Chapter 522: Tail

“Ah, as expected, balls like this really are boring.”

After walking out of the ballroom, Ariel hugged her head with both hands and began wandering aimlessly.

She hadn’t visited the palace many times—only twice, when she’d followed her father, the current Count Bugaard. So she wasn’t familiar with the palace layout at all; after a couple of random turns, she had no idea where she was.

Fortunately, she only wanted some air.

Having grown up in the shadows of the Lower District, she found it genuinely hard to tolerate the strict rules of the ball and those disgustingly fake smiles.

Especially those pot-bellied nobles, impeccably dressed and holding their glasses of red wine—clearly looking down on her, yet because she was the heir of House Bugaard, still putting on an ingratiating smile to cozy up to her. Every time she saw them, she had to fight the urge to smash a fist into those pig faces.

What annoyed her even more was that she’d originally come to this ball in order to build a good relationship with Celicia, yet for the entire evening so far, aside from their initial greeting, she hadn’t gotten another chance to speak to Celicia at all.

She had thought that once the social dancing began, she’d at least have a chance—maybe she could invite Celicia to share a dance... There was no rule saying two girls couldn’t dance together at a ball, right? But when the music started and she turned to look, Celicia had disappeared without a trace.

The royal ballroom was enormous, and the nobles had brought their families; with so many people, if Celicia decided to hide herself away in some corner, Ariel had little hope of finding her.

Everything left Ariel in a foul mood. Of course, what upset her most, what she truly couldn’t forgive, was...

“A royal ball, and they don’t have Panini cake! It’s all these fancy desserts you’re allowed to look at but not eat, each one sickeningly sweet. Who would like this stuff? Do these people have any idea what taste even means?”

Picking her teeth after sweeping through nearly half of a long table’s worth of food like a ravenous storm, Ariel grumbled in utter disdain.

It was not a very elegant action, but luckily there was no one else around, so it wouldn’t—hm?

Just as she turned a corner, Ariel blinked and looked ahead in puzzlement.

Just now... it seemed like she’d seen a figure flicker past in the distance.

Of course, this was the imperial palace; running into someone in the corridor was hardly strange. The urban legends about ghosts wandering the palace weren’t limited to one or two either... But what caught Ariel’s attention was—

“That back... and that formal dress... looks really familiar...”

“Should I go check? But... tailing someone is kind of wrong.”

Driven by a powerful urge to explore, Ariel seriously hesitated for a grand total of half a second, and then... chose to follow.

......

......

“Your earlier behavior... was that not a bit too hasty, Your Highness A—cough, Your Highness?”

Elsewhere in the palace, the maid supporting Albert suddenly spoke. She lifted a face that was merely on the prettier side of ordinary, but it no longer carried the reverent, timid look she’d worn in the ballroom.

“At a time like that, you really shouldn’t have contradicted Prince Andrew in public. That’s not like you.”

“It’s not that I was hasty. It’s my dear younger brother who is too impatient. Ever since word of the eldest prince’s recovery spread, he’s been desperate to prove that he’s stronger than I am. But the more he can’t hold his temper, the more laughable he becomes.”

Albert smiled carelessly, though a trace of mockery lingered deep in his eyes.

“With that narrow little heart of his, being contradicted in front of everyone must have felt horribly humiliating. That’s enough.”

“But we aren’t fully prepared yet.”

“Then we speed things up. He might be foolish, but he’s not foolish to that degree. We still have time.”

“Will he take the bait?”

“Whether he does or not... depends on what the fish itself wants. Speaking of which...”

Albert touched his chin and was just about to say more when, from the other end of the corridor, the sound of scales clinking against armor and neat, synchronized footsteps drifted over.

The two of them fell silent at once, watching as a squad of royal knights approached in a tight, orderly formation.

“Your Highness Albert.”

The leading knight’s eyes lit up when he saw Albert. He bowed and said, “Are you already heading back?”

“Yes. I’m feeling a little unwell, so I left early. It really is a shame for Andrew to have gone to such trouble preparing this ball for me. As an elder brother, I’m quite disappointing,” Albert said with a warm, self-deprecating smile.

“No, this is not your fault. As a prince, your health is what matters most.”

The knight looked at Albert with open eagerness.

“In that case, should I escort you?”

“That won’t be necessary. There’s nothing dangerous in the palace,” Albert replied.

“I see... then I shall take my leave.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed the knight’s face before he returned to duty and led his men on.

“Hehe. The old Albert never got treatment like that.”

Watching the knights’ backs recede, Albert chuckled softly.

Back when he’d been the “brain-damaged” prince, aside from the maids and guards assigned to serve and protect him, the rest of the palace staff had avoided him like a venomous snake.

Not only because they were afraid the prince with the intellect of a five- ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) or six-year-old might suddenly issue some bizarre command, but also because of a kind of contempt that came from their very bones.

He certainly hadn’t had royal knights voluntarily asking to escort him back then.

“To you, Your Highness, such things are trivial,” the maid said, then turned to ask, “What were you just going to say?”

“I was going to say... hehe, never mind. You’ll see when the time comes anyway.”

As he spoke, Albert’s gaze slid sideways, sweeping a glance behind them. The corner of his lips curled into a deep, unreadable smile, and then, still leaning on the maid’s arm, he continued walking at an unhurried pace.

......

......

“Was that... did he notice me?”

At the other bend of this corridor, Muen stood pressed into a blind spot behind the corner, frowning slightly as he had the faint impression Albert had just glanced in his direction.

He’d followed them all this way, and he’d been sure he was cautious enough. But this was the imperial palace, covered by a vast barrier. Inside it, he couldn’t casually use magic or battle-qi.

So his illumination spell was useless here as well. He had to rely purely on his own exquisite control, doing his best to erase the sound of his footsteps and his presence.

That was also why he’d used his makeup escape technique earlier. Without magic, he had no way to leave the ballroom completely silently and without attracting any attention. After all, he had never received any counter-surveillance training; once he couldn’t even spread his senses, moving around quietly became extremely inconvenient.

But... if he’d been this careful, then even without magic and battle-qi, how could he have been discovered by someone who had never trained since childhood and was just an ordinary person?

“An illusion? Or...”

Muen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He only thought about it for a moment before pushing it aside. There was something more important to handle right now.

“Next... I’ll stick to the plan and stage a ‘chance encounter’ near Albert’s rooms.”

This was the conclusion Muen had reached after careful thought. If the encounter happened near Albert’s quarters, then it would naturally give Albert a reason to invite him inside.

He figured that was one of the reasons Celicia had given him this identity and made sure he appeared at the ball.

There were eyes everywhere in the palace. For Celicia’s sake, he didn’t want anyone seeing him approach Prince Albert under this identity, in case people concluded that Celicia had already thrown her full support behind the eldest prince.

Besides, if, as Celicia had instructed, their goal this time was better kept to “testing” Albert... then a person’s living space often revealed far more than words.

“No time to waste...”

After straightening his plan once more and confirming there were no obvious flaws, Muen immediately moved, trying to catch up with Prince Albert’s figure before it disappeared from sight.

But just then—

“Hey, beautiful!”

A voice suddenly called out from behind him, startling Muen so badly he froze, soul nearly flying out of his body.