~Chapter 58~
Dylan, who was standing beside Camilla, flinched.
For a brief moment, it looked as if he was reaching for his sword.
“…What did you just say?”
As Camilla cried out in confusion—
Swish!
The balcony curtain was suddenly pulled open.
“Sister?”
Along with Nina’s shocked voice, the icy gaze of the Grand Duke’s son, Dane, shot through the silence like a blade.
Dane and Nina were wearing butterfly-shaped masks, but Camilla recognized them instantly.
‘Did they… hear that?’
The curtain had been drawn, but under the party lights, the distance between Camilla and her sister was far too close.
Sure enough, Nina pointed at them with a trembling finger.
“J-just now… s-sister and Count Ian… m-marriage? A proposal?!”
Beside her, Dane’s expression had frozen cold.
Camilla felt dizzy.
‘Why am I being tested like this right now?’
Nina was clearly Dane’s fiancée, so what was all this?
“It seems we interrupted something. My apologies. But Count Ian—what exactly are you doing right now?”
“Huh?! Of course, I was proposing to Lady Mowin! Even you know how outstanding her business skills are, Grand Duke’s son! She’s a talent Beluoa needs! Even my grandfather acknowledged her!”
Ian rambled on, explaining how his grandfather had praised Camilla back when the scurvy problem had been solved.
“But, b-but Count Ian! How can you make such a light proposal to my sister?!”
Seeing Nina flustered and upset gave Camilla a headache.
‘This is my first time seeing Dane again since that incident… and it has to be like this?’
“Nina, the Count was just joking.”
“But he sent a letter in advance—asking us to find him on the balcony as soon as we arrived at the masquerade!”
Camilla turned an incredulous gaze toward Ian.
‘So he staged this meeting on purpose?’
Just like in the original story?
“Lady Mowin. I truly believe we could be a wonderful match. With two such noble witnesses present, why don’t you speak honestly from the heart?”
Camilla narrowed her eyes.
This showmanship existed purely because of Ian’s misunderstanding—for Dane’s sake.
‘Dane doesn’t like me.’
Maybe he once did, long ago. But not anymore.
“Well? Will you marry me?”
Camilla was about to reject him outright—
But Dane was faster.
“…Are you joking right now?”
“Grand Duke’s son?”
For some reason, Dane’s face was fierce as he strode up to Ian and grabbed him by the collar.
Then he threw a punch.
Thud!
Ian rolled across the balcony floor, and shock spread across everyone’s faces.
“G-Grand Duke’s son?!”
“Even as a joke, a proposal without kneeling—or even a gift?”
Nina hurriedly grabbed Dane, but he snapped coldly,
“I’ve never had a friend who throws around shallow proposals like that.”
“I-it wasn’t a joke—”
“No. It was a joke. And if you truly meant marriage, then you’re insane.”
Dane cut him off sharply.
As Dane clenched his fist again, Camilla came to her senses and shouted,
“That’s enough!”
Her heart sank as she forced herself to stay calm.
“No matter how close you are, that was excessive, Grand Duke’s son.”
As she looked at Dane, he met her gaze—and then his eyes widened when he noticed the red jewel brooch pinned to her chest.
Camilla then whispered toward Ian,
“And Count Ian. I have never seen you as that kind of person. And such an insincere proposal is unpleasant.”
“Aaah…! Rejected! How cold!”
After speaking, Camilla put her mask back on and signaled to Dylan.
“Then please enjoy the party. I’ll be taking my leave.”
But as she turned away, Dane grabbed her shoulder.
“Wait, Lady Mowin.”
“…What is it?”
“That brooch…”
Dane looked at her as if he were desperate.
The brooch set with a red ruby that symbolized his unchanged feelings.
Camilla did not know its full meaning, only that when she needed help, she was supposed to show it through Nina.
Yet here she was, wearing it herself.
“Don’t you have something to say to me?”
Camilla felt strange.
She had planned to settle Dane’s debt before the operation.
She had not gone through Nina because she knew she would see him here at the Churello estate.
‘But now that I collected Ian’s debt, I don’t have to settle Dane’s right now.’
There was no longer a reason to deal with Dane.
And yet—
In front of Nina and his own friend, Dane was holding onto her.
She did not want to avoid his earnest gaze.
Camilla slowly tried to steady her breathing.
Then—
“Kyyaaaah!”
A scream burst out from the hall beyond the curtain.
The music abruptly stopped.
Murmurs surged like waves.
Startled, Camilla pulled the curtain aside.
“The Marquis of Churello…! He’s been poisoned!”
Under the golden chandelier, the Marquis of Churello lay collapsed, blood at his lips, his face deathly pale.
Camilla’s face drained of color.
There was supposed to be a poisoning tonight using the Golden Elixir.
But the target the baron had named was not the Marquis of Churello.
And at a glance, this did not resemble the clean, traceless Golden Elixir at all.
This was—
‘Something went wrong.’
Glamis’s notorious operation had failed—and the target had been switched.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
Ares, the strike leader, rolled on the floor, retching.
“How could you handle this so carelessly?!”
As Ares tried to get up, the baron smashed his cane down onto Ares’s waist again.
“The Marquis of Churello was a VIP of our arena!”
The agent under Ares’s command had mistaken the target.
He was supposed to assassinate the man known as the marchioness’s lover—
But instead, he poisoned the Marquis himself.
“It wasn’t even the Golden Elixir! It was an obvious poisoning that leaves traces!”
Those wearing goat half-masks bowed their heads in silence.
Then—
“Father, please calm down.”
Camilla’s thin voice cut in front of the baron.
“This is a matter involving the Marquis of Churello! The investigation will be thorough! Our family deals with medicine openly—do you think I can just stay calm—!”
“We can simply make a new culprit, can’t we?”
The baron’s sharp gaze turned to Camilla.
“I had already prepared one for the arena event. In a way, this works out.”
“…You’re saying you have a substitute that won’t lead the investigation back to us?”
“Yes, Father.”
At Camilla’s gesture, someone was dragged out of the darkness.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
A gag filled his mouth, whip marks covered his body.
Beneath black curly hair, dried blood stained the corner of his eye—marked by a tear-shaped beauty mark.
Yet his defiant gaze was like that of a captured wolf.
When the baron recognized the young man’s face, his eyes gleamed.
Camilla smiled alluringly.
“We caught him lurking near the arena.”
“Oooooh!”
Romulus Everett.
The second son of the enemy Everett family.
Seeing the face of the rival family’s son, the baron’s lips stretched into a grin.
“The Everett family once excelled in alchemy before ours, didn’t they?”
“…Yes. Over fifty years ago, when the Everett Witch was the head of the family.”
“Then it wouldn’t be strange if her descendant were skilled with poison.”
“Indeed. Truly an exceptional daughter—just like her parent!”
The baron laughed wildly as he looked at the young man—perfect for framing, now trapped in his grasp.
‘Enjoy it while you can.’
Unaware that this bait had been placed by his own daughter.
