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That night, the masked woman was drinking fruit wine in one of the guest rooms of the Lycant Palace.
“
” She thought about the events of the day. Today, one of the wedding guests had almost been poisoned. It was only an attempt, but if he had died, the wedding might have been canceled. Or there might have been a war between the Beastmen and the Elves. “Damn
”
The culprit was someone the masked woman knew well. Bougainvillea. She had known her since she was a child. Well, the masked woman remembered the names, faces and backgrounds of most elves.
She was nothing more than a lackey, but with the Masked Woman’s persuasion and pleading, she would be spared the ultimate punishment. She would be punished accordingly, but it had to be done. The masked woman thought about the words of the cornered Bougainvillea. Honestly, they worked on her. They still stung her heart.
“Aconite, why are you so popular
?” She blurted out the question as she took a small sip of her drink. She was sloppily dressed, sitting in a chair with her belly wrapped in her nightgown, which lacked any hint of sex appeal. “Hmm?”
There was a knock on the door. At the faint sound of the knock, the masked woman’s voice rose.
“Who is it? It’s open!”
“It’s me. Sorry it’s so late.”
It was a man’s voice. A man she knew. The masked woman grabbed the doorknob with a swiftness she had shown only a few times on the battlefield.
“Oh? It doesn’t seem to be open.”
“Sorry, I just closed the door. Wait a minute. I’ll open it right now.”
“I understand.”
From there, the masked woman moved quickly. She took off her favorite nightgown with super speed and stuffed it into her bag. She put on a slightly sheer undergarment she had prepared for the guests of honor, muttered, “No, this is a little embarrassing,” pulled a cardigan from her bag and put it on. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and confirmed that she looked sexy enough not to be embarrassed. Nodding in agreement, she sat back in the chair she had just occupied and picked up the glass of fruit wine.
“O-Okay, you can come in now, okay?”
“Oh, wasn’t it closed?”
“It’s open now.”
The masked woman didn’t know why, although there was a hint of a wry smile from behind the door. She was nervous because it was the first time a man other than one of her relatives had come to see her at this time of night.
“Excuse me.”
“Oh, what
 what brings you here?”
The masked woman was speechless for a moment. She knew from the voice who was on the other side of the door. In fact, it was the same person who had entered the room. But on his face was a mask in the shape of a woman’s face.
“What’s with the mask? Are you joking?”
“You too, don’t you want to take off the mask in your room?”
“Whoa, you idiot! Shhh! Now I’m Aurantiaca[1], the masked saint. It wasn’t Thunder Sonia who came!”
“Can you tell me again why you’re doing this?”
“Well, if Aconite finds out I’m here, it’ll make him uncomfortable, won’t it? I couldn’t bother him by having them give me a different seating arrangement, or a better private room for the guests of honor
 Even if these are still preparations for the wedding, I don’t want to make him any busier than he already is.”
“I see.”
The masked man nodded with a wry smile. Thunder Sonia originally wore a mask during the war. It was a mask that enhanced her own magical power. So it was more natural for her to wear a mask when she wasn’t with her people. Even if she wore a mask and disguised herself, no one would think she was really disguised. If she said she didn’t want people to call her “Thunder Sonia” because she was an important person and it would complicate things, everyone would agree with her.
“Now you speak, why the mask?”
“I have similar reasons. Now I go as Errol, the messenger of love and peace
 otherwise you did a great job today. I was watching you from the side
”
“Hmm, that was mismanagement on the part of my people. What would have happened if I hadn’t taken charge?”
“I’ve heard that happens in many places.”
“There are too many of my people who are mismanaging things just because the war is over.”
The masked woman
 or Thunder Sonia, snorted as she said this. She came from the Siwanasi forest and had been looking for a good man in several places. First she went to the human country, and from there to the elven country, and in both places she ended up empty-handed.
Apparently, the elves had behaved badly in many places since the end of the war. In particular, the struggle between Prince Aconite, who was seen as the future king, and Prince Erigeron (of the anti-Aconite faction), who was plotting to take the throne from Aconite, was fierce, not only within the land, but also in terms of the allies they were able to gain outside of it. Thunder Sonia would intercede whenever she saw them, and as a result, it was rumored that she traveled the countries alone to judge the misdeeds of her own people.
(T/N: Haha, as they say about Bash now xD).
However, she was only looking for someone to marry.
“What do you want, Errol, messenger of love and peace? What’s the point of hiding your face and going to a maiden’s bedchamber at this time of night when you can’t help but be the subject of strange rumors? If a strange rumor comes to light, you will be hunted down by the elven intelligence, forced to remove your mask and take responsibility.”
[1] I think an explanation is in order. It turns out that the author of the novel used plant names to name the elves. And so, knowing that, it is strange that she is called Thunder Sonia. Well, the thing is that the name Thunder Sonia comes from a plant (sort of), this one to be exact. The full name of the plant is Sandersonia Aurantiaca.