Chapter 144 : Chapter 144
Chapter 144
The waltz swelled. Reaching its climax, it was fast and passionate. Without waiting for my reply, Elisha led me. I followed her steps, our movements seeming to overlap.
“We didn’t get along because we didn’t know each other. Like when you danced with Luri.”
“A memory I’d rather forget.”
“Why? It was full of energy.”
The flower of high society smiled faintly.
“Now we know each other, don’t we? What the other thinks, what they like, who they are.”
Elisha is a proud woman. She loves sweet drinks. A hardworking genius. Somehow… I’d come to know a bit about who Elisha is.
Like a sweet, gentle spring breeze, Elisha and I became a waltz.
“You’re not a war-crazed fighter either. Getting along is, well, up to you… but I’d appreciate it if you accepted my apology. It took a lot of courage, you know.”
“…”
Elisha’s words, bright and hopeful like the spotlight on her, would ignite new passion in anyone’s heart. Who knows how much courage it takes to ask for forgiveness?
…But, well. Could I do it? I, who hate this entire world…
I couldn’t answer. Elisha waited.
Just looking up at me with a smiling face. What expression was I wearing? What pathetic face?
In the end, I couldn’t answer until the waltz ended.
“Answer me next time.”
Elisha smiled brightly, waved, and walked into high society to fulfill her duties as a noblewoman.
“…”
…I’m thirty, yet I was overwhelmed by a seventeen-year-old minor. Feeling conflicted, I reached for a wine glass.
“No, you can’t.”
The one who stopped me was none other than… Mary.
“…Cadet Mary?”
“A-Alcohol, w-we’re still minors, so we can’t…”
She was clearly terrified, with nowhere else to go, so she came to me.
“Where are Gilbert and the others?”
“Th-They’re over there…”
Gilbert and Lina were swarmed with questions from dignitaries, and Elisha and Bord were no different. Mary must have fled the crowd and ended up with me.
Yeah, no one comes near me.
“…If you want, you can stay until the festival ends. No one will come.”
Mary gave a shy smile. We took a table in a secluded corner, as if shielded by a barrier, away from everyone’s attention.
I swapped the wine for a non-alcoholic cocktail.
“Um, Cadet Martin…”
“Speak.”
I could be harsh with others, but not with Mary. It’d make me feel like a truly bad person, even if I’m already a villain.
“W-What do you want to achieve, Cadet Martin…?”
Mary cautiously approached me with a timid expression.
…Be careful. Mary’s the brain of the protagonist’s party. Her personality makes me let my guard down without realizing it.
“I’ll stop the apocalypse.”
But maybe it’s okay to tell her? In the original story, Mary was depicted as cautious and tight-lipped.
“The apocalypse…?”
“Someday, an apocalypse will come. I’ll stop it.”
“…”
Mary paused briefly, then asked,
“Was conquering Fog Island part of that…?”
“Yes.”
“C-Can we, I mean, is there anything we can do to help?”
“No. There’s nothing. Just keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll use you all as I see fit.”
As I sipped my cocktail, Mary took a sip too. Even though I openly said I’d use them, she wasn’t afraid of me.
She was a brilliant intellect, seeing beyond the form of words to their essence.
“Cadet Mary, you know our talk here is…”
“Yes, a secret, right?”
“A secret. Not exactly pleasant for someone with a granddaughter.”
I didn’t sense him! Turning, I saw the monocled old man. Duke Frohadin. Mary’s fear, a titan of politics, and the wretch who humiliated me earlier.
I glanced at Mary. Her eyes, devoid of life, trembled.
“Greetings, Lord Martin.”
“Not pleased to see you, Duke.”
Frohadin frowned at my response.
“I came to sit with my granddaughter. Is that alright?”
Mary lowered her head.
“No. Since when did you care about your granddaughter?”
“I always have.”
“Not Mary, but Shuga, right?”
“…”
Frohadin’s eyes twitched.
“You’re impertinent, young lord.”
“I’m not a good person.”
As we spoke, Frohadin placed a hand on a chair. I swiftly kicked it out and pulled it to me.
“You…!”
Then, arrogantly, I propped both legs on it.
“Don’t try to sneak a seat. No tact, no shame.”
“…”
Frohadin, grasping at empty air, took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
“…Insolent.”
“I hear that a lot.”
“How dare a disgraced wastrel from a count’s family humiliate me.”
A terrifying aura rose. A barrier enveloped the table, isolating me, Mary, and Frohadin.
Frohadin’s face contorted, revealing his true colors.
“A lowly mongrel playing the Madwoman’s hunting dog, ignorant of your place, crawling lower than a worm, daring to open your mouth to me? Foolish, stupid, your ignorance knows no bounds…!”
The mana and killing intent filled the space, and Mary buried her head in the table.
“Wilhelm underestimated you and failed, but you think I will? You’ve just been lucky so far! I’m different! I’ll crush the Ulvhadin Family, including your arrogant father! I’ll ruin your Academy life! I’ll hunt you to the ends of the continent and destroy you…!”
To his vicious threats, I leaned back in my chair and grinned.
“What childish threats. Come on, Frohadin. Isn’t that too vile and petty?”
Frohadin’s face stiffened.
“You… dare say what to me…?”
“An ignorant fool who thinks he’s learned.”
“What?”
“A sinful wretch who only knows how to wield authority.”
“…”
Mary, startled, looked between me and Frohadin. I stood and leaned slowly toward Frohadin’s trembling, enraged face.
“Half-baked character, reason worse than a worm’s. That describes you old men. Every act of silencing others, trying to teach and suppress, reveals your deficient stature. The stench makes me sick.”
“You, you, you…!”
“A vile deceiver who loves to parade only self-curated narratives. I hate your kind the most.”
“Argh!”
Frohadin dispelled the barrier. Outside sounds flooded the quiet interior.
I switched to a smiling face and shut my mouth.
“…”
“…”
Duke Frohadin and I glared at each other, smiling.
“Pleasant conversation.”
“Likewise, Duke.”
“I’ll make sure to visit your place.”
“No need. Don’t come without tact.”
“…”
I could hear Frohadin grinding his teeth from here.
Sorry, but… I’m someone with nothing to lose. Reputation? I don’t care. I’m a villain. Our positions are very different!
I whispered in his ear.
“If you thought I’d bow to your authority, you miscalculated.”
Seeing Frohadin struggle to contain his contorted face, I had to hold back my laughter.
“Can you… handle this…?”
Frohadin, Duke of Raincloud Deminiyan, second only to the Emperor. How much could he do with a single word?
“I guarantee it. More nobles have fallen by my hand than were purged by the Mad Princess…!”
But even the Four Great Ducal Families weren’t as fearsome anymore.
I have the loyalty of Nerjin, former head of the Cosmos Dimension Research Institute, I’m the Princess’s Black Knight, backed by the Elidore Marquisate, and a Peacemaker.
Not even a duke, not even the Emperor, could treat me carelessly anymore.
“It’ll be fun. Go ahead, squirm. I’ll crush you thoroughly…!”
Just then, breaking the tense atmosphere, a knight from the Deminiyan Family, with a raincloud on his shoulder armor, rushed in.
“Duke!”
“What.”
Frohadin turned to the knight irritably but didn’t dismiss him, likely because the knight’s expression was dire.
Despite knowing it would anger his master, the knight whispered something in Frohadin’s ear. As the knight spoke, Wild Instinct perked up.
“It’s the ■■! They’re coming!”
My eyes widened. So did Frohadin’s.
“What?! Why…?! Where are they now?”
“They’ve already passed the Imperial gardens and are heading here!”
“Then they’re practically here! Why was the report so late?! How far is it from there to here?!”
“They said they dropped from the sky!”
“Ugh…! Is it too late to prepare?”
Frohadin, about to rush off, glared at me. Our earlier conversation must have wounded his towering pride. Delightfully so.
I just smiled back.
Even without looking, I could hear knights running around the banquet hall, searching for their masters.
Not the development I expected, but perfect. Soon, a new chapter of history would be written here.
“Stop them!”
“H-How do we stop them?!”
Soon, a commotion pierced through the orchestra’s music.
The noise from outside the grand banquet hall halted the dignitaries from across the world. Everyone looked toward the main entrance with curiosity.
The grand doors swung open, and a group marched in. The sudden arrival of uninvited guests silenced the hall, then filled it with shock.
“Th-They’re…!”
“Am I… seeing this right…?!”
The uninvited group wore garments of green leaves and branches, each as beautiful as a master craftsman’s work. But their wearers were even more stunning—peerless beauties and handsome men.
“E-Elves…”
“The Elf race!”
The dignitaries shouted in unison, shocked. Elves. A race extinct for over a century since the first World Tree’s lifespan ended, now reappearing!
Executors of the World Tree’s will, one of the continent’s five guardians. A noble race that bows only to the Mother World Tree. The closest to goodness among mortals.
Or, as some call them, humanity’s superior counterparts.
“It hasn’t been long since the Mother of Life revived, and they’ve sent emissaries…!”
“Are they here to thank our Empire?”
“That makes sense!”
The dignitaries offered their guesses. The Elves marched straight forward, toward the Emperor’s throne.
But—
Ascending the central stage, with a full view of the banquet hall, the Elves stopped. Instead of heading to the Emperor, they looked around, searching for someone.
‘No way.’
Wild Instinct (Lv 4) senses it’s exactly what you think.
One Elf locked eyes with me, seated in the farthest corner. Pointing at me, all the Elves turned to look. The entire banquet hall’s attention followed.
“There?”
“The person there is…”