Chapter 15

As I deliberately let out a sweet voice and looked up at the captain, the gaze that looked down at me was even sweeter. (Wow) I felt unusually nervous.

"Then I'll take my leave," the captain said, moving away from the young lady who looked as if she was about to burst into flames. The captain took me around the venue, greeting people, but the superior who apparently wanted to push a marriage proposal on me had not yet appeared.

Eventually, the Crown Prince, representing the royal family, made his appearance. The Crown Prince had blonde hair and blue eyes, giving off an imposing impression of 'calm'.

After a brief greeting, he danced with a lady who seemed to be the princess, and then joined a group of people in conversation. As the participants started dancing, we danced too. The captain, with his large frame, danced gracefully, leading me well and making it easy to dance.

"You're a good dancer, so I was reassured when Eva said you were. Indeed, you are. I'm always surprised every time I meet you," he said.

"Thank you. By the way, what about the captain's superior?"

"It's the Crown Prince you just danced with."

"Oh..."

I returned a look of admiration to the captain, (Especially for the Second Knights, not just the Royal Guard! You were the Crown Prince's favorite!) I was surprised. While surprised, I kept my eyes on a man.

A man in a white uniform of a waiter had not been doing his job for a while. There were many glasses of wine on his silver tray, but he didn't seem to be looking for anyone who needed a drink.

It's rare for suspicious people to mix into a grand ball, but it's unthinkable in the royal castle. To work in the royal castle, one's background is strictly checked, and new employees don't get important jobs like this.

The man's movements were amateurish. Yet, if an amateur were to do something in such a place, the purpose would be limited. I thought about pretending not to notice for a moment, but quickly dismissed the idea. I decided to get the captain to take action. I squeezed the captain's arm as a signal.

"What's wrong?"

"The man to your right rear, he's a waiter but hasn't been doing his job. Maybe he's after the young ladies' jewels. But that's impossible in the royal castle, right?"

The captain naturally turned me to face the man. After a brief look, he nodded.

"He seems to be looking for someone."

While dancing, I also kept an eye on the man. Suddenly, he started moving in a certain direction, probably having found his target. I moved my eyes busily, searching for a route he might choose to escape.

"Victoria, I'm sorry. I'll be right back."

"Sure, go ahead."

As expected of the captain. He seemed to have noticed that the man had started his move.

Choosing a heavily guarded ball as the crime scene probably meant there was no other way to get close to the target.

Alone, I headed to the terrace at a natural pace. I went down to the garden from the terrace. I crouched behind a tree where the man was likely to pass. The garden was dark, with no torches, contrasting with the bright ballroom.

Soon, multiple women's screams and the sound of breaking glasses came from the ballroom.

Too bad, did he get away?

A black silhouette leaped out against the bright light of the ballroom.

The man jumped over the terrace railing, crouched, and ran towards me, quickly taking off his waiter's jacket. As I had predicted, he would take off the white uniform because it was too conspicuous.

Now.

I stood up, lifted my dress, and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of the man's head as he was pulling his arm out of the jacket. Without a pause, I grabbed his shoulders and delivered a knee to his stomach, then brought down a knife-hand strike to the junction of his head and neck as he fell forward. It took only three or four seconds. The man let out a "gah" and fell forward.

I ran away at full speed. While running with a low posture and looking back, I saw many men jumping down from the terrace. The man would be captured while unconscious.

After taking deep breaths to steady my breathing, I casually returned to the ballroom, which was already in chaos. The captain was looking around, so I quietly approached and spoke to him.

"I'm going home by carriage."

"Oh, good, you're here. Use our carriage to go home. I can't return. I'll talk to you later."

Should I tell the captain about the man's movements? No, I'll keep it to myself. If I do, I might be suspected.

A corner of the ballroom was a mess with scattered glass shards, spilled wine, and food. Women who seemed to have felt unwell were being tended to by their male companions. I left the ballroom, blending in with the people leaving.

Even though the culprit was caught, I was saved by the lax security. If I were in charge, I would have questioned everyone before letting them leave.

When I found the Asher family's carriage and was about to get in, the driver asked me, concerned.

"The ballroom seems noisy. Is everything alright?"

"Just a little. It's settled now. I want to change clothes, so can we stop at a store in the South District?"

"Understood."

He must have wondered why I needed to change clothes, but as a servant of a noble family, he didn't pry.

I got off the carriage in front of a friendly clothing store in the South District.

"You can go now."

The driver seemed to want to say something but took more tips and left. I hadn't done something like that in a long time, and I didn't want to face Nonna right away. She seemed sensitive to such vibes.

I bought a plain dark blue dress at a civilian clothing store and changed into it. I let down my hair, which I had tied up. I paid for the dress, telling them I would pick it up tomorrow.

There was a bar on a side street off the main road where the clothing store was located, so I pushed the door and went in. Fortunately, the bar was empty. I sat at an inconspicuous seat in the dimly lit bar and asked the owner, who came to take my order, for a recommended distilled drink.

I felt a pleasant sense of fulfillment.

The satisfaction of anticipating the situation, taking preemptive action, and successfully controlling it. The tension and excitement that made everything around me seem to move slowly. It had been a long time since I felt these things.

I quickly drank the strong drink placed on the table and called out to the owner, who had just turned his back, "Another one, the same."

The owner, with short black hair and a beard, glanced at the empty glass and replied, "Sure."

(I thought I was working for my family and Lancôme, but I liked that job, didn't I?) I thought.

Of course, I have no intention of returning to being an agent. I have Nonna now. I want to live with her.

I savored the second drink, feeling a bit calmer, and then paid and left. The bearded owner said, "See you again," in a deep voice as I left.

I thought about what had happened while walking.

I interfered with the man to prevent him from committing murder.

I couldn't tell if the targeted person was good or bad at the time. But if I ignored the possibility of a murder and later found out that a good person had been killed, even I, with a thick skin, would regret it. I have experienced the pain of regret.

Moreover, if an amateur wanted to kill someone, it was usually due to personal grudges. The past events that caused those grudges wouldn't disappear from memory even if the murder succeeded. There's no one who, after killing someone they hated, would forget the terrible things they had endured. I knew a few people who had committed murder out of personal grudges, and they all lived with dark eyes.

I didn't let the man escape for my own sake.

That garden had a high wall, and a little away from it, there was a tall tree. A nimble man could climb the tree and jump over the wall. The other side of the wall was a different tower area, which would likely be empty or sparsely populated during the ball. If he landed badly, he might break both legs, but if he didn't get injured, he had a slight chance of escaping.

Moreover, the area was a dead end, so no guards were stationed there. The man seemed to have thought it through well.

If the man had escaped, an investigation of the participants would have been conducted to uncover his identity. As a first-time participant, a foreigner, and a commoner pretending to be a noble with a forged identity, I would be in a very inconvenient situation if I were thoroughly investigated. If I were in charge, I would investigate me thoroughly.

But if the man was caught and the motive for the crime was revealed, the likelihood of my identity being thoroughly investigated would be low.

I thought about these things while walking home and was questioned by Mrs. Yorana:

"Why did you come back alone?"

"Why are you home so early?"

"Why aren't you wearing a dress?"

It was a very eventful night.