81 – Masquerade (1)

The banquet hall of the imperial palace, where the masquerade started, was already filled with nobles who had heard the news and gathered.

The reason was simple.

In the imperial family, regular balls were held regularly, but special balls like this were held only a few times.

Aristocrats, who usually don’t like the atmosphere in social circles and don’t usually come to such events, come out after hearing that the ball being held this time is a ‘masquerade ball’.

The Crown Prince’s idea of holding this ball as a masquerade seemed to have read the psychology of the nobles well.

“Hello, excuse me, would you like to dance with me?”

Even though I was standing still to watch the situation, one or two people began to approach me.

If this was also a regular prom, it would have been difficult for it to happen.

Because my fiancée was always standing next to me at official events with her eyes wide open.

Even if Rebecca was absent for a while, there were no nobles who didn’t know that Albert Zernias of Count Xernias was engaged to Rebecca Valencia of the Duke of Valencia.

The name of the ducal family of Valencia was so great that it was said that aristocrats who did not know this fact did not deserve to enter the social world.

Few people have had the guts to approach me when the great fiancée stood by her side.

“Sorry. Someone asked for a dance first.”

“Oops, then why are you alone?”

“The applicant has been away for a while.”

“Hmm… You’re not making up words just because you don’t like me, are you?”

“····.”

However, Rebecca was not by my side right now.

My fiancée hasn’t shown me how she used her magic since she declared that she would have to be prepared for me.

Maybe I made up my mind.

In this bet, he said that he would not lose no matter what, and that he would win the right to wish from me no matter what happened.

It was a story that I had to turn down these requests on my own, even for the sake of my determined fiancée.

“…Well, I understand. You’re not the only gentleman here.”

“I apologize for not spending time with you.”

“It’s okay. I just need to find someone else.”

Fortunately, the person who asked me to dance accepted my refusal and moved on.

Even if it’s because he’s originally a good person. Or I’m not sure if it’s because I roughly realized my identity.

As a result, you generously passed over the rudeness of refusing to dance at the masquerade ball.

Bowing his head slightly, he expressed a little sorry and gratitude.

To be honest, it was right to throw away the naive notion that all the nobles here wouldn’t recognize each other at all just because they were wearing masks.

As I said before, it was only natural that if you received help from magic tools, you wouldn’t notice who your opponent was.

It is true that it is not easy for ordinary people who have not learned magic to see through magic.

And, on the other hand, this meant that if you didn’t get help like magic tools, you could find out who the opponent was in front of you.

Those who really participate in the event to enjoy the masquerade will hide their identities and enjoy the masquerade itself in order to prevent problems from occurring later.

There must be people who participated in this prom not simply to enjoy it, but for other purposes.

People like me who participated in this ball without borrowing the power of magic or magic tools had to be much more careful.

By the way, the reason I didn’t borrow magic tools or magic power was closely related to this bet.

I’m a bit cowardly, but in order to find someone who reacts when I walk around the banquet hall.

To find out who has a special reaction when I approach or accept someone’s request to dance.

It would be very difficult for our princess, who is extremely jealous and possessive, not to react to her fiancé’s actions.

If anyone who watched this situation would call me cowardly, I had nothing to say.

Using the reaction of someone who likes you to win the bet. It was clear that it was an act no different from the trash of the world.

But what can I do?

This isn’t the first time I’ve been dishonest enough to win a victory over my fiancée.

It is almost impossible to see through the disguise magic of my fiancée, who is said to be the greatest genius of our time.

It was my personal opinion that you should do your best even if you use a mean way.

To that extent, the right to wish has a great meaning between me and Rebecca.

It was never something to give up easily.

“Have you ever had a partner?”

Perhaps I have been lost in thought alone for too long, a voice different from the previous one spoke to me.

A fine voice that gives a feeling of being holy as well as comforting as soon as you hear it.

Since it was a seat, I thought he might have altered his voice, but even taking that into account, his voice was quite mellow.

“Sorry, your partner was away for a while.”

Of course, that didn’t mean that I would give up my side.

The first is difficult, the second is difficult. For me, who had already rejected an invitation to dance at this prom, the second rejection was not difficult.

“Is that so? I’ve been watching me alone for almost 30 minutes.”

“····.”

“I know roughly what kind of person you’re waiting for… I don’t think there’s anyone next to you right now. Couldn’t you give me some time?”

Until I heard the bombshell declaration that I had been watching people nearby for 30 minutes while I was looking for Rebecca.

“······Were you really watching for 30 minutes?”

“Yes. I think I waited that long.”

“May I ask why?”

Waiting for nearly 30 minutes at a masquerade to ask someone to dance?

I don’t know anything else, but I knew for sure that the person who spoke to me a second time was beyond the normal range.

“Lee Yoo-ra… That’s a very difficult word.”

The woman in the white swan mask who spoke to me tilted her head in disbelief.

“I’m not sure how to explain why you’re talking to your friend?”

She then lifted her white swan mask and showed her face.

“······Saint?”

“Now you recognize me. Were we so far apart that you wouldn’t recognize me unless you took off your mask?”

And, the face of her nestled inside was none other than the face of the saintess, Estelle.

***

“Why is the saintess here…”

“She’s a saint, is there an imperial law that says she can’t participate in a masquerade?”

She is clear and beautiful, but her voice scratches people’s nerves as if she doesn’t know anything.

Even if it wasn’t the proof of the face, it was telling the fact that the owner was Estelle better than anything else.

I thought many times that it was okay for the heroine, the saint, and the main character, the prince, to be so different from the original novel.

“Why do you do that when you know what I mean?”

The important thing right now was Estelle’s reason for participating in the masquerade hosted by the imperial family, so the priority was postponed.

“I told you. If you ask me why I’m talking to my friend, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Can I ask you again how long the saintess and I have been friends?”

“You talk too much. It’s been quite a while since Prince Albert and I met.”

“It hasn’t even been a year yet.”

“In the first place, the thoughts felt in the heart are more important than the actual time.”

“····.”

Estelle makes absurd statements as if she would never give an easy answer.

It would not be an illusion to think that Estelle in front of me would make my head hurt even more than the thought that my fiancée, who already knew of my existence, might be watching this situation.

“It’s a joke, and I came because I have something to say to Prince Albert.”

“······Are the words to be conveyed so important that you have to come all the way to the prom to say them?”

“Hmm… It’s true that it’s that important, but the reason I came today was because I wanted to enjoy the masquerade.”

I’ve been praying all day lately, so I’m really bored.

Estelle spoke in a strangely lonely voice, not the excited voice she had just heard.

“····.”

When I heard that, I also felt strangely heavy.

I heard that you have been praying in the church since the last flu commotion.

I heard that on an outing after a long time, I, whom I thought of as a friend, made a remark that drew the line, and it hurt my heart.

I don’t know if it’s because of Estelle’s position as a saint, but the speed at which her guilt was planted was very fast.

“Of course, I was joking. Actually, the Crown Prince showed her around the imperial palace yesterday as well.”

“····.”

“I heard that the imperial palace has a different beauty than the church.”

Although it’s a flaw that it disappears as fast as it was planted.

Looking at the saintess’s smile that the mask couldn’t cover, it seemed that at least I didn’t have to worry about the saintess I hadn’t seen in a while.

“······I don’t know what to say.”

“Isn’t that what life is like?”

“····.”

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Now I have to find Rebecca, but I was too busy worrying about my future path with the obstacle of being a saint.

I just hoped my jealous fiancée didn’t see this.