The Return of Lilietta - Chapter 171

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

Chapter 171

At Laurea Hall, the banquet had already begun since late afternoon.

Nearly all the Empire’s nobles who attended, plus delegations from other countries—a rarely seen composition of crowds was engaged in socializing. However, no one was dancing yet, and no music was being played.

Since Kairam’s first emperor received the laurel crown as the sun set and declared the nation’s founding when night fell with the words “What rises after this night passes will be the Empire’s sun,” the National Foundation Day banquet followed the same schedule.

The ball could only begin after the emperor and coronator danced following the succession ceremony and founding declaration.

So the nobles who had gathered since afternoon waited for sunset while building friendships over light refreshments and conducting diplomacy with foreigners.

Empress Ophelia guided Lillieta to the second floor of Laurea Hall, to a balcony-style corridor overlooking the first floor.

“Wait here for the sun to set, then come down those stairs when the succession ceremony begins. You remember, right?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Then I’ll see you in a little while.”

The Empress smiled warmly and went down to the ballroom. Lillieta sat at a small table prepared with drinks and snacks, looking down at the first floor through gaps in the curtains hung on the railings.

As she tried to find familiar faces among the countless people, distinctive pink twin tails caught her eye first.

‘Rabi?’

Princess Lavinia of Duirebourg was angrily lecturing someone with her chin raised like a cat with its fur standing on end.

Those receiving her verbal lashing were noble young ladies of her age, and behind Lavinia were a reddish-brown haired young lady looking flustered and a dark brown-haired young lady comforting her.

‘Hanna and Anne.’

After Hanna became Hannelina and entered the Duke’s mansion, Lillieta had once had tea time with Lavinia and Annemarie.

She had arranged the meeting to talk with both of them, thinking they would be surprised by the news that she had become coronator and that her maid had become a princess.

‘The only people I’ve formed personal friendships with since debuting in society are those two…’

The social season that began in April.

While noble young ladies of her age attended countless parties, made friends, and formed cliques, Lillieta was busy beating up Krakens, fighting Doppelgangers, shooting Crawlers with a hole in her leg, and then blocking Mimic attacks.

When she did have spare time, she was busy with physical training, personal practice, or catching up with her long-reunited Beacon colleagues, so there was no way she could make new friends.

Excluding even Annemarie, with whom she had connections from long ago, only Lavinia, who had actively approached her, was the only new friend she had made.

At that small tea party, Lillieta had shared the story of how she became coronator, leaving out the parts she couldn’t tell, and also talked about Hanna.

Then she brought up something she hadn’t discussed with her Beacon colleagues.

She was worried that Hanna would have a hard time in society since her status had changed so rapidly and the Duke didn’t seem likely to take proper care of her.

‘So I asked Anne and Rabi to be kind to Hanna if they saw her at parties or such.’

At those words, Lavinia had snorted with cake cream still on her lips and chattered away.

Teacher, don’t worry. You have a student here who’s famous for being able to cause all kinds of trouble without anyone being able to touch her. If anyone says anything strange to that sister, I’ll bite them all to pieces.

Annemarie, who had sighed at the shoulder-shrugging Lavinia saying “That’s not fame, Rabi. And what do you mean bite to pieces… wipe your mouth,” had also said she would take good care of Princess Hannelina if she saw her, so not to worry.

Looking at the scene unfolding in the ballroom now, it seemed both of them were keeping their promise well.

As Lavinia openly shot words at them, the gathered noble young ladies couldn’t even retort and scattered while glancing around nervously.

She could see Annemarie taking care of Hanna, who was bowing repeatedly in gratitude not knowing what to do, and the still fuming Lavinia, settling them at a table and feeding them desserts.

‘That’s a relief.’

Rita smiled softly and closed the curtain gap.

After safely finishing the succession ceremony, if nothing else happened, she should join them too.

Along with Olivia, who was passionately lecturing foreign mages in that corner. And if possible, rescue Seraphina, who was struggling surrounded by nobles from various countries.

Then the banquet would be quite enjoyable.

Afterward, while resting and having a light meal with what was prepared on the table, Lillieta was startled by sudden murmuring and shouting in a theatrical tone, and pulled back the curtains.

“Assassination! This is an assassination attempt! I just barely returned alive from the brink of death!”

Looking down through the curtains, she saw Prince Joseph raising his voice. He held up his torn trouser leg at the knee and shouted.

“In this Imperial Palace, which should be safer than anywhere else! I, Prince Joseph! Was attacked by an assassin! Look at this! Blood is flowing!”

Just as the nobles began murmuring, one of the guard knights who had followed Joseph interjected in a tired tone.

“That’s because you fell down on your own and got hurt, Your Highness.”

“Anyway, it’s true that I was attacked in the Imperial Palace Gardens!”

The Prince retorted with a reddened face. The guard knight replied with an expressionless face.

“You got startled on your own when you saw us arresting someone showing suspicious behavior in the garden and fell down by yourself. This isn’t an attack, it’s an attempted attack.”

Behind him, two other guard knights were holding the fully restrained culprit. The trembling, sobbing culprit looked rather clumsy to be an assassin.

‘Of course, since he’s not a real assassin but a pauper hired by the Duke with false testimony and execution in mind.’

Duke Adickl was the one who secretly brought this ‘assassin’ into the heavily guarded Imperial Palace.

He had staged a play where he disguised a pauper as a dangerous assassin to inflict minor injuries on Prince Joseph and have him point to the Empress’s collateral relatives as the masterminds.

‘Even though Gid blocked it with various means, he’s still doing something similar to Pascal’s history.’

Thanks to the guard’s preemptive blocking, the real attack never happened, and unlike the original history, the culprit was arrested by guard knights from the Crown Prince’s faction, so they could extract real testimony instead of fabricated statements.

‘The Crown Prince faction nobles who would be framed as masterminds will all have their whereabouts secured at the party by then, so even if false testimony is given, it won’t matter.’

The nobles who had initially murmured in surprise began to subtly laugh when they saw the trembling culprit the guards had brought and the Prince’s condition with just a scraped knee.

“That’s an assassin…? The brink of death…?”

“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but His Highness, during the boat trip and now this time too…”

“Seems to be making a bit of a fuss, doesn’t he?”

“He’s quite an interesting person.”

“Hmm, seeing that he was caught but didn’t commit suicide, he doesn’t seem like a real assassin either. I wonder if His Highness somehow earned the resentment of commoners…”

As words mixed with laughter were exchanged in low voices, Duke Adickl clicked his tongue with a displeased expression and suddenly approached the flustered Prince.

“In any case.”

Terrence del Naporoa Adickl’s voice had a strange power. Despite speaking low and quietly, opposite to his son who raised his voice like an opera singer.

“It’s true that someone with impure intentions infiltrated the Imperial Palace Gardens and threatened my son. Isn’t that right?”

The Duke pressed with eyes gleaming like a predator. The guard knight flinched and answered.

“But we immediately arrested him at the scene—”

“That means you ultimately failed to prevent his entry. The Imperial Palace’s security is seriously flawed. To think you couldn’t even prevent the infiltration of someone who appears to have no particular abilities.”

Come to think of it, was that so? If such a person could enter the Imperial Palace Gardens, there was definitely a security problem. Following the boat trip incident, this again…

Public opinion immediately wavered. Thanks to the Duke’s faction among the nobles actively agreeing.

Rita, watching from the second floor, opened her mouth in disbelief.

‘After letting him in himself…!’

Duke Adickl confidently raised his head, looked around at the murmuring nobles, then frowned and said.

“We cannot continue to remain here after such an attack. The Prince seems quite shaken, so we shall return home now.”

At that moment, Empress Ophelia, who had been in the ballroom, stepped forward.

“Are you now daring to say you will not attend the Empire’s succession ceremony, Duke Adickl?”

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