Read Novel Full Chapter 27
Chapter 27
Welcoming her Fiancé
And so, on the fateful night of the full moon, dressed in her brand new clothes, Francesca waited for her escort to arrive, unable to calm down.
In the entrance hall, not just her father but even her family members were all waiting while lined up.
One of them was standing there holding a big mirror, reflecting Francesca’s beautiful figure, as she turned around to make some last final checks.
“How do I look Papa. I don’t look weird or anything right?”
“……..You guys.”
“yes, Boss.”
When Francesca asked nervously, the members of the family quickly lined up on her Father’s order.
“It suits you very well, young miss.”
“You look extremely cute, young miss.”
“You have truly grown up wonderfully, young miss………recalling your childhood days, I, I……..uuu”
“Th, thank you everyone. Also, you need to calm down……!”
And Francesca too recalled.
(Asking papa or everyone else here for their opinion was always useless! These guys would probably praise me even if I shaved off my hair or was covered in dirt and mud.)
If only Graziano was here, she could at least get a somewhat frank opinion. But today he was out on a family matter unfortunately.
Francesca gave a short sigh, and once again checked herself on the mirror.
The dress that her father had asked to be made for in advance was a light purple coloured dress.
Made out of a light chiffon fabric, the hem of her dress was fluffy and frilly. The dress reached just above her ankles, and the jewels on the anklets she was wearing were shining brightly.
Although it was an evening party dress, it wasn’t very revealing.
From the choker on her neck all the way down to her chest was all connected, by a delicate lacework, and at most you could see the shape of her collarbone on the cloth and nothing more.
That said, her shoulder were not covered, which gave a really gorgeous look to the dress overall. So much, that she struggled to recognize herself in the mirror.
“……….It’s definitely a bit adult-like, I’m kinda embarassed…….)
Her rosy red hair had been styled into a half-up hairdo.
As for the makeup, they had called in a stylist who would normally go the royal castle, for her just for the sake of today. And so she had light makeup on right now, and her lips were rosy pink.
“………As expected, it really might be too dangerous to let you walk around at night right?”
“Mou, Papa, it’ll be fine. Also, it’s almost time………”
While she was chatting with her father, the double doors of their entrance were slowly pushed open.
“——…….”
The atmosphere around the place instantly became tense, and all the members quickly straightened their postures.
As her father turned to look towards the door, beyond the entrance that had been pushed open by the butler of the Calvino house, Leonardo was standing there.
“Aldini-sama has come to meet.”
Right after the butler spoke so, Leonardo took a step forward.
And as for Francesca, witnessing Leonardo in a full dress for the time had left her simply blinking at him.
With the colour black as the main tone, his coat had been decorated with gold at the collar and the cuffs.
Leonardo had tall and slender silhouette, so those clothes greatly suited him. When in uniform, he was always wearing it in slovenly manner but today, his black shirt was in perfect shape.
Even though he was dressed so overtly stylishly, there was absolutely no sense of stiffness or tastelessness to his look. Probably because his dress had just the right amount of little bits of playfulness and flashy designs added to it here and there, and he chose to wear it all in a proper, dignified manner.
His necktie however was scarlet red, perhaps to match the red rose of the Calvino house, or rather, Francesca’s own red hair.
His hair had properly combed to the side just a bit, showing a bit more of his forehead than usual. Just even a slight difference like that had changed the atmosphere around him to a shocking degree, which left Francesca astonished.
“……..”
Leonardo, first instantly met eyes with Francesca, and gave a smile with his top class handsome face.
Right after, he quickly switched to look at her father, put his right hand to his chest and greeted with curtsy.
“It has been a long time since we last met, Lord Calvino. Allow me to thank you for entrusting your precious young lady to me for tonight.”
“I don’t remember entrusting you anything. Aldini’s greenhorn.”
Hearing her father’s cold words, Leonardo simply gave a small laugh.
“I see your doting is much greater than even what I have heard. I was already intending to keep her safe with my life on the line and yet, I somehow feel even more tense now.”
“But of course? Francesca is the treasure of our family. If something were to happen to her, know that it won’t just be your own life that will be taken as payment, and don’t you forget that.”
“Papa!!”
Unable to bear the tense atmosphere in the room, Francesca butt in to make sure that can leave peacefully.
“I’ll be fine! Stop worrying so much already!!”
“But……..”
“……..Also..”
Francesca looked at her father, and quietly spoke.
“——-I will deal with my own problems myself.”
“……….!”
After that, seeing her father look at her with slightly wide eyes, this time she smiled brightly.
“Even if something were to happen, I’m not going to just sit there and be protected by Leonardo. It should be obvious no? I am your daughter, a daughter of the Calvino family.”
And then she turned to look at Leonardo.
“Let’s go Leonardo. Lead the way.”
“As you command, Francesca……….your hand, my lady.”
Saying that, he stretched out his hand that was covered with his black leather gloves. Francesca took his hand, and then turned to her father one last time.
“I’m off, Papa.”
“………”
His eyes looked a bit lonely, but only Francesca could tell that her father was also smiling.
“Yes……..be careful on your way.”
And with that, Francesca departed on her first ever evening party.
Led along with Leonardo’s hand, she climbed into his family’s carriage. Seeing herself reflecting on the window glass again, she became a bit worried again.
(Seriously, this dress is a bit too adult-like for someone like me to wear…..! in my past life, whenever I was celebrating with grandpa, I always wore a kimono.)
And on top of that, Francesca stared at Leonardo who also got into the carriage after her.
(The one escorting me is this almost matchlessly handsome man. With me by his side, I hope I don’t embarrass him instead………)
“Francesca, scoot over a bit more towards the window will you?”
Leonardo didn’t sit in front of her and instead, naturally sat down beside her.
And then looked down towards Francesca.
“Wh, what is it?”
Was she really looking a bit odd as she thought?
Francesca was panicking, and quickly held down her hair.
But Leonardo, simply looked at her fondly, and grabbed both her hands as if to comfort her, and smiled as he entwined fingers with her.
“………..you look cute.”
“……..!?”
Francesca was left speechless.
The [cute] Leonardo said always sounded frivolous and dubious before. Normally, she wouldn’t even give any weight to his words whenever he said it to her.
But for some reason, today she felt a bit embarrassed by it.
“You looked so much more mature than always, that I was really struggling to not get charmed and keep my cool in front of the family head you know. You have a really elegant and slim body so a open shoulder design really suits you.”
(uuu, why are his compliments so specific……..!?)
“Your red hair shine even more with the purple dress. Not to mention, the way your dress spread every time you walk makes you look like a fairy. The design really brings out the beauty of your posture. You have really good taste.”
Was it because she was so nervous about her looks since she wasn’t so used to attending such parties?
Unlike the compliments she got from her father or her family members, his compliments made her feel a bit restless.
But, if he’s willing to go this far with his compliments, perhaps she didn’t need to feel too shy either, which calmed down this sense of awkwardness she was feeling.
“You’re always cute in general but when you’re dressed up like this, it’s quite obvious that you’d look really pretty.”
“o, okay enough, stop already Leonardo!”
“I know I’m the one who invited you to the party……….but now I kind of don’t want to show you to other men anymore.”
(If you say something like that with that face, even if it’s lie, that’s bad for my heart…….!!)
Thinking that, she pouted as she looked up towards Leonardo.
(I’m glad he’s being this considerate but, I know better……….the fact that even this evening party is also another one of your evil schemes as well. I know it all.)
11th of May, the evening party under the full moon.
This is where the worst incident of the first chapter of the main story takes place.