Chapter 107

I leaned forward toward the source of the sound. Looking down from the height of the second floor, which had particularly high ceilings, made my head spin. I squinted, peering into the shadows where a human silhouette stood.

“Vice Head Leader Lilithia.”

The voice came again, and as the man standing in the shade took a step forward, his form was revealed.

“Prince Siphiel?”

“I am glad you recognized me.”

Red hair. Though his features were hidden behind a half-mask, I could tell it was him instantly. There were very few people in the royal palace who would be looking for me.

The banquet was currently reaching its climax. Had he run into me by chance after slipping away because the party was dull? From what I knew of Siphiel, he didn’t seem like the type to enjoy banquets, so his actions made sense.

“I suppose the banquet was boring for you.”

I leaned out further, gripping the railing. Siphiel opened his mouth to say something, but his voice was drowned out by the music drifting from the ballroom. I focused on his moving lips, but I couldn’t quite read them.

“What did you say?”

Maybe I could hear him if I got a little closer. I supported my weight with my arms on the railing and leaned my head out a bit more.

“Wait—?”

The two feet that had been planted on the floor rose into the air, and my body, which had been leaning against the window frame, began to tilt outward. I flailed my hands and feet in empty space, but it was too late to stabilize my off-balance body.

There was one thing I had overlooked.

‘I just woke up after pulling an all-nighter.’

I thought I had slept soundly, but physical fatigue must have lingered; my hand slipped without me realizing it.

Wind blew from below, sending my long hair soaring toward the sky. I felt the vivid sensation of my body slowly plummeting.

“Move out of the way!” I shouted loudly at Siphiel, who was directly beneath me.

I might get hurt, but I couldn’t take him down with me—especially not a prince considered a successor to the kingdom.

I stole a glance at the ground to gauge the height and squeezed my eyes shut. At this height, would I just crack a bone in my arm or leg? It wasn’t high enough to be life-threatening, but the sudden fear of injury gripped me.

In medical powerhouses, they used casts for broken bones, but what kind of treatment did they use here? My mind went dark just thinking about showing my injured self to Winnie. How would I even explain how I got hurt?

If I said I fell from the second floor by mistake, it was obvious I’d be slapped with a multi-day ban on going outside. Yet, I couldn’t bring myself to lie either.

Just as all sorts of thoughts were flashing through my mind like a revolving lantern, I felt a soft sensation envelop my body instead of a blunt impact and pain.

“Huh…?”

Then, Siphiel’s voice sounded right above my head. I snapped my eyes open to find myself cradled in his arms.

“Why did you jump down?”

No one in their right mind would jump from the second floor.

“I just… missed my footing by accident….”

“And here I thought you were so moved by my words that I came to pick you up that you decided to greet me as quickly as possible.”

My hands trembled violently from the shock of the sudden situation. I felt a sense of relief, but my emotions were conflicted.

“I told you to move out of the way!”

“How can someone see a person falling from a building and just move out of the way?”

As I blinked blankly, trying to calm my racing heart, Siphiel’s words brushed through my mind.

“Wait, did you say you came to pick me up?”

So that was what he had been trying to tell me. Looking back, his lip movements did seem to match the words I came to pick you up.

“My sister said Vice Head Leader Lilithia was nowhere to be found and insisted that I go find you.”

I met his brown eyes, which were crinkled in a smile, and my own eyes widened. I suddenly realized that I was still being held in Siphiel’s arms.

“Th-thank you.”

I hurriedly scrambled out of his arms and stood upright. The sensation of the hard stone floor against the soles of my shoes sent a sudden shiver through me, and I wrapped my arms around myself.

“I don’t think I would have been unhurt if it weren’t for you, Your Highness.”

If Siphiel hadn’t caught me, I would have been much more seriously injured than I imagined. It wouldn’t have been just a crack; a fracture would have been a certainty.

“Are you alright, Vice Head Leader Lilithia?”

“Yes. I don’t think I’m hurt anywhere.”

The shock would fade eventually, and my body was fine. Not a single limb felt out of place.

“No, I meant are you alright from the shock.”

Siphiel’s gaze was fixed on my trembling hands. His eyes, clouded with worry, eventually moved to my face.

“Your face is very pale.”

I let out a breath that was half-sigh. Siphiel took another step closer and asked, “I will tell my sister that the Vice Head Leader is unwell and won’t be able to attend the banquet, so it would be best for you to rest.”

“I was… I was just startled.”

“But your face is deathly pale.”

I had to correct his misunderstanding. However, it was a bit embarrassing to say, so after hesitating for a moment, I summoned my courage and opened my mouth.

“…It’s it.”

“Please, say that again.”

Was I too quiet? Siphiel tilted his head, and I clenched my fists and blurted out.

“It’s… it’s makeup!”

Even after falling off the sofa and my erratic sleeping habits, it seemed my makeup hadn’t budged. The reason my face was pale was perhaps 10% shock, but the other 90% was definitely makeup. To brighten the dark circles under my eyes from staying up all night, the maid had applied a thick layer of skin-toning cosmetics to cover my blemishes.

“Makeup…”

I didn’t think I had painted it that white, but seeing his reaction made me feel like I might die of embarrassment. His repetition of the word—as if marveling at the wonders of a woman’s makeup skills—made me question my appearance.

‘I didn’t think it was that different from my bare face. Does it look like a different person to others?’

Even though I told him it was makeup, Siphiel’s face still held a mixture of shock and concern. A creeping anxiety began to set in. Was my face really as white as a ghost’s? The last time I had checked my reflection was in the surface of my coffee. Siphiel’s lingering hesitation only fueled my unease. I should have looked in a mirror properly.

‘Do I look like a clown?’

Thoughts bubbled up in my head, imagining a face white as flour with dark red lips, flushed cheeks, and excessive eye makeup—the image of a pierrot.

Knowing that Scarlet was looking for me, the thought of causing a scene by attending the banquet looking like a freak made me touch my face nervously.

“Is my face so bad that I can’t attend the banquet…?”

It would take time to fix it, and I didn’t even know how to do makeup myself. I was overwhelmed by how to navigate this predicament.

“You are beautiful.”

“As I thought, beauti—wait, what?”

I blinked at the unexpected response. While I was relieved to hear that my face looked okay, I had no idea how to react.

“My sister always said so. That Vice Head Leader Lilithia is beautiful.”

Had he heard it so often it had become a natural response? Hearing that it was the opinion of Scarlet—who clearly saw me through rose-tinted glasses—made the pressure vanish.

“Will you be able to attend the banquet?”

“Of course.”

Since Scarlet was looking for me, I should at least show my face. Once this banquet was over, I would head back to the guild and finish my work. This was the final rest before planning the return to the Empire.

‘Oh, the mask!’

I remembered the mask I had left on the railing before falling. I looked up at the balcony, but nothing was there. Had it fallen inside?

“I’ll go grab my mask real quick!”

I grabbed the hem of my dress to head toward the building, but Siphiel caught me.

“There is no need to go back through that trouble.”

Following where Siphiel pointed, I saw the mask caught in the branches of a landscaped shrub. It must have fallen with me. Siphiel reached out, pulled the mask free, and handed it to me.

“Shall we go?”

I followed Siphiel as he led the way toward the banquet hall.

***

Arriving hurriedly at the banquet hall, I tried to put my mask on quickly.

The mask was designed with ribbon strings that needed to be tied behind the head to stay in place. I held both hands behind my head, trying to tie the knot.

Because Siphiel was waiting, I moved my hands as fast as I could, but it was difficult to tie a ribbon with two strings without a mirror.

‘Why won’t this work?’

As I was struggling, a pair of thick, warm hands covered mine as they held the strings.