Chapter 523: So-Called Fate

“Hey, beautiful!”

Hearing that inexplicably familiar form of address, Muen jolted in fright, an extremely bad premonition surging up in his chest.

Don’t tell me...

Damn it, it can’t be that unlucky, can it?

His whole body stiffened as he slowly turned around...

However, appearing in his field of vision was not the person he feared most at this very moment, but—

A bloated, obese middle-aged man, so stuffed °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° with overflowing fat that it was nearly stretching his dress clothes to the breaking point.

Whew, that scared me to death—thank goodness it’s not Ariel...

Muen let out a long breath. The worst-case scenario he had imagined did not come to pass.

But he became wary almost immediately, because he suddenly realized that this unknown fat pig who had popped out of nowhere was looking at him with a gaze that seemed... somewhat wrong.

“Hehehe, beautiful lady, all by yourself?”

The man crept closer with a leering grin. A thick stench of alcohol rushed straight at Muen’s face.

Drunk?

Muen frowned. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Me? You don’t even recognize me? You know Count Siken, right? He’s my older brother—that’s right, I’m from the famous Siken family!”

The man spoke proudly.

“Siken...”

Muen thought for a moment and quickly recalled the Siken family. It was indeed a well-known surname in Belrand—an old aristocratic house with long imperial heritage. Count Siken himself was quite capable, controlling a large portion of the Empire’s paper mills.

But why would Count Siken’s younger brother appear here?

By chance?

As Muen was puzzling over this, his vision suddenly darkened, and the smell of alcohol grew even stronger.

“Hehehe, beautiful lady, since you’re alone... how about we... hngh.”

The man let out a drunken burp and continued,

“How about you dance with me?”

“Huh?”

Muen’s eyes widened slightly as he stared at the man who kept closing in. At this point, no matter how slow he was, he finally understood what that strange look meant.

Damn it—did I just... run into a sleazy guy hitting on me?

Muen’s cheek twitched violently. Following his habitual way of thinking, when a man approached him before, he hadn’t been on guard in that sense at all. Instead, he had suspected some other scheme—which was why it took him this long to react...

Right now, he was a long-legged, slim-waisted, big-chested blonde beauty!

Damn it! Is it my fault for being good-looking?!

As a macho man, what he had always wanted was rock-solid pecs, not two utterly useless lumps of fat!

Of course, he did quite enjoy holding those two lumps in his hands and playing with them—the texture was fantastic... but that had absolutely nothing to do with how he looked right now!

Cursing again under his breath, Muen immediately snapped at the man:

“I don’t care who you are—get away from me. I don’t want to dance.”

“Hehehe, if you don’t want to dance, then we can do something else instead. The Siken family is ve—very rich. I can guarantee, whatever you want to play, you can play.”

“You don’t know that I belong to Princess Celicia? I’m not someone you can afford to offend.”

Muen felt a surge of irritation. He had met Count Siken before—a courteous old gentleman with refined manners and a sense of proper restraint. How could he have such a brother? A genetic mutation?

“Princess Se—Se—Celicia, yeah, I know. But... you’re from a count’s house, and I’m from a count’s house too. Don’t you think we’re... a perfect match?”

The fat-headed man’s face was flushed red from the alcohol, his grin growing ever bolder. Seeing Muen step back slowly, he actually reached out to grab him.

Cold light flashed in Muen’s eyes. He dodged nimbly and warned him:

“I’ll give you one last chance. Get lost. Otherwise, you’ll regret it.”

Perhaps it was because Muen had revealed a trace of the dignity of a duke’s son that the man was truly startled. Clarity briefly returned to his eyes.

But very quickly, that clarity was completely drowned by alcohol and lust-fueled bravado as he pressed forward again.

“Heh heh, beautiful lady, are you trying to play with a bit of spice? That’s fine too. Af—after all, there’s no one else here besides the two of us... right?”

Because of the importance of this ball, the Royal Knights had been heavily redeployed, leaving far fewer patrols inside the palace than usual.

It was precisely this quiet emptiness that emboldened the man further. Ignoring the killing chill in Muen’s eyes—so dense it could barely be concealed—he suddenly lunged forward.

And then—

“Mm.”

Along with a dull thud and a muffled grunt.

The man clutched his abdomen and dropped to his knees in agony.

His face was filled with terror, as if he could not believe that this seemingly delicate lady could...

“You reminded me,” Muen said flatly. “There’s no one else here.”

With another dull impact, the man lost consciousness completely. Muen expressionlessly drew his “long, slender leg” back beneath his formal gown.

“This is Celicia’s personally taught knee strike. Together with her barefoot kick to the ass and her iceberg tsundere act, it’s considered one of her three great moe points. You ought to consider yourself honored.”

After dealing with the fat pig, Muen quickly crouched down and felt the man’s neck.

The pulse was racing... truly just drunk? Or was there another reason?

For a noble to have survived this long— even if he really was a useless pig-brained waste— it was hard to imagine him daring to pull something like this at a royal ball.

But this was not the time to think about that. He still had something far more important to do.

Because of this interruption, Prince Albert had completely disappeared around the corner at the end of the corridor. If he lost him—or missed the timing—it would be troublesome.

Muen kicked the man into a nearby corner and was about to get up and give chase when—

“Ah, beautiful lady!”

Another cry sounded behind him.

What the hell, again?

Veins bulged on Muen’s forehead. Yes, I know, I’m stunning enough to shake heaven and earth right now—but can you bastards pick another place to go crazy?!

Can’t you learn something from Pink Bear and vent your desires in books instead?!

“I already said I don’t dance and I don’t do ‘spice.’ Can you please—”

Muen whipped around with a fierce expression, and then...

That fierceness froze on his face. The rest of the sentence stuck in his throat, unable to come out.

“Dance? Spice? What are you talking about?”

Standing not far away, Ariel looked puzzled, scratching her head in confusion.

But she quickly tossed that bewilderment aside. Clapping her hands together, eyes shining brightly, she stared straight at Muen:

“Beautiful lady, you’re really the beautiful lady from that night, right?! I knew you looked familiar earlier!”

“No... I’m not... you’ve got the wrong person.”

Muen hurriedly covered his face, inwardly wailing.

Ariel!!!

Running into her at the ball would have been bad enough—but why... why was she here of all places?

Just like with Liya last time, and now again...

Why does this woman always appear at the most bizarre times, in the strangest places?

Does she have some kind of special ability?

“No, you’re absolutely the beautiful lady from that night. I’m not blind! Even though it’s been so long, a beautiful girl I’ve remembered is someone I could never mistake!”

Ariel cupped her flushed cheeks, her face full of excitement.

“Ahhh, I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t get a chance to get closer to Celicia, but I never thought I’d run into you here! Is your name Muse? What a great name—just like a cake. And it just so happens that I love cake too!”

“....”

The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched.

Ce—li—ci—a.

Just how obsessed with sweets are you, that even the fake name you prepared for me had to be a dessert?

“Th... that’s just a coincidence.”

“Yeah, it’s just a coincidence.”

After muttering for a while, Ariel nodded firmly.

“But I think when everything lines up with such perfect coincidence, that’s what people call—fate.”