Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I had gathered the billowy folds of my dress, and been about to step down, when Derrick offered his hand.

What’s gotten into you? I stared at him blankly, my eyes wide. Was he offering to help me down?

He frowned slightly.

“Well? Aren’t you coming out?”

Realizing I’d frozen, I looked around me and noticed that the other nobles who were arriving were all staring at us.

“Thank you.” I quickly took his hand and stepped off the carriage. I continued to hold onto his arm as we climbed up the white steps to the ballroom.

“Lord Derrick Eckhart and Lady Penelope Eckhart of the House of Eckhart!” announced an attendant.

The ballroom’s massive doors were slowly opening when Derrick’s cold voice reached my ears.

“Don’t do anything stupid. You haven’t forgotten that your punishment ended only yesterday, have you?”

“...”

“If you cause another disturbance, I won’t simply confine you to your room this time.”

I’d been feeling a swell of excitement, but Derrick’s quiet threat sent me back down to earth in an instant. I felt the urge to retaliate but forced myself to remain quiet.

“Yes. I’ll be careful,” I said meekly, forcing myself to smile.

Derrick turned away without a word.

Tsk.

I pouted while he wasn’t looking.

The palace party was very civil. So, in other words, it was terribly dull.

As soon as we were inside, Derrick abandoned me and busied himself with greeting the many people that approached him. Not a single person came to greet me; apparently Penelope’s notorious reputation preceded me.

Looking around, I could see other ladies my age moving about in cloisters, dancing and whispering in each other’s ears. I was a loner at the party, and I moved to a secluded corner as I watched the proceedings.

I am not lonely.

And I was definitely not lamely attempting to console myself.

I was certain of it. I came here with a clear purpose, and if I succeeded there was a chance I could get out of this damned game once and for all...

Ugh! When is that damned prince coming?

As the ball progressed, more and more people began glancing in my direction and murmuring as they no doubt noticed how unusually quiet I was.

I was starting to think I couldn’t keep standing around awkwardly much longer when an attendant shouted, “The empress and the second imperial prince!”

The game’s story was starting to unfold in earnest. The nobles ceased their chatter and bowed deeply, facing the entrance. Noticing this, I gave a cautious curtsy as well.

The empress and second prince looked every bit the haughty imperial family members they were, as they strode down the red carpet. Their blond hair—said to signify imperial blood—shone under the lights. They crossed the ballroom and, at the other end, climbed the stairs to the high platform reserved for them. I watched with bated breath and was shocked to see the second prince take a seat.

Isn’t that the crown prince’s seat?

The prince had taken the tallest seat at the center of the dais, a golden throne circled by a fancy equally golden dragon. It was the seat of the emperor.

The emperor himself almost never appeared inside the game, however, and the crown prince had always sat on the throne instead.

Why is the second prince sitting there?

I was puzzled by how calm they appeared even though the prince had done something so out of the ordinary. Was there a tradition that allowed members of the imperial family to sit on the throne on their birthdays?

“Everyone rise,” the second prince ordered solemnly after he’d sat down. Everyone got to their feet noisily.

“I thank you all for making time to attend my birthday celebration. It is not the grandest of feasts, but I hope that you’ll enjoy yourselves nonetheless.”

The prince’s brief speech marked the beginning of the celebration in earnest—or rather, the festivities were about to begin, but were suddenly interrupted.

Slam!

There was some kind of commotion at the ballroom entrance.

“Huh?”

“Wh-what’s going on?”

The aristocrats were murmuring as they turned toward the source of the noise.

Someone was advancing through the parting crowd, the sound of their footsteps ricocheting around the room. Their approach was accompanied by the unsettling sound of something heavy being dragged along the ground.

“I-it’s the crown prince!” someone shouted, sending a jolt of shock down my spine. I immediately turned to search for him.

His elegant curls looked as if they’d been spun from gold. I’d been mistaken in thinking that the empress and second prince were unparalleled beauties. With his red cloak streaming behind him, this blond man was the epitome of beauty.

“W-wait... is that a person he’s dragging?”

“Oh! Th-that’s...”

People were screaming as the crown prince passed by.

Too mesmerized by the prince’s good looks, I hadn’t noticed right away that he was dragging a limp human form behind him—the source of the strange sound.

“Happy birthday, dear brother,” the crown prince said, arriving where the empress and second prince were seated and pitching the slack body forward.

“B-brother!”

“C-crown prince!” stuttered the empress, jumping to her feet and brandishing an angry finger. “D-do you realize how rude this is?”

“How is it rude for me to take part in my own brother’s birthday celebration, Mother?”

“You’re a crown prince! What do you think you’re doing, and at a party you weren’t even invited to, at that!” The empress was seething, quivering with anger. She avoided mentioning exactly what the crown prince had done—namely, beating someone and quite literally dragging them inside.

“Not invited? Now that hurts,” he said.

“How dare you come here!”

“I received an invitation, and I put aside all pressing matters of state that I might congratulate my brother,” the crown prince said with a shrug. He didn’t look upset at all, contrary to his words.

I couldn’t really understand what was going on.

Wait, is the empress not his real mother?

The crown prince continued, “However, the attendant who was to deliver my invitation wasn’t very good at his job.”

He bent down, grabbing the man he’d dragged in by the hair and holding his head up. The man’s face was covered completely by a black mask, and I realized that he was dressed like an assassin.

“I asked him for the invitation, but he seemed intent on doing something else entirely. So I had to teach him a lesson.”

“...”

“Brother dearest, you should really choose your men more wisely.”

Suddenly, his sword came free of its sheath, and in the next moment, he had decapitated the assassin.

Blood gushed from the dead man’s torso like some kind of morbid fountain.

“Here’s your birthday present,” the crown prince said, dumping the severed head at the second prince’s feet.

“Eeeeeek!”

The empress’s scream filled the ballroom as the severed head rolled about like a ball. The second prince was pale and looked ready to faint.

“If you desire another present from me, feel free to send another of your men.”

The ballroom was filled with a shocked silence, and the only person smiling was the crown prince. It was a fierce, hellish smile. He disappeared as quickly as he’d come, leaving an astonished quiet in his wake. After he’d left, I could hear people exhaling around me.

I sighed gustily to myself, realizing I’d been holding my breath. What the hell? I brought a hand to my chest and desperately tried to remember. There was no scene like this in the game!

It had been a shocking sight, to say the least, and I was certain I’d never seen it before. It wasn’t even something I’d noticed in passing, but disregarded, like the needle marks on Penelope’s skin.

[The crown prince and the second prince had bad blood between them. He left the ballroom, offended after a trivial confrontation.]

That was all I could remember from the game.

Trivial confrontation, my ass!

I watched as the attendants gathered the body and mopped up the blood.

Suddenly, the white window slid into view again.

<SYSTEM>

A new episode has begun: [Callisto Regulus, Prince of Blood and Iron].

Depart for the maze garden immediately?

[Yes. / No.]

I considered it for a long moment. The crown prince seemed to be more of a lunatic than I’d guessed, and I didn’t feel brave enough to follow him.

He might cut off my head the moment he sees me. But at least the death would be quick. I’d come here to die, after all. I just need to go through with it once, then I might be able to go home.

Besides, I had the reset button as a much-needed insurance. If I really died, I could probably reset my progress. Doing my best to suppress my concerns, I pressed [Yes.] with a quivering finger.

My vision immediately faded to white.

When I opened my eyes again, I was standing at the entrance to the maze garden.

“That’s convenient.”

I was prone to losing my way and had been worried. I hadn’t known that I was able to teleport, just like in the actual game.

“Now then, let’s go get killed, shall we?”

Steeling myself for what was to come, I stepped into the garden. Thankfully, there was no chance of losing my way in the maze. Whether out of kindness or not, the developers had provided lighting only on the correct path. I headed deep inside, following the glow of the lamps.

How much further do I have to go?

I’d been walking for a good while now, but the line of lamps didn’t seem to end. My feet were aching when I noticed a bright lamp in the distance. I’d finally arrived.

I rushed over and turned the corner. Beyond was a vast open area with a small fountain and a bench.

“Huh? Where is he?”

I couldn’t see any more lamps around me, which meant I’d reached the end of the path, but the crown prince was nowhere in sight. Puzzled, I approached the fountain with halting steps.

Shing.

Suddenly, I felt something cold and heavy on my neck and gasped.

“I was wondering who was sneaking around,” the crown prince said, advancing in a semicircle and coming to a stop in front of me. The blade held to my neck slid across my skin as he did so.

I felt a prick of pain as the metal bit into flesh and something warm dripped down my neck. However, I wasn’t really aware that he’d cut me. I was too tense to notice.

“Why, if it isn’t the rabid dog of Eckhart.”

His blond hair shone in the moonlight, and his eyes were red as if soaked in blood. He resembled a demon as he smiled at me in amusement. That didn’t last long, though.

“To think you would follow me after what you saw in the ballroom! Do you have a death wish?” His expressionless face sent shivers down my spine. “Tell me. Why did you sneak after me like a little rat?”

The blade was slowly biting deeper into my skin, but the bloodlust shimmering in his eyes was even more frightening. It knew in that moment that the crown prince was about to kill me.

The reset button!

I searched frantically for the button. I might die now, but I had to learn where the reset button was first.

“Well, you don’t seem to have an answer for me. Time to say goodbye to the duke and your brothers, then.”

The button was nowhere to be found.

“I’ll deliver the message to the Eckhart family myself.”

I couldn’t see it anywhere.

The button! The reset button! Where is it, damn it!