Chapter 25

Chapter 25

When we arrived at the banquet hall, many eyes turned toward us. I looked around, feeling completely on edge. Inside the wide hall, soft music played. Here, people in splendid dresses and adorned with all sorts of decorations were whispering quietly among themselves.

At the innermost part of the hall was a raised dais. Two Thrones sat side by side upon it, seeming to be the seats reserved for the Emperor and Empress, who had not yet arrived.

We kept walking and headed toward the edge of the hall. The Duke led me behind a table piled high with food, then placed a plate laden with strawberry tarts into my hands.

“There’s something I must discuss with those people. Can you wait a little?”

He pointed toward a group of people standing at a distance. Judging by their attire, they seemed to be guests from the North.

“Yes. I will.”

I snipped off a piece of the tart and popped it into my mouth as I answered. The sweetness was melting pleasantly on my tongue.

‘Wow. The ducal chef’s skill is incredible, but this place is unbelievable too.’

Perhaps because it was food served by the Imperial Family, the taste was truly excellent. I munched on the tart absentmindedly, savoring it thoroughly.

As I did, the Duke came into my field of view, small in the distance. He was stroking his chin with a serious expression, extending a hand as if making a proposal while talking with the others.

Since they were attending the Emperor’s birthday banquet from a great power like Krentis, those northern people clearly held high positions back in their own country. I’d set myself aside since I came as the Duke’s partner, but unlike me, they were surely high-ranking nobles.

They observed rigid formalities with the Duke, and he did the same. So they didn’t seem close. If not friends, they were likely entangled in political ties. Even just them talking like that could be seen as a meeting of the nation’s key figures.

If that were the case, even if all they exchanged was something like, ‘Nice weather today,’ I doubted I’d feel at ease about it.

‘Your Grace… you must be exhausted.’

Even the day before coming to Krentis, he’d worked all night. And now, unable to rest even here, he looked less pitiable and more simply pathetic.

‘Then it’s time I did my own job.’

I set down my empty plate and started scanning the faces of the banquet attendees. According to the maid ghost’s memories, the person she longed for was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. He was also tall, spirited, and strikingly handsome.

Among the people in the hall, I spotted several well-built blond men. But picking out one specific person in the bustling crowd wasn’t easy. So I began to wander around, surveying the banquet hall.

And soon, I spotted a young man with shimmering blond hair in the distance. Deep blue eyes and a somewhat sharp impression. His well-defined features somehow looked familiar.

That’s him. I think he’s the one. Looks like I’ve already found him!

I hurriedly moved toward his direction. But the milling crowd blocked me, and I couldn’t push through.

“Excuse me! I’m coming through!”

I shouted in our language, flustered, but my words didn’t reach the people from another country. And beyond the throng, I could see him starting to leave his spot.

Urgh, no…!

I stretched out both arms and thrashed with all my strength. I had to get out of here quickly and catch him.

{── ── ───

Just then, a voice boomed through a loudspeaker. At the sound, the crowd surged backward. Suddenly, I was swept along with them like a receding tide.

Soon, the low music of a procession began, and the Emperor and Empress entered the hall. Everyone in the banquet room started bowing toward the imperial family, and I instinctively followed suit, lowering my head.

I lifted my eyes just enough to steal a look at the emperor ascending the throne. He had golden hair and blue eyes, with rather handsome features. He looked young, maybe just past thirty. The emperor of Krentis from the maid ghost’s memory had been an aged old man, so it seemed the imperial power had changed hands in the meantime.

Gold hair and blue eyes again. The Krentis imperial house must pass down that coloring through their bloodline. This emperor probably inherited it from the previous one, right…?

Suddenly, something felt off. I didn’t know how long it had been since the maid ghost died, but enough years had passed for the throne’s occupant to change. Yet that man I’d glimpsed earlier—the one the maid ghost was searching for—he hadn’t aged at all. No. He looked even younger than in the memory.

My thoughts stretched further. And come to think of it, he wasn’t exactly small, but you couldn’t call him burly either, could you? But in the memory, he’d had the solid build of a knight…

What is this? Something’s wrong.

{——— ———————

The emperor rose from his seat and began a speech. A torrent of florid words I couldn’t understand poured out. When his remarks ended, the crowd erupted in thunderous applause. It was the signal for the banquet to begin.

I raised my head again to look for the man. But he’d already vanished from sight. I dashed to where he’d stood, whipping my head left and right. At close range, I caught a glimpse of someone with golden hair slipping behind a pillar.

“Ah… excuse me…!”

I chased him to the pillar at once. But right beside it, near a table, I spotted the duke standing there. He was in the middle of a conversation with someone who looked like a noble from some other country.

Startled, I spun around and turned the other way. I felt like I shouldn’t be caught wandering around when he’d told me to wait.

Quietly, I muffled my footsteps and slipped out through a side path. Then, keeping out of the duke’s sight, I circled around toward the pillar. But the golden-haired man was already gone, as if he’d headed off on his own way.

Damn… I lost him. Ugh… Should’ve just chased after him right away…

I hurriedly began scanning the area again. Just then, a silhouette flickered past toward the terrace.

Huh? Is he over there?!

Without a moment’s hesitation, I sprinted toward the terrace this time.

I have to catch him! That clue to get rid of the ghost clinging to me!

I threw open the terrace door, and before me spread the sight of the sun slowly sinking on the horizon. I stepped firmly into that reddening backdrop. The door creaked shut behind me, and at the same time, the noise from the banquet hall fell into a quiet hush.

Strangely, the terrace was empty. I’d clearly seen someone step out here—so why was there no one? Unless I’d been seeing a ghost again.

My body went rigid. Best to head back to the banquet hall, I thought, turning slowly.

{─── ────

Then a voice spoke at my side.

“Aaaah!”

I jumped back, stumbling.

What? There was no one here! A ghost? A ghost? A ghost?! Is it a ghost?!

I whipped my head up, searching for the speaker. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Sharp features. It was the man I’d been looking for.

Where had he come from, all of a sudden? He couldn’t actually be a ghost, could he?

Nervous, I reached out and pressed a finger against his chest. Relief—my finger didn’t pass through him.

‘Right. It’s not that late yet; ghosts don’t show up this early. And spirits that strong aren’t that common, anyway.’

I nodded to myself, reassured. Then I realized my hand was still resting on his chest.

“Aaaah. I’m so sorry!”

I sprang back again. This man might be royalty—and I’d just been that rude.

I scrambled through my memory for the Krentis equivalents of ‘I beg your pardon’ and ‘Please forgive my impertinence.’

Think, Laura Highen! You can manage basic Krentis conversation! You can do this!

“Sorry for startling you. I was standing by the door since a moment ago—guess you didn’t see me.”

But he spoke first. In clear Luision, at that.

“You… speak Luision?”

“I live near the Krentis-Luision border, so I know some Luision.”

He smiled, eyes crinkling. He looked so much like the man from the maid ghost’s memories. But the aura and feel were subtly different—I couldn’t be sure it was the same person.

“You seem to be Luisionese, young lady. Then you must be Duke Cuvershaiden’s partner for the banquet. His lover?”

he asked.

“No. I’m his secretary.”

“Is that so?”

He seemed to consider that for a moment, then smiled again.

“Then why did you follow me out here?”

Ah. He knew? I thought I’d been tailing him in secret!

“Uh… well… I wasn’t…”

I shook my head quickly. He bent down, bringing his eyes level with mine.

“No lying.”

“…Yes…”

I swallowed hard. Clearly, denial wasn’t going to work.

“Actually… um… I was looking for someone who looks like you.”

“Someone who looks like me?”

“Yes. You look astonishingly like someone I’m searching for.”

“Then why are you searching for that person?”

How was I supposed to answer that? The ghost clinging to me is looking for someone who looks like you? No. I’d be lucky if I didn’t get taken for a madman.

I racked my brain, searching for a plausible excuse. Just then, the music from the banquet hall shifted to a livelier tune, spilling out onto the terrace. I glanced through the glass doors and saw several couples pairing up and stepping into the hall.

“In any case, you must be curious about me?”

The man asked without waiting any longer for my answer. I turned my gaze back to him.

“Yes… I suppose so…”

“Good. Ask me anything.”

He extended one hand toward me, then tilted his chin toward the now-bustling banquet hall.

What’s this? Is he asking me to dance?

I blinked and looked down at his outstretched hand. His long fingers were elegantly splayed.