Chapter 74
Chapter 74
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 74
Chapter Title: The One Placed in the Palm of the Hand
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Miss, this isn’t a place for a little lamb like you.”
The lips revealed beneath the cat mask curved into a smile. Daphne smiled back at her. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around Artemisia, but she held back and grumbled on purpose instead.
“Why am I a little lamb?”
“You really don’t know how decadent the Masquerade Ball is?”
“Decadent?”
“Men and women alike pair off the moment they take a liking to each other. It’s utterly primal and savage.”
Artemisia scolded her in a stern voice. Daphne glanced around. It seemed her sense of threat from those approaching them wasn’t just mere nerves after all.
“How did you know it was me?”
Artemisia chuckled at Daphne’s question.
“Blonde hair, wearing an ultra-luxurious dress at a glance, and gestures that scream innocence. That flustered expression.”
“Oh…….”
“Plus, we’ve spent so much time together. How could I not know?”
Daphne gave a soft smile.
“I missed you.”
“Oh, come on. You said you’d come find me. I’ve been waiting.”
Daphne looked sheepish. It had been so heartbreaking that she couldn’t meet Artemisia, always having to watch for Asherad’s gaze.
“I’m just glad you seemed to be doing well whenever I saw you from afar.”
Daphne smiled at her warm words. Hearing someone wish the best for you always warmed the heart, no matter how many times.
Artemisia linked arms with Daphne and led her to the balcony. She glanced around, checking the adjacent balconies and ensuring no one was nearby, then whispered quietly.
“So, Daphne, how’s it going?”
“Yes?”
Artemisia whispered again.
“Cutting off His Imperial Majesty’s head.”
Daphne flinched. Why? Could it be? Had Artemisia intuited it so directly? Daphne fidgeted, looking around anxiously. Naturally, since Artemisia had scouted it beforehand, the place was empty except for the two of them.
“That’s…… not it. I’m…… just trying to escape.”
“Ah ha.”
Artemisia snickered. Daphne quickly realized she was testing her.
“Can you escape? Should I help?”
“No……. I’m fine.”
Daphne had the Rocania Count as her accomplice. Contact had stopped after nearly getting caught escaping by Asherad, but still. The silver lining was that Asherad thought she’d tried to flee alone and had no idea about any helpers.
He arrogantly believed he knew everything about her.
Who would know that Daphne had secretly met the Rocania Count for help?
The worrying part now was Artemisia’s attitude. If Asherad later realized she’d had help, wouldn’t Artemisia become the target of his suspicion and punishment?
“I’m fine. I still have value to the Emperor.”
As if reading Daphne’s thoughts, Artemisia smiled.
“No, really, I’m okay now. I don’t plan on running anymore.”
Daphne said it deliberately, a bit louder. Artemisia’s expression changed. She looked at Daphne like she was a stranger.
“Daphne. Don’t tell me…….”
“I like His Majesty.”
Daphne smiled brightly. She could tell from Artemisia’s masked face that confusion had settled in. Daphne grabbed her arm. Artemisia seemed lost in thought for a moment, then smiled back.
“No wonder…… That painting felt off.”
“Yes?”
“The one you entered this time.”
Daphne’s hair stood on end. Her emotions had surged wildly because of Asherad most times, but this was different. Nothing was more mortifying than her teacher seeing the painting she’d made. A chill ran through her for entirely different reasons.
“Oh……. How did you know?”
“I know. I’ve seen so many of your paintings. I want to praise you for keeping at it. You really have talent.”
“…….”
“It would’ve been nice if it were a bit bigger…….”
Daphne shook her head vigorously at the regretful tone. Artemisia said cheerfully.
“The response was good, though?”
“……Really?”
“Yes. It’s pretty decent, so now it’s hanging in the center of the wall. You know what it means when a painting gets placed in the middle at the art festival.”
Unlike works from masters or established artists, newcomers’ pieces fill the walls densely. The one with the best reactions goes in the center. Artemisia patted Daphne’s shoulder.
“Seeing that painting made something click for me.”
“…….”
“Why did you paint the laurel and the sun god legend, Daphne?”
“…….”
“Is it because you want to run away?”
“That’s…….”
“If you wanted to escape, why did the nymph turn into a tree of all things?”
In that moment, her heart sank.
“If she truly wanted to flee, she could’ve become a new form—a fish in the river, the wind itself. Why a tree bathed in the sun’s grace? One that can’t move, rooted to the ground, unable to run…….”
“…….”
“I get it, Daphne. If that’s your choice, I respect it.”
There was a tiny hint of disappointment in Artemisia’s voice, but Daphne couldn’t respond. Instead, she whispered softly.
“Will you respect even this kind of choice……?”
Artemisia stared at Daphne intently. Daphne could tell what face she was making just from her lips. Soon, she lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Of course, Daphne.”
Her words overflowed with warmth. Hearing them, Daphne nearly burst into tears right then. She wanted to say it wasn’t true, that she would run. But then, Artemisia spoke.
“Oh, Daphne.”
“…….”
“I heard His Majesty might be at the Masquerade Ball.”
“Yes?”
“They say he’s here incognito, looking for an empress candidate without telling anyone…….”
As Daphne’s face stiffened, Artemisia placed a hand on her shoulder.
“I don’t know the details, but since we’re here, let’s go find His Majesty. There’s a rumor the woman who finds him will become empress.”
* * *
“Yeah, go on and catch me.”
Asherad, sitting on the very next balcony, snickered softly to himself.
An irrepressible satisfaction lit up his face. At the Masquerade Ball’s opening act, as everyone danced like figures in a painting, lost in lust and revelry, he had watched Daphne.
What would she do without him there? Look for a chance to flee? Seek out accomplices? Asherad had been certain someone helped her leave the palace and return.
But the circumstances when he’d collapsed from poison, combined with Turbul Duke’s vigilance and no one spotting Daphne, left the accomplice unclear. He’d suspected Artemisia, but she hadn’t even known Daphne was gone.
So Asherad had deliberately loosened the leash.
To see who she talked to, who approached her.
Hidden in the shadows, he watched and listened to everything. When they glanced around and found the balcony, he’d eavesdropped from right next door.
“No plans to run…… huh.”
He hadn’t caught the start of Daphne and Artemisia’s conversation. But her voice saying she wouldn’t run rang clear. For a moment, he wondered if she’d noticed him watching, but no.
What Daphne was hiding was so simple it was laughable.
From the talk, she’d secretly painted and entered it in the art festival.
On the day she fled from him, she’d seen her own painting there and rushed back upon hearing he’d awakened.
There was no contradiction in Daphne’s actions or words. If the hint of secrecy was just about that, it was almost endearing.
He’d told her to paint anyway. The moment she flatly told Artemisia she had no plans to run, he felt generous toward her.
Asherad recalled Daphne’s painting.
The nymph fleeing the sun god became a laurel tree.
Just as Artemisia questioned, why had she become a tree? Something lowly, barely surviving on the sun’s grace and heaven-sent rain?
Asherad couldn’t find the answer. But he liked Artemisia’s conclusion—that Daphne didn’t want to run. His suspicions eased, and he could finally smile brightly.
“I heard His Majesty might be at the Masquerade Ball.”
“He’s here incognito, looking for an empress candidate without telling anyone…….”
Asherad held back a burst of laughter at that. He didn’t know where the info leaked, but credit where it’s due.
Asherad—no, the “poor man with dark brown hair and an awkward gait”—smiled quietly.
He’d disguised himself in moderately worn clothes and a limp. There were plenty of low-ranking retired soldiers with leg injuries, and as intended, no one approached him.
“Since we’re here, let’s find His Majesty. There’s a rumor the woman who finds him will become empress.”
As if Daphne could spot him. He’d planned to step in if she faced real danger. Too many here eyed his beloved.
By now, Daphne had emerged from the balcony and tried nibbling on finger foods but couldn’t eat. She glanced around anxiously.
Then, her eyes met Asherad’s. But she turned away. As if that brief glance had been nothing.
She really doesn’t recognize me. Asherad teased inwardly.
When a man approached her and said something, she hesitated. He wondered if she’d follow, watching intently, but she shook her head and vanished into the crowd like fleeing.
Asherad frowned. Daphne was gone.
He’d lost her this time.
As he turned to search, someone hugged his waist from behind.
“Your Majesty.”
A sweet voice rang in his ear. Asherad turned. Daphne, in a bird-shaped gold mask, was hugging his waist. He was puzzled.
Why?
How did she know it was him?
Daphne beamed.
“I knew it was you the moment I saw you earlier.”
“…….”
“I’ve spent so much time with Your Majesty—I recognized you right away. Did I do well?”
The blue eyes behind the mask were surely crinkled softly. He stared blankly before letting out a hollow laugh. He’d thought he was toying with her in his palm, but she’d already spotted him and planned her approach.
It was he who’d been placed in her palm.
Yet this pleasant trickery didn’t wound his pride—it thrilled him.
She’d found him amid the crowd. That fact alone was overwhelming enough.