CH 25

Kailus Palace.

Located in the northeast of the continent, it is a luxurious palace that boasts the Kailus Kingdom. After being used as a glamorous round table on the international stage only once several hundred years ago, it became a place of longing for the nobles of the continent. If you are a noble of the Kailus Kingdom, you can rent the Kailus Palace and have a wedding ceremony. The ladies of various countries who dream of it are watching and waiting, and for the Kailus Kingdom, which has no particularly noteworthy industry other than its vast land, the reputation of the nobles is its lifeline. Just having a noble lineage in the Kailus Kingdom is enough to become a status symbol, and it can gather nobles who come to the dreamland for matchmaking or vacation and make them spend money.

During the annual ball, Uranos Principality’s Princess Paulina was chatting happily with small country princes and middle-class nobles.

In the east of the Kailus Kingdom, in a land called Eraa, the Eraa Duke family was massacred.

It was the beginning of a rebellion. All of Kailus Kingdom’s soldiers, farmers, serfs, and citizens bared their fangs against the nobles.

“Don’t think you can keep acting high and mighty just because you’re a noble forever. This is the perfect opportunity. Now that nobles from all over the continent are gathering at Kailus Palace, if we can take care of them all at once, the world ruled by the nobles will come to an end!”

“Increase our numbers. Call out to others. Take up arms. Kill all the nobles, just like our ancestors were killed, and display them in the square for burning!”

“Capture them and make them apologize to the starving children who died. I’ll tell you how many children died for your necklaces and dresses!”

The rebellious people aimed for the Kailus Palace. Their numbers swelled rapidly, and they quickly spread to the cities and villages around the Kailus Palace, echoing the main force of over 10,000 in the east.

It was too fast. The rebellion was of such a scale that ordinary people could not possibly plan or execute it in just one day.

That’s why the nobles were slow to react. It was unfortunate that they were isolated from the social scene and mundane affairs in the Kailus Palace. No one could have imagined that the peasants armed with farming tools and weapons would attack them. Among all the continents, only those who helped the rebellion could have predicted it. For example, Nikita of the Styx Kingdom had already taken measures. Although the scale of the rebellion was unexpected, they quickly spread information to capable and profitable nobles, recommending evacuation and absence from the Kailus Palace.

However, there were still many kings and nobles in the Kailus Palace who knew nothing and were dancing the night away.

In the grand halls of the Kailus Palace, hundreds of nobles and royalty from all over the continent had gathered. Six dance halls with different melodies were connected, and people were enjoying the ball, coming and going. From the Baron family’s young lady to the prince of a certain country, anyone who was a noble was talking, dancing, and trying to form a relationship. Men and women of all ages were running around, trying to find potential future partners, business partners, or targets for their conspiracies.

Paulina, dressed in amethyst and silk, was also one of them. As a young woman who had the qualifications to come to the Kailus Palace, no one left her alone.

“Well, Count, are you here alone?”

“Hahaha, this is my second time attending this ball. Last year, I came with the fiancée my parents had arranged for me, but I wanted to marry a woman I had chosen myself after seeing people from various countries here.”

“Oh my, that’s very impressive! What kind of person do you like? Is it that person over there?”

“No, no, there’s no man who would say such a thing in front of you. How about a dance to find out?”

“Sure thing! But I already have a prior engagement, so just one dance.”

“No problem at all. Then, may I have this dance?”

Using all sorts of tactics, the men approached Paulina with the intention of “if we’re going to aim for someone, it’s better to go for a high-ranking noble’s daughter, but it would be embarrassing to aim too high and fail, so let’s just spit on a girl like this as a backup plan.” However, the excited Paulina believed that it was her unique feminine charm that was attracting the men. She strutted across the dance hall, chest puffed out and waving her arms like a top actress in her prime.

After one or two songs, the faces of her dance partners changed one after another, and Paulina finally took a break and asked a server to bring her a glass.

“Hey, give me some water. Or better yet, some cold wine. Hurry up!”

“Right away, ma’am.”

The well-trained server promptly handed Paulina a glass of cold white wine.

“It’s a low-alcohol wine. Just right for quenching your thirst.”

“Oh, really? I’ll have some.”

Paulina took a sip of the wine and drank it all at once, feeling the coolness in her throat.

“It’s delicious! What is this? Is there more?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll bring it to you. Please wait on that sofa over there.”

In a good mood, Paulina followed the instructions and sat on the sofa. The ball was now in the middle, and people who were tired from dancing in the beginning could be seen sitting and relaxing on the sofas along the walls. The music played by the orchestra in the hall had also become more relaxed. Although it was difficult to look around the entire room due to the density of people, Paulina believed that “everyone is considerate because it’s a break now, and if I walk alone, no one will leave me alone,” so she didn’t care what would happen.

Since birth, Paulina had been able to get her way with most of her whims from her father, the Duke of Uranos. The only things that didn’t come true were things that she knew were unreasonable, such as catching several knights who were her father’s guards and making them play princess with her, or inviting the latest haute couture and tailors that were hard to come by in the Uranos Principality. Overall, her life had been enjoyable and successful. She believed that it would continue to be so, and that she would be noticed by a wonderful young Duke here and be proposed to after a great romance. Paulina truly believed this.

Full of confidence, everything going smoothly, and the wine tasting delicious, she finally began to exercise some self-control, thinking that she should stop at the third glass before she tripped. She returned the glass to the server and was about to stand up from the sofa when a young nobleman came to her first.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to chat?”

Paulina had a big smile on her face.

“Yes, I’d love to. Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you. I am from the Marquis Spiro family.”

Paulina silently cheered inside her head. A young nobleman from the Marquis family, and not bad-looking either. He was tall, with brown hair that was common but still decent.

Paulina offered the seat next to her, and the young nobleman from the Marquis Spiro family sat down. Almost at the same time, the music played by the orchestra stopped.

As the ball was already halfway through, the music changed from dance music to listening music. The nobles, including Paulina, sat deeply on the sofas and chairs, waiting for the entertainment to begin.

Clang, clang.

Only those near the window could hear the sound. Someone had thrown a stone from outside the window. Could such a thing happen inside the palace? Maybe a bird had hit the window, so everyone ignored the sound.

Next, there was a distant sound like an earthquake, and dust fell from the ceiling.

As they arrived, some of the nobles sensed something was wrong. It was the former soldiers and perceptive young people who intuitively felt it. Several people crowded around the door, trying to get the servants to open it and leave the dance hall.

However, it wouldn’t budge. All six dance hall doors were closed.

But most of the aristocrats still hadn’t noticed anything unusual. Therefore, there was no confusion. They only thought it was time for a break since the music had stopped.

Then, a few minutes later, one of the dance hall doors opened.

The nobles are about to step out for some fresh air.

Suddenly, countless sharp wooden stakes mercilessly pierced through them. The body of the young nobleman at the front was cut in half. While the people inside the dance hall were still trying to comprehend the situation, the wooden stakes were repeatedly thrust, riddling the people near the door with holes.

Screams echoed.

Finally, tension spread throughout the dance hall. But it was too late. The angry mob, wielding wooden stakes like spears and shovels like swords, rushed in, with only one thing on their minds: to kill the well-dressed aristocrats in front of them.

They couldn’t allow those who imposed heavy taxes on them, took their lives easily if they resisted, and abused them like insects to go unpunished. Daughters whose fathers were killed and sons whose mothers were violated sought revenge against the nobles.

The bitterness of our fathers will be avenged on this day by exterminating the nobles.

Unfortunately, at this point, none of the royal nobles recognized whether the people were seeking revenge against them or not. They could only think that they had been harmed or killed by the intruding mob.

However, there was a calm group of people who were not involved in the massacre at the dance hall, but instead approached Paulina and the young man from the Marquis Spiro family, who were sitting on the sofa, unable to move due to the situation resembling a hellish cauldron. They grabbed their arms and led them out of the dance hall. They took out not only Paulina and her companions, but also the still-breathing royal nobles, one by one, and carried them outside. Those who resisted had their limbs broken and were carried away like animals about to be slaughtered.

An hour later, the royal nobles were lined up on the walls of Kailus Palace, and the executions began. They were forced to say their names and titles one by one. In response, the king and the princes and princesses were beheaded with a shovel, the Dukes and Marquises were thrown upside down from the wall, and the Counts and lower nobles were killed by having a stake driven into their hearts. The servants were naturally spared, as many of them had been forcibly abducted and forced to serve.

By the time it was Paulina’s turn, it was already late at night. However, the city walls were surrounded by people holding torch lights. On the brightly lit city walls, Paulina lied.

“No, it’s not true! I just came here because I wanted to become a noble! Please, let me go! Someone, please! I don’t want to die, stop it!”

A hand reached out from behind and roughly grabbed Paulina’s hair.

“You’re not a noble, yet you were wearing an amethyst necklace and a silk dress, sitting on a sofa drunk in the dance hall? That’s quite something. This one is a lying noble. Felony, felony! Off with his head!”

The people cheered with joy. They demanded execution, excited and unable to sleep even though it was night.

It was no wonder. Right now, in front of them, the head of a lying noblewoman was being cut off. It fell from the city walls to the ground below. The people surrounded it and kicked it. There were plenty of such things rolling around under the city walls. It was no longer possible to tell whose flesh it was.

Cruelty begets cruelty, and the revenge festival continued for three days and three nights.

TL: Lol