Chapter 11

The nobles in the banquet hall looked toward the entrance with surprised eyes.

A dignified Duke with a lion-like appearance and honey-colored hair entered the hall. Beside him was a girl with a shy smile.

Her well-kept, honey-colored curly hair flowed with a radiant sheen. Her pale, sea-blue eyes were like the light of a shallow ocean. Her fair skin and delicate features were enough to evoke an impulse to cherish her.

She perfectly matched the dress adorned with small green jeweled ornaments and green lace, emphasizing her girlish charm.

The gaze of everyone in the banquet hall showed no sign of leaving the Duke and the girl beside him. When Nazlee smiled, looking at the Duke, all the nobles gasped in admiration.

Even I couldn’t help but be impressed by Nazlee’s entrance.

‘How can a person be born so beautifully ..?’

Nazlee possessed the dazzling beauty of a lily-of-the-valley. The kind heart that worried for others, which I had sensed when we met last time. Her brilliant appearance. Taken together, the reasons for her being the female lead were entirely justified.

Snapping back to reality, I looked around and saw that most of the young gentlemen and ladies in the hall were staring blankly at Nazlee. It seemed everyone was captivated by her.

‘She really is the female lead.’

The young gentlemen were practically pouring hearts from their eyes toward Nazlee. The moment they realized the Duke Idarand’s daughter had appeared, their motives were clear in their intensely focused gazes.

What an excellent match she was. The nobles with sons must have felt disheartened when they heard the Duke’s daughter had disappeared, as an opportunity had vanished.

Since a good match had disappeared, their own social standing could not be elevated.

I sneered inwardly as I looked at those nobles.

‘How dare they covet our Nazlee? Freyer is our Nazlee’s match, people!’

Nazlee, having descended the stairs, said something to the Duke, then approached me with a shy smile and greeted me.

“Miss Lilithia! I’m so happy to see you here.”

I hadn’t expected her to approach me and stuttered.

Sharp, curious glances were pouring down on me, asking, ‘Who is that lady that the Idarand lady is acknowledging?’ I felt like an animal trapped in a zoo cage.

Since my greeting didn’t immediately return, Nazlee’s face fell into a slight pout.

“I must have been rude to acknowledge you first… I was just so happy to see you…”

“That’s not true! I’m truly happy to see you too.”

At my response, Nazlee’s cheeks flushed slightly red, and she clasped my hands, shaking them up and down happily.

“Actually, I was so nervous since this is my first time at an event like this. But seeing you, Miss Lilithia, just put my mind at ease.”

As the hem of her dress, which reached her wrist, swayed, a bracelet with an embossed silver-white pattern, which looked simple but shone brilliantly, sparkled on Nazlee’s wrist. It fit Nazlee’s wrist perfectly and did not move up or down despite the shaking.

This was the bracelet nicknamed the ‘Guardian of the Green,’ which had been the only clue to Nazlee’s identity when she disappeared as a child. It was an ornament that Duke Idarand had gifted his frail wife. The bracelet, a keepsake left by the Duchess who passed away early, had also disappeared when Nazlee went missing.

‘If it weren’t for this item, Nazlee couldn’t have returned to the Duke’s family.’

Although its exterior looked simple, this bracelet held a hidden secret.

It was an artifact. It was enchanted with magic that increased the wearer’s recovery speed, bonding itself to the person wearing it. It was an item that reflected the Duke’s feelings for his sickly wife.

Just then, Nazlee’s bracelet flashed, emitting a small light that was only visible to those nearby.

‘Wait, I’m so dizzy.’

Perhaps because of the sudden flash, my vision became hazy as if clouded by fog. I felt an inexplicable dizziness and squeezed my eyes shut.

“Huh? This has never happened before…”

Nazlee, startled by the sudden light, quickly let go of my hand she was holding.

As soon as she let go, the light emanating from the bracelet gradually faded. Nazlee looked down at the bracelet in confusion, then asked me worriedly, seeing my eyes closed.

“Miss Lilithia, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

I cautiously opened my tightly closed eyes at Nazlee’s question, but the hazy vision didn’t disappear, and I closed my eyes again.

“It might be because I saw a sudden bright light. I can’t see very well.”

At that, I heard Nazlee gasp sharply. I spoke in a reassuring tone.

“I think I’ll be fine if I rest in the powder room. If you don’t mind, could you call a servant for me?”

“Of course! Please wait just a moment, Miss Lilithia.”

I heard Nazlee quickly turn on her heel. Soon after, two sets of footsteps were heard nearby.

“I brought a servant. It would be best to go to the powder room together.”

At Nazlee’s words, I cautiously opened my eyes. Although my vision was hazy, I could distinguish a person’s shape and color. Knowing that the green belonged to Nazlee and the black to the servant, I waved my hand and replied.

“You don’t have to go to that extent! I’ll be back after a short rest.”

“But still…”

“It’s alright!”

I smiled broadly and followed the black-clad servant out of the banquet hall.

***

“Then, I will take my leave.”

The servant who guided me to the powder room immediately departed.

My hazy vision caused quite a few mishaps. I bumped into a pillar while turning corners, or almost tripped over something at my feet. If I hadn’t managed to keep my balance, I would surely have fallen spectacularly.

I frowned and plopped down onto what felt like a chair, leaning back.

“It’s getting a little better.”

As I walked, my vision gradually seemed to recover; it was clearer than before. But it wasn’t fully restored, so I closed my eyes and recalled the recent incident.

A bright light had definitely flashed. In the novel, the bracelet never flashed but merely clung to Nazlee’s body. Seeing it flash now made me tilt my head, wondering if it had a function I wasn’t aware of, and I racked my brain for details from the original story.

“I don’t recall such a description.”

It shouldn’t be broken just because it touched my hand.

I considered that it might be malfunctioning, like the troublesome magic lamp in my manor bedroom.

‘What kind of artifact would break so easily…?’

The novel never mentioned Nazlee’s Guardian of the Green being broken. She wore that bracelet until the very end of the story.

As I pondered the light, a thought suddenly struck me.

“Ah! Maybe it has a self-defense function that briefly blinds the attacker.”

That would make sense as to why my vision was briefly obscured by the light.

“But then, shouldn’t that function have activated when Nazlee was threatened by the masked man?”

I hadn’t seen any such content in the novel.

So, if the bracelet was broken from the start, and the self-defense magic was damaged and randomly activated on me, that would be the most plausible hypothesis among my various ideas.

If that were true, I felt a little unfairly treated that the self-defense magic activated when I hadn’t done anything.

‘Did I even grab Nazlee’s hand? No, I didn’t!’

I remembered Nazlee shaking my hands up and down.

“Nazlee grabbed my hand, didn’t she? If that’s what activated it, isn’t that too much…?”

The artifact must be broken if it acts so arbitrarily.

I cautiously opened my eyes a little. It was better than before, but the view was still hazy, so I closed my eyes again.

“I need to spill wine on the Crown Prince’s clothes and send him back to the palace for the plan to proceed. I’ll have to go out as soon as my vision clears up.”

***

Nazlee watched Lilithia’s retreating figure as the servant guided her to the powder room. As soon as she disappeared, Nazlee sighed deeply.

Nazlee looked down at the silver-white bracelet wrapped around her right arm. It was her mother’s keepsake, which she had never taken off since childhood. It would be more accurate to say it hadn’t come off rather than she hadn’t taken it off. She had been wearing the bracelet since she was a child, but it had never emitted such a bright light before.

‘Is the bracelet broken?’

She hadn’t done anything that would cause the bracelet to break. But it was an item that showed signs of age. This bracelet was Nazlee’s mother’s only keepsake and was very precious to her.

Out of anxiety, she lightly tapped the bracelet with her fingertips. But perhaps the phenomenon was truly accidental, as only the clattering sound of her fingernails hitting the metal resonated. A sense of relief filled her, but a corner of Nazlee’s heart felt uneasy.

“I need to apologize to Miss Lilithia…”

Lilithia’s figure had been visibly staggering even as she followed the servant, perhaps because her vision was affected. It was clear that she had caused great harm to Miss Lilithia. Nazlee’s shoulders slumped with guilt and remorse toward Lilithia, and she sighed heavily.

“It’s not even broken, so why is it doing this?”

The unusually sparkling bracelet felt particularly bothersome. Nazlee nervously wiggled her fingers. If Miss Lilithia’s obscured vision continued, she needed to see a healer or a priest immediately.

“I should go see Miss Lilithia.”

Nazlee lifted her bowed head and was about to head toward the side door of the banquet hall when the announcement of a knight was heard.

“His Imperial Highness, the Second Prince Freyer Lundberg, the Second Prince of the Empire, enters!”

The banquet hall doors opened, and a brilliant silver light flashed. Nazlee’s eyes widened when she saw the Second Prince, the owner of that light.

‘Is this a dream?’

She wanted to rub her eyes to confirm if it was reality or a dream. But fearing that the vision would disappear if she blinked, Nazlee forced her drooping eyelids open and endured.

The Second Prince’s silver hair rippled, emitting a moist, lustrous light as if it held moisture. Shadows darkened the area under his eyes, but the twinkling light in his green eyes exuded a distinct, decadent aura. His dark-red lips made his impression even more captivating.

His turquoise uniform harmonized with his eyes and perfectly fit his broad shoulders, making his physique stand out and appear more attractive.

He scanned the banquet hall with sharp eyes and then headed toward the platform. The sound of his rhythmic footsteps echoed through the hall.

The thumping was so strong that Nazlee felt the pounding in her fingertips, mistaking it for her own heartbeat. The complex thoughts that had bothered Nazlee moments ago vanished, leaving her mind completely blank the moment she saw him.

“It was destiny…”

The silver-haired man who had unexpectedly saved her in the busy district.

The person she had wished to see again was the Second Prince of the Empire.