Chapter 124
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 124
Chapter Title: Center of Attention
'No, how did things end up like this?'
He had only come to gather information on Towns at the request of Luke and Morgan.
He had no intention of even seeing Katrina's face, figuring he could just slip in discreetly, get the info, and leave...
"Who the heck is that guy?"
"A commoner, apparently?"
"Then why is Her Highness keeping him so close?"
Today was supposed to be Katrina's birthday alone, but the star of the event had somehow become two people.
The birthday girl herself, the imperial princess, and the man she had approached first: Jeon.
And to top it off, she had even suggested dancing together.
That alone was more than enough to make Jeon the hottest topic of the night.
"Oh, right, this is your first time at something like this, isn't it?"
"Pardon? Ah... yeah, it is."
"Great, then how about I introduce you to some people?"
But now she was even proposing they stick together for the entire birthday party.
At this point, the people around them were focusing less on Jeon's identity and more on what exactly their relationship was.
Rumors flew: childhood friends, the one who saved the princess's life, and so on.
"Looks like her fiancé to me."
"Right? Or at least a lover on the verge of engagement."
"Whoa, so Princess Katrina isn't doing a political marriage after all."
The prevailing theory seemed to be that Jeon and Katrina were at minimum lovers, at maximum engaged.
Of course, none of it was proven, but the shocking scene unfolding before their eyes was enough to spread the rumor like wildfire.
If it wasn't contained early, it could turn into a massive blaze.
And in that critical moment, the one who stepped up to extinguish it was Lena.
"We truly appreciate Your Highness's kind intentions, but regrettably, Jeon is my attendant."
"...Huh?"
Like everyone else, Lena had been caught off guard by Katrina's sudden actions at first, unsure how to respond.
But she couldn't just stand by while Katrina tried to snatch Jeon away in that opening.
"An attendant... Surely you could spare one for a bit? Would that be difficult?"
"Yes. Jeon is a central figure for me, so it would."
"Just for a very short while? Not even for the duration of the ball?"
"This is my first time in the imperial capital, so I feel anxious without a familiar face nearby. That would be difficult too."
Lena firmly rejected Katrina's subtle demands without being rude.
'...What the hell are these two doing?'
Of course, from Jeon's sandwiched position, it just looked like the two were making a fuss over him.
But he couldn't step in.
His opponents were royalty and nobility.
They both seemed to like him, but that didn't mean a mere commoner like Jeon could butt in recklessly.
'I hope Lena wins this one.'
So Jeon silently cheered for Lena from within.
If Katrina won, he'd be dragged around the party all night, showing off his face everywhere.
'This much attention is plenty already.'
And whether it was Jeon's wish coming true or not...
"...Hmm, well, no helping it then. I can't just take someone else's attendant."
"Thank you for understanding."
The contest between the two women over Jeon ended in Lena's victory.
"What a shame. We almost got to hang out together."
"Ah, yeah."
Jeon gave an awkward smile in response to Katrina's regretful gaze.
Perhaps displeased by his reaction, Katrina shot him a slight glare before extending her hand to him.
"It was nice meeting you today."
It was meant as a farewell handshake, but to Jeon, it overlapped with a scene he'd seen before.
'This is definitely like last time...'
But regardless of his thoughts, he couldn't refuse a handshake from Katrina at her birthday party, so he took her hand.
'Yup.'
Once again, Katrina's mana tickled the palm of his hand.
"The party's livelier than I expected."
Quite some time after the entrance had filled up.
New arrivals entered the venue of Princess Katrina's birthday party.
At their center stood a seductive beauty boasting lush auburn hair.
"Ah, Lady Helena. You've arrived. Allow me to escort you inside."
"No need! I'll do it."
"Hey there! Remember me? Will, from Marquis Pope's birthday party last time!"
"Lady Helena! It's me! You remember, right?!"
Helena.
The closest confidante of the Second Prince in the current imperial succession struggle.
The moment she entered the party hall, nobles near the entrance recognized her one by one and approached.
Helena responded with a faint smile, scanning them once over.
But her eyes held only dry indifference.
"Did someone important arrive?"
Helena brushed off the crowd like that and asked her attendant.
In that brief moment, her attendant, having gathered intel, whispered back.
"Hmm, that Dillinger? And even Her Highness?"
Her gaze immediately shifted to the center of Peace Park.
And in her view was an airship descending to the ground far earlier than scheduled.
"Interesting. Let's go take a look."
Having grasped the situation, Helena headed straight for the park's center.
Countless people greeted her along the way, but she passed them with the same impassive eyes and faint smile.
'Meaningless humans.'
All those greeting her were nobles who wouldn't be ignored anywhere else, but to her, they were utterly useless.
'Just receiving preferential treatment because of the blood they were born with.'
She herself came from humble origins.
Yet here they were, flocking to her without a second thought.
Not even knowing her exact background, power, or authority—just trying to cozy up.
'Would you still do that if you knew where I came from?'
She wanted to sneer at them outright, but she couldn't yet.
Still, Helena always found these moments satisfying.
It was one reason she bothered with high society beyond her work with the Second Prince.
"Hmm, is that them?"
How many greetings had she passed by?
By the time Helena and her attendant reached the center, Jeon and Katrina had just finished their handshake and were parting ways.
So Helena didn't know the exact words or gestures exchanged between them, but she could tell Jeon had garnered immense interest from Katrina.
Proof: the moment Katrina withdrew, half the surrounding nobles swarmed her, the other half headed toward Jeon.
"Interesting."
The party's star, Katrina, had appeared a full thirty minutes early.
Yet even with her there, attention was split evenly between her and this mystery man?
Helena smiled, intrigued by the famous unknown's debut.
"Shall we join them too?"
Helena slipped into the gathering crowd around Jeon.
"Hey, what—! Who shoved... Huh?"
"What's up? Oh...?"
"Helena?"
"Lady Helena?"
Not quite on Katrina or Jeon's level of impact.
But Helena was a well-known figure in imperial high society, shrouded in mystique.
The people she encountered naturally parted for her.
Thanks to that, she easily reached Jeon.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Helena."
"...Pardon?"
She greeted Jeon directly, who was overwhelmed handling the barrage of hellos.
'Helena?'
He'd already been swamped before.
After Katrina left, the attention that had been split among Dillinger, Lena, and him now fell mostly on Jeon alone, making it even worse.
But amid the chaos, the auburn-haired woman's greeting pierced through clearly.
'The Second Prince's top confidante—and the reason behind Towns's disappearance.'
That was precisely why Jeon was at Princess Katrina's birthday party.
"No greeting back?"
While Jeon faltered at the sudden key player's appearance, Helena waited with a sweet smile and asked again.
"Ah, yes. I'm Jeon."
This time, Jeon snapped out of it and returned the greeting.
"Jeon? No family name?"
"No. I'm a commoner, so..."
"Ah."
Most at these birthday parties hailed from prominent houses.
Yet the one drawing the most attention here was a commoner with no background to claim.
And there was one more such person present.
"Fascinating. I don't have a family name either."
Helena herself.
Wherever she went, she introduced herself with just her three-letter name.
This spawned endless rumors: commoner origins, street urchin, bastard child of some house, or even hidden imperial blood.
The difference? Helena wielded the Second Prince's backing to turn her namelessness into mystique.
Jeon simply stated his status honestly.
"Oh, I see."
"Of course, my origins are a secret."
"Ah, yeah."
"Hmm? Am I the only one feeling a sense of kinship here?"
"Is that... how it works?"
Unlike Helena, who took interest in that similarity.
Jeon found her attention a bit burdensome.
'I didn't want to get involved.'
The goal here was to gather info on Towns while avoiding direct contact with Helena.
'But everything's going off the rails.'
He'd gotten plenty of attention, but no meaningful intel yet—and instead of dodging her, here she was, right in his face.
Nothing was going according to plan.
"Interesting. So how'd you end up at this party?"
"Just following the young lady I serve, Lena..."
"Hmm, really?"
Plus, even Jeon could tell Helena seemed genuinely interested in him.
The situation was turning awkwardly complicated.
"Where are you from, then?"
"That too..."
"Gonna blame the young lady for everything? You're playing hard to get a bit much, aren't you?"
For Jeon, dodging the subtly arrogant nobles was easy enough with vague responses.
But Helena approached him as casually as an old street friend, belying her high-society fame, making evasion feel limited.
'Well, since it's come to this...'
So Jeon decided to shift his mindset a little.
Plans weren't working, but as long as he achieved the goal, it was fine.
"It's not playing hard to get... This is my first time in a place like this, so I'm just awkward."
"Is that so? Want me to show you the ropes?"
"...How exactly?"
Thus, contrary to original plans, he decided not to avoid contact with Helena entirely.
'This might actually be better.'
From an info-gathering perspective, prying directly from Helena would be faster than skirting around and dodging.
So Jeon resolved to mingle with her a bit.