The Hero Who Hates Parties
The solitary hero hated parties. The moment she stepped into the banquet hall, Serian felt like she had entered hell itself. ‘I’d rather run a hundred laps around the training grounds…’ she thought.
She had been seated in the absolute worst spot—right beside the table reserved for the imperial family and distinguished guests. Dozens of clashing perfumes created a nauseating stench. Meaningless laughter and flattery blended into an unbearable din. The greasy smell of glistening food only added to the assault. Every sense tangled together, scraping at her nerves.
On the table overflowing with endless delicacies, only one thing sat before her—the single item she had specially requested from the attendant. Inside a tall, transparent glass, cold ice swirled with rich chocolate. Ice chocolate. In this chaos, it was her only sweet refuge, the one thing capable of cooling her overheated mind.
Using the surrounding murmurs as background noise, she sipped through a straw, crunching the ice. In a hall brimming with champagne and wine, her solitary figure stood out like an aloof, otherworldly island.
“Um… Lady Serian, the Empire’s Flash…”
A young baron, dressed to the nines, finally mustered the courage to speak. Serian didn’t even turn her head. Her focus remained solely on the sound of ice clinking inside her glass as she gave a curt reply.
“Yes.”
“Your achievements at Silver Horn Fortress were truly monumental! They’ll be recorded in the annals of imperial history!”
“...I see.”
Serian tapped the ice in her glass with her straw and answered in a lifeless voice. It was an obvious signal that she wanted no further conversation. The baron smiled awkwardly and withdrew.
Soon after, the wife of a marquis approached, dropping the name of her family crest in an attempt to build rapport. All she received in return was a vacant stare and a flat—
“Ah.”
—indifferent exclamation. This pattern repeated several times. The Empire’s newest hero treated every single person who approached her in exactly the same way.
She never once touched the finest imperial wines or champagnes. Instead, she focused exclusively on the mysterious brown beverage she had specially ordered. Her unfocused gaze never met anyone’s eyes. Her icy, one-word replies cut off every compliment and piece of flattery.
Her attitude instantly became the hottest topic in the hall. Open whispers spread through the crowd like waves.
But to Serian, all of it felt supremely satisfying. This chilly, awkward atmosphere. The way everyone kept stealing glances at her and then quickly looking away. A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips before she could stop it. She could sense that her plan was working perfectly.
This was Stage Two of her grand Escape the Empire operation!
Its official codename: ‘The Crazy Bitch at the Banquet Is Me!’
In her previous life as a member of one of the Five Great Families, she had been dragged to countless banquets. Back then, she had still been trying hard to fit in—she would force a fake smile and act friendly. But now that she had decided to leave the Empire, there was no reason to keep up the act!
‘Hehe, by now they must all be thinking I’ve gotten a little fame and turned into an arrogant, rootless upstart.’
Yes. This was it. She would become the most ill-mannered, foul-tempered wretch in history.
Just as Serian was feeling immensely pleased with her flawless plan and about to take another sip of her ice chocolate—
A familiar, warm voice cut through all the murmuring.
“Serian! Still only looking for sweet things, I see?”
When she looked up, there stood Ian Solaris, eldest son of the Solaris ducal family—one of the five great magical houses—with a playful smile on his face. He had always been like an older brother to her, the one who looked after her especially well at events like this since childhood. His appearance immediately drew even more eyes.
“Whoa, our little princess. I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve grown up so much that you’ve become the Empire’s Flash. I was genuinely shocked.”
He spoke to her without any reservation.
“Come over to our table. Let’s have some champagne together. Everyone’s waiting for you.”
Serian paused her sipping, looked at him properly for the first time, and opened her mouth.
“No.”
“Huh…?”
The smile on Ian’s face froze for a moment. Before he could say anything else, Serian delivered the finishing blow.
“Your table is too noisy.”
It was even colder and more decisive than her previous curt replies. The smile completely vanished from Ian’s face.
“Haha… I see. It must be quite hectic right now, huh?”
Deep disappointment and bewilderment flashed across his features, but he tried to act composed as he continued.
“Then… I’ll see you later, Serian.”
He turned awkwardly and returned to his own table. The banquet hall stirred once again. At this point, it was practically confirmed that she was an arrogant and insolent person.
Back at his table, Ian picked up a champagne glass with a complicated expression.
‘…You’ve changed so much, Serian.’
A wave of disappointment washed over him. As a child, she had been a small, timid girl who would stand awkwardly alone in the corner of unfamiliar banquet halls. Whenever he approached and offered his hand, she would smile shyly and follow him. Now, she had built an icy wall even toward him—the person who had been closest to her. He could hardly believe this was the Serian he knew.
Had the fame that came overnight truly turned her so cold-hearted, just as people were saying?
Clinging to the last shred of hope, he looked back toward her seat. But what he saw was not the face of a friend who had become a stranger.
Her seat. The place of honor. Her title: the Empire’s Flash.
She was no longer simply the young lady of the Elhardt family.
It was an open secret that the Solaris family led the faction supporting the First Prince. In contrast, the Elhardt family was still maintaining political neutrality. Until now, no one had taken issue with the close relationship between the two families’ heirs. It had simply been friendly interaction between fellow prestigious magical houses.
But now that she had received the title of hero, everything was different.
If she were to openly associate with him at this imperial banquet… it would be a clear political signal that Serian Elhardt—a key figure in the Armaments Bureau and the Empire’s hero—had thrown her support behind the First Prince’s faction.
The delicate balance of the imperial succession, which had been barely maintained, would collapse in an instant. Internal conflict within the royal family during wartime would undoubtedly become a catastrophe that shook the very foundations of the Empire.
‘No way…!’
Ian was stunned. Her cold attitude hadn’t been directed at him personally. It was the heavy sense of responsibility that came with being a hero—she could not drag the entire Empire into chaos over personal feelings. By pushing away even the person she had been closest to with the coldest demeanor possible, she was making her intention crystal clear: she would not belong to any faction.
Even if it meant hurting him.
Ian smiled bitterly and muttered to himself.
“I see, Serian… If that’s what you intend.”
A woman who overheard his murmur could no longer hold back her anger and whispered.
“Ian, how can you smile when Serian has changed like that?”
It was Elise, the young lady of the Valois marquisate. She too had been close to Serian alongside Ian since childhood.
“Just wait. I’ll go over there and give her a piece of my mind.”
As Elise tried to stand, Ian grabbed her arm.
“Sit down, Elise.”
His voice was low but firm. He looked at his friend, whose face had turned red with rage, and spoke in a soothing tone.
Then, loud enough for the surrounding tables to hear the whispered criticisms, he said in a quiet but clear voice.
“Elise. That isn’t arrogance. We all… no, you and I know better than anyone what kind of person Serian really is.”
“But…!”
Elise’s momentum faltered, though anger still lingered on her face. Ian didn’t miss the opening and delivered the decisive line.
“Serian… isn’t turning her back on us. By pushing away those closest to her with the coldest attitude possible… she is protecting the Empire right now.”
“Ah…!”
Elise’s eyes widened in shock. The murmurs from the nobles who had been eavesdropping on their conversation stopped as if by magic.
She hadn’t become arrogant. The moment the Empire’s hero showed closeness to the Solaris family—the leaders of the First Prince’s faction—the balance of power in the imperial court would collapse. In this precarious time of bloodshed against the Astra Empire, she was extinguishing the spark of internal conflict that would begin from the closest place—at the cost of her own wounds.
Her cold, curt replies and indifferent gaze were both a shield for everyone and a wall that isolated herself. A declaration that she would not hold anyone’s hand or take anyone’s side. A solitary resolve to bear the weight of the title “hero” alone and block all political scheming by herself.
While everyone else was drunk on victory and raising toasts, she alone drank a cold beverage, preparing for the next war—the invisible war.
Elise’s trembling voice broke the silence. She wasn’t the only one overcome with awe. The profound interpretation had come from the mouth of the friend who should have been hurt the most by the cold treatment. It was more than enough to transform her apparent arrogance into noble self-sacrifice.
The nobles who had been badmouthing Serian just moments ago now blushed with shame. Their murmurs quickly turned into gasps of admiration and eyes filled with respect.
Ian’s interpretation spread through the banquet hall in no time.
The first to react was the young baron who had bravely approached Serian earlier only to be rejected outright. Just moments ago he had been telling those around him—
—and badmouthing her. Now, with a reddened face, he whispered to the person beside him.
“Oh dear, I misunderstood her… She wasn’t ignoring me. To think she had such a profound reason—”
His gaze, now filled with reverence, turned once again toward Serian at the head table. She was simply crunching ice in her ice chocolate out of boredom, but to the baron’s eyes, her characteristic expressionless, icy face looked completely different now.
That expression—it was the anguish of a hero bearing the fate of the Empire on her shoulders. Even at this very moment, she was watching the battlefield alone like a lone wolf, wary of invisible enemies.
The fact that he had spoken ill of her, claiming he had been ignored, now felt unbearably shallow and shameful. ‘…To think I judged someone like her so poorly.’
The hostility he had felt toward her had completely transformed into respect.
But while everyone was lost in this noble misunderstanding—
The person at the very center of that misunderstanding, Serian, was thinking something entirely different.
‘Phew, that was close.’
Her gaze drifted toward the table Ian had returned to.
‘…Eek, Elise is there too!’
Their table was lined with all kinds of strong liquor. In her memories, every party she had attended with those two always ended the same way: an excruciating drinking session that lasted until dawn, followed by the hellish hangover the next day. If she got caught by them… she would have had to drink that bitter stuff all night. And the next day would have been spent suffering from a pounding headache.
Yes. She had simply avoided a hellish drinking party!
‘Why on earth do they pay their own money to drink something so bitter?’
She hated alcohol. It made her stomach churn and her head feel like it was splitting open. She had never understood why anyone would drink it, neither in her previous life nor in this one.
‘Hehe, now I don’t have to force myself to join in anymore.’
There was no longer any need to endure it for the sake of her family’s reputation or because they were friends. She once again felt satisfied with her perfect plan.
Yes, let them misunderstand all they wanted. Let them think she was a rootless, ill-mannered wretch who had become arrogant the moment she gained fame. She welcomed it. Everything was going exactly according to plan!
Oblivious to the fact that the gazes around her had changed from contempt to reverence, she peacefully brought the ice chocolate back to her lips.
. . .
And in the darkest corner of the banquet hall, hidden in shadows where no one’s eyes could reach—
A pair of cold eyes watched the entire scene. His gaze lingered on Serian for a moment before shifting to his true target: the Seventh Princess, Lilliana. A cruel smile formed on his lips.