Chapter 89: 90

Somehow, I got nervous.

‘Was it strange? I’ve practiced a lot for the waltz, though….’

Clap, clap, clap.

Garou broke the silence and was the first to applaud.

Like it was a signal, cheers spread among the people.

“Oh my God, what a wonderful dance!”

“Long live the Duke! Long live the Princess!”

“Glory to the Duke of Bauner!”

We danced only once, but people trembled as if they had seen a national performance.

I was somewhat puzzled.

It was because the people’s expressions were not just flattery, but they seemed to be really impressed by the dance we just showed.

Alan smiled softly and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“You’ve improved a lot, Lily.”

He looked at me from the side and added in a very small voice.

“…Natalia will be proud of you.”

The moment he uttered the name of the dead duchess, his face was filled with the same intense longing as last time.

He looked around and muttered graciously before I could answer anything.

“There are bugs stuck.”

I followed his gaze.

Noble young men my age were sneaking around greedily like wolves with meat in front of them.

“The next dance with your favorite bug… no, go with someone you like. After all, this is a debutante for you.”

Alan didn’t let go of my hand even though he said that.

‘How can your words and actions be different?’

I slowly withdrew my hand.

I thought I would make a slip of the tongue if I talked more with Alan.

The next moment, numerous young men gathered like a pack of dogs.

“Princess, will you give me the honor of dancing with you?”

“Get out of the way, you stepped on the dress of the young lady of a Baron family and fell down at the last ball.”

“Princess. Please, the next one with me!”

I was distracted by the crowd of people.

I can roughly guess why people I had never seen before in my life are attacking me.

‘I refused the Crown Prince’s proposal, so they thought this was their chance.’

The commotion that occurred for a short time soon ended with the appearance of one person.

“Lilietta.”

The white-haired crown prince approached me.

He was the only one who called me by name among the young men who had gathered.

The young masters who had their eyes turned upside down until just a moment ago became discouraged and lowered their tails.

Garou crossed the path they had made from stepping aside and reached out to me as if it were natural.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

It was disgusting, really.

I could barely hold back the sigh that bubbled up my throat.

‘Let’s not cause trouble.’

I reluctantly took Garou’s hand.

I didn’t want to be stubborn and end up being watched closely by him.

Alan gave off a strong murderous look, but did not intervene. From the day I said he was scary, he seemed to be very concerned.

Garou spoke lightly as if provoking Alan.

“Thank you, my Lilietta.”

…I wanted to cover his mouth.

Even before Alan could stop him, Garou hugged my waist smoothly like flowing water and led me to the center of the ballroom.

The people who had gathered left again.

The orchestra played the notes of the new waltz. An elegant medium tempo flowed down into the space of the hall.

I was trying to get into position, but Garou groaned.

“Another waltz… Isn’t it too boring?”

Garou clapped in the air. The orchestra stopped their hands and turned to him in unison.

Garou boldly demanded.

“Gavotte*, please.”
(*French-style dance song, peasants enjoyed it in the early days)

The musicians looked into Alan’s eyes, not knowing what to do.

It was a natural reaction.

There were a lot of cases where guests chose a song, but usually they would secretly request it at the end of the song.

Even so, gavotte was a dance of the commoners…

At that time, Alan, who was leaning against the wall, nodded, telling them to play.

‘Huhh? Really?’

It was somewhat surprising. I thought if it was Alan, he would say no with a frown on his face.

The orchestra started a new performance.

I was used to the exciting rhythm like bouncy droplets.

‘Where did I hear this…?’

Garou again naturally wrapped his arm around my waist and stretched out our clasped hands.

Upon the following words, I could see why Alan had graciously accepted Garou’s request.

“I heard you liked this song very much when you went to the South.”

This song was a dance song I had heard in the square four years ago when I visited the southern region under the direct control of the emperor.

“…Did you hear from Pedro?”

“No, I just looked into it. Because I’m interested in anything about you.”

Unlike Alan, who was overly considerate of me, Garou’s movements were spontaneous and rough.

It was true that he was leading, but he left the little moves to my own will, so the steps were twisted a few times

But, strangely, I didn’t fall. As the music progressed, the beat naturally became familiar to the body.

At the time when I was standing on my toes as if I was jumping, Garou lowered my upper back exaggeratedly.

“Happy birthday.”

Garou smiled broadly.

His white hair, flowing down, tickled the tip of my nose.

“…….”

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I returned my original posture and answered without emotion.

“Thank you.”

“It’s an honor to be able to take your second dance.”

“Ah, yes…”

“I think it would be good to announce our engagement here at this point.”

“…….”

The moment my posture changed, I deliberately stepped on Garou’s foot.

“I’m sorry, Crown Prince.”

I apologized roughly and looked elsewhere.

Garou frowned, but still did not lose the smile on his lips.

“Are you going to be like this?”

“What?”

Garou stared at me, who was twitching, and brought his lips close to my ears.

“Lilietta, I like you. So you can step on anything like my feet.”

“Really? Come here.”

“Haha, wait a minute.”

Garou continued after avoiding my feet like a fox passing through a trap.

“But if you don’t help me, I have no choice but to do bad things to you.”

‘Seriously, what do you mean?’

The song ended without identifying the other person’s intentions.

Before leaving, Garou stroked a strand of my hair and whispered.

“Obsession is the strength I am most proud of.”

As soon as Garou left, young men gathered around again.

I glanced at the side where he disappeared and then turned my head.

At that time, I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

***

In the dark forest. Benimus sat on the top of a tall tree and looked at the lights of the ballroom.

The place that was lit with numerous magic stones was brighter than the daytime.

He closed his eyes and thought of her enjoying her last happiness in the ballroom.

After the awakening ceremony, she would use the power of demons to exit the world full of light.

She would want to run away from the barrier with him.

The boy was waiting for that moment.

“…….”

He rubbed his fingertips, imagining turning off the lights in front of him.

His hard fingers were stained black and flowed down like mud.

The black cord, forked like a marionette’s thread, climbed down the tree and dug into the damp soil.

Whoo, whoo. 

A cry from the ground was heard. The cry of grief was getting closer and closer.

All preparations were over.

The moment she takes his hand, all the evil spirits would destroy this land.

There was no worry that the raid might fail.

Although the World Tree and her subordinates had prevented attacks from evil spirits for thousands of years, it was because they had been on a rampage without unity.

The story would be completely different if a person who could direct the evil spirits appeared.

The boy was confident of destroying the world.

“…When will you come?”

Benimus leaned his head against the tree.

His mind, embracing a terrible plan, was unprecedentedly calm.

It was so comfortable to have a purpose for living.

His mother’s face suddenly appeared in his mind that was like a calm lake.

His mother was the one who first gave him a purpose to live.

Benimus loved his mother. He still missed his mother’s voice.

What she said the most was, that’s right…

“Don’t touch it, you half monster!”

…That was it.

***

Unlike her son, Benimus’ mother was an emotional person.

Maybe it was natural.

When Benimus was 5-years-old, he fell down the stairs and broke an arm, which then healed by itself.

It would be difficult for any mother in the world to maintain her reason if she faced the sight of her son’s arms transforming like a monster.

“You are not human.”

His mother avoided Benimus whenever he exposed his monstrous side. Sometimes she cursed and kicked him out.

Benimus waited patiently without crying.

After all, as time passed, his mother talked to him kindly again.

“Baby, come here”.

His mother said so and spread her arms, but did not approach first.

As Benimus drew closer, step by step, she became rather frightened.

“It’s okay. it’s okay…”

The mother grabbed her son who had come into her arms and muttered to herself.

“There’s no way I’m afraid of the son born from my belly.”

She said so, but her body trembled like an aspen.

Benimus put his arms around his mother’s back and stood still until the tremors subsided.

Her cry was much smaller than the screams he heard from the ground, but strangely, it was even sadder.

The mother’s attitude towards Benimus changed after she learned that Benimus could hear the cries of evil spirits.

“The three siblings created creatures that resembled themselves. To figure out who is the best god.”

His mother, who had been locked in her room and devouring black books, would occasionally place her son on her lap and read a storybook to him.

Unlike before, she gently stroked his hair.

“No one knows which god won.”

His mother repeated Genesis over and over again, adding a story that wasn’t in the fairy tale.

“Because the battle of the gods still continues.”

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