Chapter 67

Yerhan and Deneb, the Lord of Haylor, came out to the terrace for a while.

Since the terrace was located on the upper side, the banquet hall can be seen at a glance, yet the terrace was not visible from the inside, so it was a perfect place for secret talk.

As soon as the place was set up, Yerhan leaned back on the railing and looked at Deneb.

“You seem to have something special to say?”

When Yerhan left Haylor, he asked Deneb to do some things.

The first was regarding the monsters, and the second was about the expansion of troops and power.

Yerhan had almost no power, so he had to build a foundation little by little from now on. This time, he set up a base in Haylor and received reports from time to time.

It was far from the capital, so it was easy to move secretly, and the locals were also loyal to Yerhan.

“I followed the whereabouts of the monster as you commanded.”

After Yerhan left, Deneb formed a ‘monster chase’ team after selecting some knights. Their task was to find out where the monsters appeared and how they moved.

“And this time something strange happened.”

“What is it?”

“More than ten monsters have been found in the borders of ​​the empire.”

Yerhan nodded to signal that he could continue to speak.

“The chase team came back to the castle a week later after following the monsters, and they reported to me that the monsters were leaving Haylor and going down south.”

“The monsters are moving?”

It was a strange word. Most of the monsters stayed in the area where they appeared, and it was rare to move in groups like that.

“So what about monsters?”

“….I’m sorry. We lost it.”

Deneb bowed his head with a face of shame.

“It can’t be helped.”

Yerhan did not tackle him. They weren’t even professionally trained knights meant to pursue monsters, but they were rushed to go after them, so this much was enough.

Besides, each monster had a different appearance, so there were many cases where they were not noticeable at all at night.

Yerhan thought for a moment. The large-scale movement of the monsters was an unusual problem. He thought he’d have a talk with the Knights of Tiriad later.

Yerhan, hearing the rest of Deneb’s report, turned to the banquet hall. He found Rosena right away in the midst of a lot of people.

Rosena, who was conversing with several people, was shining like the only star in the banquet hall.

The corners of Yerhan’s lips, which had only been hard, slowly loosened. With a light smile on his face, he looked into Rosena’s actions one by one.

Deneb, who was amazed at the sight, glanced at Yerhan. The Yerhan who was blunt as if he had no emotions, was nowhere to be found.

He wondered what he was looking at, and his face turned devastated all at once.

Yerhan gripped the marble railing that he was leaning on. Then, fine marble powder fell down.

Seeing this, Deneb was startled and immediately turned his head toward the banquet hall.

He was looking for the cause as to why Yerhan was suddenly so angry for a long time, when he saw Rosena and a man standing next to her.

A man was smiling softly and flirting with Rosena. Yerhan immediately stood up and said,

“Suddenly I have to take care of something urgent. Let’s finish the story later.”

***

In an instant, a large number of people surrounded Rosena.

Although she was distracted by the pouring greetings, Rosena listened to everyone in earnest. Most of them came with good intentions, so she wanted to do her best.

Everything about Rosena caught people’s attention. They showed interest not only in the dress and accessories Rosena was wearing, but also in her makeup and hair style.

Since most of them were attuned with fashion, Rosena, who was not fashion-conscious, was very fresh.

As the young ladies who had been chirping like birds next to her left, the ladies who were hovering around to Rosena, greeted her one by one.

Unlike Asilia, who was arrogant, Rosena treated them with respect, regardless of their status.

“Your Highness, I’m about to throw a tea party in my mansion. I’d really like you to attend.”

“On my birthday banquet…”

Everyone was shouting because they wanted to invite Rosena.

As Rosena laughed awkwardly, the ladies said they would not push any further and would send formal invitations soon.

As the noise cooled down a little, a man who was looking at her side approached. The man stood in front of Rosena and politely greeted her.

“Nice to meet you, Princess. I’m Count Olyden.”

The count smiled, revealing his white teeth.

From his appearance, he looked three or four years older than Rosena, but perhaps because of his mustache, he looked much older.

As Rosena nodded, the count looked down at Rosena’s hand.

Rosena hesitated, but held out her hand. Then he smiled broadly and pressed his lips to the back of Rosena’s hand.

When the count’s lips touched, goosebumps sprang up on her arms.

“I watched from a distance. You are so beautiful…”

The count was busy praising Rosena.

He wanted to continue the conversation, even a little, so he tried hard on his own, and Rosena unintentionally found out that he had come to the capital this morning, and was a divorced man with a child.

Rosena looked at him with a puzzled expression. But he did not know when to retreat, and once again praised Rosena’s appearance.

The ladies around him also started to avoid him one by one because he was too burdensome.

The count, who was laughing happily alone, looked at Rosena’s body. Unable to take his eyes off the white nape of her neck, he coughed out.

And that was the moment he was about to lean towards Rosena, pretending it was a mistake.

Someone gently grabbed Rosena’s shoulder. And with a little force, he pulled her.

Rosena was startled and immediately raised her head to check the opponent.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

Yerhan whispered softly and looked at Rosena.

Rosena, who was half-way in his arms, pursed her lips.

Even in the midst of the many different scents of perfume, the scent of Yerhan tickled the tip of her nose…

At Yerhan’s appearance, Count Olyden was frozen. And he looked up at Yerhan with a stiff face.

Yerhan asked the count.

“Do you have anything to do with my wife?”

“That… no, I don’t.”

Count Olyden was stunned and barely gave an answer.

As Yerhan looked at the count with an expressionless expression, his face turned white. And he realized belatedly that he hadn’t even greeted Yerhan.

“Forgive me for my rudeness. Your Highness, the Third Prince.”

He greeted Yerhan quickly with proper manners. But Yerhan’s expression didn’t brighten. On the contrary, he was staring at the count in front of him with cold eyes.

Only then did the count notice. Now Yerhan was telling him to get out of there, not the greeting.

“I remember I have something urgent…”

The count, who was sweating in a cold sweat, hurriedly ran away. As he disappeared from view, Rosena slowly raised her head.

Then, Yerhan’s harden face softened slightly. It was a minor change, but Rosena noticed it right away.

Rosena glanced around. When Yerhan appeared, everyone kept a little distance from Rosena. The image of Rosena improved, but not Yerhan.

Yesterday, many people were afraid because he did something unbelievable at the divinity ceremony.

Rosena grabbed Yerhan’s wrist and led him.

Rosena, who turned to a corner where people couldn’t reach, released Yerhan’s hand.

“Thank you. I was a little confused.”

If Yerhan had not returned, she would have been silently listening to the count’s biography.

Rosena was not familiar with the social world, so she had not yet learned how to naturally avoid conversations.

“Did he not do anything strange?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

Yerhan was especially wary of unfamiliar men, perhaps because of the crown prince.

Rosena opened her mouth, thinking that no pervert could be as rude as the crown prince.

“Did the talk end well?”

“Yes, come to think of it, where is Illian…?”

“I took him to meet his friends.”

“That’s good.”

He had a face that showed he thought it was really good.

“I wish I could invite his friends on his next birthday.”

Yerhan smiled at Rosena’s small wish.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“A little bit.”

After talking too much after a long time, she felt hungry.

“I’ll bring you something to eat.”

“Let’s go together.”

Rosena and Yerhan headed towards the table where the food was prepared.

Every time they took a step, gazes that gave her a tingling sensation on the back of her head poured, but she didn’t really care.

A long table covered with silk tablecloths was lined with a lot of food.

Aged wine and fresh fruit juice, young veal stew, half-moon ravioli, smoked salmon, and well-cooked goose were laid out.

Desserts ranged from blancmange, candied fruit, pies topped with lemon slices, and cookies.

Rosena took a plate and began to put food on it. The smell of the food made her really hungry.

Rosena, who had all the food she wanted to eat, sat down at the table in the back.

Yerhan brought all the napkins and tableware and set up Rosena’s seat.

Putting down the three bowls full of food, Rosena glanced at Yerhan’s plate. There was only one meat pie on his plate.

“Is that all?”

“I’m not hungry….”

Yerhan, sort of intentionally, made an excuse.

It wasn’t something forced, but Rosena offered dessert to Yerhan, thinking that he was starving.

“Do you like it?”

“…Yes.”

Yerhan replied one beat late. It was a fruit tart that seemed sweet just by looking at it.

It was beautiful to look at with the sparkling sugar coating on the outside.

Yerhan looked at the tart that Rosena had given him for a long time and then took a bite. The horrible sweetness seemed to paralyze his tongue.

His face was contorted, but, as he had always done, he skillfully hid his expression.

Their peaceful meal continued, and magnificent music resounded in the banquet hall.

Rosena, who had eaten half of her meal, looked towards the entrance of the banquet hall.

The emperor and the empress, wearing golden cloaks, were entering the hall side by side. A crown studded with jewels shone overhead.

The nobles who were chatting performed their greetings by stepping back and bowing their backs.

The emperor climbed up on the podium that’s inside the banquet hall.

“I’m glad everyone is here.”

Emperor Barmun looked around and spoke.

And he started a speech that was not very different from what he had said before.

The emperor, who continued to speak, mentioned the crown prince along with the monsters.

He emphasized that as long as the crown prince is alive, there will be only peace and tranquility in the empire.

As the nobles responded greatly, Rosena put down the tableware. Her appetite had gone down.

No matter how much the crown prince was a hero from the point of view of the people of the empire, he was an unpleasant man to Rosena.

By the way, isn’t he busy hunting the monsters?

“I think I’ve come across him in the Imperial Palace quite often, considering that he was busy subjugating the monsters…”

Yerhan flinched at Rosena’s self-talk.

Rosena did not yet know the secrets entangled with the imperial family.

She had no idea Yerhan was the crown prince’s replacement, and that he could kill monsters.

Since the day he made a deal with the emperor, he had promised to take all these secrets to his grave. So Yerhan kept it a secret from Rosena as well. It was partly because of the unknown risk, but the greater reason was that he did not want to reveal the truth.

Most people had never seen a monster killed, so they only heard rumors and treated the crown prince as a hero. However, in the end, subjugating monsters was nothing more than being a murderer.

Those who witnessed the killing of monsters often became afraid of Yerhan.

He had already shown a lot of things he didn’t want to show to Rosena. So, he never wanted to show the image of himself covered in blood and slashing monsters.

“Yerhan.”

Rosena called for Yerhan. Yerhan came to his senses upon hearing her soft voice, and raised his head.

“Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

Yerhan paused for a moment and savored Rosena’s sweet voice.

When the emperor’s speech was over, foreign envoys who were waiting began to offer gifts to congratulate everyone.

The nobles showed great interest when the rare items were presented.

Not only all kinds of jewelry, but also ivory, leather, artisan weapons, and silk, which were not easily available in the empire, were piled up on the floor.

“I guess the Astania envoy hasn’t come yet?”

“I know, right. I was most looking forward to it.”

At the gossip of the nobles, Rosena flinched for a moment. When she heard the name Astania, her body reacted first.

Apparently, an envoy was coming as Kayla came to the empire to study abroad.

Until now, Astania had never sent an envoy to the Herbet Empire, so people’s expectations were high.

When the procession of the envoys was over, and the emperor rose from his seat, a cheerful waltz resounded in the banquet hall.

It was the music that signaled the beginning of the ball, which was called the flower of the social world.

“Rosena.”

Yerhan slowly got up from his seat. He bowed politely and reached out to Rosena, who was sitting there.

“Would you give me the honor of the first dance?”

Instead of answering, Rosena took his hand.

Soon, an elegant waltz filled the banquet hall.