The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 146

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

Chapter 146

Befitting the ducal house’s town house, the garden of Podonamu Estate was extremely beautiful, but she couldn’t concentrate because of the person beside her.

Rita half-listened to the endless stream of flowery words while looking around with disinterest.

While habitually calculating places to hide and escape routes, somehow the direction the Duke was guiding her toward was secluded with thick grapevine tendrils. Perfect for concealment.

Feeling uneasy, she stopped walking abruptly.

“Noblewoman?”

“I’m a bit tired.”

“Oh my, I failed to be considerate!”

Joseph hurriedly spread his handkerchief on a nearby bench.

Lillieta stared blankly at the handkerchief for a moment. It reminded her of the handkerchief Gid had spread on a bench for her at dawn not long ago.

It was the same handkerchief, yet how could it feel so different?

“Please sit, Noblewoman.”

She didn’t really want to sit, but she had no choice. When she sat on the bench, Joseph sat right next to her.

She instinctively tensed up. As an unfamiliar person, one she particularly disliked, came close, instinctive revulsion surged and her hands itched. The reason she had given up dancing came to mind again.

‘Endure it, just endure.’

Rita gritted her teeth. Joseph, completely unaware of her feelings, was chattering about all sorts of things beside her.

It was selfish behavior – having no intention of listening to her stories and only wanting to talk about himself – but in her current situation of not wanting to converse with him, it was actually helpful.

“Noblewoman, do you see that fountain over there? The purple water mysteriously spouting up? It’s a fountain flowing with Adicl wine! A magician who joined the family a few years ago is quite skilled and created such a dreamlike artifact. Isn’t the fragrance wonderful?”

“A magician?”

When Rita, who had only been smiling and nodding, asked back for the first time, Joseph quickly answered.

“He’s a talent my father discovered and brought in. Though still young, his skills are said to surpass even those geniuses from the Blen Family!”

“Better than the Blen Family, that’s impressive. What kind of person is this magician?”

When she probed further, wondering if it might be Pascal, the Duke’s expression became subtle.

“…Even if he’s young, he must be at least over thirty, Noblewoman. That magician has good skills but his hair is jet black and his complexion is always shadowed, so he’s not very pleasant to look at.”

“Your hair is black too, Duke.”

“No, even if it’s the same black color, the feeling is different from mine, the feeling! His name is even Raven, for crying out loud. His eyes are dark too, and regardless of his skills, he’s quite an off-putting person.”

It seemed this fool was making strange objections because she showed interest. Lillieta suppressed a sigh and continued the conversation.

“Raven, that’s an unusual name. What about his surname?”

“He doesn’t have one, he’s a commoner. He’s not someone of a status worthy of your interest, Noblewoman.”

“Don’t magicians receive surnames and titles when they register with the Magic Tower, even if they’re commoners?”

“He’s not affiliated with the Magic Tower. Noblewoman, you’re strangely interested in magicians. Perhaps…”

Oh no, was she too obvious in her questioning?

Just as Rita tensed, the Duke continued with a slimy expression.

“Are you doing this on purpose to make me jealous?”

What nonsense.

She was struggling to keep her face from scrunching up when Joseph slyly reached out his arm toward her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned in close, whispering.

“Ah, there’s no need for that. This Joseph is already completely smitten with you—”

Uncomfortable contact. Stranger. Enemy.

In the blink of an eye, Rita had unknowingly knocked him down beneath the bench and was restraining him with her foot.

“Argh, ah, aaaaah!”

The Duke, with his shoulder twisted, screamed similarly to Anton Den Duirebourg Everett from before. Lillieta belatedly realized her mistake and released the Duke’s arm.

“Ugh, Noblewoman, what are you doing all of a sudden!”

The Duke glared with a reddened face.

She had made a mistake.

Just as the troubled Lillieta was about to open her mouth to apologize first, wondering how to handle this situation.

“The young lady has learned self-defense.”

A low, gentle voice interjected.

“Since you touched a lady’s body without permission, you should accept this much.”

Rita turned toward where the voice came from. She saw a man leisurely walking along the garden’s forest path paved with pebbles.

Long silver hair, a lean and slender body, a silver metal mask completely covering his face, ash-gray eyes visible through the mask’s gaps.

From appearance alone, he was a complete stranger, with a different build and even a voice she’d never heard before, yet the aura he gave off was strangely familiar.

‘Gid?’

The eyes behind the mask curved into crescents as they met hers. He approached with long strides, let his silver hair fall as he bowed his head, then took her hand and kissed the back of it.

“Sorry for being late, young lady.”

The fact that she felt no discomfort from the hand holding hers, and seeing the eyes behind the mask wink, confirmed it. It was Gid.

Rita stared down at him in bewilderment.

“You’ll handle it well on your own, but… since it’s the Duke’s party, you need to disguise yourself properly so you won’t be caught.”

“Of course. You can look forward to it.”

Gid had said that, but… wasn’t this too extremely proper? There wasn’t a trace of his original appearance. What did he do and how?

Joseph, belatedly coming to his senses, shouted angrily.

“Who are you?”

“The young lady’s companion.”

The silver-haired man straightened his back and naturally showed an invitation. It was the invitation Lillieta had received.

“Co-companion? Noblewoman, what is this… Who is this person?”

“Isn’t it taboo to openly ask about someone’s identity at a masquerade party? Allowing guests to bring companions is also a commonly used rule to guarantee participants’ trust while hiding their exact identities. The host shouldn’t break this rule.”

The man who replied as smoothly as flowing water naturally took Rita’s hand.

“The party will start soon, young lady. Shall we go?”

“Wait, I’m not finished talking! After doing such a thing, where do you think you’re going—”

“Such a thing? Do you mean the Duke trying to inappropriately touch the Noblewoman’s body, only to be restrained and end up screaming loudly?”

The eyes behind the mask curved. It was a distinctly different, cold gaze from when he looked at Lillieta.

“If this incident becomes known, people will be quite entertained. It’s new gossip material following the boat incident, isn’t it?”

“…!”

Joseph shut his mouth with a flushed face. The man tapped around the mouth area above his mask and turned to escort Lillieta.

Once the Duke was completely distant and they had left the garden to enter the manor’s corridor, Rita lowered her voice and asked.

“Gid?”

“Yeah.”

“…How did you do it?”

“I got some help from our genius magician.”

He slightly lifted his mask. Dense magic circles were revealed on the inside of the metal mask, and his appearance wavered strangely.

“Illusion magic?”

“Right. Oh, the hair is a wig.”

His answering voice became familiar, then turned unfamiliar again as he lowered the mask and continued speaking. A tone slightly clearer and higher than his original voice, feeling like a minstrel.

“Is your leg okay?”

“Yeah, it’s healing well. They said slow dancing would be fine. Just don’t run.”

“That’s a relief, but don’t overdo it.”

An extremely affectionate and calm tone.

Rita recalled the stories she had heard from Oli and Ethan. Did he know that she had heard everything? Had Oli or Ethan told him? Or was he still unaware?

It was confusing.

Before she knew it, they were at the ballroom entrance. After showing the invitation to the servant guarding the door, they entered inside.

People wearing colorful masks mingled together with feathers stuck in their hair like peacocks. It was much more dazzling than a typical party, almost dizzying to the eyes.

Rita tried to calm her complicated feelings and recalled her mission objective. She needed to find the red-feathered mask. Or get hold of the guest list, or find someone from the Crown Prince’s faction.

‘This will be harder than expected. Because of the masks… ugh.’

A strong patchouli scent wafted from a woman passing by them. She instinctively stiffened, but Gid gently wrapped around her waist and pulled her toward him.

“Shall we dance one song first?”

“What?”

“It’s a ball, it would be suspicious not to dance at all.”

He whispered softly, embraced her and spun her away from the woman with the patchouli scent, then led her straight to the center of the hall.

Then he skillfully slipped in among the people who were already dancing. He naturally caught the rhythm of the music as he wrapped her hand in his and pulled her close.

Before she knew it, the dance had begun.

It was a popular waltz tune these days, and thanks to all the practice she’d done while preparing for her debut, her body moved on its own.

She spun to the music and suddenly looked up at him. Behind the unfamiliar mask, unfamiliar eyes crinkled beautifully in a familiar way.

Come to think of it, this was the first time they’d danced together since that dance at the debutante ball when they still didn’t know each other.

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