Ch. 18
Chapter 18: The Jarring Grand Ball—A False Perfect Ending
With Belle's help—and her thorough understanding of the outside world's situation—Li Kainan successfully negotiated terms with the Beast Prince Adam.
Li Kainan would help break their curse; in return, Adam would hand over half the castle's wealth as Li Kainan's payment.
At the same time, Adam would use his standing as heir to the Adam family to confer upon Li Kainan the title of Southern Frontier Count of the Kingdom of Cape!
A Frontier Count—also called a Margrave—held, as the name implied, domains on the frontier. Within the Cape nobility hierarchy, this rank was equivalent to that of a Marquess.
The reason Li Kainan chose this title rather than simply demanding a Marquisate directly was because this particular title suited him far better!
A Frontier Count's territory lay on the nation's borders—he was essentially a frontier lord. Any territory he seized from neighboring nations would belong entirely to him.
What's more, he would not be hampered by superior nobles above him, with full authority over military command, official appointments, and even the enactment of laws within his domain.
This title was a perfect fit for Li Kainan—and for the Beast Prince Adam, who couldn't offer any actual territory at the moment either, it was the ideal solution.
With the terms settled, Li Kainan set about preparing to break their curses.
The Beast Prince Adam brought Li Kainan and Belle together to the west wing of the castle.
Beneath a glass dome in the center of the room sat a rose, already withered down to its very last petal.
"That witch said that if I failed to find true love before the last petal of this rose fell, I would lose the chance to return to human form forever……"
At this, the Beast Prince Adam drew a deep breath and looked at Li Kainan with eyes full of anticipation:
"Thankfully, your arrival has given us hope!"
Li Kainan gave a nod, and as he raised his hand, 【Evil-Breaking Force】 activated.
A pure white radiance bloomed—a sacred power capable of dispelling all evil surged forth and fell upon the Beast Prince Adam.
The curse power within his body began to dissipate under the effect of 【Evil-Breaking Force】.
In the blink of an eye, the beast form had transformed back into a human body, revealing Prince Adam's true appearance.
A young man just past 20, dressed in magnificent attire.
His looks and bearing couldn't match Li Kainan's extraordinary charm—but he was absolutely handsome in his own right!
No wonder the man had a temper—transformed from a small handsome boy into a monster's form from the age of 10. Any adult would struggle to cope!
Given that Prince Adam had still managed to preserve his humanity and a decent moral standard through it all, his character was already of genuinely fine quality.
Which brought up a new question!
When he was 10 years old, had he really made an enemy of that witch because of "selfishness and a lack of compassion"?
And as the curse on Prince Adam was broken, the rose in the room—down to its very last petal—suddenly blazed with brilliant light!
The fallen petals grew back anew, and the radiance pouring from the rose enveloped the entire castle.
As the light cascaded down, every attendant and servant who had been transformed into furniture reverted back as well!
Feeling themselves restored to human form, Prince Adam and his attendants and servants were overwhelmed with emotion.
Their first instinct was to bow and give their thanks to Li Kainan—but he just smiled and waved it off.
He'd done a job and gotten paid. Simple as that!
Though being able to both earn payment and do something genuinely good was a very pleasant feeling.
The only question was—now that the curse had been forcibly broken, would the witch who had cast it all those years ago appear?
That thought crossed his mind, and Li Kainan felt a sudden stirring—he instinctively turned his head and looked outside.
……
Prince Adam looked around him, taking in the loyal servants who had endured these 10 years by his side.
Overwhelmed with emotion, Adam forgot all his noble upbringing and threw his arms around them in a fierce embrace.
Lumia the butler cried out with excitement, calling for everyone to begin preparations immediately for the most magnificent banquet of all time!
Women are always more emotionally moved—Belle watched the scene before her and couldn't help but smile, touched by what she saw.
She turned to look at the person beside her, just about to open her mouth to thank Li Kainan on behalf of Lumia and the others, when she suddenly noticed he was standing with a slight frown, staring blankly out the window.
Belle followed his gaze—and saw that the roses blooming in the courtyard garden outside were strikingly vivid and beautiful, almost impossible to look away from!
Belle instinctively sensed something was odd, yet couldn't quite put her finger on why—so she could only turn to Li Kainan and ask:
"Lord Kainan, what's wrong?"
Li Kainan opened his mouth as though to say something, but the thought vanished the moment it reached his lips!
Huh—what was it I'd been about to say?
Li Kainan froze in place, frowning as he tried to recall.
He'd rescued Belle, defeated Prince Adam.
He'd also helped break the curse, obtained the title of Frontier Count, and secured half the castle's wealth.
Both parties were satisfied. The outcome was perfectly resolved.
But why—why did he feel like some hidden threat had yet to be dealt with?
And just as Li Kainan was frowning over this nagging sense of wrongness, Prince Adam suddenly made a loud announcement:
"Let the grand ball begin!"
Countless dishes and wines were brought out by the castle servants.
The dim, dilapidated castle hall blazed to life with countless lights, transformed into a scene of extraordinary splendor.
Melodious music struck up, and magnificently dressed nobles swept in with their beautiful dance partners, flooding the hall and beginning to dance.
Where had all these people come from?
Well—how to put it……
Li Kainan had the distinct feeling of watching a movie's ending, where a crowd of people inexplicably materialized and burst into dance.
The scene was clumsily telling him the story was over, and that the protagonists would henceforth live happily ever after……
Li Kainan found the sight jarring, yet Prince Adam and the castle's servants seemed completely oblivious—dancing with boundless joy in the hall.
Even Belle beside him was swept up in the atmosphere of the ball, her heart stirring, and she instinctively looked toward Li Kainan beside her.
Belle hesitated for a moment, then looked down—and found, without knowing quite when, that she was already dressed in a beautiful, enchanting silver evening gown!
At this point Belle could hold back no longer. She extended an invitation to Li Kainan to share a dance, her expression carrying a touch of shyness.
Li Kainan didn't refuse—and the moment he accepted Belle's invitation, the armor he had been wearing transformed in an instant into a magnificent formal suit.
Even though Li Kainan had never once learned or engaged with dancing before, he could in this moment hold Belle in his arms and move gracefully in time with the music.
Everyone present moved in the same steps, surrounding Li Kainan and Belle at the center in an endless swirl of spinning and leaping—making the 2 of them the focal point of the entire hall!
Belle rested her hand at Li Kainan's waist, leaning into his arms, and found herself drifting helplessly into a kind of enchanted daze.
And Li Kainan, holding the beautiful young woman in his arms, needed only to glance down to see what the low neckline of Belle's silver evening gown left on full display.
Yet the more the atmosphere of the ball swelled with warmth and joy, the more his thoughts grew clear and sharp—coldly observing this ball that felt so thoroughly, unmistakably wrong……