Chapter 64: 64

I was relieved by the reaction of the nobles, but at the same time, I was a little dumbfounded.

‘Are you all serious? You don’t even know exactly what Benny’s abilities are.’

‘….No, I think they’ve lost their mind.’

I lifted my gaze and looked at Alan, who stood firm like the king of the world.

That man made it like this. All for his youngest daughter, for me…

I sneakily glanced at the guest seat where the emperor was sitting.

Igdrasil still had a gentle smile on her face, but the attendant sitting next to her crossed his arms as if annoyed.

After a while, they secretly left the ballroom.

I didn’t know if there was really any plan, or if there was a plan but it failed.

***

“We lost, we’re one step behind.”

Igdrasil went out of the ballroom and smiled.

Even as the emperor left, the duke did not come out to see her off.

Next to her were only her two attendants and the crown prince who was dressed as an attendant.

“It’s complacent of you to think the duke would do nothing.”

The crown prince snapped, complaining.

Igdrasil ordered her attendants to follow her from a distance, and she moved forward.

“I know you don’t like this situation, but stop arguing with Amon.”

Even with gentle persuasion, the crown prince still seemed uneasy.

“Why didn’t you just say that the Princess is a monster? Some may doubt him.”

“They were blinded by their interests. Even if I insult the Princess, there will be no one who will listen properly.”

While touching her chin, Igdrasil bent her eyes as if it was fun.

“I set a very clever trap. Inside the barrier, I am the strongest being, but outside the Empire, it is different. If he mentions the Western Continent, even I will be a fool.”

“I don’t know about the recapture of the Western Continent, but the rest of the story is a blatant lie.”

“The public doesn’t know if it’s a lie or not. To them, the Western Continent is an unknown space. So anything Duke Bauner said would sound plausible.”

“Isn’t there a person in the Empire who knows the Western Continent very well? For ten years, he went crazy trying to find his daughter there.”

There was no refutation. The crown prince smirked while holding his mask.

“Mother is optimistic.”

Through the eye sockets of the mask adorned with amethyst, dark amber eyes could be seen. The color resembled the emperor’s. 

Igdrasil lifted her hand from her chin and looked back at her son.

“Rather than just concluding that our plans went wrong, we should learn something from this. Especially since you are the Crown Prince of this Empire.”

At a glance, those were friendly words, but the crown prince twisted the corners of his mouth mercilessly.

“…Does Mother have any plans to give me your seat? You are the eternal Emperor of the Empire that has reigned since ancient times.”

If other members of the royal family heard it, it was a remark that would be considered a crime of treason.

Igdrasil closed her eyes and smiled softly.

“Are you asking me if I’m willing to die earlier than you?”

The crown prince shrugged his shoulders lightly.

“It’s a joke, Respected Mother.”

The crown prince hurriedly turned around and headed towards the ballroom.

“You can go home first. I’m going to enjoy the ball.”

Igdrasil looked at her son’s back as he was moving away and spoke quietly.

“You will not inherit the throne, Garou.”

Crown Prince Garou stood tall in his place.

Igdrasil gave a soft smile and left.

“Like so many crown princes and crown princesses who have not lived longer than me.”

Garou, who was left alone, stood like a stone statue for a long time.

A black energy slowly rose from under his feet.

It was similar to the magic of the spirit, but the color and atmosphere were different.

It was much darker and gloomier. As Garou lifted his head and let out a sigh, the dark energy disappeared like a ghost.

Returning to the ballroom, he grabbed the golden mask of a passing man.

And before the man could protest, he blended into the crowd.

After wearing a mask stolen from someone else, and turning his cloak over to the side with a pattern, he looked more like a crown prince than an attendant.

He stared intently at one side of the ballroom.

At the end of that sharp gaze, there was the princess dressed in a ghost cloth.

“You will not inherit the throne, Garou.”

“…Who knows if it will really happen like that.” 

Crown Prince Garou smiled gloomily in the dark.

***

“Really, how can this happen…”

“When did you become aware of the power of the evil spirits?”

“The Duke must have suffered a lot because he was concerned about the safety of the Empire.”

As soon as Alan came down the stairs from his speech, the nobles flocked to him with clamor.

Alan glanced up towards my seat, then walked to the other side.

There was a hint of annoyance on his face, but he seemed to think I would be in trouble if people flocked to me.

‘You got it right. Thank you.’

I even put on a cloth so as not to show my face, and I refused to be surrounded by that huge crowd.

I still seemed to be getting a lot of attention though.

People trying to talk to the princess were circling around.

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Their stinging gaze was awkward, so my body squirmed without realizing it.

Then Hugo noticed my dilemma and spoke to me.

“Lily, are you uncomfortable?”

“Ah… it’s fine.”

“What do you mean, it’s okay. Didn’t you just bend your back badly? Your body must be sending a signal to change your posture. Let’s get up and do some stretching.”

“Yes? Can I leave my seat?”

I thought the organizer’s family had to sit as if they were nailed to the top seat until the end of the ball.

Hugo nodded his head as if it was natural and held out his hand.

“Whatever Lily does, it’s up to Lily.”

I thought about it for a moment, but then got up from my seat.

After Alan’s bombshell declaration, all the attention of the guests was on Benny.

If I sat still and got baptized with questions about Benny, I might find myself in a difficult situation.

Because I know too much about Benny.

Hugo held out his hand as if waiting.

I slowly shook my head.

“I’ll go and look around the ballroom by myself.”

I was determined to hold my breath as much as possible at this ball.

Going around with a handsome man in a dazzling white suit was never an act of keeping my head down.

Hugo’s eyes widened as if something big would happen if I walked around alone.

“Lily, it’s dangerous.” 

“Brother Pedro is guarding the ballroom. I will not go out.”

“However….”

“I’ll be back!”

I jumped off the chair and ran to the other side.

Hugo hurriedly reached for me, but had no agility to follow me as I slipped through people’s legs.

Seeing me leave, some nobles followed me as if they had been waiting.

This was somewhat expected.

I ran as swiftly as a squirrel to the guest troupe passing by.

Among the actors, there were children, like me, wearing ghost cloth.

As I circled around them like a fraud, the nobles who followed me were so puzzled that they only blocked the path of the pitiful children.

I took the opportunity and went out to the terrace. 

I wiped my forehead with satisfaction, feeling the night breeze.

The nobles in the ballroom had no talent for chasing people.

For me, having been chased by all kinds of bad guys in the ant cave, it was a breeze to get rid of them.

When the glass door of the terrace was closed, the noise subsided.

Come to think of it, Nike said that the door to the ballroom’s terrace was soundproofed.

‘Is it a consideration for lovers?’

Whatever the reason was, it was good for me.

If I hid here quietly, no one would pay any attention to me.

I walked lightly on the ghost cloth and caught my breath.

“Phew…”

“Are you okay?”

Just then, someone spoke to me.

I was so startled that I pressed down the cloth again. But I turned around and realized I didn’t have to.

“…Benny.”

The silver-haired boy stood under the bright moonlight.

The surprisingly clean face did not suit him no matter how I looked at it.

I hurriedly looked around.

Benny was the unparalleled interest of all in the ballroom, so I thought that people would immediately flock to this place. But that didn’t happen. 

There were some young nobles glancing at us through the glass door, but as soon as Benny looked at them, they slipped their tails and ran away.

Benny, who was following my gaze, lowered his eyebrows.

“I… I will not hurt the Princess…”

It was nonsense. I guess he misunderstood that I was afraid of him.

Benny slowly spread his hands out to me like a submissive dog.

Both palms were covered with calluses, it was hard to believe they belonged to a child.

“If you’re worried, please put the handcuffs on me again.”

“Well, it’s not because of that.”

I quickly shook my head.

“The people gathered here are all talking about you. But I was wondering why you were alone…”

Benny tilted his head and answered as if it was natural.

“The person that people are interested in is the Princess’ father. He’s the one who’ll distribute the land if we recapture the Western Continent. No one wants to come around a monster that’s nothing but a tool.”

He didn’t feel too ashamed to call himself a ‘monster’.

“Do you want me to mix with them?”

Benny looked directly at me and asked. The boy’s eyes were as straight as a sharp spear as usual.

Sometimes, it was hard to look straight at him.

“…I thought you wouldn’t like that for some reason.”

He tilted his head and said it as if it was to be expected.

“If the Princess tells me to like it, I’ll try to like it.”

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