MTDL 27

Chapter 27

“I had no idea red beet sherbet could be this delicious. As expected, Lady Allens’s desserts are always ahead of the trends.”

“I thought it was an absolutely awful ingredient, so I never imagined it could taste like this. I bet it’ll become a new trend, don’t you think?”

The ladies leaving the ballroom chatted about the red beet sherbet they had tasted today.

“But about Lady Machert…”

One of the ladies lowered her voice.

They exchanged uneasy glances.

“She seems to have completely fallen out of His Majesty’s favor, doesn’t she? She was even considered one of the leading candidates for the next Crown Princess, but I never imagined His Majesty would issue such an order…”

“To speak to His Majesty like that. Honestly, I always thought she would go too far someday. She bullied other children, relying on her family’s influence.”

“Shh. If someone from the Machert family hears us, they might hold a grudge.”

“Oh, come on. Everyone who was there already knows—”

“Goodness!”

Their conversation was interrupted by another lady’s startled cry.

The women, who had just stepped outside the ballroom, widened their eyes and shrank back at the terrifying scene outside.

“What is that?!”

Men whose bodies were battered and bruised were being dragged away with their hands bound together in a line.

“Th-That person…”

A man was directing the soldiers dragging away the prisoners. His height, which appeared to exceed two meters, and the enormous iron flail hanging at his waist made it immediately obvious who he was.

Duke Parmel Germant, the Chancellor of the Military Affairs Department.

He was a terrifying figure whose fierce yellow eyes alone were enough to make anyone freeze in fear.

Numerous soldiers stood at attention around the ballroom like blades, and despite having committed no crime, the nobles’ legs seemed to freeze from the sheer tension in the air.

“……Ah.”

One of the ladies who had come outside seemed to become dizzy at the sight of Duke Germant’s enormous iron flail. She clutched her forehead and collapsed. The other ladies hurried to support her.

Thud. Thud.

Parmel Germant approached the ballroom with his massive body.

He was a man who could not possibly have been less suited to a masquerade ball.

Even if he covered his face with a mask, there was no one who could fail to recognize him as Parmel Germant.

A voice mixed with an ominously heavy metallic sound rang out.

“All of you, listen well. I merely caught the necks of the small fry who dared sneak into the Imperial Palace to threaten the great Aslet Imperial Family.”

“Eek……”

Just hearing that voice was enough to make a frail male nobleman stagger backward in terror.

“If anyone else has witnessed suspicious forces, report to me without delay.”

There were six men being dragged away, all battered beyond recognition. Their faces were covered in bruises, and their features were so swollen that it was difficult to tell who they were.

The nobles hurried along, deliberately turning their heads away.

“L-Let’s go. I-I don’t want to get caught…”

“Q-Quick, move.”

“My legs have gone weak…”

The people shrank into themselves, desperate to get out of Parmel’s line of sight.

Parmel stood still, sweeping his vivid yellow eyes over the faces of the people moving before him.

Even those who kept their heads lowered flinched whenever his terrifying gaze fell upon them.

And then, for a moment—

“Hmm.”

Parmel’s eyebrow twitched.

Those who realized where his gaze had landed instinctively stepped backward.

Thud. Thud.

As Parmel approached that direction, the crowd split in half as if by the miracle of Moses.

There was only one person who remained standing in place.

Only after the crowd parted was Arinel’s small figure revealed.

“That child…”

“Isn’t she the daughter of Marquis Myla?”

“That’s right. The girl His Majesty has designated as the Crown Princess…”

“The child who made the red beet sherbet!”

The ladies anxiously shuffled their feet.

They had never actually seen Parmel hurt a child, but his very presence was so intimidating that children would burst into tears or even faint upon seeing him.

As they worried, Arinel looked up at Parmel with a fearless, straightforward gaze.

Everyone held their breath as they watched the enormous Chancellor of Military Affairs face the small, young girl.

When Parmel reached out toward Arinel’s head, another timid lady staggered from dizziness.

“Oh, my…”

But the next scene left everyone gasping in shock.

“……!”

Parmel Germant, the terrifying Chancellor of Military Affairs.

The cold-blooded man renowned for his merciless and brutal methods.

With a hand large enough to rival an ordinary knight’s shield, he gently stroked Arinel’s small head.

“Heh heh. Little one. Are you leaving?”

Arinel’s reaction was even more surprising.

Despite his terrifying, metallic voice, her face did not turn pale. Instead, she looked into Parmel’s yellow eyes with a bright smile.

As though she were looking at a friendly neighbor.

“Yes! It’s getting late now.”

Most children would wet themselves just by meeting those eyes.

Even the Machert girl, who knew no bounds when it came to her status, never dared approach Parmel.

Wink—

“Yes. Replenishing your strength through rest during wartime is very important. Let us meet again soon.”

The next scene was even more astonishing.

“H-He must be warning her that he’ll k-kill her the next time they meet…”

“He narrowed his eyes. That means he’s saying he’ll crush her spine…”

“No, he’s saying he’ll make her disappear right before his eyes.”

Parmel had winked at the child.

Parmel…… The terrifying Parmel Germant had actually winked at her.

It was impossible.

Caught in complete cognitive dissonance, the people blurted out whatever came to mind as they spoke of their fear of Parmel Germant.

But despite Parmel’s terrifying threat, the child merely smiled with clear, innocent eyes.

“Yes. There must have been a reason His Majesty chose her as the Crown Princess…… A heart made of steel.”

“Perhaps Lady Allens had a reason for choosing her as well. Just look at how straight her back is even under such tremendous pressure.”

The people whispered among themselves.

A child who could calmly stand before Parmel, a man who could easily be called half-human and half-monster, and look up at him without fear.

There was no doubt she was an extraordinary child.

Arinel even waved goodbye to Parmel before scurrying over to the carriage and climbing inside.

Parmel’s fierce yellow eyes remained fixed on the carriage until it began to move.

“Phew……”

Clatter—Clatter—

Inside the carriage, I was completely exhausted, so I leaned my small body against the backrest.

“My goodness! You went through something so dangerous. Are you all right?”

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

Adam examined me, and after confirming that I was unharmed, he looked as though he had narrowly escaped death himself. Then he continued.

“But Duke Parmel Germant was in Galnem?”

“Yes. I was so surprised to run into him here again.”

“My goodness. I can’t believe two such great figures of the Empire were in Galnem, apart from His Majesty…….”

It seemed that the men who had been captured were planning to attack the people leaving once the masquerade ball ended.

Unfortunately for them, they happened to catch the attention of Mr. Parnel…… No, Duke Germant, and ended up being dragged away.

“Phew. Anyway, I’m relieved that nothing happened to you. But…… from what I heard, it seems something else happened besides that incident.”

Adam asked while watching my expression.

He must have heard the people whispering around the carriage.

“Yes, that happened. Lady Machert was banned from attending Imperial Palace events.”

My words filled Adam’s eyes with surprise.

Duke Machert, one of the four chancellors, did not possess quite as much influence as the other three chancellors, but he still wielded power far beyond what ordinary nobles could even compare to.

For his daughter to be banned from entering the Imperial Palace by the Emperor was an enormous event.

“Is…… Is that really true?”

“Yes. She cannot enter the Imperial Palace until His Majesty grants permission.”

It was essentially a warning that she had completely fallen out of the Emperor’s favor, equivalent to being expelled from high society. It was also one of the harshest punishments a girl of her age could receive.

When Lariel heard the Emperor’s order, she collapsed as though she were about to faint, sobbing uncontrollably, while her mother took her away with a deathly pale face.

Duke Machert thanked the Emperor for forgiving his daughter’s crime of insulting the Imperial Family with such a relatively lenient punishment.

‘What should I do with her?’

Parmes’s playful expression was still vivid in my mind.

At that moment, countless thoughts flashed through my head.

And then, I came up with a way to make Machert, one of the four chancellors, grant me the favor I wanted.