24.
“Will this do?”
Marigold finished writing the letter. The fairy, Pina, perched on her shoulder, spoke indifferently.
“Do you think the Imperial Family will even accept a letter like this?”
“They’ll have to, once they know who I am.”
“But is the prince really that easy? To follow you at the ball just because of an invitation like this?”
“…I wonder?”
Marigold’s letter, the “invitation,” was delivered to the designated location through the mercenary guild.
Now, there was much to prepare.
The final act of her purpose in this life.
“Shall we go now?”
Marigold quickly shook her head to dispel the image of someone’s face that threatened to surface.
“Ugh…!”
The wind howled fiercely, almost audible.
“What are you doing?”
“Ugh… ugh… ugh!”
25.
It was a night when the road leading to the palace was brightly lit.
On the eve of the Imperial Ball, where the capital’s nobles gathered at the palace as if by prearranged agreement.
“Wait! Give me a ride! Me!”
A woman in a gown raised her hand and darted onto the path of a speeding carriage.
She wore glass-ornamented shoes, a glittering gemstone necklace, and her flower-adorned blonde hair billowed in the air.
“Whoa!”
The coachman, who brought the carriage to an abrupt halt, wiped a bead of sweat from his brow.
Before he could even ask her intentions, the woman was already climbing into the carriage.
“Take me to the ballroom!”
“Goodness, young lady! How could you dash so recklessly into the road like that?”
“Here, take this. Please hurry and get us going!”
“I’ll serve you with utmost care, young lady!”
As soon as he received the five silver coins, the coachman’s expression brightened.
“Wow, there are so many dazzlingly dressed people at this year’s ball. Must be because everyone from the Imperial Family is attending.”
As the coachman said, the road leading to the Imperial Palace grew crowded with lavishly adorned figures.
It was the day when all members of the capital’s upper class gathered at the Imperial Ball.
“If I were young and of noble birth, I’d be obsessed with these balls too. Didn’t that famous writer say it? The capital is one giant battlefield of romance…”
Of course.
What happened on the Empire’s borders was of no concern to the people here.
In the provinces of the continent, the corpses of starving commoners rolled through the streets, and entire villages were razed daily by war and banditry. Yet none of it mattered.
For the Imperial Capital of Rodnis remained eternally peaceful.
Their only concerns were: who they would spend the night with, which more prestigious person they would converse with, and what romance they could secure.
“But are you already married? There’s a ring on your finger…”
“J-just hurry up and drive.”
“Ah, yes, ma’am.”
The blonde young lady quickly lowered her hand to hide the ring.
The coachman had no desire to meddle in the complicated affairs of the noble.
As soon as the carriage passed through the gate, the blonde young lady flung open the door and leaped out.
“Thank you for your trouble!”
“Young lady?”
She sprinted through the garden leading to the ballroom.
“Whoa, be careful!”
“If you’re not too busy, would you like to chat for a moment…?”
“Ah! I fell in love at first sight! My name is Long Shell Baba… My Lady! Wait, My Lady!”
She didn’t even glance at the people who tried to stop her along the way.
Amidst the rapidly blurring scenery, she entered the imperial palace with the purposeful stride of someone who knew exactly where she was going.
A bustling crowd of people. Dazzling corridors. A couple suddenly crossed her path.
.
.
.
“What are you looking at, Lancel Dante?”
“…Nothing.”
Lancel turned at the familiar voice, then quickly averted his gaze.
A woman in a crimson dress was linked arm-in-arm with him, her face hidden beneath a veil.
The First Princess Violet.
“To escort a woman as alluring as myself and still let your eyes wander to others? You are hopeless as a decent man. Poor Marigold.”
“……”
Lancel frowned and tried to disengage his arm, but the First Princess tightened her grip.
“Do you see them?”
“See what?”
“The knights.”
Lancel scanned the ballroom.
Amidst the nobles flitting between parties, a knight in full armor stood out. Every guest wore a ceremonial sword at their waist.
“That’s the knight order guarding the ballroom,” the First Princess explained, her voice subtly lowered. “According to imperial protocol, only one order is deployed on occasions like this—roughly thirty men.”
“But it looks like over a hundred.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because the Imperial Family is in such a mess?”
“That’s part of it. But there’s more.”
Lancel, already knowing the answer, deliberately kept silent.
“Marigold,” the First Princess murmured, her voice dropping even lower.
“The fact that so many of my siblings know Marigold is here proves that they’re aware of the rewards that come with possessing her.”
“It’s a mystery who spread this rumor.”
“Are you doubting me? How disappointing, Lancel Dante. Is that all our connection amounts to?”
“Not quite. It’s a deeply twisted bond of ill fate.”
“Ha ha ha!”
She laughed it off, but Lancel’s suspicion of the First Princess was genuine.
For the sake of having power over the Empire, she was the kind of woman who would use Marigold without a second thought.
Perhaps she had gathered her siblings to personally observe who was targeting Marigold, to determine who was friend and who was foe.
“So, Your Highness, are you truly unconcerned about making any preparations?”
“But I have you, don’t I?”
“I’ll discard you without hesitation if necessary.”
“No, you can’t abandon me. We’re still useful to each other, aren’t we? I need power, and you need authority.”
“That sounds like you’re saying we’ll become enemies the moment our usefulness ends.”
“That depends entirely on you, Lancel Dante.”
She chuckled softly.
“There’s no one else in this world who can protect Marigold but me.”
Even after seeing her again, she remained the same woman—devious and scheming.
Lancel led her deeper into the party hall. Before he could reach Marigold, a familiar face appeared before him.
“Lancel?”
His brother, Leo Dante.
“Why are you here?”
Leo’s gaze shifted from Lancel to the woman beside him.
“The woman beside you…”
Confusion flickered in Leo Dante’s eyes. He realized the veiled woman wasn’t Mary.
“Already having an affair… So that’s why you haven’t been seen with Mary lately. You debauched bastard. You’ve only been engaged for how long?”
“……”
A merciless finger jabbed toward Lancel’s forehead.
“This guy might look innocent, but he’s already engaged. Don’t be fooled, my Lady. You should find someone else.”
“Don’t worry. I knew about her when we started seeing each other,” the First Princess replied, her voice brimming with amusement.
“…Haah, Lancel. What have you been up to?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
Right. All he’d done was raid the First Princess’s camp, slaughter her guards, and drag her all the way here.
Nothing else had happened.
“A hero is bound to meet many women.”
“Who’s the hero here?”
Lancel tried to pull his arm away, but the First Princess held it firmly.
26.
“Sir Lancel, why is he here…!”
On the second floor of the ballroom, Marigold peeked out, her eyes wide with agitation.
The familiar face she spotted on the first floor was the cause of her turmoil.
“And with a woman I don’t even know…!”
Lancel and the veiled woman were pressed close, whispering to each other. Watching them,
Marigold felt something boiling inside her, like a cauldron about to overflow.
Her teeth chattered, and cold sweat trickled down her back. She found herself unconsciously biting her nails.
‘I wanted Sir Lancel to be happy, but he already looks too happy!’
As she inwardly seethed, Pina fluttered over to her side.
“You’ve done it, didn’t you?” Pina remarked.
“What?!” Marigold snapped.
“You’ve probably already seen everything there is to see. This is enough…”
“That’s too much… Sir Lancel…”
Tears welled up in Marigold’s eyes.
“Miss,” Pina said.
“…?”
“If you’re never going to see him again anyway, why are you so hung up on him? Didn’t you say it was over between you?”
“O-over? It’s not like that…”
“Didn’t you say you’d emptied your heart?”
“Ugh.”
“And that you had no regrets?”
“Ugh…”
“Didn’t you say you’d done everything you wanted to do and that was enough?”
“……”
Marigold avoided Pina’s reproachful gaze.
She had never explicitly said they were over. Her mental fortitude simply couldn’t withstand such a declaration.
“I just meant… I thought we might not see each other again…”
“That’s the same thing.”
From Pina’s perspective, it was understandable that she would interpret it that way. Saying they might not see each other again wasn’t fundamentally different from saying they were over.
Marigold barely managed to calm her pounding heart.
The emotions she had barely suppressed nearly burst forth. She forced the suppressed feelings back down, packing them tightly within herself.
“The ball is about to begin!”
Music flowed from the brightly lit ballroom.
Noble men and women, coupled with their hands clasped together, strolled to the center of the hall.
Marigold crouched by the second-floor railing, hugging her knees. She curled up, burying her face in her arms.
Soon, the person she had been waiting for would arrive on this second floor. If he had received her invitation safely, he would surely find her.
Yet, perhaps because of the sight of Lancel she had just witnessed, her legs felt strangely weak. The thought of Lancel dancing with that unknown veiled woman tormented her mind.
‘In the end, I still can’t take this off.’
Her gaze fell on the wedding ring on her ring finger. It was a cheap trinket that Lancel had bought for a few copper coins at the Porland Ale Festival.
Even as she severed her ties with Lancel, Marigold had never been able to remove it.
“My Lady, would you care to dance with me?”
“Hmm, I’ll indulge you for one song.”
“Hahaha!”
“Hohoho!”
The boisterous noise of the ballroom seemed to fade into the distance.
Before she knew it, memories from long ago began to surface in Marigold’s mind.
A small port town.
A roaring bonfire.
People reeking of alcohol and sweat.
They danced hand in hand, dressed in tattered clothes and looking utterly wretched.
Marigold, radiant with laughter, mingled among them.
Lancel Dante, holding her hand and joining in the revelry.
Memories from a festival in Porland.
“That was fun. Heh heh.”
Marigold realized a smile had crept onto her lips.
These weren’t memories she could simply forget, no matter how hard she tried. Even if she startled herself and tried to shake them off, it was impossible.
“Marigold.”
It was then.
A voice behind her made Marigold’s expression turn cold.
The voice was deep and unfamiliar.
Marigold’s heart sank.
It felt like waking from a dream.
The distant noise of the party gradually returned to her ears.
“Are you Marigold?”
Marigold’s fingertips trembled for a moment before she lifted her head.
She knew the time had come.
Slowly, she straightened from her crouched position.
‘So, Sir Lancel.’
She took a deep breath.
The trembling in her hands and feet subsided, and her breathing steadied.
Marigold gradually regained her courage. ‘Yes. If I think of all this as being for the Master, it’s nothing. If I think of it as something he wants, there’s nothing I can’t do.’
From the beginning, her entire life had been dedicated to this moment.
“Yes.”
Marigold’s gaze settled like a deep lake.
‘I’ll give you my entire life.’
She slowly turned around.
Toward the man who had appeared behind her.
“I’m Marigold—”
“You’re just the person I was looking for.”
“Gah!”
A powerful strike landed squarely upon Marigold’s crown.
