Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 24

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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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Chapter 24. Your Highness, Financial Therapy Is Not Covered
The silence shattered as masks clattered to the floor. Beneath the black wolf mask lay a savage, commanding visage. Behind the white deer mask had been concealed a countenance of divine beauty.
The crowd gasped in unison, their voices rising.
“The Grand Duke of the Northern Region, Kairik von Herzen!”
“The Director of the Inquisition, Demian Lyart, is here as well!”
The Empire’s supreme military might and sacred divinity had arrived simultaneously. This was no mere entrance. It was a symbolic moment revealing to all where the true power of the Empire now moved.
Oscar’s pupils trembled violently, as if seized by an earthquake.
Though he had witnessed the three of them together at the Count’s residence before, he had never imagined they would openly confront him in front of the masses.
Oscar pointed at them with trembling fingers, his voice rising to a shout.
“How dare you block my path! Do you not understand what this situation means!”
Kairik von Herzen’s lips curled into a cold smile as he replied with chilling composure.
“Oh, I understand perfectly. I’m here to catch a disgusting rat who ruins my woman’s party. A crime of such magnitude cannot be repaid even with a fortune.”
Before his words had even finished, Kairik von Herzen closed the distance in an instant.
Like a starving beast snatching its prey in a single breath, he moved. Oscar stumbled backward in terror, but all escape routes had already been sealed. Kairik von Herzen’s massive hand seized Oscar by the collar and lifted him effortlessly into the air.
Oscar’s feet flailed helplessly in the void.
He cried out desperately.
“Ugh! Let go! How dare you lay hands on the noble body of the Imperial family!”
Oscar thrashed about wildly, but to Kairik von Herzen, it was nothing more than a child’s tantrum. He dragged Oscar’s face close to his own and growled in a bestial, low voice.
“Imperial family? To my eyes, you’re nothing but a drug-dealing criminal. If you needed medication, you should have asked. I would have put you to sleep with my fists.”
Oscar’s face turned ashen as he screamed.
“This is treason! Imperial Guard! Where is the Imperial Guard! Eliminate that mad dog at once!”
But the guards could not move. Silver-armored knights blocked the entrance to the Banquet Hall. The Holy Knights Order, led by Demian Lyart, had already completed their encirclement. The Imperial Guard froze under their piercing aura, unable even to draw their swords.
Demian Lyart’s voice cut through the air with icy precision.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince. I hereby place you under emergency arrest for ‘possession and use of prohibited substances’ and ‘attempted assault against a noble.'”
“This is absurd! The Holy Knights Order dares arrest the Crown Prince? Do you know who I am!”
Demian Lyart withdrew a golden warrant from his robes and displayed it.
“The authority of the Inquisition is independent from Imperial power. Crimes involving narcotics and dark magic are subject to immediate judgment. Your status grants you no immunity.”
As Demian Lyart extended his hand, chains of light bound Oscar’s wrists.
“Ahhhhh! It burns!”
The shackles forged from divine power seared into the criminal’s flesh. It was divine punishment—agony like burning coals for those harboring malevolent intent. Oscar was hurled to the ground, writhing pathetically. His once-magnificent peacock mask lay trampled and tattered.
I closed my fan and approached the fallen Oscar. Bending at the waist, I met his eyes. My crimson dress swayed before his gaze.
“Your Highness, the floor is rather cold, isn’t it? That spot seems perfectly suited to your station.”
Oscar glared at me, grinding his teeth.
“Violetta… you set a trap? How dare you deceive me! Do you think I’ll let this slide!”
I shrugged and replied.
“Deceive? I merely enjoyed the party. It was you who poisoned the drink. It was you who walked into the trap of your own volition.”
I gestured toward the magical analysis results hovering in the air. The crimson text still bore witness to his guilt.
“With evidence so clear, will you still deny it? The composition analysis does not lie.”
“This… this is…!”
“And one more thing.”
I waved toward the Second Floor Terrace, where Shadow stood holding a magical recording orb. The lens captured Oscar’s shameful display with perfect clarity. Every moment of this scene was being recorded and broadcast live to the Capital Square’s massive screens.
“The people of the Empire are watching Your Highness’s disgraceful behavior in real time right now. A Crown Prince caught attempting to poison someone, writhing on the floor like this. I’m quite curious what tomorrow’s morning headlines will say.”
As Kairik’s grip tightened around Oscar’s collar, the Crown Prince’s face turned a deep purple as he flailed helplessly in the air. Consumed by terror and humiliation, he let out screams mixed with desperate cries.
“No… let go! Release me this instant! Disappear from my sight at once, you wretched creatures!”
Oscar’s anguished shrieks echoed through the Banquet Hall’s ceiling, yet no one stepped forward to help him.
Oscar shrieked and clutched his head. He could hear the shattering sound of his authority, his honor, his future crumbling to pieces.
I spoke with cold authority.
“Take him away. I find the sight revolting. The air in my party has become quite stale.”
At Demian’s signal, the Holy Knights dragged Oscar away. His screams faded as he was hauled out. The Banquet Hall fell into momentary silence before erupting in explosive applause.
“Waaaaah!”
“Long live the Count!”
“Justice has been served! My heart feels so refreshed!”
The nobles showered their cheers upon me, the victor. They understood now. They knew where the Empire’s power had shifted. And they knew whose side they needed to align with to survive.
The commotion settled, and the party resumed. The orchestra’s melody flowed once more, and people began dancing as though nothing had happened. But the true protagonist was elsewhere.
I stepped out onto the Terrace, breathing in the night air. As the tension released, exhaustion washed over me—that peculiar emptiness that follows a glorious victory.
“Are you alright?”
Kairik approached and draped his jacket over my shoulders. A subtle musk fragrance lingered from the warmth of his body. It was a rough yet tender gesture.
“Thank you. I’m alive because of you.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m sorry I was late. Just seeing that bastard near you made my blood boil—I thought I’d die. When you picked up that poisoned glass… I thought my heart stopped.”
Kairik carefully brushed my hair aside as he spoke. Worry and relief mingled in his crimson eyes.
“Don’t do anything this dangerous again. My heart can’t take it. We’re never using you as bait in a plan like this again.”
Just then, Demian approached carrying two glasses of champagne. Not a speck of dust marred his pristine uniform, and his gaze remained sharp as ever.
“There you are.”
He handed me a glass and spoke.
“The situation has been resolved. The Crown Prince has been imprisoned in the Underground Dungeon, and His Majesty… saw the recording and has taken action accordingly. Deposition is only a matter of time.”
“You work quickly, Commander. As reliable as always.”
As I smiled, Demian turned his head away, looking embarrassed. The tips of his ears, caught in the moonlight, flushed red.
“For you, this is nothing. Your safety is more important to me than the Empire’s security itself.”
Two men stood at my sides. On my left, a wild wolf; on my right, a noble Holy Knight. Beneath the moonlight, our three shadows stretched long across the ground. I raised my glass and spoke.
“Shall we toast? To our flawless teamwork. And to my freedom.”
“To that.”
The three glasses clinked together. A clear, crystalline sound rang out into the night sky.
Kairik downed his champagne in one gulp, then wiped his mouth and asked with a mischievous expression.
“So, you’re keeping your promise, right?”
“What promise?”
“About choosing a partner. Since tonight was a masquerade, let’s say there was no official partner. The real party starts now, doesn’t it?”
Kairik pulled me close by the waist and whispered.
“Now that the masks are off, who are you going to dance with? Tonight, I think I have the right to lead you.”
Demian, unwilling to concede, took my hand and spoke.
“I too have been waiting. I drew my sword to protect you, but now I wish to hold your hand. Please grant me this honor.”
Here we go again. This man’s popularity shows no signs of waning. I found myself caught in a delightful dilemma—the greatest predicament of my life.
A dance with the wolf? Or a waltz with the Holy Knight? Whichever hand I took, I sensed sleep would elude me tonight.
That was when it happened.
Crash—!
A sound of something falling echoed from the Garden below the Terrace. It was heavy, ominous. Then came the piercing scream of a maid.
“Kyaaaah! A c-corpse! Someone’s dead!”
“…!”
The three of us rushed simultaneously to the Terrace railing. In the center of the Garden lay a man in a black robe, bleeding profusely. Dark crimson blood spread across the brilliant flower beds. And embedded deep in his back was a dagger bearing the emblem of an eagle.
“That emblem….”
Demian Lyart’s expression hardened.
“The Black Eagle—the Imperial assassination unit directly under the Emperor. They are called the Emperor’s shadows.”
Kairik von Herzen wrinkled his nose, his expression darkening.
“The scent of blood is wrong. That thing isn’t human. There’s a stench of decay radiating from it.”
I activated my Spirit Vision. Black smoke rose from the fallen man’s body. This was no mere assassin. It was a forbidden dark magic creation—a restless spirit breathed into a corpse already dead. An undead, a walking corpse that moved even in death.
The shoulder barely visible between the robes bore the unmistakable crest of the Empire’s most notorious assassination unit, the Black Eagle. Someone had clearly resurrected dead assassins as undead and sent them to my party.
“…The party is over.”
I sighed and lifted the hem of my cumbersome dress. I had captured the Crown Prince, but the true mastermind pulling his strings like a puppet still lurked in the shadows. And that mastermind was undoubtedly far more dangerous and persistent than the Crown Prince himself.
“Let’s go. Time for round two.”
I kicked off my heels and stood barefoot on the railing.
“Negotiating for settlements through conversation seems to be a thing of the past. If these monsters are immune to financial therapy paid in gold, then I’ll have to administer physical therapy with my own hands. The price for dumping corpses in my territory will be very steep indeed.”
Both men drew their weapons simultaneously. My bumbling romantic fantasy—or rather, action thriller—showed no signs of lowering the curtain on its finale.

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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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