Chapter 119

unedited

“Go a little slower!”

“You’ll get caught.”

We were whispering and crawling over to the terrace.

If we went to an open place, it was obvious we would have been caught, so we had no choice but to sneak under the table with food.

Then I accidentally touched the tablecloth slightly. In an instant, I was devastated.

“Looks like something just moved…”

“Ah, you must be mistaken.”

Besides, it seems that someone passed by this way.

I could hear a conversation right in front of me, but the problem was that it was someone I knew.

‘Oh, it’s my mom and dad’s voice! Are you right in front of me right now!’

I held my breath. Fortunately, the two of them didn’t pick up the tablecloth and just passed me by.

A small crevice under the fabric showed the tips of Mom and Dad’s shoes.

‘What a relief.’

I breathed a sigh of relief again.

***

Afterwards, we entered the terrace safely.

“Whew, we almost got caught if we kept hiding in the banquet hall.”

Cedric shook his head as if exhausted.

Alice asked a question, looking anxiously through the gap in the curtains on the slightly opened terrace.

“Then where should we go now?”

Seeing just a moment ago, Ninaina was still in the banquet hall with her family.

So, maybe Ninaina’s room is empty by now.

“…Why don’t we go back to the princess’s room?”

At the end of the thought, I said it carefully, and everyone nodded their head saying that it was good.

“Ok, good. Let’s go back.”

We entered the secret passage by pushing the outer wall of the entrance we came in at the terrace.

Glittering gray bricks reflected the lights gently, and the inside shimmered.

“…..”

But maybe it was about 5 minutes.

There’s a problem. Cedric, who was leading the way, tilted his head for a moment and then mumbled in a bewildered voice.

“Is, Is this the way?”

“What?”

“Cedric, what are you talking about?”

“Oh my gosh.”

The four of us stopped walking diligently and looked at each other with puzzled eyes.

When I came to my senses and looked around, it was definitely a subtly different path from the way we had come to the banquet hall.

‘Is Cedric bad at directions?’

Somehow, he went ahead without any worries.

It was us who followed Cedric, thinking that Cedric knew the way, because he had such a proud attitude.

Of course, we also made a mistake by trusting and following Cedric without thinking.

“Ha……”

Jake took a deep breath, as if in trouble.

“Then where are we now?”

Alice gently grabbed my hem and asked carefully.

But I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know either.

It’s my first time on this path too.

“Oh, wait! Is there a door over there?”

Cedric, restless by his mistake, looked around, and shouted as if he had come alive.

Then we looked at where Cedric was pointing.

It really was. There was a door similar to the one leading to the terrace earlier.

“Let’s go over there.”

“…But do you know where we will go from there?”

I murmured suspiciously. I was also skeptical about going out in a hurry.

This is the vast imperial palace. Couldn’t that passage lead to some dungeon’s evil prisoner’s room?

“Hmm… Let’s go in first, and then we’ll come again.”

“Gasp.”

Cedric shrugged his shoulders, and I opened my mouth wide at the reckless guts.

Cedric looked at my face and asked as if he found it ridiculous.

“What’s wrong with your reaction?”

“No, Sir Cedric is so brave, that’s all.”

“…I’m quite brave.”

Cedric became very confident.

Then, with that momentum, he walked straight to the door.

“Come on, let’s open it.”

Pushing hard, the door swung open.

And we went inside.

Fortunately, outside the door was not a dungeon or a boiling furnace. It was connected to a narrow vent, but when we crawled out of it, it was a wide outdoor area.

“Wow. Is it grass?”

We were relieved and headed out one by one.

The darkness and the faint smell of dry grass greeted us.

“Isn’t this… an abandoned garden?”

Jake looked around and spoke to me in a cautious voice.

I also agreed.

It was no ordinary grass. Because there were decorations such as statues and fountains everywhere.

However, as if it was not properly managed, weeds were sparsely growing, and all the magic lights were turned off.

It certainly looked like an abandoned garden.

Dark outdoor with no lights.

If I had been alone, I would have been terrified that something might appear around me, but strangely, it wasn’t scary because there were four of us together.

“I can hear the music!”

Alice, who was looking around, suddenly shouted a little at the faint sound of sound.

All of us remained silent and listened to the sound.

“The building next door seems to be the banquet hall we were at earlier?”

Cedric shrugged his shoulders.

Indeed, a splendid light was leaking through the densely planted wooden fence.

The sounds of people’s laughter and conversations flew gently in the wind.

“Wow……”

Without realizing it, I was concentrating on the sight of the banquet hall in the distance and staring at it with admiration.