CHAPTER 14

Should I talk to him?'

However then, the Emperor lowered his voice.

"Now we're the only ones left. Miss Dalia, you can stay here."

The Emperor said so, and she couldn't bear to say that she would go to see Aceras for no reason, so Dalia turned her gaze and looked at him.

The Emperor covered his face with a grim look as he was telling a hard story.

"I'm too ashamed to tell you, but according to what my attendant has told me, Cedric is hiding here. If you don't mind, please allow me to take him."

"...."

Then Hikan's face darkened. He looked like he sympathized with the Emperor.

'If even brother looked like that, I guess he's really unreliable.'

Dalia thought.

"Please do so."

"Alright, thank you."

The Emperor smiled with a relieved look. Then he looked around with a sharp look on his face.

The air around him changed. To put it in words, it sank very low.

When Dalia felt that and flinched a little, the Emperor said affectionately as if to appease her.

"It's not exactly a harm to the surroundings, so rest assured. Maybe he used magic to change the color of his eyes and hair to hide, and he'll have to consume mana. If I intentionally control the flow of mana, I can tell where he is."

"Ah...."

To put it lightly, it was a tremendous ability to be able to completely control the flow of mana in such a large space.

Dalia also learned about basic magic in liberal arts, so she knew that much.

"All right, he's right there."

The Emperor said briefly and then strode off somewhere.

Dalia was confused and her eyes followed his back.

The Emperor stopped at one wall of the hall.

At the end of his step was a boy. It was definitely someone she hadn't seen before at the ballroom. Seeing him dressed as a servant, he seemed to have changed his face and disguised himself.

Dalia covered her mouth shut as the color of his hair and eyes gradually changed.

It was the Second Prince Cedric.

Straight, honey-blonde hair flowed over the handsome, high nose bridge.

Dalia couldn't deny that the boy was really handsome. He seemed to be the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life.

Even after receiving the Emperor's fierce eyes, Cedric only smiled nonchalantly.

"You took a while this time, Father."

"Yes, you have disgraced this family. Change your clothes first."

The Emperor sighed heavily.

Cedric flicked his hand lightly. Then the clothes he wore changed into a suit instead of the servant's outfit.

He held out his hands like he's being arrested.

The Emperor sighed and waved his hands. And took him to Hikan.

"I'll be going now. I'm sorry for ruining the ball."

Cedric next to him spoke to Hikan in a friendly but somehow sarcastic tone.

"Hello, Hikan. Aceras, I wish I could have kept that moron's mouth shut a little more..."

"Cedric!"

The Emperor sternly called him.

Cedric smiled and closed his mouth.

Dalia recalled the information flow from the original.

Aceras was the Emperor's servant, and on the surface he was like an angel, so he was on good terms with most people, but not with the Second Prince Cedric.

Aceras, who still dislikes him, must have spilled out Cedric's tracks.

Although Aceras was madly twisted as the male lead of the original work, Cedric was also formidable.

In the original, Cedric Vercelona Michelio did not have his own route, so he sometimes appeared as the supporting character in the route of other characters, and because he was so handsome and strong, he was oftenly asked to be a target character.

However, he is basically a person who views the world like an ant house or a puppet game.

He doesn't feel attached to others, and he doesn't care what happens to others because of him.

A typical arrogant transcendent with no empathy. In other words, a sociopath.

He has no inner deficiency, so he doesn't show a maniacal obsession with the heroine like Hikan or any other target character.

'Anyway, it's amazing.'

Dalia kept looking at the handsome Cedric's face.

I've never seen such a handsome man in my life.

Then, Cedric felt her gaze and turned to her side.

Dalia covered her eyes in surprise. And then she realized how stupid she would have look like.

'...I'm an idiot.'

She awkwardly lowered her hand, which had covered her eyes. Cedric looked at her and said with a smile.

"So you're Hikan's little sister."

Perhaps he was not asking for an answer, he immediately turned his head.

'...Embarrassing.'

Dalia felt like her cheeks were getting hot, so she cooled them with the back of her hands.

Cedric followed the Emperor immediately.

When things seemed to be resolved, Aceras stopped what he was doing right away and approached the Emperor and Cedric.

Adrisha didn't come to stay at the ball for the rest of the day.

Then the Emperor turned back to the entrance.

"Take care, Hikan. I'll see you next time."

"Have a safe trip, Your Majesty. And Your Highness the Prince."

Hikan called the servant to guide them.

* * *

After the storm passed, people returned to the ball. Hikan also seemed a little tired, but he recovered quickly. However, I'm not in the mood to dance.

"Next is the dance."

Dalia nodded.

At that time, Adrisha came. She lifted the hem of her dress and greeted me according to the etiquette.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Dalia. I will be Miss Dalia's maid of honor. I look forward to work with you." (*t/n: previously I used 'lady-in-waiting', but then I think maid of honor is more suitable)

The thing that Dalia was so worried about finally happened.

The meeting between Hikan and Adrisha.

In the original, Hikan played the role as the final villain, showing the best obsession to beat the male leads.

Now that they've already met, it feels like Dalia's death flag has been moved up a notch, let alone dancing with Hikan.…..

'Ah, just like this, in the end...'

Dalia looked up at Hikan anxiously.

Trying to see if Hikan feels a maniacal obsession with Adrisha from the first meeting, or maybe he can't get his eyes off her.

Hikan also looked at Dalia as he felt her gaze.

He didn't give Adrisha a glance, he only looked at Dalia. Then she frowned her eyebrows a little.

"...You don't like it?"

It was aimed towards Adrisha.

'Huh?'

Dalia thought she heard it wrong.

Isn't it too cold to talk about the original heroine who he was so obsessed with like that?

Dalia's expression changed subtly. Dalia shook her head hurriedly.

"Tha, that's not true!"

"Alright, then that's okay."

Hikan went elsewhere without even looking at Adrisha until the end.

Dalia was awkwardly left alone with Adrisha.

'No matter how much the situation has changed...but to be this uninterested?'

In the original, the opportunity varies depending on the route, but as soon as he sees Adrisha, Hikan is strongly drawn to her even though he knows that she is someone that he should not be attracted to.

But now Hikan wasn't like that at all.

No matter how well your mind is before the mana blooms, how can you not be interested in the person who you'd be so happy to die for?

'Let, let's wait and see for now.'

If Hikan remains not obsessed with Adrisha in the future, one of the biggest conflicts in the original story will disappear altogether.

'Then my death flag will be resolved.'

Dalia's eyes glistened at the first sight of hope.

Then Adrisha, still waiting for her reply, entered Dalia's sight.

She greeted Adrisha in surprise.

"I'm sorry Miss Adrisha. I was thinking about something else..."

"No, Miss Dalia. If you don't like me, I'll try harder to make you like me."

Adrisha chuckled quietly. It was a smile that made the hearts of those who see it feel comfortable.

'As expected, she's my favorite!'

At that moment Dalia felt proud.

Her favorite game character was alive and breathing in front of her eyes. Many of the original scenes flashed across Dalia's head at the moment.

My heart can't take it, how is this possible!

Dalia grabbed Adrisha's hand tightly and shook her head.

"No. I'm really, really glad you came. Please call me Dalia comfortably."

Adrisha made a slightly puzzled expression and soon smiled.

"Thank you for saying so, Dalia. You can talk to me comfortably."

"Oh, then, I'll call you Adrisha."

Thus, Dalia had a reliable maid of honor, the original heroine.

Dalia suddenly remembered the Duchess of Blueport. She wanted to introduce Adrisha to her.

"If you don't mind, can you come with me to greet Duchess Blueport?"

Adrisha gently smiled and nodded.

Dalia looked around and found her. Duchess Blueport was leaning against one wall in the hall.

But it's strange.

The Duchess was leaning against the wall, staggering unlike before. No matter how sick and tired she was, she always maintained a noble attitude.