MTDL 26

Chapter 26

“……”

Meanwhile, Lariel Machert glared at the servant offering her sherbet.

She was the one who had seen Arinel from behind when she had entered the kitchen earlier.

She had hoped that girl would mess something up, but instead of making a mistake, she had once again become the star of this party.

Even though Lariel’s dress and mask were far prettier than that girl’s.

“Why don’t you eat this cheap excuse for sherbet yourself!”

At Lariel’s venomous voice, the servant’s hand stopped.

The handsome, tall, brown-haired servant had an unusually cold impression for someone in his position.

“Your words are rather irritating.”

At the low voice, Lariel slowly turned her head toward the servant again.

She had visited the Imperial Palace several times with her father, but she had never seen a servant with a face like this.

Since he was merely serving people at the masquerade ball, he couldn’t possibly be a servant trusted by the imperial family.

“What did you say?”

The servant merely looked down at her arrogantly, showing no sign of embarrassment at his slip of the tongue.

At his shameless attitude, the corners of Lariel’s lips twisted and trembled.

Fury began to rise like heat haze in her pitch-black eyes.

“……Ha! You. Were you talking to me just now? You find my words irritating?”

Everyone’s attention turned toward them.

Even at Lariel’s angry voice, the servant merely looked down at her with calm eyes.

Lariel pointed a finger at the servant and shouted furiously.

“How dare a mere servant say something like that without even knowing who I am?!”

Then she snatched a glass of sherbet from the servant’s tray and hurled it to the floor.

With a loud crash, the red beet sherbet became a complete mess mixed with shattered glass.

The servant’s eyebrow twitched as he watched, and a chill briefly filled his eyes.

Lariel was pleased to see the servant’s expression crack now that the sherbet had been ruined.

But……

What was this bone-chilling aura coming from a mere servant?

Whoosh—

Duke Machert, who had been talking with some nobles, suddenly turned his head in surprise at the cold murderous aura he felt.

And there, he found his daughter pointing a finger at someone.

Following the direction of that finger, he felt as though his heart had stopped.

“Lariel? How dare anyone do something to our Lariel!”

The Duchess seemed to have noticed the scene as well. She frowned and appeared to be heading in that direction.

Duke Machert hurriedly grabbed his wife tightly by the wrist and gritted his teeth as he spoke.

“Damn it. Listen carefully. You are going to say that Lariel ate something bad today. Do you understand?”

“Wha…… What? That lowly servant over there is right now—”

“Remember. Unless you want our entire family to lose our heads.”

The Duchess’s face hardened at the Duke’s words.

Duke Machert strode over and stood before his daughter.

Sensing someone behind her, Lariel turned around and, upon seeing her father, wore a fierce smile as though she were relieved.

Then she sneered at the servant.

“You’re dead now. My father won’t let you off—”

But Lariel couldn’t finish her sentence.

Duke Machert reached out and abruptly pushed her head down.

With an adult’s strength behind the pressure, Lariel had no choice but to fall to her knees.

“Ugh, Father!”

“We have committed a grave offense.”

But Duke Machert, who had forced his daughter to kneel by pressing down on her head from behind, bowed deeply to the servant.

It was a posture one would normally expect from a commoner.

Lariel couldn’t believe that her father was forcing her to kneel before a mere servant and apologize.

Her face flushed red, all the way to her ears.

“……”

And at that moment, everyone gasped.

Some even covered their mouths with their hands.

The servant’s hair had begun to change color.

From the tips to the roots, it transformed into a dazzling silver, as if by magic.

The servant’s ordinary brown eyes gradually took on a red hue before becoming a vivid ruby color.

“Father! Why are you kneeling before a mere servant…… Gasp!”

Lariel shook off Duke Machert’s hand pressing down on her head and looked irritably up at the servant.

She felt as though her breath had stopped.

The silver hair that symbolized the Aslet Imperial Family.

And those red eyes, with their chilling aura that made her heart constrict.

It was the face of Parmes Aslet, the great Emperor and master of Albreon, whom she had once seen at the Founding Festival.

“E-Emperor Parmes?”

For a moment, her vision spun.

She felt as though she might faint, but her thoughts quickly fell into place.

Her survival instinct had kicked in.

‘W-What have I done?’

Lariel’s hands began to tremble.

She had thought he was just a servant.

She had only gotten annoyed because the servant had told her to eat that awful-tasting sherbet……

Duke Machert spoke earnestly, the veins in his neck bulging.

“I heard that the child ate spoiled food at lunch today. We sent her here while she was still in a confused state, and she ended up committing such an irreverent act. I sincerely apologize, Your Majesty.”

“C-Confused? ……Mmph!”

Duke Machert covered Lariel’s mouth.

“Your Majesty, this is entirely my fault. I should never have brought her to the masquerade ball today……”

The Duchess, whose face had gone pale after witnessing the servant transform into the Emperor, bowed as well, her voice trembling.

To speak disrespectfully to the Emperor was no different from asking him to take one’s life.

They were among the people who knew better than anyone just how cruel Parmes could be.

I watched the situation turn into a razor’s edge.

Poor Lariel.

For a moment, I wondered if I should have warned her beforehand not to treat the servant carelessly……

But I immediately shook my head.

Well, she brought it upon herself.

“Insulting me……”

Parmes’s lips moved.

The icy chill mixed into his voice sent shivers down the spine.

“I can forgive that.”

The nobles swallowed nervously.

‘Judging by the looks on their faces…… does that mean they haven’t been forgiven until now?’

Otherwise, how could they be this frightened and obedient?

“Your Majesty…… Please, show mercy……”

The Duchess’s lofty bearing at the Duchess Machert’s birthday party had seemed capable of reaching the heavens.

But where had all that confidence gone?

Now, she was bowing before Parmes with a terrified expression.

“But.”

Parmes continued.

His gaze turned toward the shattered sherbet glass and its contents scattered messily across the floor.

Lariel trembled, looking as though she wanted to pick it all back up.

“I cannot forgive you for treating red beet sherbet so carelessly.”

At Parmes’s words, all the nobles froze.

“……!!”

“And that sherbet was made by Arinel.”

At Parmes’s next words, everyone’s eyes turned toward me.

Even through their fear and pale faces, their eyes seemed to say, ‘It really was incredibly delicious, though.’

There was even a hint of admiration that Parmes himself had acknowledged the value of the sherbet.

‘……Isn’t he being a little too dramatic?!’

But unlike my internal scream, Parmes continued speaking with a solemn expression.

“Yes. You dared to throw away the sherbet Arinel made with such care like that, little girl.”

His fierce aura made everyone instinctively draw their arms closer to themselves as if shivering.

‘I want to say, Uncle, please stop. Everyone’s going to get indigestion. Indigestion from eating something cold can last a long time…….’

I wanted to say that, but the atmosphere had already become far too terrifying for me to intervene, and Parmes clearly had no intention of forgiving her.

Lariel kept her head bowed, clutching the hem of her dress as she trembled.

“Y-Your Majesty. Please forgive me.”

“This is entirely our fault. We will make sure to educate her properly from now on.”

Even Lariel’s parents were at a loss, bowing repeatedly and apologizing for the crime of having raised her improperly.

Then, Parmes’s gaze turned toward me.

Unlike the icy gaze he had directed at Lariel, his eyes held boundless warmth as they met mine.

He playfully mouthed a question to me.

‘What should I do with her?’