more drawn to her.

In the end, Helena gave up the deal with the Owner of the Mage’s Tower and took Sillia’s hand.

Sillia worked hard to prepare for Helena.

Since becoming an adult, no one had worked so hard to prepare something for Helena like this.

She knew that Sillia was helping her for her own benefit.

Even so, Sillia’s actions moved Helena quite deeply.

And so now,

Helena rose from her usual spot on the second floor.

When the clear sound of her heels was heard, the noise in the ballroom stopped abruptly.

What unfolded before her eyes was, as Helena expected, the Crown Prince with two yeongaes hanging on both his arms.

Still, he usually only kept one woman around.

Being rejected by Sillia last time must have really bothered him.

Judging by how he was showing off like that.

All eyes turned toward Helena.

The gaze that Helena had so desperately wanted also easily turned toward her.

The Crown Prince’s eyes widened and he fell silent for a moment.

Soon he smiled that enchanting smile that had captivated many yeongaes, his red eyes sparkling.

“For such a beautiful yeongae to approach me, it is an honor.”

“Am I beautiful?”

“You are so beautiful that no jewel could compare.”

Those words pressed down on her heart.

Helena, who had been moving her lips, looked at the Crown Prince and smiled.

That smile was so beautiful that even the people watching the two of them blushed.

Especially her gracefully curved eyes created a mysterious atmosphere.

‘Softly sharp’

There were no better words to describe Helena than these.

The Crown Prince was convinced that Helena’s smile meant she welcomed him.

Because of this, he quietly extended his hand and requested a dance from her.

Helena’s gaze fixed on the Crown Prince’s hand.

The past memories of how hard she had tried to hold that hand and dance the first dance came flooding back.

Her emotions surged and crashed like waves.

Nevertheless, she maintained her smile and grasped that hand.

A song just for the two of them began to flow through the ballroom.

It was a gentle song that might be heard at the end of a beautiful story.

To the music, the two danced gracefully in the spacious ballroom.

The black dress swayed elegantly with Helena’s every movement, and her golden hair sparkled beautifully under the chandelier’s light.

In her violet eyes reflected the Crown Prince, who was gazing at her with eyes full of affection.

Slowly, one step, one step, spin.

The two moved their bodies naturally in perfect sync with the music as if they had practiced, then quietly conversed so others couldn’t hear.

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

“What is it, Yeongae?”

“Your Highness, have you ever desperately wanted to possess something?”

“Well. Having the yeongae before my eyes?”

“…Is that so.”

“Yes. Why, do you have something you want?”

“In the past, yes. Now, well. I’m not sure.”

“What was it?”

“Hehe, I wanted to dance like this with Your Highness the Crown Prince. Looking into each other’s eyes tenderly while whispering words of love.”

“You must have seen someone as beautiful as the yeongae before. If only I had granted your wish sooner…”

“Your Highness, do you remember Her Highness the Crown Princess?”

“The Crown Princess?”

The Crown Prince’s pupils wavered for a moment.

When silence followed, Helena met the Crown Prince’s eyes and smiled with her eyes.

“I was curious. Leona. What it would be like to dance with you who doesn’t look at me.”

One step, one step.

“Would I fall in love again, or would I collapse from too much joy.”

“…Helena.”

“That one dance, that one tender touch, that one gaze filled with love. I wondered if that one time could help me endure that lonely life.”

One step.

“That’s what I thought.”

One step.

“That’s what I hoped for.”

Spin.

“Leona. Now it seems I can’t feel any flutter toward you anymore.”

As soon as she finished speaking, both of their feet stopped.

The music stopped, and their hands fell apart.

“Thank you for sharing my first dance with me. It was an honor, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Helena politely thanked Leona with proper courtesy.

Then she left Leona behind and walked calmly into the crowd.

Leona neither expressed anger nor showed sadness.

He just stood there blankly in place like a broken doll.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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