I tamed the female lead

Chapter 5

Orange didn't lie to me and did stay by my side every step of the way. She went back to being silent and would stare at necklaces for long minutes before handing me the one she liked best. She dressed me from head to toe and once ready she stared at me without blinking for half an hour. I started feeling uncomfortable and hid my face behind my hand:

"Can I go now?"

Orange gently took my hand to remove it from my face:

"Perfect."

Orange was the one who would blush usually, not the other way around. I didn't like feeling uncomfortable and I quickly pushed her away to drink some cold water. I hated goodbyes and disappeared as quickly as possible to get into the carriage. On the way to the ball I started stressing. This was the first time I would meet the female lead and knowing what she would do in the future, I couldn't help shaking. I had to stay as far away from her as possible but I knew I would spend the whole night jumping every second someone would walk past me. My plan of action was to find a few people, have my own little circle and so if Astéria came up to us, the others could talk to her and I could disappear behind them.

I could also disappear altogether which was my plan B if people were annoying. I didn't want Astéria thinking I was the same as them just because we were hanging out together. Of course I was also coming to have fun but Astéria was the biggest problem of the night. I was going to be polite and introduce myself but disappear immediately after. She would remember me as someone polite or don't remember me at all and wouldn't torture me in the future when she would take revenge on people who hurt her later on.

For some reason all the stress I was supposed to feel started evaporating as soon as the carriage was getting closer. This meeting would maybe determine if Astéria would remember me and kill me later on but for some reason I could only think about what the buffet would be, feeling my stomach churn. Fortunately or unfortunately, Astéria's temporary residence was really close to my parents' mansion and soon the carriage stopped. Someone came to help me off and I got escorted to the ballroom. As soon as I saw it my chin fell off. This room was gorgeous and I immediately forgot the people around me.

Nobles loved to over decorate with very expensive things but this was something completely else. I loved minimalism and this ballroom was absolute perfection in my eyes. Everything was perfectly symmetrical which was really satisfying. There were white and yellow roses in vases of the same color at even distances and the walls were perfectly white with golden decorations. This in itself was already enough but that was when I spotted the ceiling. Up there were mythological paintings that were retracing my favorite stories. I remembered telling about them again and again to Orange before we went to sleep and I really felt my heart ache. She wasn't here in person but she didn't lie, it still felt as if she was with me.

I loved mythology but I really thought paintings inspired by it were way too colorful and there were too many details which I found very ugly. But this ceiling was just perfect. I had to know who the artist in charge of it was because I felt that I would break my neck looking at it the whole night. I didn't even want to disappear in the gardens anymore, wanting to stay in this room as long as possible.

I was so fascinated by the beauty of the place that I completely forgot about the world around me. I was smiling dumbly, my eyes completely focused on the paintings and didn't even hear my name being pronounced. What woke me up was my chaperone, Miss Ducharge who I had only met once before. Seeing that I was completely bewildered, she coughed before nudging me in the side. I jumped and finally noticed what was going on. Everyone was staring at me with confused or mocking smiles. I didn't care what they thought about me thinking I was in the right. The ballroom was so dazzling that anyone would be crazy not to see it. However, one person stood out in the crowd and seeing her gaze fixated on me, my heart skipped a beat.

The person in question was a 16 year old girl with dark hair and golden eyes. However I knew those colors could change any time because of her identity. There was no mistaking it. There was only one person who could sparkle in a crowd the way she did. There was a golden aura around her and even if I never saw her in the manhwa I would have known who she was. I thought she never studied magic but it seemed something changed or maybe I wasn't remembering correctly. Her eyes were green in the manhwa but now they were the color of gold. She was very tall with thick thighs and a slim waist. Her face was sharp and her huge eyes looked as if they were going to fall out of her face at any moment. She was standing straight as a blade and was wearing a dress the color of blood. In the book I thought that she wore pink for her debutante, having put on the basic outfit of a young adult being introduced to society. She wanted to pass for a shy and pure young lady but I must have remembered wrong. It didn't really matter what she was wearing because no matter what, she was breathtaking. A true female lead.

She was so gorgeous that she was surrounded by tens of people. The latter holding her own debutante everyone had to come introduce themselves to her. Moreover, being the mysterious daughter of the northern Duke, she was already very popular and everyone tried their best to be in her good graces. But she wasn't paying attention to anyone. I thought she would be smiling to everyone and act all nice and polite but she was looking straight at me. People were talking to her but she wasn't paying them any mind, so much so that the crowd around her started to look at me too. Things didn't start out the best way possible but everything was fine. I started laughing awkwardly and against all expectations, Astéria smiled back. I was frozen seeing the female lead smile at me. She was way too good looking for my heart.

I had to talk to her. Now that I had arrived I had to introduce myself and everyone was already staring at me so I had to move now. I walked up to the crowd and bowed before introducing myself and thanking Astéria for inviting me to this ball. I stood up but for some reason couldn't look Astéria in the eyes. I knew she was the last boss here but that wasn't the reason. As I stood up I was waiting for Astéria to say something but she was staying silent. It was a bit weird so I had to look up to her eyes. When our eyes met she finally answered:

"It is very nice to meet you, Poehina. I saw that you were satisfied by my choice of location."

I laughed awkwardly. As I looked up to her I was surprised to see how tall she was. From this close she was even better looking than in my dreams. I knew she was a manipulative and cold hearted killer and I knew I should have been scared of her but for some reason I wasn't. She just seemed so nice and I had to give it to her that her act was impeccable.

"Yes. I'll be honest, I never saw such an amazing place. I am rather jealous that you can see this every day."

Astéria smiled:

"I am glad that you liked it. Please don't refrain from coming anytime. I would love to see your smile again."

I blushed immediately. I knew Astéria was acting all nice at the beginning but this felt like too much. It almost felt as if she was flirting with me. I had to admit that her offer sounded very interesting but I couldn't say yes. Of course saying no wouldn't be polite but I would never come back here:

"Thank you so much for your kind offer. I would be honored.

-You have to come back then."

Astéria seemed very serious for some reason and I felt like she was staring straight into my soul. I only smiled knowing well that I would never see her again. Couldn't I come when she wasn't here? This room was too perfect to see only once in a lifetime.

"Of course."

Hearing my answer, Astéria immediately smiled, seeming very satisfied for some reason. I was ready to walk away but as soon as I retreated, Astéria talked again:

"Do you like balls?"

I froze. There were a lot of guests coming but Astéria didn't care. It wasn't polite to talk to me for so long when you were the host but once again, Astéria didn't seem bothered by that detail. She seemed interested in me but I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Should I stop this conversation as quickly as possible or should I take advantage of the situation to be liked by her some more? Astéria was an amazing actress so I wasn't even sure that her interest was real. Maybe she was just acting nice because I was another daughter of Duke. It must have been why but she seemed very honest. I knew she was an amazing actress and she must have played me but I was quite good at reading people myself and she really seemed genuine. I could talk a bit more:

"I don't quite know yet. It is my first time attending.

-I am happy that I am not the only one."

I was kind of uncomfortable so I just said the first thing I thought of:

"If you ever need help from a fellow ball virgin, let me know."

I started laughing seeing how shocked my chaperone was. There was nothing to be ashamed of about the word virgin. At first it only meant women who didn't get married. Astéria on the other hand liked my joke way more than I thought:

"I will take you up on that promise."

There was something intense about her gaze and I couldn't help looking away. I finally had the opportunity to go away and excused myself before running to the buffet. The latter was as amazing as the room. Seeing all the tantalizing dishes, I didn't know what to taste first. Literally everything I was seeing was my favorite dishes. There were orange and lemon cakes, a lot of dark chocolate and macarons of every color. All the cakes and all the little sandwiches seemed delicious and my plate was so full it looked like a food mountain. Even the dishes that I didn't know what they were by looking at them were delicious and I was so happy that I couldn't help dancing. I was so caught up in my world once again that I didn't notice Astéria staring at me right away but as soon as our eyes met I started choking on my food by surprise.

My chaperone handed me a glass of water completely exasperated by my behavior but I didn't care. More and more people started staring at me but all I could see was Astéria's smile. I didn't know why but during the whole night I could feel her gaze on my back which was unsettling. Having Astéria so interested in me, other people got curious too and soon another crowd formed around my person. People came from everywhere to introduce themselves and there were too many new names for me to remember but the good thing was that with so many new people, I had no time to get bored.

I stayed close to the buffet and talked to everyone in a good mood. Seeing my full plate, people of course couldn't hold back from commenting:

"There are so many delicious dishes. I could understand why some would feel unable to choose what to eat from."

I laughed:

"I never saw anything of the sort. These are all of my favorite dishes. This is the best surprise I could have had.

-It is quite surprising that there is so many orange flavored cakes and sweets. I wondered where they found oranges when it isn't the season."

Now that they were talking about it, it did seem a bit strange:

"Maybe Miss Astéria really loves oranges."

I looked at her feeling closer to her because we had the same favorite fruit. But as soon as I turned to her I noticed that Astéria was looking in my direction. I started getting used to it but this time she wasn't looking at me and she wasn't smiling anymore. Without her smile, her face became very threatening suddenly as she was glaring with cold eyes. People were still talking to her but now that I was thinking about it, I never saw her answer anyone ignoring those around her. I couldn't help the goosebumps and as if she heard me Astéria immediately looked at me and regained her smile. It was too late, I saw her cold face and I looked away. I wasn't scared of her for some reason but that didn't make any sense. I knew what she was capable of. Even if I wasn't scared I should stay away. That was the smartest move.