A Blend of Romance and Fantasy - Chapter 62

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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62.
Count Pixis is located at Teia Castle.
The security there is formidable, but only we of Salon de Siren can enter.
You will join our group and enter Teia Castle as one of us.
Once there, meet Benjamin Prince when he returns from the Imperial Palace and ask him to publicly declare his renunciation of the throne.
If that happens, the Count loses all justification to mobilize his knights.
Additionally, several commanders of the Pixis Knights who opposed the alliance with the enemy nation Morbian are imprisoned there.
If we free them, find evidence, and expose the truth, Count Pixis will be confined to Tartaros and war will never break out.
Rosalian spoke of it all so casually, yet the content was utterly absurd.
However, it was undeniably clear to anyone that attempting this method first was better than a war that would cost thousands of lives.
Two days later, I resolved to enter Teia Castle.
* * *
Since I had to enter as a woman of Siren, I was dressed in their attire and given a complete makeover.
After wandering about in such a pitiful state for nearly a week, my made-up face looked beautiful for the first time in ages.
“I really am pretty, aren’t I?”
If I stand out this much, I’ll be caught for sure.
But a member of the Imperial Court must practice humility.
I sat quietly, though my lips twitched slightly.
Yes, I was sitting there.
“Gasp.”
“My, how adorable you are.”
The moment Rosalian emerged fully prepared, I felt my pride plummet by nearly twenty centimeters.
‘What kind of radiance is emanating from that face?’
If a webtoon were made of this, the artists would surely protest to the author that her face is too difficult to draw.
“Ahem, ahem. Hmm.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing, it just seems you need to be a bit more humble.”
I turned away from her and fastened a large diamond bracelet around my wrist.
But it was far from ordinary.
When I twisted the jewel slightly, a hidden blade would spring out, allowing me to cut through rope if my wrist were ever bound.
Rosalian smiled faintly as she watched me.
“Do you really need to prepare so thoroughly?”
“You said carrying magical items would increase the chance of being discovered, so you might as well give me a pin with a sharp point too.”
“What kind of life have you lived, noble Princess, that you’re so cautious?”
“What’s more frightening is someone who can provide such bracelets and pins on demand without hesitation.”
Rosalian offered me a mysterious smile at my words.
“I still object.”
Cedric, who had been watching us banter back and forth with a stern expression, spoke up.
“Cedric, are you protesting because I’m cross-dressing?”
“My goodness. But it couldn’t be helped, sir. The knights of Siren can only be women.”
“It’s not that I’m angry about something like that…”
Cedric trailed off mid-sentence.
“To be honest, I can’t say I wasn’t angry.”
“But she’s more beautiful than most of our children, Your Excellency.”
“That’s right, Cedric.”
“Princess.”
Cedric raised his voice slightly, then pressed a hand to his forehead.
“In any case, it was unavoidable, so I’ll let it pass as a temporary measure. However, the reason I oppose it is because it’s dangerous.”
“The Duke is right about that.”
Rosalian handed me a fan and a pearl pin with a knowing laugh. It was the pearl pin I’d requested—one with an edge as sharp as a blade.
“Moreover, the Princess herself is disguising as a courtesan like me. Her dignity could fall to the ground, but are you truly certain this is acceptable?”
“If dignity can fall to the ground over something like this, it’s better not to have had it in the first place. And what I’m doing now is precisely what preserves dignity. Whether Imperial or Royal, dignity comes from protecting the people of the Empire.”
“…”
Her lips and eyes, which had been twisted with displeasure until now, gradually returned to their natural shape.
“Stop making those snide remarks. Aren’t we on the same side now? And Cedric, stop talking about danger now that you’ve already finished dressing me up. The discussion is over.”
I rose from my seat after tucking the pin Rosalian handed me into my hair.
“Then let’s go now. To Teia Castle.”
* * *
“F-free pass! Free pass!!”
“Cleur is definitely a free pass! Who would dare lay a hand on the incomparable Rosalian!”
Their eyes seemed to have turned into hearts.
I clicked my tongue as I watched the guard open the castle gate wide, yet I understood their sentiment somewhat.
Rosalian and the women of Siren who followed behind were truly beautiful.
“Really foolish bastards.”
“Shh, Pone.”
“Yes, sister.”
The women of the Salon criticized these idiots sharply for not searching our bodies at all.
Following the dark corridor, we arrived at an underground chamber that was excessively ornate no matter where one looked.
Nobles I’d seen several times in portraits sat there dressed in fine clothes.
At the very center, seated on a pristine white sofa, was Count Pixis with white hair.
His daughter, the 3rd Empress, was as beautiful as a single lotus flower, and though he was also a handsome middle-aged man, I could not harbor good feelings toward him.
Courtesan entertainment during war preparations? Wasn’t that too dissolute?
“Go and bow.”
Someone who appeared to be a Guard Knight nudged Rosalian’s shoulder.
However, Rosalian stood motionless in that spot, dignified and aloof.
“…”
In the end, it was the Count who spoke first.
“So you’ve truly come, sweet fantasies of Blake.”
“…”
“But wearing a necklace given by another man around your neck suggests you haven’t come to submit to me so readily.”
I glanced at Rosalian’s neck.
Around it hung a necklace similar to the pearl one I’d dismissed as trash.
Rosalian touched the necklace in question for a moment, then smiled subtly.
“You’ve misunderstood. We are not servile creatures.”
“Ho. Then why did you accept my invitation? I made it clear I wanted to purchase the songs of Siren, and you came to sell them, did you not?”
“…We sell them.”
Rosalian let out a soft laugh and tilted her chin slightly upward.
“Of course, we are Sirens who travel about performing our songs.”
“…”
“However, we are not caged birds—we have wings. So no matter how desperately you called out for us, it was only natural that we did not appear before you until now, was it not?”
“!!”
At her mocking tone, I could see Count Pixis’s jaw clench visibly as he bit down on his cigar.
“I see… That’s precisely why I was curious about your true intentions. There’s no reason for such haughty Sirens—who whisper both seduction and death in the same breath—to choose me.”
“If you’re going to be so suspicious, then send us away at once, Count. But surely you know? I am capricious and never lift a spoon twice.”
“You insolent wench—”
Unable to restrain himself any longer, the Guard Knight standing beside the Count suddenly raised his hand.
Yet Rosalian spoke without even blinking, her words precise and measured.
“I am a woman under the protection of the Prince of Serbi Kingdom. Can you not see it from the necklace?”
“!!”
For a moment, silence filled the vast chamber.
Serbi Kingdom was small in territory but formidable in power.
This was because of the endless resources it produced and the Magic Tower staffed by sages.
Moreover, the Prince of that kingdom was as dissolute and ill-tempered as Emperor Yukal himself.
‘So she received it from him.’
No wonder she’d been irritated when I called it trash.
Just as I was resolving to be more humble once more—
“Hahahaha!!”
The Count’s laughter rang out through the chamber.
“Right. That Prince’s favor is well-known. I have no desire to make an enemy of him, so let’s leave it at that. In any case, what matters is that a woman of unparalleled beauty—one even the Emperor desires—is here.”
“…I heard that you will soon attack Blackwood. I am a Siren, but I am also Monet Marquis. It seemed proper to show my face to the ruler of this territory.”
“Oh.”
Pleased with the answer, the Count laughed loudly once more.
“Indeed, women are most attractive when they are clever and bold. Stupid and obedient ones hold no appeal. Isn’t that precisely why I love Sirens?”
“…”
“Well then! What are you waiting for? Won’t you let me hear that song of death?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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