Find the One Who Abandoned Me - Chapter 69

“I’m right here with you. And so is your maid.”

Berchia’s maid, Anner, gave a slight nod. Berchia glanced between the two of them, then gave a subtle tilt of her chin, a signal. In response, several young ladies who were somewhat familiar with her approached, offered their greetings, and sat down with her permission.

“Welcome, my lady.”

“Thank you for receiving us so warmly.”

The greetings were handled by Calliope. After all, this ball was meant to spotlight the debutantes. As four or five young ladies sat down carefully, they began praising her dress and her beauty as the highlight of the season. Calliope turned to Isaac.

“Isaac, do you want to meet some other people?”

“I don’t really… have much interest.”

“Still, since we’re here, it wouldn’t hurt to mingle a bit, don’t you think?”

“…If you say so.”

Isaac politely excused himself and stood. Calliope didn’t exactly want him to leave her side, but at events like this, visibility was everything. Thankfully, while Isaac had once struggled with self-worth, he wasn’t the shy or withdrawn type—so she didn’t expect trouble.

As he walked off, someone nearby whispered behind a partially raised hand.

“Now that I think of it, wasn’t Lady Anastas engaged to Sir Esteban since they were children?”

“Oh, yes. The incident at the hall—everyone in our circle still talks about it. A knight revealing his power to protect his fiancée… how romantic is that?”

“And did you see the dance just now? He lifted her with one arm—my heart skipped a beat!”

The young ladies’ voices grew more animated. Calliope smiled softly, covering her cheek—like a debutante shyly flustered by compliments about her fiancé. Of course, Berchia only looked at her with an expression of thinly veiled annoyance.

Then, someone added a remark that felt slightly out of place.

“He was truly beautiful, wasn’t he? Even though he’s a man. I hope I can find someone like that for myself one day.”

Said casually, the comment could’ve passed as admiration—but there was something off in the way it was phrased, a subtle undertone that pricked at the edges of the conversation.

It was Lady Nina Viroantz, daughter of a baron. She had striking ebony-black hair and clear, ice-blue eyes, and was constantly surrounded by suitors. Though she was of lower noble rank, her connection to a countess close to Berchia had earned her a seat at this particular gathering, under the guise of being a “friend of a debutante.”

“If you’re a good person, you’ll find a good match,” said a voice—not Calliope’s, but Berchia’s.

Calliope turned in surprise. It wasn’t often that Berchia jumped into conversations like this. But she was staring directly at Nina.

Lady Nina responded with a smile that didn’t so much as flicker. “Thank you for your kind words.”

“Then if you’ll excuse me for a moment… Since my family isn’t well connected, I still have many people I need to greet.”

“Go ahead.”

Berchia let her go with no hint of regret. The other young ladies simply nodded their heads without much warmth. Calliope watched Nina’s back as she walked away, smiling faintly.

“You understood what she was implying?” she whispered.

Berchia raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“That comment she made earlier.”

“Oh, that? I just found her annoying. Acting like a princess when she’s just a baron’s daughter.”

“Well, with a face like that, people do tend to put her on a pedestal.”

“I still think you’re prettier.”

Calliope gave a casual shrug.

“I’m certainly not lacking, but it all comes down to personal taste, really.”

She ended the whisper there and smiled sweetly at the other young ladies.

“Let’s see what you’re planning, Nina Viroantz. Try whatever tricks you like.”

Calliope was genuinely enjoying herself. Would Isaac fall for whatever move Nina tried, or not? She had no doubt. She hadn’t spent all these years building something for nothing.

She lightly tapped her chin with one finger, while Berchia just sat nearby, clearly irritated.

Meanwhile, Isaac wandered the ballroom, doing as Calliope asked and meeting a few people. He eventually found himself among a group of knights who’d shown interest in him. They greeted him politely and began cautiously asking questions—mostly about his swordsmanship.

After all, he was known as the genius who awakened sword energy at fifteen, and now, at nineteen, was rumored to be nearing the level of a swordmaster. The knights couldn’t help but be curious.

“Your sword training, sir—what kind of methods do you follow?” one asked.

Isaac looked puzzled.

“I… just train.”

“Just… train?”

“Yes. You just do it.”

“And when you do…?”

“You get sword energy.”

“…So if we just ‘do it,’ sword energy appears?”

“Yes.”

That was all he could say. It was, after all, the truth as close as he could express it.

But as he watched their confused reactions, Isaac realized he hadn’t explained enough.

“Whether it rained or snowed, whether I was in the mountains or in the estate, I kept swinging my sword. Even when my palms tore and the handle was soaked in blood… I didn’t stop. Because that was all I had.”

Back when he was excluded from everything in his household, swordsmanship was the only thing he could focus on. So, from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning to the moment he closed them at night, that’s all he did.

His sword instructor—who had originally intended to teach him half-heartedly—had eventually changed his mind, quietly passing on real techniques behind his father’s back after seeing Isaac’s relentless effort. That dedication had earned the instructor’s respect.

When Isaac finished speaking, a short silence fell among the knights. Not knowing what it meant, he simply bowed slightly and excused himself.

Calliope had told him to meet as many people as possible. It was time to find someone else to talk to.

He greeted a few nobles and a handful of young ladies. And every time, the conversation quickly shifted—not to him, but to Calliope.

“You really treasure your fiancée, don’t you, Sir Esteban?”

“I heard you’ve been engaged since childhood. You must truly love each other.”

“She’s absolutely beautiful. You make a stunning couple.”

“If only my fiancé were like that…”

Isaac nodded politely as they spoke, letting their words wash over him—but none of it stayed with him, except for the compliments about Calliope.

Now that he’d completed what Calliope had asked of him, he figured it was time to head back. But just as he was about to return, someone approached him cautiously.

“Sir Esteban?”

It was a woman with soft waves of black hair and striking pale blue eyes. She was well-known for her beauty—but Isaac Esteban had no reason to know that. He simply greeted her with a polite nod and said,

“Do we… know each other?”

“Ah, no, not exactly. But your reputation precedes you, so I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Nina—Nina Viroantz. Please, just call me Nina.”

“Very well, Lady Nina.”

Everyone who had spoken to Isaac so far had mentioned his reputation, so he didn’t think much of it. And if she told him to use her name, he used it. For Isaac, the only name he found difficult to say aloud was Calliope’s. It was too precious—he feared it might lose its worth if he spoke it carelessly.

Nina smiled gently when she heard him call her name so willingly.

“I’ve always been fascinated by swordsmanship. My family’s very strict, so I’ve never held a sword myself, but I’ve always admired it. Isn’t that a little strange?”

“Not strange at all. It’s your family… that’s the problem.”

Even his own fiancée, Calliope, had learned to wield a sword, though she wasn’t exactly skilled. Still, she could hold her own. Nina, however, seemed to interpret his comment differently. She gave a bright smile, then slowly extended her hand toward him.

A woman asking a man to dance first was, in noble society, considered extremely bold.

“Then… would you do me the honor of a dance? That performance just now was so breathtaking—I thought I’d love to experience it myself.”

“Ah. That…”

Isaac responded immediately and firmly.

“I don’t know how to dance.”

“…Excuse me?”

Nina blinked, confused. But Isaac continued without a trace of hesitation.

“I don’t know how to dance… with anyone other than my fiancée.”

He was simply stating the truth. But Nina Viroantz interpreted it very differently.

“So he’s saying he doesn’t dare dance publicly because of his fiancée’s watchful eye?”

Isaac Esteban—once shunned within his family, now a prodigy on the path to becoming the youngest Swordmaster in history.

Nina was clever. As a baron’s daughter, marrying into high nobility or royalty was unrealistic. What she needed was a match she could manage—a man with rising value and malleable influence. That’s what she saw in Isaac.

Sure, he had a fiancée. But engagements were just arrangements. Especially ones rooted in politics—they could easily be broken for “love.”

“If you’re not used to dancing, it’s only natural your skills vary depending on your partner. Thank you for your honesty.”

Not one to give up, Nina smoothly transitioned to her next move.

“In that case, would you help me choose a sword sometime during the holiday? I want to buy one in secret, but I really don’t know what to look for.”

“Ah, that I can help with.”

Isaac agreed without hesitation. Nina took it as a sign of progress. He even raised his hand to gesture forward.

“Actually, I was just thinking about that—would you come this way?”

Nina followed his gaze. It led to a balcony.

She lowered her lashes and bit back a smile.

Just as I thought. All men are the same.

She gently slipped her hand into the crook of his arm and walked daintily beside him. A secret meeting on the balcony, away from his fiancée? How typical. But she knew not to push too hard. If she appeared too easy, he’d lose interest fast. For now, she’d let things simmer… maybe even turn him down.

“Oh my, you’re back already?”

“Huh?”

To her surprise, they hadn’t gone to the balcony—but to the spot right beside it, where Calliope sat surrounded by other noble ladies. She had been hard to spot behind the others.

Nina’s smile froze, and just as she tried to make sense of it, Isaac spoke first.

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