Kays Translations

Chapter 26: Catherine wouldn't cry herself to sleep.

Gideon put a hand on my shoulder.

"I want to escort Liesel. I will be attending the grand soirée with her."

The crown prince immediately wrinkled his brow. He spat in a somewhat mocking voice.

"How lucky my Konoe is! The heir to the Duke of Lancaster, the object of every noblewoman's desire, has chosen the first woman he will take to a soiree!"

"What's the matter, Your Highness?"

The saint walked from behind the crown prince, who reacted subtly and rudely to me. She may have finished the greeting rounds with her father.

Gideon turns around, bends his knees and bows to the saint. The saint's face broke into a smile when she saw him.

"Gideon! You're here. I don't need you to bow to me like that."

"No matter how long we've known each other since childhood, you're a saint here."

"Just call me Iris! You're special."

The Saint smiled innocently and intertwined her hands in Gideon's arms.

The Crown Prince saw this and his expression instantly stiffened.

"It seems that special Gideon has invited this Konoe mage to the Grand Soirée next month."

The Crown Prince distorted his mouth and pointed at me with his chin, and the saint's honey-colored eyes turned to me. The smile on her lovely mouth was still there, but there was a coldness behind her eyes as if she was measuring me.

"Is that true?　--Who is this?"

I've been in the vicinity of the crown prince since yesterday.

Apparently, I was not in the saint's sight.

(In fact, we met once at the magic academy!)

I guess Iris has special lenses in her eyes that don't let anything through that is not worth dating.

I smiled wryly in my mind and bent my knees.

"My name is Liesel Crow. I graduated from the National Academy of Magic this year."

"Well, you're an excellent magician! Gideon has never escorted anyone before. --including me."

Saying this with a cute smile, the saint suddenly tilted her little head. Her golden hair gleamed in the light of the chandelier on the ceiling.

The saint glanced at my purple robe. Then she put her slender white hand over her pretty mouth.

Every of her gesture is so cute, it makes me hate her twice as much.

"Are you going in that robe?"

I wonder what that question is about.

Maybe they think I only have a robe and no other decent clothes.

"No, I won't. I brought one dress from my parents' house, so I'll wear that."

I brought the dress just in case, but I never imagined that I would wear it to the grand soiree at the royal palace.

When my grandfather found out that I didn't attend the graduation party at the academy, he quickly had this dress made.

It was ordered by my grandfather from the most famous designer in Baral, and I am proud to say that it is in no way inferior to what the nobles of the royal palace wear.

"Well, that's good. I'm relieved. --Take care of Gideon."

Smiling softly, the saint began chatting with the crown prince and never spoke to me again. I guess I was out of sight again.

The saint was the star of tonight's soiree, both in name and reality.

The lavish decorations in the hall and the ladies who had gathered there were nothing but a backdrop for her.

Her golden hair cascading down her neck and her hand holding the fan shone white, and once she smiled, showing her pearly white teeth, it was as beautiful as if all the flowers had bloomed at once.

Those who looked into her sweet honey-colored eyes and heard her clear and lovely voice were captivated by her, regardless of gender.

The crown prince treated the saint with great courtesy and the saint seemed to be attracted to the confident crown prince.

(Iris, you're attracted to the crown prince again, even though he's a completely different person inside.)

I was getting a little tired of the number of people at the night party.

Suddenly, my whole body stiffened.

There was something foreign in the air of the hall, where excitement and languor reigned, -- a faint mixture of clear hostility.

--It wasn't my imagination. I could feel an aggressive malice being released from somewhere.

I haven't forgotten my duties as a Konoe mage.

It is my duty right now to be on the lookout for insolence on behalf of those who are preoccupied with socializing.

I've put up barriers in the hall. Any malice that is too strong can be detected by entering the barriers of the mage.

I block out the hustle and bustle of the people from my ears and focus my attention on reading the sharp air.

Eventually, I spotted a malevolent spirit wobbling along at the feet of the people.

It was crawling across the floor like a wisp of black smoke, heading somewhere in the hall.

( The seemingly powerful malice was almost murderous in its intent. --Who the hell is aiming at whom?)

I slowly made my way, weaving my way through the crowd of people, trying to find the source of the smoke.

When I finally reached the balcony of the great hall, the volume of smoke seemed much larger. The barrier I had put in place had ended there, so the smoke had died down, but I didn't need to follow it any further.

Because there was only one person on the balcony.

I looked up and gasped.

Standing on the dimly lit balcony, staring sternly into the hall, was Catherine, a former classmate of mine. I heard that Catherine did not get a job because she was not hired as a royal palace mage. Eventually, as the eldest daughter of the Jumeau family, she would probably marry into a good family somewhere.

There was no time to be nostalgic about seeing her again.

Catherine's right hand was clenched around her waist and she was staring at a point and moving her mouth in some way.

This gesture was familiar to me. Whenever she performed magic in the academy, she always chanted like this.

(To whom and what are you trying to do?)

Ahead of Catherine's tightly focused eyes, a group of gaily dressed aristocratic men were gathered, all talking on chairs with drinks in their hands. There were so many of them, it was hard to tell who she was looking at.

I saw a red flicker on the fingertips of Catherine's right hand.

I quickly walked over and grabbed her right wrist.

"Catherine, what are you going to do with that fire sword?"

Catherine shivered and then looked up at me. Her eyes widened and wavered in surprise at the fact that someone had suddenly approached her while she was performing the technique and that it was me.

Her cheeks flushed as she shook off my hand.

"What are you talking about? I am not doing anything. How did you get in here..."

"I'm a Konoe mage. --If you use magic in this place, you'll be in trouble."

I cornered Catherine in the corner of the balcony so as not to be seen. She stared at me with frightened eyes.

"You're my friend. Can’t you overlook it."

I'm speechless.

Catherine never once thought of me as a friend.

I continue to question her and drive her to the balcony railing. Beyond this was a large garden, but the railing was not high enough to climb over.

"Once again, I am a Konoe mage. I saw with my own eyes that you were about to bring out the fire sword. What were you trying to do? For some reason, I can't overlook that."

I hinted that I could overlook some of the details.

Catherine, whom I hadn't seen in a long time since graduation, was looking much worse for wear. Her cheeks were sunken and her waist looked like it was about to snap.

The purple dress she was wearing was beautiful, but it made Catherine's face look even worse.

Her pathetic transformation shook my emotions just a little.

I've never liked Catherine, but as a classmate of hers since we were thirteen, I was worried about her, she looked so skinny tonight.

Catherine turned her back on me and her voice quivered.

"Oh, don't make such a scary face. I'm not scared. I was just trying to teach someone a little lesson.

"Who?"

I put my hand on the balcony railing and looked at Catherine, who was contorting her face.

Catherine said uneasily.

"If I tell you the truth, will you let me go?"

"That depends. But if you don't talk, I'll turn you in to the guards right now."

Immediately, Catherine's shoulders shook. She grabbed onto the railing to hold on to it, and her face turned bright red.

"I'm not to blame. My sister attempted suicide! Her engagement was broken off! The other party was the heir of the Trevor family, one of the four great noble families. My parents couldn't say anything and my sister was emaciated."

I almost screamed.

A broken engagement and the Trevor family.

I feel like I've heard that story somewhere recently.

When I searched hard for my memory, I remembered the incident on the rooftop one night.

"Uh, is that Benjamin Trevor?"

"...Even if you're not familiar with the aristocracy, you must know about him."

"Were you planning to attack Benjamin?"

"He's not here. I was going to burn the Marquis of Trevor's hair."

"Why the hair? I mean, why the Marquis?"

"When he came to tell us that his son had broken off his engagement to my sister, he said, "I think Miss Mia is responsible for this". Mia was not responsible for any of this! I can't forgive him for breaking off the engagement so selfishly. Her best friend Iris has become a saint, and my sister has no one to talk to these days."

"Tell me the story in detail."

"No, no way... Since when do you like gossip?"

"That's not the case! I just want to know if it's true. --Tell me and I'll let you off the hook."

Catherine hesitated for a moment, but then, perhaps fearing that the guards would turn her in, she spoke up.

Catherine's sister's fiancé was Benjamin Trevor, one of the four great noblemen. It was her sister, Mia, who he had broken off the engagement with.　

Mia apparently took a lot of sleeping pills and still hasn't woken up.

The events in the tower that night and the broken engagement.

I was strangely curious about this story, which only connected the dots. Something is at the center of these two events.

"What kind of woman stole your sister's fiancé?"

'I don't know. But I heard that Benjamin got the hots for her in the blink of an eye. ...... Mia is just like me and she's so talented!

Talent? color? I managed to get past the snag that made me tilt my head in confusion.

"I really wish I could make that girl bald!"

I handed a handkerchief to Catherine, who started crying and even had a runny nose. Catherine blew her nose with my handkerchief.

"Ugh... I'll send you a hick and a silk one later, a better one, please, loosen up."

As her tears kept flowing, over and over, Catherine finally began wiping them with my robe.

When I told her that Benjamin had also already been dumped by his girlfriend and became drunk, she got a little angry.

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