Succession Round 2, Lord Ransel.

24.

“Will this do?”

Marigold finished writing the letter. Pina, the Fairy perched on her shoulder, opened her mouth listlessly.

“Do you think the Imperial Family will even accept a letter like this?”

“I think they will. If they know who I am.”

“But is the Prince such an easy man? Enough to follow you from the ball with just one invitation like this?”

“…I wonder?”

Marigold’s letter, the ‘invitation,’ was sent to the designated location through a member of the Thieves’ Guild.

From now on, there was much to prepare.

To put the final period on what she had to do in this life.

“Shall we go now?”

Marigold quickly shook her head at the face of someone who suddenly came to mind.

“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

So violently that the wind whistled.

“What are you doing?”

“Ugh, ugh, ugh!”

25.

It was a day when the road leading to the Imperial Palace was lit up.

The eve of the Imperial Ball, where the nobles of the Imperial Capital gathered at the Imperial Palace as if by appointment.

“Wait! Give me a ride! Me!”

A woman in a dress raised her hand and cut into the path where the carriage was running.

A woman with glass decorations on her shoes, a sparkling jewel necklace, and blonde hair adorned with flowers fluttering in the air.

“Hey!”

The coachman, who had abruptly stopped the carriage, wiped away his sweat.

Before he could even ask her intentions, the woman was already climbing into the carriage.

“Please take me to the ballroom!”

“Goodness, a precious Miss like you…! How could you cut in front of the road so dangerously?”

“Here. I’ll give you this. Please leave quickly!”

“I will serve you with utmost care, Miss!”

As soon as he received five silver coins, the coachman’s expression bloomed.

“Wow, there are many people dressed dazzlingly at this year’s ball. I guess it’s because everyone from the Imperial Family is participating.”

As he said, the road leading to the Imperial Palace was filled with people dressed splendidly.

The day when everyone belonging to the upper class of the Imperial Capital gathered at the Imperial Ballroom.

“If I were young and of good birth, I would have been obsessed with balls. Didn’t a famous writer say? The Imperial Capital is one giant battlefield of romance…”

Yes.

What happened in the outskirts of the Empire was none of these people’s business.

It was okay for the corpses of the Wise ones starving to death in the provinces of the continent to roll around, and for several villages to be devastated every day by war and robbery.

Because Rodniss in the Imperial Capital was always peaceful.

Who they would spend the day alone with tonight, how much more amazing people they would mingle with, and how to win romance.

Only that was their concern.

“But are you already married? There’s a ring on your hand…”

“Ju, just go faster.”

“Ah, yes.”

The blonde Miss quickly lowered her hand to hide it.

The coachman didn’t want to get involved in the complicated affairs of the nobles.

As soon as the carriage passed through the gate, the blonde Miss burst out of the door.

“Thank you for your trouble!”

“Miss?”

She diligently runs through the garden leading to the ballroom.

“Oh, be careful.”

“If you’re not busy, how about talking for a while…”

“Ah! I fell in love at first sight. My name is Long Shell Baba… Miss! Wait, Miss!”

She didn’t even glance at the people who tried to stop her along the way.

In the rapidly passing scenery, she entered the Imperial Palace as if she had a destination.

Crowded people. Dazzling corridors. A pair of men and women suddenly crossed her path.

.

.

.

“What are you looking at, Lancel Dante.”

“…It’s nothing.”

Lancel turned back at the familiar feeling, then quickly averted his gaze.

A woman in a red dress was holding his arm, wearing a pure white tuxedo.

The First Prince Violet, who covered her face with a veil.

“To escort a woman as attractive as I am and still look at other women. You’re not going to be a good man. I feel sorry for Marigold.”

“…”

As Lancel frowned and tried to break free, the First Prince grabbed his arm even tighter.

“Do you see them?”

“See what?”

“The knights.”

Lancel looked around the ballroom.

Knights in armor were seen among the parties of Imperial Capital nobles. Everyone was wearing ceremonial swords at their waists.

“They are the knights guarding the ballroom. According to Imperial regulations, only one knight order is deployed on days like today. Roughly thirty people.”

“It looks like more than a hundred.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because the Imperial Family is a mess?”

“That’s one reason. Besides that.”

Lancel already knew the answer but deliberately kept his mouth shut.

“Marigold.”

The First Prince lowered her voice subtly.

“It’s proof that there are many siblings besides me who know that Marigold is here. Perhaps even the fruits they will gain when they get that woman.”

“I wonder who spread the rumor.”

“Are you doubting me? I’m disappointed, Lancel Dante. Was our relationship only that much?”

“It’s not that much. It’s a very deep bad relationship.”

“Hahaha!”

She laughed it off, but Lancel’s suspicion of the First Prince was real.

She was a woman who would do anything to use Marigold for the sake of imperial power.

She might be planning to gather her siblings in one place and see with her own eyes who is targeting Marigold.

Who is the enemy.

Who is the ally.

“So, are Your Highness okay without any preparation?”

“You’re here, aren’t you?”

“I’ll abandon you if necessary.”

“No, you can’t abandon me. We’re still useful to each other, aren’t we? I need power, and you need authority.”

“It sounds like we’ll become enemies whenever our usefulness disappears.”

“That depends on you. Lancel Dante.”

Heh heh heh, she let out a low laugh.

“There’s no one else in this world who can protect Marigold besides me.”

She was still the same woman no matter how many times he saw her. A sinister and black-hearted woman.

Lancel headed inside the party hall with her. A familiar face appeared before him, even before Marigold.

“Lancel?”

His brother.

It was Rio Dante.

“Why are you here?”

His gaze turned to Lancel and then immediately shifted to his side.

“The woman next to you…”

Doubt arose in Rio Dante’s eyes.

Because he knew that the woman wearing the veil was not Mary.

“Already having an affair… I see why you haven’t been with Mary. You lecherous bastard. How long has it been since you got engaged?”

“…”

A merciless finger flew towards Lancel’s forehead.

“This guy may look like this, but he already has a fiancée. Don’t be too fooled, Miss, and find someone else.”

“Don’t worry. I knew everything when I met him.”

The First Prince threw back a voice full of laughter.

“…Haa, Lancel. What have you been doing?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Right. Except for attacking the First Prince’s barracks, killing the guards, and bringing her here.

Nothing else happened.

“Heroes meet many women.”

“Who’s the hero?”

Lancel tried to pull his arm away.

The First Prince held it tightly.

26.

“Why is Lancel here…!”

The second floor of the ballroom.

Marigold, who only showed her eyeballs, was agitated.

The familiar face seen on the first floor was the cause.

“With a woman I don’t even know…!”

Lancel and a woman wearing a veil stuck together.

Seeing the scene of the two whispering to each other, Marigold felt something bubbling inside.

Her teeth chattered, and cold sweat flowed down. She was unknowingly biting her nails.

‘I wanted Lancel to be happy, but he already looks too happy!’

Pina flapped her wings and approached her, who was internally vomiting blood.

“He did it, he did it.”

“Did what?!”

“They’ve already seen everything. At this point.”

“That’s too much… Lancel…”

Tears welled up in Marigold’s eyes.

“Miss.”

“……?”

“Why are you so obsessed when you’re not going to see him anyway? You said it’s over between you two, didn’t you?”

“I, it’s not over, it’s not like that…”

“You said you emptied your heart?”

“Ugh.”

“You said you have no regrets?”

“Ugh…”

“You said you’re satisfied because you did everything you wanted to do?”

“……”

Marigold avoided Pina’s rebuke.

She never said it was over. Marigold’s mental strength couldn’t handle saying that much.

“I just, I just said that we might not see each other again…”

“That’s the same thing.”

But from Pina’s point of view, she might have heard it that way. Not being able to see each other again and being over were not very different words.

Marigold barely calmed her pounding heart.

The heart she had barely put away almost burst out. Marigold pressed something she had suppressed back inside.

“The ball begins!”

The sound of singing flowed from the brightened ballroom.

Men and women of the nobility who got along well held hands and walked to the center of the hall.

Marigold squatted in front of the railing on the second floor, hugging her knees. She curled up and buried her head.

Soon, the person she was waiting for would arrive here on the second floor. If he received the invitation safely, he would definitely find her.

But perhaps because of Lancel’s appearance she had just seen, she somehow couldn’t muster any strength in her legs.

Lancel, who was probably dancing with that unknown veiled woman, continued to haunt her mind.

‘I couldn’t take it off after all, this.’

Suddenly, she saw the wedding ring on her ring finger. A cheap ring she bought for just a few copper coins at the Forland Ale Festival.

Even while organizing her relationship with Lancel, Marigold couldn’t take it off in the end.

“Madam, will you dance with me?”

“Hmm, I’ll give you a song.”

“Hahaha!”

“Hohoho!”

The noise of the bustling ballroom seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

Before she knew it, old memories were slowly seeping into Marigold’s mind.

A small port village.

A blazing campfire.

People reeking of alcohol and sweat.

People in shabby clothes, dancing hand in hand in a humble appearance.

Marigold, smiling brightly and mixed in with them.

Lancel Dante, holding her hand and getting along with her.

Memories from the Forland ball.

“It was fun. Hehe.”

Marigold felt a smile leaking out of her mouth.

It wasn’t a memory that she could forget even if she wanted to. It wasn’t something she could shake off even if she tried to in surprise.

“Marigold.”

It was then.

Marigold’s expression turned cold at the voice behind her.

It was a thick, unfamiliar voice.

Her heart sank.

It was like waking up from a dream.

The noise of the party hall, which had been far away, slowly began to be heard again.

“Are you Marigold?”

Marigold, who had been trembling her fingertips for a while, raised her head.

She knew that the time had come.

She slowly stood up from her crouching position.

‘So, Lancel.’

She took a deep breath.

The trembling in her hands and feet subsided, and her breath became calm.

Marigold slowly regained her courage. Yes. If she thought of all this as something for the ‘Master,’ it was nothing. If she thought of it as something he wanted, there was nothing she couldn’t do.

It was a life only for that from the beginning.

“Yes.”

Marigold’s eyes sank like a deep lake.

‘I’ll give you my whole life.’

She slowly turned around.

Towards the man who appeared behind her.

“I’m Marigold…”

“You’re just in time.”

“Keang!”

A powerful knuckle hit Marigold’s crown.