I Choose The Villain Duke

Years ago, in the Imperial Palace . . .

A black-haired beauty with emerald green eyes was standing by the wall contemplating if she was going to get a champagne or a cake. The champagne and the cake were in different ends of the ballroom and she didn't want to make her way through the throng twice.

In front of her, ladies wearing elegant ballgowns were dancing and twirling with their partners. The men wore suits of different colors and looked elegant as well. The chandeliers were sparkling, the music was on full swing, and everyone looked to be having a good time.

Except for her.

Lady Cathryn Quinn.

Her mother had begged her to get a suitor this evening as if it was something one could just simply buy from a store.

One suitor please.

He must be rich, handsome, kind, and ready to marry a complete stranger.

Yes, I know it's expensive but my mother absolutely insisted I get one tonight.

No, don't wrap. I'll just walk him home tonight. Keep the change.

Cathryn smiled to herself. If it was as simple as that, she might have done that long ago.

She didn't have a suitor because she wasn't unattractive. In fact, she was very attractive. She had wavy hair as black as midnight, ivory skin, long lashes framing her emerald green eyes, and that face! Her face was beautiful. She had full lips that would curve into a smile from time to time like there was something funny she was thinking of but not telling anyone. Her figure was not as slender as the other ladies in the ballroom. She didn't have a hobby of starving like most ladies of her age. She would rather eat and be alone than starve and dance with a man who would just look at her breasts the whole time.

Now, for that cake.

She began to weave through the dancing throng, avoiding an elbow here, almost stepping on someone's shoe there, and getting out of the way of a spinning lady.

Whew!

She finally got out of the dancing floor and she was now standing in front of a long table with must have been a hundred types of cake flavors.

She cocked her head to the side contemplating which order should she taste them. But before she could even get one, she heard a shout from outdoors. She looked around. No one paid any attention to the noise she was hearing or even if they were, they weren't curious enough to get out of the ballroom and see what the noise was all about.

Cathryn was curious. She had nothing better to do anyway. If it proved to be just nothing, she could just go back to the cake buffet. She was confident that the cakes wouldn't run out by the time she came back. Almost no one ate in balls anyway. Most people were too busy socializing and looking for potential marriage partners.

Cathryn wasn't like most people.

She got out of the ballroom.

The guards who stood by the doors looked at her curiously but they didn't stop her.

She heard the noise again. It was somewhere in the garden.

The palace garden was well lit by lanterns. One could say that it's a just a waste because people would usually just stay in the ballroom but then again, one could say the lanterns were placed there to discourage any couples from engaging in scandalous activities in the gardens.

Oh dear. What if it was just a couple getting frisky in the gardens? What should she say?

Apologies. I thought I heard someone shouting and well, in danger. I see now that you are not in danger and you must be well satisfied with your partner. Do continue. Please forgive my intrusion. I do recommend that you do it more quietly. I think the palace guards heard you too.

Cathryn smiled to herself.

Oh. It wasn't a frisky couple. It was an arguing couple.

"How dare you?! What gives you the right?! How dare you embarrass me?!" The lady screamed at the man in front of her.

Cathryn walked closer quietly.

Oh. She knew that lady. Lady Mirsebella Wales. She was a popular lady who always got several suitors but she would turn them down saying that she wanted a prince. Not just a random noble man. It looked like she finally found a man she wanted. 

Cathryn looked at the man.

Oh, my, my, my. 

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She could see now why Lady Mirsabella had chosen this man.

He was utterly handsome despite the troubled look on his face. He had long light brown hair that brushed on his shoulders. He was wearing a white suit with gold embellishments. She didn't know who he was but he was handsome in a bookish kind of way. She could imagine him in a libary engrossed in a book and then tucking his long hair behind his ear.

Oops.

She shouldn't imagine anything about him. This might be another hopelessly besotted suitor of Lady Mirsebella.

"Lady . . .uhh . . . what was your name again? Ah. Lady Males. I just do not wish to dance with you. Please don't embarrass yourself further and go back to the ballroom. I am sure there are other willing gentleman there who would like to dance with you," the mystery man said.

Cathryn bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing.

"It's not Males! It's Wales! Argh! You'll regret this. I'll just dance with one of your brothers then. I'm sure they have better taste in women than you do," Mirsebella said.

"I hope you take rejection kindly. You shouldn't shout at my brothers when they reject you. I hope you understand. They have fine taste in women. No offense," the man said.

"Arghhh!" Mirsebella screamed and whirled around to go back to the ballroom.

The man exhaled in relief then looked at the direction where Cathryn was hiding.

"Is she your friend?" The man asked.

Cathryn revealed herself and walked towards him smiling.

"Heavens, no! She's horrid. I see that you're a rare kind of man. Most men would love to be asked by Lady Mirsebella to dance," Cathryn said.

The man scrunched up his nose. "They must have not ears then or a brain for that matter. She's a horrible woman. I don't understand how men would find her attractive."

"Well, she is beautiful," Cathryn said wistfully, thinking how Lady Mirsebella was so slender and how she herself was not. 

The man looked at Cathryn seriously.

"Well, I think you're the beautiful one," the man said.

Cathryn laughed and the man smiled.

"We haven't met. My name is Cathryn Quinn. It's nice to meet you," Cathryn said giving her hand to shake hands with him.

The man took her hand, bowed down, and kissed the back of her hand. Then he smiled at her.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, My Lady. I am Yohann. Third son of the family governing the land of Terrasien," the man said.

"Oh, you're a visitor! I assure you not all ladies of Aderlan are like Lady Mirsebella," Cathryn said.

Yohann chuckled.

"If I did not meet you, I might have been led to that assumption. I must give my thanks to you in behalf of saving the reputation of the good ladies of Aderlan," Yohann said.

Cathryn laughed.

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside socializing with the good ladies of Aderlan?" Cathryn asked.

"Well, I'm actually part of a society. A small group for like-minded people. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it. It's called the Wallflower Society," Yohann said.

Cathryn grinned. This handsome man had just made her dull evening very entertaining.

"Oh, really? What is it that you do there?" Cathryn asked teasingly.

"Well, we attend parties then we arrive there, we pick out a wall we would like to stand in front of the whole evening," Yohann said.

"So what are you doing here? Aren't you breaking the rules of your group?" Cathryn asked.

"A horrible woman tried to get me out of my position by the wall. I tried to escape by going here but she still ended up following me. It was very traumatizing," Yohann said.

"How terrible! Fortunately, I'm also actually a member of that Wallflower Society myself. We just haven't met before. Would you like to go back to the ballroom and go back to our positions by the wall?" Cathryn asked.

"I'm not sure. I have the urge to break our dear group's number one rule right now," Yohann said.

"And what's that?" Cathryn asked.

"I might just ask a beautiful lady for a dance," Yohann said.

Cathryn raised an eyebrow.

"You will no longer be a wallflower then. Just an ordinary gentleman dancing with a lady in the ball," Cathryn said.

"I am sorely tempted to be just that. Would you indulge me in breaking our Wallflower Society's number one rule, My Lady?" Yohann asked.

"Are you asking me for a dance, My Lord?" Cathryn asked.

"Yes. I apologize. I'm not used to asking ladies for a dance. I'm not even sure what's come over me when I haven't even danced for years but I'm ready to make a fool out of myself if I can dance with you," Yohann said.

Cathryn felt the blood rush to her cheeks. He looked so unsure about himself even though he was so handsome and he thought that she was beautiful. 

"I must accept then. Let us breath the rules together," Cathryn said.

Yohann smiled in relief.

"Thank you, My Lady," Yohann said and extended his hand for her to take.

She took his hand and they both went back in the ballroom. Two wallflowers dancing with each other without a care for the world.

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AUTHOR'S MESSAGE:

To my dearest readers,

With a heavy heart, I have decided to go on hiatus again. I've contemplated this for days and going on hiatus will mean losing some of my readers who can't wait and also not getting paid by Webnovel (MGS). I've reached a state of burnt out right now. Don't worry. I don't have writer's block. I still have lots of nefarious scenes and steamier scenes for our favorite characters planned out in the future but right now, I'm really, really exhausted.

I'm juggling my day job, weekend classes, and publishing a chapter everyday. I know that there are several writers who can write and publish everyday and I have great respect for them. Unfortunately, it has taken a toll on me already. I'm sleep-deprived, tired, and I'm worried that if I keep on going at this rate, the quality might drop and I might just end up hating this webnovel.

I started writing this webnovel not for money. I wrote this because I wished to share this story with everyone, fangirl with you readers, and read your comments which always make me smile and even laugh.

I'm going back to that. I'm not going to write for money and push myself to exhaustion. I'm going to take a rest for now and when I come back, you'll have more chapters to marathon again.

I'll try to come back within Fall 2021. Might not be at September but somewhere within Sept - Dec. Hopefully, I'll be well rested by then and have loads of new chapters for you to read.

If Season Three gets delayed, I'll make another announcement.

Thank you so much for reading this and for sticking with me for this long. I hope you can wait for Season Three.

This author will now be taking a rest.

Much love.

P.S. If you can't wait for Season Three, you can read the next two chapters now by unlocking them. You'll be able to learn more about who Yohann is and what happened to him. 

Your author,

Tanya