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"Who is that lady over there? I have never seen her before." Kuzuha glanced over to the corner of the room, where the prettiest lady he'd ever seen was standing.
"The one with the blue dress? That's Lady Kanako Nashima. Daughter to the Earl of Flores. She has just debuted this season for an unknown reason but she is reported to be a catch," Ibrahim, Earl of Corvus, answered through his drink.
A debutante then? Kuzuha found this year's social season quite boring but a new fresh face added to this season will make it less dull.
"Oh, she has engaged in a conversation with another man I see. I expect a lot of gentlemen would want to– wait, where are you going?"
"I'm going to ask her for a dance."
"Already? Kuzuha, I never knew you are this straightforward when it comes to ladies." His friend—Baron Minato Fuwa—chuckled after hearing Kuzuha's determined words.
Of course when he was on his way to ask a dance for the lady, he was still swarmed by other ladies or Ambitious Mamas who would tell him how their daughters were so prepared to have his hand on a dance (or just plainly annoyed him due to his title). Kuzuha couldn't care less because his only goal now was in the form of a pretty petite lady who seemed to be in an overwhelming conversation with another gentleman. Kuzuha scoffed at the sight of the gentleman in question. Lord Mondrooke was a drunkard and a gambler that never knew the proper way to talk to a lady.
From the looks of it, she wasn't that overwhelmed. Instead, she looked like she could handle it quite well.
Barely.
Her smile still plastered on her face—beamed, basically—but her eyes were starting to wander around, trying to find something that would get her out of this situation. And that was his cue to ask the beautiful lady for a dance.
"Excuse me, Lord Mondrooke, but Lady Nashima has promised this dance to me," he lied.
Her eyes widened at his sudden offer but then crinkled with amusement. His hand held out for her, which Kanako accepted with her own gloved hand, leaving a bewildered Lord Mondrooke behind them.
Once they reached the dance floor, Kuzuha could notice how her features had softened, her smile widening, and those big doe eyes—a pretty mix of blue and grey—were calling to him. He hadn't realized that he had been holding his breath all along.
"I am sorry for the sudden offer, my lady, but it seems like Lord Mondrooke has been bothering you, has it not?"
"Those three minutes conversing with him wasn't that bad, I've had worse. But it was nice to be able to get out from it, so I thank you for the offer, kind sir. Besides, my dance card is still empty and you are the first gentleman I dance with." Kanako showed her dance card that was, in fact, empty.
Kuzuha smiled at her while holding her gloved hand to prepare for the dance. "A pretty lady like you with an empty dance card?"
"It is my first season after all, kind sir. Not many have known me, but you seem to. Tell me, kind sir, who are you? I believe we haven't had an introduction."
Kuzuha stared at her in shock. Heavens, other ladies and debutantes would crowd him everytime he was in sight, yet the lady in front of him had no idea who he was. She has just debuted this season for an unknown reason , he remembered Ibrahim saying that. Did she not come from the city, where one should've known who he was?
"My, have you really not got an idea of who I am?" He flashed a crooked grin at her.
"I'm afraid not, kind sir."
"You jest."
She started to chuckle. "No, I really don't know and I'm sorry if I offended you."
The string quartet started to play, signaling it was time for them to start the dance. "Well, if you really don't know me, I believe an introduction must be made. Let's pretend that I also don't know you." His hands guided her as they started to waltz. "My name is Aleksandr Lagusa, Duke of Amagami. Pleasure to meet you, young lady."
Kanako's blue-grey eyes widened again, this time in shock. "Y-your Grace! I am so sorry I did not know who you are," she quickly apologized. "I have only read your name in Whistledown, yet I didn't know what you looked like."
"Whistledown? I must've been famous in that column." Kuzuha mentally groaned at the thought. Whistledown was the ton's most famous gossip column (and sometimes served as a newsletter). "It's not everyday that one does not seem to know my identity. Usually, a lot of them only come to me for my title, which I despise so clearly." His hand started to guide hers to this shoulder. "Now, it is your turn for the introduction, young lady."
With their body waltzed to the melody of the piece brought by the quartet, Kanako beamed another smile at him. "Lady Kanako Nashima, Your Grace." Lord help him, her smile could have blinded the whole ballroom if she wanted to.
"Daughter of the Earl of Flores, I presume?" She nodded at his words. "I haven't seen you in the last season, my lady. Perhaps you're new to this season?" Kuzuha asked while turning her around.
"That would be correct, Your Grace. I have just debuted this season."
"And I thought your older brother would be here with you." He remembered that the Earl of Flores had two children, a son and a daughter. What was the son's name, Roto?
"My brother is currently in the country. My father is here, if you wonder." She glanced at the table not far from where they were dancing. A group of men was seen to be drinking and conversing.
"Well, it seems like this season would not be so boring at all. Not with you in presence, my lady."
Kanako blushed at his comment. "Is that supposed to be a compliment, Your Grace?"
"Why, shouldn't you be happy having earned a compliment from this season's most eligible bachelor?" He said with a grin. His sharp scarlet eyes met with her doe blue-grey ones.
"Tell me, Your Grace, how on earth are you so certain that you are this season's most eligible bachelor?" she prompted him.
He twirled her in circles around the dance floor. "Lady Nashima, you mentioned you've read my name in Whistledown, no? Surely you've read about each season's most eligible bachelors. And my name was at the top of the list."
"I must have missed that list. My mistake, Your Grace, I will look at it later then," she said jovially.
They kept waltzing around the ballroom until Kuzuha could have felt that it was only the two of them inside. How she had captivated him in every moment of the dance. He remembered her mother said that one way to show affection to a lady was through a dance, and had he been a fool not to believe what his mother said.
And her height, a whole head shorter than him, was all too perfect. How it seemed like she was truly made for him, how it was the perfect height for him to give her a kiss–
Kuzuha shook his head. No, that was a highly inappropriate thought for him to have, given he had only met her tonight.
Another thing he noticed was how her baby blue dress complimented her soft features so well. Her ash-brown hair and her blue-grey eyes, along with her round cheeks, a mole under her left eye (how could he not notice that before?), and how her mouth curled whenever she smiled. Her face, overall, was how the poets would describe an angel. Lady Kanako Nashima was an angel.
"Has anyone ever told you that you have the appearance of an angel?"
Kanako's left foot accidentally stepped on his right.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Your Grace!" she blurted out.
"It's okay. I've had worse with my sister back home," he assured her. "But are you okay, Lady Nashima?"
"Perfectly fine, Your Grace. It just caught me off guard for a moment there."
Kuzuha frowned. "I am sorry if that offended you in a way."
"No! It is totally okay. I'm just not used to compliments such as that." Her face read guilty, but she kept on continuing the waltz. "And to answer your question, Your Grace, no. No one has ever told me that."
"No one? Then I shall take the honor of being the first to tell you that," he gave her his signature grin.
Kanako's smile was back on her face. "You flatter me too much, Your Grace."
The dance was slowly starting to end as the quartet finished playing the song. Kuzuha and Kanako both bowed at the end of their dance.
"It was such an honor dancing with you, Your Grace. You were such a good dancer." Her face beamed with happiness. She practically glowed.
He returned her smile. "Likewise. You were also a good dance partner, Lady Nashima."
"Except for the part where I stepped on your foot."
"Yeah, maybe except that." They both laughed at the memory. "Would you like me to get you a drink, my lady? A refreshment after the dance," he offered.
Kanako opened her mouth to say something but a loud noise from across the room startled the both of them. Their eyes flew over the source of the commotion and Kanako's expression changed into some kind of alarmed.
"I'm afraid I might have to turn down that offer, Your Grace. It seems like my father has been drinking too much. I should need to take care of him or he might draw unnecessary attention, which he already did, I guess," she grimaced. She turned back to look at Kuzuha with a somber expression, one that Kuzuha himself would explain as a child who was sent to a time-out.
"I understand, Lady Nashima. Maybe the next time we dance, I will offer you that drink again. Have a good evening, my lady, and send my regards to your father."
"I will. Have a good evening too, Your Grace." And with that, she stormed off the dance floor, rushing to her father.
Kuzuha, having been left alone, went back to fetch himself a drink to ease his dry throat. A dance with Kanako had left him unable to think for the rest of the night. She had made a place inside Kuzuha's mind. And possibly his heart too.
He dared to call it love at first sight.
His heart couldn't stop beating at the thought of her. He wanted to see her more, he longed to see her. Even after only one dance, he wanted more. He couldn't get enough of Lady Kanako Nashima.
Trying to distract himself from any Kanako thoughts, his eyes then spotted his friends hanging at the back of the room, clearly enjoying their drinks proudly. Ibrahim was the first to take notice of him. "Kuzuha!" he waved at him.
Kuzuha waved back as he approached them. "How was your dance? Is she good?" Ibrahim asked with glee.
"Dance? His Grace has finally danced with a lady?" Mr. Lauren Iroas, heir to the Viscount Iroas, put down his glass immediately. "Who are you and what did you do to our dear friend Kuzuha?!" he shook Kuzuha's body until his said friend swatted his hands off him.
"Lauren, stop that! As a matter of fact, yes I danced with a lady tonight. Her name's Lady Kanako Nashima."
"Nashima? Like, the Earl of Flores' daughter?" Lauren asked.
Kuzuha nodded. "The only one."
"Here I thought that His Grace, Duke of Amagami, would never dance this whole season. You've proven me wrong, Kuzuha," Fuwa smirked from the side. "I was in a shock when you suddenly walked to the middle of the ballroom to ask a lady for a dance. Aleksandr Lagusa? The duke who was known to avoid any social interaction during a ball had asked a lady's hand first for a dance? Not a single person would've guessed that."
"Yeah, I myself would never guess either," he admitted. "And besides, I think I'm planning to settle down this season. Marrying, that is."
Ibrahim choked on his drink.
Fuwa, who was leaning on a table, nearly toppled down.
Lauren almost dropped his glass.
Thankfully, Fuwa regained his balance immediately and patted Ibrahim on the back.
Kuzuha let himself witness the chaos that was about to unfold in front of him. Perhaps his declaration of marriage was too much of a surprise for his friends.
"Marrying?!" All three of them said simultaneously.
"Yes… as in finding a wife and duchess."
His friends stared at him as if he had grown two heads. Fuwa's mouth was wide-open, in fact.
"Kuzuha, are you certain about this?" Ibrahim had asked first to break the silence between them.
Kuzuha raised his eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I? I'm eight-and-twenty, Ibrahim. An appropriate age to marry, isn't it?"
Lauren then raised his hands in front of him. "Look, I might not seem like it, but I am happy for you, Lagusa. It just came as a shock to the three of us."
"But I thought you've found marriage as a useless thing, Zuha?" This time it was Fuwa who talked.
Kuzuha resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Things have changed, Fuwa. Seeing my godparents so sickenly in love had made my perception of marriage changed." He recounted the times his godparents had shown their love of each other right in front of him and his sister to the point he grew sick of seeing them together.
"Besides," his lips curled into a smile, a lovesick one. "I might have fallen in love at first sight." His thoughts wandered to Kanako whom he had a splendid waltz with.
His friends stared at each other before looking at Kuzuha with wide smiles on their faces.
"You know that we are all happy for your announcement, don't you?" Fuwa smiled at him.
"Our Kuzuha has grown up fast," Lauren pretended to wipe tears off his face. "He has grown to realize that he is capable of loving someone."
"I'm older than you, Iroas!"
"Only by a year!" Lauren stuck out his tongue like a child.
Ibrahim patted his shoulder. "Truly, we are happy for you. It is time for you to have someone by your side, someone who can support you, someone who you can share the burden of being a duke." He pulled him closer, leaning to a side hug. "Tell me, is it the lady that you've danced with that you seem to consider marrying?"
Kuzuha could only nod, head already lost merely at the thoughts of Kanako.
"Then go for it, brother. She seems like the perfect match for you."
Later that night, even during the ride home and retreating to his bedroom, his head was only filled with the thoughts of Kanako. Her smile, her graceful dance, her petite form, her hands that fit perfectly into his, her everything. Kuzuha might or might not have trouble sleeping because of her. Sleep could wait for the other night, for now he had a courtship—and later marriage—to think of.
It's marriage for the Duke of Amagami and Lady Kanako Nashima!
This Author has no doubt that this was the news that you have all been waiting for. After making such attention for this column due to their first dance filled with their glamorous charms, it is of no surprise that there will be nuptial celebrations between the most eligible bachelor of this season and an unmarried lady. Unfortunately, dearest readers, This Author was not invited to the wedding. The Duke has always preferred the private affair of a wedding with an exclusive guest list.
Nonetheless, it is reported that His Grace was as besotted as his wife on their wedding day as the first day he saw her. This Author extends the very best wishes to the newlywed Duke and Duchess of Amagami as they depart on a journey for their long-awaited honeymoon.
Lady Whistledown Society Papers, 17 July 1815