“Sigh……”

Eileen let out a small sigh at the two’s behavior, which was no longer surprising.

Somehow, fatigue seemed to be rushing in rapidly.

“Prince Laine, thank you for your hard work as well. Then, we’ll be heading back first.”

Now I can go home, she thought. Eileen gave a light eye greeting.

“Ah, Lady Eileen.”

Laine called her in a gentle voice.

“I’m hosting a party. It’s a masquerade ball, by the way.”

He took out two invitations from his br*ast pocket and handed them to her.

“Duke Aaron, you’ll come too, right?”

“Of course I must attend since the prince has invited us.”

To keep an eye on you so you don’t do anything foolish.

Aaron didn’t add the latter part and just raised the corners of his mouth.

In response, Laine also forcibly raised the corners of his mouth and said,

“Then, I’ll see you at the party.”

The two exchanged greetings and walked out of the annex. As Laine’s figure disappeared, Eileen stared blankly at the masquerade ball invitation.

“Hmm.”

It was quite an interesting party, but concerns came first.

With Amber having escaped, a party with many people was dangerous.

But it was also difficult to refuse a party to which the prince had personally invited them.

“We don’t have to go.”

Although Aaron had said in front of Laine that they would certainly attend, that was just a formal response.

If Eileen didn’t want to go, he had no intention of going. From Aaron’s perspective, it was better not to go.

“But it would be a diplomatic discourtesy to refuse when the prince personally invited us.”

“So what? He’s not even a prince of Bereut.”

Aaron spoke playfully, but Eileen’s expression remained dark.

As she said, refusing the prince’s invitation was a diplomatic discourtesy.

But they couldn’t bring knights to the party either.

“Eileen.”

Understanding her feelings well, Aaron carefully stroked Eileen’s head and said,

“I’ll ask the emperor to strengthen security that day.”

“……Thank you.”

“And I promise.”

Aaron raised the corners of his mouth and extended his finger.

“I won’t leave your side for even a moment at the party.”

It was a promise close to an oath. Eileen hooked her hand on the pinky finger he held out.

Then, following Aaron’s lead, she smiled brightly and said,

“Thank you, Aaron.”

* * *

Eileen spent incredibly busy days.

— Lady Eileen! Shouldn’t we now attend to the matters we’ve put off?

— Former Marquis Lucas?

She spent the first week occupied with Former Marquis Lucas, who had shown up unexpectedly.

— Lady Eileen! I want to do business with you!

The following week, she was busy with Cordelia.

Before she knew it, the day of the masquerade ball had already arrived.

“Miss, are you very tired?”

Mary, who was helping her into her dress, paused and asked.

“Mmm…… quite a bit.”

Eileen nodded vaguely with her eyes closed.

“Um, Miss. Since you’re so tired, wouldn’t it be better not to go to the party today?”

It wasn’t like Mary to say such things. It was enough to make Eileen’s heavy eyelids open on their own.

Eileen opened her eyes wide and looked at Mary.

She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

“Mary, are you sick? Didn’t you used to say, ‘You must absolutely go to parties! You should be the most radiant presence there!'”

Eileen deliberately made a mischievous joke. She thought Mary would laugh and say, “Miss, you’re too much!”

“Hic……”

But contrary to her wishes, Mary suddenly began to shed tears.

“In my d-dream…… Miss…… blood…… and no one…… in the end you died……”

The tears muffled her words so much that she couldn’t understand perfectly, but essentially it seemed Mary had a dream in which Eileen died.

“Oh Mary……”

The reason for the tears was so cute that Eileen let out a small laugh. She reached out and carefully wiped Mary’s eyes.

“Mary, that was just a dream.”

“Hic, but it was so vivid…… it felt like reality.”

Still upset, Mary continued to shed tears. It was enough to worry about dehydration.

“It’s okay, Aaron asked His Majesty the emperor to increase security.”

Eileen racked her brain to comfort Mary. After considerable thought, a good idea came to mind.

“And don’t worry! Mary.”

Eileen clapped her hands lightly and said.

“Aaron promised to stay right by my side.”

Eileen spoke with a smile, but Mary still looked tearful.

It seemed she didn’t want to send Eileen to the party no matter what.

“Miss, Duke Aaron has arrived.”

Meanwhile, Gabriel’s voice announced Aaron’s arrival.

Mary moved her hands busily as if she had no choice.

“Miss, it’s done.”

“Thank you, Mary.”

Eileen praised her efforts and then firmly held Mary’s hand. She seemed to understand now and nodded.

“I’ll be back.”

Eileen left those kind words and went downstairs. When Eileen nodded, Gabriel opened the front door.

“Hello, Eileen.”

As the door opened, Aaron, who had been waiting in front of the carriage, greeted her.

“Good evening.”

Eileen responded with a smile and boarded the carriage with Aaron’s escort.

“Let’s depart.”

At Aaron’s command, the carriage increased speed and left the Ceres residence.

“Phew……”

Eileen sighed and looked at the Ceres residence, which had already become distant.

“Eileen, is something wrong?”

Seeing darkness spread across Eileen’s face, Aaron asked in a worried voice.

“Ah…… well.”

Mary’s tears and the ominous dream.

Eileen told him everything that had just happened.

“I see.”

Aaron, who had been listening attentively to her story, quietly nodded.

“I was planning to stay by your side anyway, but I should do so diligently to ensure Mary doesn’t worry.”

Normally, he would have dismissed it as a simple dream, but today he didn’t feel like doing so.

Especially with the Amber situation.

Aaron steeled his resolve.

“You should also not leave my side.”

“Yes, I will.”

Since she didn’t want to worry Aaron or Mary, Eileen nodded as well.

As she nodded, the coachman’s voice announced that they had arrived at the imperial palace.

* * *

Due to the nature of masquerade balls where faces are covered, there was no time to verify identities.

So attendants at the entrance checked invitations one by one.

“Please show your invitation.”

“Here it is.”

The man wearing a deep blue mask handed his invitation to the attendant.

“Hmm……”

Though it was a bit crumpled, it was definitely an invitation to the imperial ball. After verification, the attendant returned the invitation and said,

“I hope both of you have an enjoyable time.”

Shortly after the two people passed, a woman with brilliant blonde hair and a man with mysterious silver hair approached.

“May I see your invitation?”

“Here it is.”

The attendant checked the invitation the woman handed over.

In fact, the attendant already knew the identity of the two people without checking the invitation.

‘It’s Lady Eileen and Duke Aaron.’

Even with masks on, the two couldn’t hide their identities.

Moreover, the invitation the two held was slightly different from others.

Laine had stamped the Kingdom of Kunda’s seal at the top of the invitation.

“Verified.”

“Thank you.”

“Enjoy your evening.”

Aaron put the returned invitation in his pocket. While doing so, he gripped the hand he was holding even more firmly. Having entered the ballroom, Eileen looked around slowly and said,

“Shouldn’t we greet Prince Laine first?”

“It’s fine, it’s a masquerade ball, so no one will recognize us.”

Aaron spoke as if it wasn’t a big deal, but Eileen couldn’t trust his words.

“Hmm……?”

Despite wearing a golden mask with white feathers as an accent, their appearances weren’t concealed.

And anyone could tell that the mysterious silver hair belonged to Aaron de Monston.

Moreover, the attendant who checked their invitation earlier seemed to have already recognized them.

As Eileen tilted her head, Aaron chuckled and said,

“So don’t worry and just enjoy the party.”

Aaron adjusted Eileen’s mask once more.

“It suits you well.”

The harmony between the white mask with red rose-shaped jewels and her blonde hair was better than expected.

Aaron smiled with great satisfaction.

“Really……”

He was almost professional at changing the subject.

Eileen shook her head from side to side.

“Whoever chose it has excellent taste.”

Aaron acted smugly as if asking for praise quickly. Eileen finally decided to play along with him.

After all, Aaron always granted her childish requests without complaint.

“Of course. Who else would have chosen it?”

“Is it obvious because I chose it?”

“Your skills are excellent, so please choose my wedding dress directly as well?”

Wedding dress……

Aaron carefully savored those words from Eileen.

Somehow, it seemed to have a sweet taste.

“Of course.”

Aaron answered with a bright smile.

Eileen found his smile so dazzling that she almost regretted wearing a mask.

“Then you choose the tuxedo I’ll wear.”

“But aren’t all tuxedos the same?”

“No, they’re different.”

Aaron answered firmly.

They all look the same to me.

Eileen slightly furrowed her brow but soon smiled.

“Alright. I’ll do my best to choose!”

Whatever I choose, Aaron will look handsome in it anyway.

Eileen felt happiness as she headed toward the center of the stage with Aaron.

* * *

Scratch, scratch.

Amid the violin melodies filling the ballroom, a dissonant sound flowed in.

“……”

A woman with brown hair that curved like a river scratched her nails so hard that blood seeped out.

“……How dare.”

Behind the mask that completely covered her face, a pair of blue eyes were fixed on none other than Eileen and Aaron.

Every time the two burst into laughter as if they were happy, the scratching sound grew louder.

“……This won’t do, I need to kill her right now.”

The man who came with her had told her to wait until he returned, but the woman didn’t care.

It was more efficient to destroy the happiness before her eyes than to wait for that man.

“Eileen, I’ll send you to hell first.”

The woman gripped the sharp knife hidden in her dress.

* * *