Chapter 41
I wiped all expression from my face.
"Lady Illium. Your words are excessive." I slammed my glass down with a resounding clank and swept a cold gaze over them.
Lily made an "oh no" face.
"Did the name of House Crisis seem so trivial that it would be tossed around in a place like this?"
"Th-that's not—"
"House Crisis is a martial family that has protected the empire with the sword throughout its long history. For a member of Crisis to wield a sword is only natural, so I fail to understand what you mean by that. Are you insulting the history of House Crisis?"
In high society, a family's influence didn't always hold sway. But it wasn't entirely powerless either. As the empire's sole ducal house—with only the imperial family and the temple as checks— the name Crisis, revered even by commoners, carried immense weight across the continent.
"Milady. It seems there's a misunderstanding. We weren't insulting House Crisis; we were just saying that a lady wielding a sword—"
"I am a member of House Crisis before I am a lady. Do you not know that insulting me is the same as insulting the ducal house?"
As I laced my chilling gaze with faint killing intent, the ladies shuddered visibly.
"And what era do you think this is to say such things? You ladies hold some truly classic ideas that transcend the ages."
The empire still clung to strong male superiority, but these days, it wasn't unheard of for women to inherit titles or even become knights.
I curled my lip, and the ladies' faces flushed red.
"Lady Crisis!"
Just as an indignant Lily raised her voice, a potent rose scent brushed my nose.
"Why don't you stop there, Lady Illium."
Fiery red hair like flames. Luminous green eyes sparkling brilliantly. Elegant poise. The eyes of a seasoned hunter resembling the apex predator of the food chain.
The gateway—and exit—to all the empire's gold coins. Master of countless trade routes. One of the three marquess houses. Llewellyn Decardo of House Decardo, dubbed the "Rose That Devours Money," whose wealth no one could rival.
Lily's eyes widened hugely.
Crazy. I nearly blurted out a curse aloud in shock. 'Why is Llewellyn here?'
Flustered, my social smile began to falter. Llewellyn showing up wasn't the issue—but the fact that she'd seen Mir before was.
'If Llewellyn recognizes me here!'
Everything would crumble perfectly. My pupils shook uncontrollably.
"Wh-what right do you have to butt in, Lady Decardo?! This is between Lady Crisis and me, so back off!"
Lily, who had been strutting like a fox on a tigerless mountain, flinched before the true ruler but still snapped back.
Llewellyn snorted derisively and stepped forward, shielding me.
"As a senior in high society, it's only natural to help a Crisis lady being bullied. Instead of welcoming a fresh debutante, you're bullying her... It really lowers the tone of society."
"B-bullying?! Hazing?! That's not—!"
"Enough, Lily Illium. It's ugly. I heard you even brought up House Crisis. Do you want to cause a scene? You know the name Crisis isn't to be taken lightly. I advise you to apologize before this escalates. You wouldn't want it reaching Duke Crisis's ears either."
Llewellyn twisted her lips teasingly. Lily's face drained to a sickly blue.
Wow.
I clapped inwardly. Direct and crisp rhetoric. An elegance that perfectly packaged speech that might otherwise seem a bit rough. Even if she was taken later, Llewellyn was undoubtedly the empress of current high society.
"......I'm sorry, Lady Crisis. I've been rude."
The fox who had played queen under the tiger's roar meekly tucked her tail. She couldn't utter a word to Llewellyn but shot me a venomous glare—though she didn't seem sorry at all. Still, I decided to let it slide.
"It's fine. Everyone makes mistakes. But..." I swept a cold gaze over the three ladies. "Remember always: the mouth is the door to calamity, and the tongue is the sword that cuts oneself."
A warning that they'd be finished if they ran their mouths carelessly. Lily shuddered as if chilled to the bone and hurriedly led the other ladies away.
"......Thank you for helping me, Lady Decardo."
After the storm passed, I caught my breath and gave Llewellyn a brief thanks.
She shot me a prim glare, then snapped open her fan to cover her mouth.
"Don't misunderstand. It wasn't for you. I just couldn't stand seeing society's standards drop."
True to the novel. I tilted my glass and smirked. In the novel, Llewellyn had a classic tsundere personality—loving Rainer and jealous of Aria—until she blackened.
I bowed my head briefly toward her. "Still, thank you. Better late than never. I'm Kashmir Dorema de Kaiser Crisis."
Llewellyn haughtily lifted her chin. "The eldest daughter of House Decardo, Marquessate: Llewellyn Berta de Chesler Decardo."
No matter how prim she acted, to a Sword Master with about sixty years across two lives, she just seemed cute. As I chuckled inwardly, Llewellyn—still giving me that prim side-eye—suddenly narrowed her brows.
"By the way, Lady Crisis."
"Yes?"
Her sharp green eyes pierced me, then shifted to my hand holding the glass. They deepened.
"Haven't we met somewhere before?"
I coughed out a strangled sound. "N-no, I don't think so?"
"Hmm... It feels like we have."
"We haven't."
I denied it too firmly in my panic. As I averted my eyes furtively, Llewellyn narrowed her brows and slowly parted her lips.
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor, Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, Crown Prince His Highness, and Second Prince His Highness are entering the ballroom!"
The rulers of the Solatine Empire, where the sun never sets, made their appearance.
Whoa... My eyes went first to the emperor, who exuded overwhelming presence. A man with golden hair—the symbol of the imperial family—ascending the dais confidently. Helios I.
"We see the Sun of the Empire."
Greetings poured out simultaneously across the ballroom. I bowed slightly and murmured mine.
The emperor, lounging imperiously on the throne, nodded.
"No need for long speeches. Everyone, enjoy the ball."
His address ended with startling brevity. I clicked my tongue, gazing up at the emperor who seemed annoyed by everything.
In the novel, he was a bit of an oddball...
But an emperor was an emperor. As I admired the subtle intimidation in his icy blue eyes, they suddenly rolled toward me.
Our eyes met head-on.
Uh... I felt myself drawn into their deep blue, then snapped out of it. The emperor was staring straight at me.
Too late to ignore, too far to greet—I hesitated awkwardly. Then his lips quirked mischievously upward.
......A wink?
I was floored. Seeing the emperor wink roguishly with one eye, I panicked and turned away, pretending not to notice.
What caught my turned gaze was none other than the crown prince.
And I froze in shock.
......Di, Di, Didi?
The crown prince was Didi with different hair.
"......Tch. Well, I'll be going then."
Llewellyn stared intently at my gaping, stunned face, clicked her tongue, and vanished. Whether she left or not, I couldn't move from the spot.
'Why is Didi here?'
It was peak shock. My slack jaw wouldn't close, and my mind went blank. I just stared blankly as Didi sat beside the throne.
'The crown prince of the Solatine Empire... is one of the novel's male leads.'
Diego Iliad de Helios Solatine. The empire's crown prince and one of the protagonists of the novel Fairy's Night.
Crown Prince Diego is the same Didi I saved.
Crazy.
Only curses came to mind.
'That was then?'
Everything twisted. I'd derailed the original story.
In the original, Diego and Aria's connection began when Aria healed the comatose Diego after an assassination attempt.
Crown Prince Diego, son of the late empress, had been named crown prince at birth. But when Tina Kypress became empress the year he turned five, she began threatening his life to elevate her own son, the second prince, as heir.
'The emperor adored Diego but couldn't openly protect him.'
The emperor appoints the crown prince, but the prince must secure the throne alone afterward. Emperors cannot interfere in succession struggles. It was a long-standing Solatine imperial tradition.
'All dirty tricks and illegal means are tacitly allowed in that process.'
That was why even as crown prince, Diego faced endless assassination attempts.
'He'd endured until the novel's opening, when assassins finally left him comatose.'
If Diego had fallen, the empire would have been thrown into chaos. I should have sensed something off from the total lack of news about it.
I ruffled my hair with a silent scream.
'Aria and Diego's flag was supposed to stand when she healed his comatose state!'
Fairies, closest to nature, possessed healing powers that could save anyone clinging to life, no matter the injury. Half-fairy Aria had been born with it, and healing Crown Prince Diego was meant to spark their romance.
'But I ruined it.'
I'd saved the Diego who was supposed to fall into a coma. Yeah. Somehow, I'd become the original-plot destroyer.
'Damn it!'
A crack formed in my glass. Staring dazedly at Diego for a while, he—who had been smiling ethereally from the throne—turned his gaze my way.
Our eyes met: his deep blue ones that seemed to pull you in.
His eyes widened hugely, rippling like a pond struck by a stone.
'Shit!'
I whipped my head away, cursing inwardly. My heart pounded wildly. Diego's gaze clung persistently to my face.
'He won't recognize me, right? No way! I was wearing a mask!'
No way he would. I'd always worn a mask around him. Even if he thought I looked similar, no one would connect that Sword Master to a ducal lady.
"......What the heck. Sis, why's your neck all red?"
Aria, who had snuck up, glanced between my odd reaction and the still-staring crown prince, narrowing her brows.
"No way... you like that guy?"
Her voice dropped chillingly low. Wondering what nonsense this was, I turned to see Aria's serious face.
"His face is decent, I guess... but nah. Compared to you, sis, he's just a bear. Sure, being crown prince means he's loaded, but even Grandpa Dragon wouldn't give you up..."
She glared daggers at the crown prince like a principal wife furious at her husband stolen by a concubine.
"It's not like that. He just... looks like someone I know."
I brushed it off vaguely, dodging Aria's narrowing eyes and fleeing to a corner.
'No way he recognized me. No way...'