Chapter 29
She was by no means ignorant of Calix Valdea’s face, yet she addressed him as if she didn’t know who he was. Then, at the appropriate moment, she feigned exaggerated surprise.
“Yo—Your Highness. Please forgive me. I failed to recognize such a noble personage and committed a grave discourtesy.”
Calix merely glanced once at the young lady with navy-blue hair and offered no particular reaction.
Delinda, having successfully positioned herself naturally by his side, smiled quietly.
“Are they not a couple perfectly suited for this ball, Your Highness?”
Delinda spoke in a low voice, looking toward the same spot as Calix.
“Watching such a beautiful pair of lovers fills me with a pride I cannot hide as the host of this ball. I even find myself thinking that today, this very moment, was prepared solely for them.”
“…….”
“……Oh dear. Even so, I shouldn’t have said such things in front of Your Highness. My apologies.”
After offering admiration she didn’t feel, she followed it with a deceitful retraction.
Delinda, well aware of the rumors surrounding the two princes and the temptress, bowed her head with an even darker expression.
It seemed her companion was now determined to ignore her entirely.
Though he didn’t spare her even a single glance, Delinda decided not to care.
One might be able to avert their eyes at will, but they could not close their ears.
“As a token of my hope that you will generously forgive my blunder, I shall give Your Highness the thing you desire most right now.”
Delinda slowly raised her bowed head.
The whispering voice was of a completely different texture from the innocent tone she used when standing before the masses.
“Miss Charlotte must be suffering from severe thirst after dancing so many times in a row. I have already instructed the servants to lace the champagne she will drink with a potent sleeping draught. Once she falls asleep, she will be moved to the bedroom on the far left of the second floor. Take your pleasure with her then, to your heart’s content.”
Calix’s gaze, which had been fixed on one spot the entire time, flew over and pierced Delinda.
A broad smile surfaced on Delinda’s lips.
“Once you have possessed her body, no one will be able to object to Your Highness claiming her.”
“……!”
“The reason I speak these words without hesitation is because I know that you and I, Your Highness, are effectively in the same boat.”
Delinda’s black eyes stared straight at Calix.
At this point, the fact that he was a mad deposed prince and a parricide who killed his father did not matter much.
Nor was she curious why he was competing with the Crown Prince over a common country girl with nothing special about her.
Her only goal was to win the Crown Prince’s heart and rise to the highest position.
‘You’ll have no choice but to accept my proposal.’
Throughout the banquet, Calix’s eyes had never once turned toward Charlotte Evanshire.
Even after the ball began and Charlotte danced several times, Calix never once asked her for a dance.
To an outsider, the two would have seemed like perfect strangers.
‘But that’s not it, is it, Calix Valdea?’
If you were going to hide it, you should have hidden it properly.
While your entire body is struggling to stay away from that woman, what is that thick, simmering look in your eyes?
“What I desire is to become the Crown Prince’s woman. Only that.”
“…….”
“So, take that girl, Charlotte Evanshire, for yourself. I and my father will take responsibility for everything that happens today. So…… Kyaah!”
Delinda let out a fragile scream and collapsed.
Ice-cold champagne was dripping from her head.
“Did you think the infamy of being called a blood-crazed murderer was earned for nothing?”
Calix, holding a champagne glass, asked. Not a hint of anger was buried in his voice. That made it all the more chilling.
Delinda’s body trembled violently. Calix looked down at her without pity or guilt.
At this moment, his face was so devoid of emotion that one could believe the parricide who killed his father had returned.
“If you do anything foolish, your neck will be my next trophy. Delinda Frostis.”
“……!”
“Get lost. Don’t annoy me.”
Tossing the empty champagne glass carelessly to a servant, Calix returned to his original posture as if nothing had happened.
It was a level of cruelty that was hard to believe even after seeing it with one’s own eyes.
Delinda felt goosebumps break out over her entire body just from catching a glimpse of his nonchalant face.
At the same time.
Lottie, who was dancing with Padrick to a fine melody, turned her head at the commotion coming from a corner of the ballroom.
“Miss Evanshire. Focus only on me until the dance is over.”
Padrick skillfully changed their path, drawing Lottie’s gaze back to him.
His gray eyes were looking at her sweetly.
Lottie felt that strange sensation blooming from deep within her stomach once again.
“……Your Highness.”
“Call me Rick. It’s a name only my close relatives can call me, but I think it would be fine if it’s you.”
Ah. I think I know what this sensation is.
“Because from now on, I will call you Lottie instead of Miss Evanshire.”
It is disgust.
The disgust of knowing that not a single syllable he speaks is the truth, yet having to play along as if she doesn’t know.
And the disillusionment with a past where she once felt happy enough to possess the whole world at such obvious sweet-talk.
“Try saying it once. Rick.”
“……I cannot do that, Your Highness. Please do not let me commit such a discourtesy.”
“I know this demure appearance isn’t your real self. Where did that bold woman go, the one who barked at me about inferiority complexes and such?”
Padrick whispered so close his lips nearly touched her ear.
Her eyes closed involuntarily at his hot breath.
If it weren’t for the plan to provoke Delinda, she would have risked the destruction of her entire family today just to kick this man between the legs.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of sending you to the gallows just for saying something like that once.”
“…….”
“When I look at you, for some reason, you feel like someone I’ve known for a very long time. How should I put it……. It’s as if you know me better than I know myself.”
Unaware of how much of a sight his partner’s expression had become upon hearing those words, Padrick chuckled, saying even he thought it sounded strange.
“Anyway……. Should I take your presence today as the answer to my question?”
“……?”
“What, did you not even read the letter? It’s been quite a while since I sent it.”
Oops. Lottie barely managed to resist the urge to squeeze her eyes shut.
If it was the letter Padrick was talking about, she had long since torn it into shreds after a quick glance.
However, Padrick, who had already obtained a satisfactory answer to his question, had no intention of getting angry over a trivial matter.
Lottie spun softly under her hand joined with Padrick’s. The dance was nearing its end.
As soon as she tried to pull away after drawing close, Padrick pulled her back strongly.
“You are more beautiful than any woman I have ever seen.”
Holding Lottie in his arms, Padrick lightly kissed her ruby necklace.
“This is a vow I make on your heart. If you marry me, I will love only you for the rest of my life.”
“……!”
“You’ll do it, won’t you? Marry me.”
In that moment when everything was shrouded in silence, Lottie’s gaze hurriedly searched for Delinda.
It was because of that.
Because Delinda happened to be with Calix at that moment, her eyes couldn’t help but meet his.
She had tried so hard to make eye contact since the banquet, yet the fact that their eyes finally met now felt strangely hollow.
No, such thoughts were all useless now.
Lottie’s gaze turned back to Padrick, who stood before her once more. His eyes, certain of her answer, were flickering with arrogance.
“I am…….”
It was just when she thought the chandelier directly above her head was somehow shining too brightly.
Swish!
Something sharply tore through the air from the open balcony.
She realized it had pierced the chandelier above her head, but it was already too late to dodge.
“Lottie!”
Simultaneous with a scream whose owner she couldn’t identify, the shadow of the massive chandelier swept over the two of them.
Crasssh!
“Kyaaaaah!”
“S—Someone is dead!”
“Don’t push! I said don’t push! Aaaagh!”
Those who had escaped the bolt from the blue began to swarm toward the narrow exit all at once.
A servant trying to control the entrance was knocked down by someone’s fist. Someone else was trampled while trying to flee.
Those who fainted from shock, those who collapsed weeping, those bleeding from being hit by broken crystal shards—it was nothing short of a scene from hell.
While everyone else was struggling to escape the chaos, Calix stood as if nailed to the spot.
“…….”
Deep red blood was flowing from beneath the fallen chandelier.
He watched it without even blinking. He stared as if doing so might stop that river of blood.
‘She’s dead.’
His heart began to beat with a heavy thump, thump.
No. She’s not dead.
‘She’s dead.’
Don’t talk nonsense. Who’s dead?
‘You killed her.’
Shut up!
“……!”
The sound of his heartbeat ringing in his ears began to grow rapidly louder.
It felt as if his entire body had become his heart, pounding away until it finally became difficult to breathe.
Though he gritted his teeth in pain, Calix did not take his eyes off the chandelier. Desperately, as if that was the only way to shake off the auditory hallucinations tormenting his mind.
『Is that not right, my dear Calix?』
At that moment, his vision was dyed black, and a voice was heard. It was a voice so ambiguous it was unclear if it was male or female, or even human.
Along with the realization that he had heard it somewhere before, a bluish silhouette floated before his eyes.
『The blood on your hands is entirely the price for your sins. Because you and I are one.』
That thing, which could never be human, was laughing. He could tell even without seeing its lips.
Calix’s gaze slowly dropped to his feet. Dark red blood was soaking his ankles.
He moved his gaze slowly along the crimson trail.
There he was. His father, spurting red blood like a fountain from a stab wound.
That image gradually transformed into something else. A woman covered in blood, her brilliant sunset-colored hair disheveled.
She is dying, staring at him with light-green eyes that would never blink again.
What pierced her heart was none other than the sharp blade held in his hand.
No……. Is it a gun?
『The only thing that can save you from hell is hatred…….』
“Th—The Prince is safe!”
