CHAPTER 81

Thanks to Cedric's intervention, only few people noticed the relationship between Beolde and Dalia.

However, only two people were different.

One was the Duke of Mershain.

As someone who had been watching Beolde for a long time, he knew that she had no reason to suddenly seek praise from Cedric.

Moreover, he watched (shivering with anxiety) Cedric, Beolde, and Dalia from a distance from beginning to the end.

Cedric clearly frowned when he took Beolde's hand. Then he held Dalia in his arms.

'The center of that relationship is Miss Dalia Pesteros!'

Duke Mershain was extremely quick-witted when it involved the matter of his sister, Beolde.

Knowing that fact, something caught his eye.

It was the necklace that hung around Miss Dalia Pesteros's neck.

Although the core has become a little smaller and the surrounding shape has changed, it was definitely the Empress Siord's diamond necklace.

'The fact that Siord lent her that....'

As expected, she also roughly knew what happened between Dalia and Beolde.

'I'll have to talk to Siord later.'

Although he did not dare to speak directly to Dalia, the Duke of Mershain gave her infinite his support.

He doesn't know how Dalia managed to persuade Beolde, but please put her on a leash and keep her under control.

He secretly made a cross sign for Dalia.

And the other was a rather unexpected figure who had not yet appeared.

* * *

Dalia told Cedric everything that had happened before the banquet began in full swing. Except for the patterns that Meldon left behind.

Cedric was not very surprised.

"But it was still dangerous. I'm glad that Meldon helped, but be more careful next time."

"...."

"I'm a little sad that I couldn't help you. Ah, of course I don't blame you."

It was a warm word. Dalia smiled brightly.

Soon the Emperor and the Empress entered the hall, and the banquet began.

Dalia greeted Hikan and Adrisha, who had just arrived.

Hikan smiled slightly and nodded, while Adrisha smiled softly and waved her hand downwards.

Perhaps she looked happy because she didn't come with Leonard.

However, when Dalia showed her back with a crying expression, her happy expression was ruined immediately. She asked Dalia, mouthing the words.

'What happened?'

Dalia reached out diagonally and pointed at Cedric.

Adrisha, who understood the situation immediately, fiercely glared at Cedric.

But it wasn't very threatening. She looked like an angry Maltese instead.

Crown Prince Leonard came today with the daughter of a certain Count. It was three years ago when rumors circulated that she liked Leonard.

Her heart still remained the same even now, and she spoke to him cheerfully.

Leonard was still doing his best to be a gentleman, and listening to her. There was no special gift opening ceremony, which is usually the biggest event at a birthday banquet.

Cedric didn't receive any other presents at the ball. If they have something to send, they can send it as a package.

Because of his overly cynical attitude, he did not receive gifts from many people even as a prince, as he sent bad replies that were clearly written by an aide, no matter what they gave him.

The people who came to congratulate him also only spoke some formal words and quickly disappeared.

Instead, congratulatory speeches from the Emperor and Empress followed.

Cedric took Dalia's hand and went to the Emperor. The Emperor looked at her and Cedric alternately with a happy smile.

"It's nice to see you two became close these days."

Cedric just smiled.

"It just happened by chance."

"Well, I suppose so. Anyway, you're already nineteen. You've grown up so much."

"...."

"I'm sure you'll grow up well in the future. Don't keep on running away now, it seems that you have made up your mind, so let's do this right. And then..."

As expected of a father, he continued to nag for a while.

Cedric listened with a smile, but it was clear that Dalia was lost in another thought.

"Um, I talked a lot. Empress, I'm sorry. Please say a word."

The Emperor belatedly concluded his speech.

He said as he covered the Empress's cheek with one hand. The rumors that the Imperial couple had a good relationship seemed to be true.

Looking at the Empress's gentle eyes made the Emperor look somewhat embarrassed.

Dalia turned her gaze to Empress Siord.

If she had a chance to speak to the Empress later, Dalia wanted to thank her for lending her the necklace.

The Empress was a cat-like beauty with fiery red hair and blue eyes.

At first glance, she looked as fierce as her sister, but she was completely different from her sister.

She was soft-hearted and easily swept away. She likes being alone and doesn't talk much.

Today, she looked somewhat depressed even though her long-awaited sister had returned. She looked at Cedric and said bluntly without even smiling.

"Thank you for coming all the way here. Happy birthday to you. Take a rest then."

It was such a short greeting compared to the Emperor.

Cedric, however, remained calm as if he had expected it.

"Yes, mother."

"Miss Dalia too... Yes, thank you for your hard work. You can go now."

To Dalia, the words sounded somewhat like an order.

The Empress didn't even look at her. Considering the treatment for the prince's first partner, there's barely a word.

Dalia swallowed the words of thanks that had been circulating in her mouth, and bowed.

She heard the Emperor speak to the Empress in a puzzled voice behind her.

When they had come down the platform, Cedric spoke in a low voice that only Dalia could hear.

"I'm sorry. My mother is sulking at me now. I guess that's why she does it to you too."

"Sulk, sulking?"

Dalia asked in surprise. Cedric had a troubled expression.

"I asked her about lending me the necklace."

"...and then?"

"I never cared that much about her, but she's sulking at me for being so mean."

'Ahh.'

The Empress's reputation of being soft-hearted came to mind.

Dalia cowered for no reason. Cedric blinked slightly in embarrassment.

"It's not your fault. I usually don't get along very well with my mother."

"...."

"It's a long story, so to speak. It's not my mother's fault."

Cedric smiled awkwardly. She doesn't know what it was, but it seemed like there was a story behind it. Feeling sorry, Dalia looked at him.

"Will you tell me next time?"

"Yes, I will."

Cedric replied straightforwardly. Dalia smiled slightly.

"But I wanted to thank her."

"I'll tell her on your behalf. I'm sorry."

"Then won't she become even more sulky?"

"…..I guess so. Sorry."

Cedric apologized with an embarrassed look.

Dalia smiled, saying that it was alright. Then she carefully took out a small box from her bag and gave it to Cedric.

"...what is this?"

"I was debating whether to give it to you on your real birthday or now, but if I'm not lucky, I might not be able to see you on that day."

"Is this my birthday present?"

A smile of disbelief appeared on Cedric's face. He looked at Dalia as he gently folded his eyes.

"Can I open it now?"

"No. There's a letter inside. Wait until your real birthday and open it."

"... Okay. I'll do that."

Cedric was still satisfied, so he put the present on his palm and kept looking at it, and then called the attendant.

"Can you bring this to my room carefully?"

The attendant was in a daze, wondering if he was surprised because of a box that was less than half the size of the palm of his hand. (*t/n: not so sure about this part)

Then, he hurriedly bowed after being urged and carefully took the box and disappeared.

The first part is over, and the second part will begin soon.

The attendants were decorating the hall with a new set. As a result, there was a vague time gap.

The two spent their free time standing against the wall of the hall.

"Come to think of it, Duke Artus seems to be acting strange these days."

Cedric said in passing. Surprised when a familiar name came up, Dalia looked at Cedric.

At that time, she had met Duke Artus in front of Beolde's room.

Meldon tore the business card in half and threw it out the window, so she went out to find it.

For now, since she has decided to cooperate in making Meldon the next Duke of Artus, the more weaknesses the enemy has, the better.

Dalia secretly kept the business card.

"Why?"

"Well, it's strange since it overlaps with the time of my aunt's return."

"...Hmm."

"He must be nervous about the power structure. After my aunt's disappearance, the Mershain family had no transcendents. But now that she has reappeared, Artus is the only Ducal family without a transcendent."

"Is the current Duke Artus not a transcendent?"

"Yeah. His brother was a transcendent, but he went crazy and committed suicide."

Cedric had a tendency to casually tell heavy stories. Dalia felt somewhat chilly.

Anyway, as Cedric said, the existence of a transcendent among the four Ducal families is an important issue that determines the rank of the family.

Sometimes a transcendent was not born from the main family but among the collateral relatives. Then, there were often cases of losing the family name to the collateral relatives who produced transcendents.

As such, the transcendent was a symbolic existence for the four Ducal families.

'That's why Meldon could become the next Duke of Artus.'

Dalia seemed to understand why Artus was so anxious. It may be because of the power structure, but the bigger reason is probably because of Meldon.

At that time, Duke Artus met Meldon in front of Beolde's room.

Of course, he must have guessed that Meldon and Beolde had met. Then suddenly the disappeared Beolde has returned.

Naturally who's next?

'He must think that Meldon seeks favor from Beolde.'

In fact, the intermediate process was quite contrary to the Duke's prediction, but the result was similar.

'He doesn't know how he'll appear this time.'

"Did he come to this banquet?"

"Perhaps so."

Cedric replied.

At that time, an unexpected person walked to the place where the two of them were. Dalia stared at her in surprise.

Translator Note: This is a long chapter compared to the previous ones…The way I want to cry when I first saw how many pages it was (╥_╥) + with all the confusing words…I need to break down each words and used dictionary to try to make sense of the sentences.