97

In the carriage. Stella spoke to Elena, who was staring out of the dark window.

"Are you nervous?"

"Just a little bit."

"I was like that at first. Once is difficult, twice is easy. You even wore a wig. I'm telling you, no one's gonna recognize you. Put everything down and enjoy. Let the frustration fly away."

It was very funny to see her soothing her as if everything was fine, but Elena did not show it.

"Thank you for arranging the invitations. It must not have been easy, but two of them."

Elena put a lot of effort into the word two. The first invitation, which Stella had saved, she made the excuse that it had been lost due to circumstances. In the end, Stella finally managed to get another one and gave it to Elena.

"We're friends. I tried hard, and I really wanted to give it to you."

Stella said condescendingly that she was a friend. Elena replied with a smile and turned her head to look out the window. Her face was smiling, but she frankly felt that she didn't want to talk to Stella, who was vulgar.

'If it wasn't for the invitation…'

Elena had previously received information through the guild that the drugs had been secretly distributed among the nobility. However, it was impossible to ascertain the substance. Since the opium was mostly intertwined with high-ranking nobles, the guild drew the line, not wanting to intervene any further. Even the guild, which would do anything for money, were afraid of offending the nobility in an empire where class society was deeply rooted.

Also, the opium purchases were so clandestine and made up of point organizations that it was highly unlikely that they would be able to catch and cut off the tail. In the end, Elena made a bold decision… To go to the ball by herself.

'I've accepted the risk, and I hope it pays off.'

Elena endured the risk of moving on her own to attend the masquerade ball. It was still just a guess, but she felt strongly that the Grand Duke was involved in the distribution of opium in some way.

Elena made plans to attend a masquerade ball. She decided to bring Madame de Flanrose to the fore and hold a social gathering with an overnight stay at her mansion. Leabrick didn't like the idea of a night out, but with Madame de Flanrose's support, it was easily allowed. Now, Elena and Stella sneaked out of Madame de Flanrose's mansion in a carriage and arrived at the masquerade ball at midnight.

Elena and Stella wore masks when the carriage stopped. And Elena was surprised to see the ballroom when she got out of the carriage.

"H-here?"

When Elena showed signs of embarrassment, Stella said as if she was enjoying the reaction.

"Your Highness is correct in her assumption. It is the annex behind the Imperial Palace."

"There's… a masquerade being held here?"

"Yes, all the way. Why, you know the saying that it's dark under the lamp?"

It was shocking for Elena as well. She had lived in the royal palace throughout her time as the Queen, but she never thought such a dirty masquerade would be held periodically in the annex.

'I never thought that the imperial authority would be this low.'

That's why Sian struggled to restore the imperial power somehow.

"Shall we go now?"

Stella took the initiative. Elena turned and motioned with meaningful eyes to Hurelbard, who was standing by the carriage. Hurelbard, dressed in a clean suit rather than knightly attire, replaced Elena's answer to her gaze with a light silent bow. Leaving Hurelbard behind, Elena approached Stella, who was ahead of her.

"Let's go."

Elena and Stella, arms folded in the act of close friends, entered the masked ballroom. Hurelbard, who had been standing in the distance watching them, also slowly moved his body.

He quietly blended in between the young ladies, who wore dresses with thick perfume and boldly exposed their breasts, and the young men, who were looking at those ladies with half-opened eyes.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the mask dance hall, sturdy men wearing lion masks blocked their way.

"May I see your invitation?"

"Here you are."

The men carefully examined whether it was forged or not set the way.

"I hope you have a great time."

Elena and Stella entered the ballroom past the entrance. As if they were not early, at least a hundred people were already enjoying the ball inside the ballroom.

'This is not sane. How do the aristocrats…'

Apart from the rumors, what she witnessed with her own eyes at the masked ball was shocking. They were not aristocrats, or even humans, but beasts blinded by pleasure and lust. It was normal for them to exchange sticky glances, and they repeatedly performed disorderly acts all over the banquet hall, not caring about the gazes of others. Elena was disgusted by them.

"My lady, you said you needed heavenly powder, didn't you?"

"Yes. I want to know what my lady said about ecstasy."

As they were concerned about the exposure of their status, the two skipped their names and titles, calling each other "my lady."

"Then please wait here."

Stella disappeared somewhere. Elena, who remained alone, fell into a corner because she did not want to be part of the scandalous aristocracy. But it was not a safe place either. Here and there there were hugs and kisses, men and women hugging and touching each other. Elena turned her head away, trying not to be disgusted.

'It's the worst.'

If  it wasn't for catching the tail of opium, she wanted to leave away.

At that time, Stella was talking to a person wearing a colorful peacock mask.

"I-I did as you asked and brought her here."

A woman carrying a glass of wine smiled into her mouth.

The eyes of the woman with a reddish hair color as much as the red wine in the glass did not fall from Elena.

"Well done."

"S-so I'm all right now?"

Stella looked at the other woman in fear. She knew the horror of the woman in front of her.

Lady Avella. She was looking for an invitation to Elena's masquerade ball when she was found out by Avella. When Avella found out that Princess Veronica was interested in the masked ball, she hatched a lecherous scheme. To destroy her. So she approached Stella, who was struggling to get an invitation, and threatened to ruin the business her father had started if she did not do as she was told.

Avella grinned.

"Don't worry, my lady. Do you see me getting angry with you?"

"T-then?"

"Come on, it's a gift."

Avella approached her gently and placed a pocket of silk in Stella's hand. Stella was convinced by the touch behind the silk pocket that it was heavenly powder. Stella disappeared into thin air, basking in the pleasure of the opium.

"What's the arrangement?"

As Avella spoke to herself, a man wearing a rabbit mask who was passing by answered.

"He's impatient, so he'll move right away."

As soon as the conversation was over, Avella saw a man, wearing a bear mask, snorting and scurrying around. He spotted Elena standing there and ran with a bang. Avella smirked happily at the sight of him and savored the wine.

"Haha, my lady."

Elena, who was just looking out the window, turned her head. Despite the distance, the young man wearing the bear mask smelled bad. Elena frowned unintentionally.

'It's eyes that did opium.'

It was clearly different from being drunk. There was an air of exuberance about pleasure.

"You've been looking for me? Huhu."

'Looking for you?'

Elena misunderstood the bear masked man as an opium seller.

"Is it you? A person who handles heavenly powder."

"Huh? Oh, this?"

The man in the bear mask sluggishly took out a silk bag and opened it. Elena's expression stiffened when she saw what was inside it.

'Opium!'

Seeing Elena, the bear-masked man chuckled. Then he pushed his imposing body to the front.

"Huhu. Why don't we go upstairs and have fun? Huh?"

"Have fun?"

Elena felt something was strange and stepped back. He stepped up at the same time.

"Who are you? Are you sure you're dealing the heavenly powder?"

"Yeah, that. Here it is."

The man in the bear mask shook his silk pocket and laughed.

'This is not a seller.'

It was strange in itself to make a secret deal in such an unsound state of mind. Elena's eyes became cold when there was no more reason to mix words.

"Stay away."

"Yeah, let's get out of the way together. In that corner, huhu."

The man let out a snort, wondering what he was imagining. Elena, realizing that she was talking to an incomprehensible person, tried to ignore him and walk past him. Then the man blocked in front of her.

"Where are you going? Why are you complaining now. Huhu."

"Ha."

Elena gave a short sigh of exasperation and a meaningful warning.

"Won't you regret it?"

"You said you liked me. No regrets. Huhu. I like you, too."

It wasn't enough that he was drunk on opium, the excited man in the bear mask lost his patience. The way he exhaled, it looked as if something was about to happen. Then her fears came true.

"Huhu. Let's go. I'll take you to heaven."

The man in the bear mask made a strange noise and reached out to grab Elena's arm in a gory manner. The situation could have been threatening, but Elena didn't even move her eyes.

"I told you."

It was the moment when the hand of the man in the bear mask, the size of a pot lid, was about to touch Elena's body.

Hwik. Someone caught in front of Elena's eyes.With an agile movement, he stood in front of the man in the bear mask and pushed him hard at the same time.

"Cough!"

"You'll regret it."

Despite his huge size and weight, the man, who was wearing a bear mask, collapsed.

"You fucker, who do you think I… Umum!"

The eagle masked man shoved a handkerchief into the mouth of the bear masked man. Then, when the man in the bear mask tried to go, he grabbed the man by the neck and pressed him down.

"…!"

It hurt too much, he screamed, but could not even moan as he just nibbled on the handkerchief. As if the eagle mask wasn't bored enough with what was left, he grabbed the bear masked man and hammered him into the wall. When the bear masked man went, his forehead broke and blood flowed down the wall. It happened so quickly that the bear masked man couldn't come to his senses whether it was a dream or his birthplace. Elena, on the other hand, was calm as if she knew about the eagle masked man's intervention in advance.

"Sir."