Chapter 71: ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!
He couldn’t understand... He had done what he thought she would find to her liking. As much as he wanted to go all out and shield her, he knew that wasn’t something she wanted.
So, he let her deal with the situation as she wished, only stepping in for a moment to establish that no matter what she did, she had his backing.
But now, seeing the obvious irritation on her face, Ace frowned.
’Is she reluctant to even be associated with me? Is that why she is angry?’ Ace has never felt this way before. And he has never been treated like this.
Was he so unwanted by her?
Did he even exist in her eyes?
Unaware of the existential crisis that Ace was going through, Evelina glanced at the System interface where some random scrambled lines and error codes kept glitching, appearing and disappearing completely.
A heavy silence settled behind her eyes. This System was couldn’t be dead, could it be? To think that it kept calling her lazy and now...
[Host should point fingers at Target ’Ace’]
The glitching System somehow came to its defense.
’What has it got to do with him?’ Evelina turned to look at Ace.
Ace, at the receiving end of her glare, was not sure that he was completely unwanted by his wife. He frowned, stomped his boots and increased his face, his brows tugging together in an icy frown.
[The target keeps reaction to Host’s matter with extreme emotions. Earlier, his protectiveness had crossed normal bounds. It affects out calculation system!]
Evelina was now sure that this sly System had choked on its own slyness.
It obviously relied on people’s emotions to farm points and now it was complaining that the emotions were too extreme?
Evelina was so angry she nearly laughed.
[Host, that’s two different things.]
’Different things, my...!’ Evelina pursed her lips.
[Error! Error! Error!]
[Target Ace’s emotions are fluctuating again. He thinks Host is disgusted by him! Host, please control your emotions!]
Evelina: "_"
After composing herself, Evelina let the servants escorted her to the dressing room where she spent some peaceful time getting ready.
...
Two hours later, the grand ballroom of the Imperial Palace was a dazzling sea of light and tension. The Capital’s Autumn Gala was the biggest event of the season, but tonight, the mood was unusually tense.
Because of the terrible silk disease, the elite families were stripped of their usual flashy clothes. The noblewomen were forced to wear older, recycled silk gowns from previous years, looking faded under the thousands of floating candles.
In the center of the ballroom, standing near the high-ranking ministers, was Isabella.
Naturally, she looked immaculate in her navy and silver military gown. To the officials, she was the celebrated female general, the pride of the North.
But as she held her wine glass, her gaze kept darting toward the entrance. Beneath her polite smiles, her eyes were sharp and bitter.
Suddenly, the music stopped. The gold-leafed double doors at the top of the grand staircase swung open. The entire ballroom descended into a breathless silence.
Evelina stepped onto the landing.
Her hair was swept up into an elegant style that highlighted the sharp lines of her neck and in the crowd full of people, her natural beauty was already unmatched.
But it was her dress that made everyone freeze in absolute shock.
It was a magnificent linen gown, dyed a deep midnight emerald that seemed to absorb and reflect the candlelight all at once.
The fabric was unlike anything the Capital had ever seen; smooth as glass, moving like a fluid feline with every step she took.
Evelina calmly entered the place, holding her gown with utmost grace and confidence. It was a masterpiece she had designed herself, woven from the highest grade of northern flax and treated with specialized oils from her private mills.
In a room full of wrinkled silk, Evelina looked like an empress walking among beggars.
"Is that... linen?" a countess whispered, dropping her fan.
"Look at the shine... it looks like a liquid jewel."
The whispers rippled through the crowd. Isabella’s hand tightened around her glass so hard the crystal cracked.
Absolute resentment spilled over her features as she watched the high court stare at Evelina in pure awe.
Evelina began her descent down the stairs, perfectly unbothered by the hundreds of eyes locked onto her.
Just a step behind her, Ace emerged from the shadows.
He wore his formal black ducal uniform with silver embroidery, his heavy cape billowing behind him. He looked terrifyingly handsome, but his dark eyes weren’t looking at how the crowd saw him. They were fixed entirely on his wife.
The simmering jealousy in his chest had reached a boiling point the moment he saw her in that dress, knowing every man... and woman in the room was about to look at her the same way he did.
As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Ace deliberately stepped closer, his arm brushing against hers. The rough fabric of his uniform scraped against the smooth linen of her sleeve, sending an electric jolt of heat through her skin.
Evelina didn’t look at him, but her fingers tightened slightly around her small silk clutch.
Before the crowd could process their arrival, a loud chime echoed from the main entrance.
"Announcing the presence of His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Elian!"
The crowd immediately parted, forming a wide aisle as Prince Elian entered the ballroom.
He was a man of breathtaking beauty, with hair as bright as spun gold and sharp eyes that seemed to hold a deep political cunning behind a captivating smile.
Elian’s gentle eyes scanned the room and locked instantly onto Evelina’s midnight emerald gown. A hint of smile broke across his handsome face.
Bypassing protocol, he walked past the senior lords and headed straight toward her.
Ace’s posture instantly turned rigid beside her. A low growl caught in his throat.. The primitive jealousy in his veins flared so violently that the temperature around them seemed to drop.
Evelina felt the dangerous heat radiating from Ace. But her gaze remained completely still as Elian stopped exactly three feet away.
