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Join the Server“Ugh…….”
Unfortunately, this wasn’t morning sickness.
As soon as we finished preparations and left the Tower, Killian wasted no time in loading us onto a carriage.
It was a modest-looking carriage that didn’t match the taste of someone who seemed to love flashy things.
Until then, I hadn’t thought much of it.
It wasn’t like I could escape Killian’s grasp right now, and I didn’t have any other means of transport anyway.
I just got on because he told me to.
“Hah…….”
I wouldn’t have boarded so readily if I’d known the carriage would rattle like this, as if an earthquake were happening.
On top of the motion sickness and my numb rear, every time the carriage hit a stone, my body lurched and slammed back down.
It was like being patted on the back while already nauseous from a hangover.
In this extreme situation, Killian sat across from me with his mouth shut, staring out the window, while El beside me crunched on some snack he’d produced from who-knows-where.
“Can’t we just use magic?
Magic.”
Eventually, the complaint that had been circling my mind finally burst out.
“Why suffer needlessly?”
Killian smiled crookedly.
“My words exactly.”
“What?”
“Well, what can I do?
I have to play along at times like this.”
Speak in a way I can understand, you bastard.
Irritation surged, but nausea surged with it, so I couldn’t snap back—I just slumped against the backrest.
Just then, El swallowed his snack and spoke up.
“It’s because of the Crown Prince, isn’t it?”
“Correct.”
Killian clicked his tongue.
“Sometimes I have to play nursemaid too.”
Crown Prince……
Since he wasn’t a main character, I didn’t even remember him.
He seemed like a character who hadn’t appeared at all in the early parts I’d read.
“Why does the Tower Lord play nursemaid to royalty?”
Anyway, if I didn’t know, I could just ask.
Killian looked annoyed and gazed further away.
His smooth, boyish face looked, for a moment, like that of a crone.
“It’s more efficient to plant good memories when they’re young.”
His flat voice was cold—as if to remind me just how human his usual excited, unhinged tone had been.
“I like ruling from the top.
But I don’t want to look after humans at large.
I need someone to take on the tedious work.”
In essence, he needed to maintain a friendly relationship with the royal family for the sake of his lazy life.
……Well, then.
“That’s quite a way of thinking—like a mix of Kirios and Secreta.”
“Right.
Feeling like worshipping me yet?”
“Hmm…… not really…….”
The child bluntly blurted out what had briefly crossed my mind.
“I like Rudan better!”
“Of course you do.”
As I peeled El off me while he tried to stick close, the Tower Lord muttered to himself as if complaining.
“That brat suddenly got obsessed with a masquerade ball.
He said it wouldn’t be fun if people recognized his identity before entering because of the family crest engraved on the carriage.
So we have to arrive in a pre-designated type of carriage.”
So the reason I had to endure this crappy carriage was because of the Crown Prince’s influence.
I already disliked him before even seeing his face, but since he was a kid…… I’d just dislike him moderately.
“Well, you like this sort of thing anyway.”
“Me?
A ball?”
Role-playing.
No?
The Tower Lord, looking puzzled as if he didn’t quite catch my meaning, soon seemed to realize something and giggled.
“If I turned all the humans there into an orgy…….”
“Whoa, whoa.”
“What?
Did I say something wrong?”
“The child can hear you.”
Fortunately, El just blinked wide-eyed, probably not understanding.
Killian pouted and clamped his mouth shut.
After riding for a while longer, we arrived at a space where similar carriages were gathered.
Finally free from the horrific motion sickness, I was able to recall one question.
“So why exactly did you bring me here?”
Killian put on a fox-shaped mask and answered.
“Because I’d be upset if I got bored alone.”
His personality was consistent.
Good to know.
***
Killian’s casual callousness didn’t faze El one bit—meaning he’d made his own clothes when Killian didn’t prepare any for him.
He’d copied my outfit, which was mainly a dark violet approaching black, just changing the colors.
Dressed in white and lavender, the child looked like the very picture of a little gentleman.
I wore a black lace mask, and El wore a rabbit mask.
The stiff shirt collar almost completely covered the tattoo, so I didn’t draw attention, but it was a bit stifling.
About ten percent of my carriage sickness was probably due to this.
“Wow…….”
The little one sticking close to me gasped in awe.
Killian had strode ahead the moment we entered the ballroom, distancing himself from us.
It really seemed like his only purpose was to make me experience something he considered unpleasant, without any other agenda.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea wherever he passed, then gathered around him.
In truth, mask or no mask, Killian might as well have been exposing his identity.
Violet hair—a rare color even in this world.
And a kid who looked like a middle-schooler attending alone without a guardian?
That was also rare.
Add to that his proud posture and confident stride, as if he naturally expected no one to block his path—it was more than enough to reveal his identity.
“I can see why he’d hate it.”
Just three seconds in that chaos, and I could already feel a headache coming from the noise and exhaustion.
“Hmm, no.
I think he actually enjoys that moment itself.”
“……Why?”
“He likes being adored.”
Is that so?
I thought I’d spent enough time with him to grasp his personality, even if it was brief, but El seemed to see through more than I did.
Well, he did say he liked ruling from the top.
“Do you know which of those humans is the Crown Prince?”
“Ah, Erhart is…… that man holding a glass of champagne in each hand.”
“……Huh?”
He’d said nursemaid and child, so I vaguely assumed it was a boy around El’s age, but the man El pointed to was a fully grown adult who looked at least twenty.
Even with his face hidden behind a mask, you could sense the general vibe.
“He’s too grown to be called a child.”
“To a wizard who’s lived over two thousand years, twenty-seven is a newborn.”
That made sense too.
Just when the ballroom seemed sufficiently filled, the music stopped briefly and the Crown Prince stepped onto the dais.
He spread his arms and bellowed loudly.
“I give thanks to all of you who have come to my special festival tonight!”
If that guy were a human from the real world, he’d have suited being a stage actor.
“The rules for this ball are the same as last time—just reveal the identity of your masked partner!
Haha!
Since there were so many early dropouts last time, everyone came with their faces well hidden!”
With a voice that could shake a hall this size, enough to feel a subtle vibration in the floor—it was certainly plausible.
“To the last one remaining, I shall award this golden duck as a prize!
As for this duck…….”
The golden duck the Crown Prince held was large enough to more than fill both hands of an adult man, with white gems embedded in its eyes.
It clearly looked valuable, and it was quite charming besides.
The crowd’s reaction was enthusiastic, but……
“Wow, I really want to win.”
When Killian muttered, the hall fell deathly silent.
“Because I like ducks.”
That…… was a lie.
While the Crown Prince, unable to finish his sentence, stammered, the hall descended into chaos.
As if competing, people blurted out the identities they’d recognized and tore off masks.
They were frantic, as if they thought they’d be massacred unless they made Killian the last one standing.
The one who’d caused this very situation was laughing out loud.
He said he came to cater to the Crown Prince’s whims, didn’t he.
“What is this, Killian!
You didn’t have to make it this entertaining!
I’m the host, so I can’t even participate!”
Fortunately, the Crown Prince seemed just as unhinged.
“Hah…….”
And I was losing my mind.
“Rudan?”
“It’s too loud.”
“……Should we leave together?”
“Never mind.
You could probably win if you joined in.
No one here knows your face, except me and the Tower Lord.”
“That’s true, but…… I care about Rudan more than a duck!”
Is that so?
Then I had no reason to hold back.
“Let’s go, then.”
“There seems to be a lounge over there.
Since we have to wait for Killian anyway, wouldn’t it be better to sit there?”
Sharp eyes too.
In the direction El pointed, there was a space curtained off with a rounded archway.
It must have been made for that purpose—or we could just leave.
Ruffling his hair in appreciation, the little one smiled bashfully and took my hand.
There were glances thrown our way as we escaped the chaos, but that was none of my concern.
This much entertainment was enough.
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