A few minutes had passed, but the dance had not yet begun. Felicia was chatting with Francis in the center of the room, being watched by everyone.
"Don't you think they look very compatible? Sir Brian?" Ursula Andoram asked her fiancé Brian Biverlay.
"Ugh! It should've been me, not him!" growled Brian, who didn't seem to dispute what Ursula said.
Brian stared wistfully at them. Watched her with Prince Francis, with her smile lighting up the room. He had felt a sharp ache in his chest as he watched from the sidelines, wishing he could take his place. He couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as he remembered what had happened that day. If only he hadn't made a mistake at that dance, Felicia could be his fiancé now, and he would have been dancing with her at Prince Francis' birthday party.
Brian then looks at Boldenville's family, and he sees Allen. Brian stuck out his tongue when their eyes met, giving him a mocking look.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Allen asked Rachel.
"You don't have to think about it; he's just a jealous kid."
When she saw Brian, Rachel was reminded of the incident two years ago; then, she realized that she hadn't seen the other nobles in the room. She had to remember at least who had come to the party, as she might later give Reynold a report on the visitors.
Then Rachel's face met with someone quite familiar.
"Why is she standing there?!" thought Rachel.
A woman was looking at Felicia and Francis in the corner of the room. When she saw the woman, Rachel immediately turned pale.
"Are you okay?" asked Carla.
"No, I seem to have done something rude."
"What was it?"
Without answering Carla's question, Rachel approached the woman.
"Umm... excuse me, Lady Erster..."
Rachel confinc now, Rachel wondered to herself as she stood before the young woman. The woman looked at Rachel and said,
"A servant? What's the matter? Don't you dare talk to me if it's not important!" the woman said.
"I truly apologize for being so rude!"
Rachel put her hand on her chest and lifted her skirt,
"I am Rachel, the maid of the Boldenville family. I apologize for being rude to you a few days ago."
'Her character changed? What exactly happened?'
Barony Erster was a noble who lived next to the Boldenville family's rental house. Rachel had given gifts to the Erster family before, but since the entire Erster family was not home then, she had left the gifts with the maid. And right now, the maid who received her gift was in front of her, wearing the same expensive clothes as the nobles. Most likely, that maid was a noble and a member of the Erster family. Rachel's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation that she had been interacting with a noble this whole time. She couldn't help but feel a tad misguided and guilty for treating her like a maid.
'Why was she wearing maid clothes at that time? And accept my parcel as if she were really a maid? 'No wonder her beauty appears to be too well-groomed for a maid; surely she was just disguised(?), but why?' Rachel wondered.
"Who are you?! I don't know you! Stay away from me! I don't want to listen to what the maid says."
"I'm sorry, I'm just here to confirm about the parcel I gave you a few days ago, at that time-"
"Lady has already received it. Can you not ask any further?" Behind the woman stood a man dressed as a knight, with long dark brown hair and blue eyes.
The man was handsome and had a smooth voice, but Rachel could feel a tense aura from him, which made her fearful and want to get away from there immediately.
"That day, there was a specific reason why our lady had to wear maid clothes, so please don't ask any further," he continued.
Rachel, who was frightened, could only nod slightly. She wanted to ask so much, but her instincts told her to keep quiet if she didn't want to get caught up in something dangerous.
Allen appeared from behind Rachel, clutching Rachel's left wrist.
"W-What's wrong?"
Allen glared at the man as he said
"Rachel, Reynold called," he said.
"O-okay… Well then, Lady Erster, and sir..."
"Olyavi, you can call me Olyavi."
"Sir Olyavi, I will take my leave. May God bless the Erster family."
Allen and Rachel left there.
When they reached the place where they had been, Allen pulled Rachel back.
"What are you doing? I need to see Mr. Reynold."
"I lied; he didn't call you."
"Why?"
'something seems wrong,' Allen thought.
"If I'm not mistaken, Illska was locked up underground because of her white hair, right? If others see her, she will be arrested right away?"
"Yeah, they are Norttish, dangerous people who can cause mana explosions."
"In that case, what about that man you talked to before? What color is his hair?"
"Umm... brown?"
Rachel's answer made Allen certain of several things,
'Rachel can't see it; probably everyone in this room can't. Because he had white hair, and proudly showed it to everyone, but no one noticed,'
Allen then looked at Felicia
'Something is going to happen...' Allen thought.
Meanwhile, Barony Erster…
"My apologies, Master Ivaylo." Lady Erster said, speaking to the man behind her in a small voice.
"That servant really ruined everything, didn't she? "I knew she'd be an obstacle from the moment she walked into the Erster family's rental house, but this should be the last obstacle she could do. Fortunately, she does not care about other people's affairs, so she probably won't dig deeper into this."
Ivaylo then looked at Allen and thought
'So it's that good-eyed kid that Adam met in the market district; if what Adam said is true, then there's a possibility that he can figure out my disguise. Maybe I should execute the plan sooner than later.'
Ivaylo smiled and continued, "But before that, I have to witness it myself... the princes..."
A few seconds after Ivaylo said that,
The doorman at the front of the ballroom announced something
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!"
The moment he shouted, everyone immediately looked at the large door on the 2nd floor. The door opened, and from there, a woman wearing flashy clothes came out, guarded by four knights beside and behind her, followed by six other women wearing very expensive clothes with gaudy trinkets.
"QUEEN REGINA HYENSON WILDENHALL, WITH THE QUEENS, HAVE ARRIVED!"
Everyone then placed their hands on their chests and bowed. Saluting the queen. Since the king was ill, Queen Regina had the highest status in the room.
The queen stopped on the upper balcony, looking at everyone who came into the room,
"Enough," as she said, people raised their heads again. The queens went downstairs; they sat on the luxurious chairs at the end of the room beside the stairs.
After the queens sat down, the guard again shouted about the arrival of the next visitor.
But before the guard announced the next group's arrival, Allen glared hatefully at the door above. He could feel that the aura of the person he hated the most was there.
"THE PRINCES OF WILDENHALL KINGDOM! HAS ARRIVED!"
The room was huge, and more than 100 people were in it, but not a single voice was heard; everyone was silent, waiting for the arrival of the princes. They could hear the footsteps of those about to enter the room.
"He's here!" thought Allen.
The first to emerge from the door was...
The third prince, Alicia.
She was followed by the second prince Harald, and seven other princes behind her. Their golden hair was shining, and they all had beautiful and handsome faces, making everyone in the room mesmerized by them. Their arrival was more anticipated than that of the queens. Unconsciously, they all put their hands on their chests to salute the princes.
"Brother, could you walk at the front? Since brother Eldritch isn't coming, that means you should be the one who stands at the front," said Alicia to Harald.
"Don't joke around, sister. How can I take all those stares? I don't want to be too conspicuous, so I chose a normal outfit this time," Harald replied.
"You should be more confident; you are a prince and one of the princes who has contributed the most to the country."
"Haha I am just me, and this is enough. Thank you for giving advice."
"Sigh... I hope Leofric can give you some of his confidence to you, brother Harald."
Finally, the last prince entered, dressed in clothes that were not as fancy or flashy as the other princes', but he was the most striking.
"Greetings all, weakling," he said from above, looking down at everyone below.
He was Leofric Regina Wildenhall. His body was only covered in a pajama-like white cloth, and he confidently showed his sexy front to the visitors. His clothes were loose; if it weren't for some colorful cloth tied around her waist, they would probably just fall off.
Surprisingly, the nobles in the room were not upset by Leofric's treatment; instead, everyone was amazed by his character. Clothing symbolized the elegance and dignity of the nobles, but Leofric, even without wearing his official clothes, was already elegant enough for people without the slightest hint of looking stupid and undignified in front of others. All the visitors looked at him with admiration.
except for one person...
Allen...
Who had clasped his hands so hard that his palms were bleeding, and his fingernails were peeling off.
Seeing Leofric in front of him, made him recall everything that happened in the dungeon,
And he recalled the moment when his mother was stabbed in front of him by that person.
Allen remembered every second of the incident, replaying it in his head like a movie and repeating over and over again his mother's expression as it happened.
'LEOFRIC!'
Thought Allen with angry