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Today was the day for Velos Kingdom’s ball; two beauties stood before Omiros.
「Please take care of me for today, Milady.」
Parsish took Kyouka’s hand with gratitude. Kyouka was a sight to behold today. The rose-colored dress matched very well with her dignified face, even Omiros was charmed by her appearance. When such a beautiful Kyouka was paired with the handsome Parsish, it made a picturesque scene unfold.
Parsish’ eyes, on the other hand, were now completely focused on Kyouka’s ch*st. Omiros wondered if he should scold Parsish for his lese majeste, but understood that his efforts might become futile since the same thing could happen again during their dance.
It was obvious that Parsish would receive the jealousy of many men today for his chance to dance with a timeless beauty. However, Omiros also knew that Parsish wouldn’t be the only one to receive stares of jealousy. He looked at the woman before him as he thought so.
「My best regards for today, Princess Shirone.」
Omiros took Shirone’s hand after greeting her, she was as charming as Kyouka. But, different from Kyouka, who had an air of a dignified and cold noble-born princess, like a flower on top of a cliff that was beyond anyone’s reach, the woman before him had a friendlier air.
Omiros had heard that the woman before him was one of the Hero’s wives. He knew that taking the hand of this woman could bring about trouble in the future, however the current situation had left him with no other choice.
「Well… My regards… Parsish-dono.」
Kyouka answered Parsish. In contrast to him, she didn’t seem to be delighted at all. Omiros guessed that the reason she made such a face was because she was used to seeing an incredibly handsome man like the Hero of Light, thus making someone of Parsish’s level look normal to her.
「Best regards, Lord Omiros.」
Shirone also returned his greeting. But, different from Kyouka, Shirone’s face didn’t seem to be displeased at all.
（Thank God, it seems she doesn’t dislike the idea of dancing with me. Is their different reactions simply because of their difference in personality?）
Omiros heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing Shirone’s expression.
「Well then everyone, please start heading to the venue.」
A maid working in the Royal Palace came in to call Omiros and the others.
「Let’s go, everyone.」
Omiros and the women went to the venue at Parsish’s words.
The ball wasn’t just using the hall as the venue, the king had also opened the Royal Castle’s courtyard for this occasion. The courtyard was decorated with flowers of all kinds, all accompanied by illumination magic around them, which brightened them. The scene was breathtaking.
The attendees of the ball were Royals and Nobles from several other countries, which made the venue be filled with various kinds of dresses with different styles and from different countries, which enlivened the ball to another level.
However, upon a closer look, Omiros realized that Royals and Nobles were not the only attendees of this ball. He could see that many influential citizens and merchants were also invited to this party. He had no clue how many they were, but guessing from the situation in front of him, their number didn’t seem to be that small either.
（As expected of a big country like Velos. Algore can’t afford to hold such a ball.）
Omiros could only heave a sigh upon comparing Velos Kingdom with his home country, Algore.
In the first place, the reason he attended this ball was to fix Algore’s diplomatic relations with the other countries of this region. His goal aligned with the reason behind this ball. Many countries wanted to strengthen their relationships in order to better face the monsters in this region.
Of course, other than bettering diplomatic relations, this ball was also an event made for looking for potential marriage partners. Women especially used this kind of event to find their potential spouse, which was why they would go all out with their appearance.
The most popular choices for them were the young nobles and single princes. Their beautiful appearances today were for the sole reason of catching the attention of those young nobles and princes.
Omiros thought that it was fortunate that, even when someone caught another’s attention during a dance performance, dancing with the same partner was considered as having ill-manners, thus one had to change partners for the next dance. And then, if both parties found that their dance partner was to their liking, they could choose to leave the venue as soon as the dance ended, or make an appointment to meet later.
The most pitiful amongst those singles were those who couldn’t get a dance partner. Whether it was the women who didn’t get dance invitations despite dressing up, or the men whose invitations got rejected because of the women’s shyness, these were the most pitiful participants of this ball.
Nevertheless, Omiros still decided to become a wall decoration after the first dance round with Shirone. He didn’t come to this ball with the intention of looking for a partner, and since it didn’t seem like he was going to receive dance invitations from women in this ball, he chose to seclude himself right away. Moreover, he didn’t have to worry about Shirone since someone as beautiful as her wouldn’t have any difficulties in finding another dance partner.
After a short greeting from King Eclas, the ball began with the first song.
Suddenly, Shirone, who was walking beside him, stood still in her place.
「Is something the matter?」
When Omiros turned around to look at her, he noticed her strange reaction, he then realized that she was looking in the direction of the blue forest.
「Lord Omiros.」
「Is something the matter?」
「My apologies, it seems I have to interrupt our dance, I just recalled that I have some business left to do.」
Shirone suddenly apologized to Omiros. Omiros could only tilt his head in puzzlement, wondering what kind of business she had to attend to now.
「Is something the matter, Shirone-san?」
Kyouka, who was beside Shirone, asked.
「Uhm, it’s not a big deal. You can continue with the dance, Kyouka-san.」
After answering, Shirone ran out from the venue in secret.
◆
Shirone moved out of the venue as fast as she could while holding the cuff of her dress. She had already summoned her sword with magic.
The reason Shirone left the venue was because she felt powerful killing intent pointed towards Velos’ Royal Palace.
Just like her comrade, Nao, Shirone could also feel the presence of her enemy. She was now running towards the origin of that killing intent.
「Shirone-sama!!」
Suddenly, someone called out to her, when she turned around, she found Kaya running toward the same direction as her.
「Did you feel that killing intent too, Kaya-san?」
Kaya nodded to Shirone upon hearing her question.
「It’s a powerful killing intent. It seems you feel it too, Shirone-sama.」
Shirone nodded too.
「Yeah, it’s an extremely strong killing intent! The owner of that killing intent is up to no good! Let’s hurry up, Kaya-san!」
Shirone unleashed her wings, and flew across the rampart. Kaya on the other hand ran on the wall as if it was flat land.
In an instant, the sun had set. But, with her superior physical abilities, Shirone could detect anything within a ten meter radius, thus she knew that there was something.
There was a vast forest called the Blue Forest, which spread across several countries in this region, including Velos Kingdom. The killing intent’s origin was in the depth of this forest. A few minutes after she ran out from the venue, Shirone had finally arrived at the source of the killing intent. She descended from the sky and waited til Kaya caught up to her a few minutes later.
Since the trees in the forest were so dense and huge, there was almost no starlight piercing through the forest’s fauna. Though they couldn’t see the face of the figure before them, Shirone and Kaya knew that there was someone there, waiting for them. And it was that figure who had aimed that strong killing intent toward the Velos Royal Palace.
「You’ve finally come, huh.」
The person before them finally spoke.
「WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHY DID YOU UNLEASH YOUR KILLING INTENT TOWARDS VELOS?!!」
Kaya shouted at that person.
「Humph, you’re mistaken. That killing intent is directed towards you people. THE BASTARDS WHO KILLED MY ADORABLE ZENGU!!」