Changing the Keywords of the Dark Lords (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16
Delina had finally arrived at the imperial palace.
Ever since Ashud became a tyrant, it had become a place everyone avoided. The palace’s former glory was long gone.
Banquets were nothing more than tools Ashud used to purge officials who displeased him, and everyone trembled in fear at these blood-soaked, brutal gatherings. So much so that merely receiving an invitation was enough to make one shiver uncontrollably.
“You may step down now.”
Perhaps because of this, the palace—so unusually lively—felt utterly unfamiliar to Delina. In truth, since she’d never even made her debutante appearance, this was actually her first proper visit to the imperial palace.
“We’ll accompany you only this far; from here on, you must go alone.”
“Mm.”
Just as Felick had said, Delina switched to another carriage immediately upon arriving in the capital and headed straight for the palace. By timing her arrival to follow right after the Count of Floren’s carriage entered, she managed to slip into the palace almost last of all.
“Your name isn’t on the list, but your identification token… Ah, I see. I’ll note it down.”
The attendant in charge of the guest list glanced at the token Delina presented and, without further comment, let her inside. Only then did Delina cautiously step into the banquet hall. As she entered and looked around, her eyes sparkled.
“Wow.”
From the dazzling chandeliers and luxurious wallpaper to the nobles walking about with excited expressions and the servants bustling about—inside the banquet hall was truly vibrant.
Delina’s own heart began to flutter slightly as well. Yet even so, she kept checking her wig over and over again.
Afterward, Delina deliberately moved in the opposite direction of where Niel and Charlotte would likely be.
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Niel and Charlotte had never taken Delina to any proper social gatherings, so none of the other nobles recognized her.
Even if someone did know Delina, they’d mostly seen her as a child, so no one recognized her now with the wig on.
“Monkey.”
Well, except for a few people.
“…!”
At the word “monkey,” Delina spun around faster than anyone else could have. There stood Noah, smiling.
‘Oh…’
Having always seen him at the grand duke’s estate, seeing him here in the imperial palace felt refreshingly new.
Though this was Noah’s first time revealing himself to the nobility, his striking appearance easily drew the attention of the young noblewomen nearby. Even Delina found herself momentarily dazed, staring blankly at Noah in his finery.
“You knew it was me?”
“Of course. A monkey’s still a monkey, even with a wig.”
“…You didn’t forget my name, did you?”
Someone really ought to do something about that monkey.
Seeing Delina’s poorly concealed expression, Noah smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly, and replied.
“Of course. Delina Floren.”
Hearing just her given name might have been understandable, but hearing her full name gave her a strangely peculiar feeling.
Naturally, Delina had never told Noah her family name. Yet she could accept it—after all, Noah’s house, the Diamon Duchy, owned the empire’s most powerful information guild. And the guild’s master was…
“What are you doing here?”
A smooth, gentle voice suddenly spoke. Delina looked up to see a man standing there who bore a striking resemblance to Noah. The man watched with interest as Noah chatted with a girl his age, and his lips curled into a faint smile as he looked at Delina.
“Are you acquainted with this young lady?”
“She’s my debtor.”
“Oh my, I had no idea she was such a valued client of ours.”
Hearing words like “debtor” and “client” snapped Delina back to her senses. At the same time, a warning flashed through her mind.
Never drink even a sip of water freely in the Diamon Duchy.
‘Edwin Diamon…!’
Noah’s guardian and the Duke of House Diamon. The head of the empire’s largest information guild.
The man unofficially considered the wealthiest in the empire now stood right before Delina. Edwin quietly watched her, his eyes gleaming. Delina quickly lowered her head.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. I am Delina Floren of House Floren.”
“Ah, so you’re the one who recently…”
He didn’t finish his sentence, likely because others were nearby, but Delina could roughly guess what he’d been about to say. He already knew of her existence.
“I’d like to speak further, but it seems I must go.”
Edwin glanced around as he spoke. Though he hadn’t come close, the sheer presence of Edwin and Noah alone drew everyone’s attention. Feeling those eyes on her as well, Delina subtly touched her wig and lowered her head as if to hide her face.
“Then I’ll see you again soon, young lady?”
“…Yes. I look forward to it.”
More people were watching than she’d expected, so Delina hastily finished her greeting to Edwin and hurriedly slipped away. Fortunately, everyone’s attention remained fixed on Edwin and the newly appeared Noah, making it easy for her to escape unnoticed.
‘I suppose I should stay in a corner until the meal begins… Hm?’
The spot she’d chosen to avoid attention was already occupied. Delina abruptly halted at the sight of familiar red hair.
“…”
Vancent, with his red hair, noticed Delina’s presence too—but that was all. His gaze dropped back down, focused intently on something. Looking closer, Delina saw he was scribbling something on a piece of paper.
“…What are you doing here?”
Since their eyes had met, Delina felt awkward leaving immediately, so she quietly asked. Vancent replied indifferently.
“Thinking about how much more productive I’d be if I stayed home doing research instead of attending this.”
“…Well, that would certainly be efficient.”
Most attendees, stepping into high society for the first time, wore expressions of excitement and nervousness. But Vancent reacted as if it were utterly ordinary, showing no particular concern.
“If I have to do the debutante thing anyway, I might as well get it over with quickly. So I’m doing it fast—but honestly, I’d be far more productive researching at home.”
True to his words, Vancent wore a thoroughly bored expression. Delina responded.
“How about looking for a different research subject?”
“Something else?”
“Yeah. There might be something interesting here.”
At Delina’s words, Vancent stroked his chin with a finger. More precisely, he was now looking directly at Delina.
“True. There’s no need to restrict my research on you to just the estate.”
“?”
At Vancent’s heavily loaded remark, Delina instinctively took a step back—just as a woman’s voice rang out behind her.
“Vancent! There you are again! Didn’t I tell you not to hide in corners?”
“No.”
“No what? You were thinking about research again, weren’t you? Think about it later and come quickly.”
The woman who’d appeared out of nowhere grabbed Vancent’s arm to drag him away. Then, noticing Delina standing before them, her eyes widened.
“Oh! Who’s this? A friend of yours, Vancent?”
“A research sample.”
“Honestly, how many times have I told you not to treat your friends like that?”
“But she’s an idiot.”
“I keep telling you that ordinary people think differently from us! If you keep acting like this here, I’ll ban you from the laboratory!”
At the threat of being banned from the lab, Vancent finally fell silent. Watching the now obedient Vancent and the woman who looked so much like him, Delina recalled a name.
Estelle Elpisha.
Vancent’s current guardian and cousin, as well as the Marchioness of House Elpisha. Her defining trait was…
She loved experimenting just as obsessively as Vancent did.
While Vancent showed genius in handling devices, Estelle was no less impressive. As far as Delina knew, several of the grand duke’s devices had been created through Estelle’s hands.
“I’m sorry, dear. I’ll take Vancent away for now—you can play with him later!”
“Oh, um… okay.”
“If you have time later, feel free to visit the marchioness’s estate!”
Before Delina could reply, Estelle hurriedly dragged Vancent back to their seats. As Delina watched them leave in a daze, she suddenly sensed someone above her and looked up. There stood Calix.
“…?”
Wondering what Calix was looking at, Delina followed his gaze.
Sure enough, near Delina stood an array of delicious-looking desserts. And Calix kept casting longing glances toward them.
Seeing this, Delina let out a wry smile. Whether at the estate or the palace, their attitudes never changed—she wasn’t sure whether to be fond of them or exasperated.
‘Anyway, it seems most of the guests have arrived by now.’
Glancing around, Delina noticed everyone in the banquet hall staring toward a certain door. At that moment, a loud announcement rang out.
“His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Hail Helium, approaches!”
Simultaneously, the banquet hall doors slowly opened, and every eye turned toward them. But Delina’s attention was fixed on the person standing behind Hail.
Ashud.
Back then, his face had been hidden, so she hadn’t seen him clearly—but now, she could see him plainly: a child with radiant golden hair and sky-blue eyes.
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
Chapter Comments (37)
Inline Comments (53)
“Right. He arrived this morning. It’s about time the kid woke up, after all.”
Omg omg Omg he is actually back! I forget where he went but I’m interested to see how he could have possibly improved his skills. Looks like he still unhealthy, sleeping in so late. I think he is on the smaller side compared to the MLS.
At the voice, Mernin froze. The noble ladies and gentlemen who saw his face bega
I wonder if it is Noah, it could be Ashud. Idk id really want to see NOAHas the ML instead of the typical crown prince~ but I’m a fan either way
Celine’s murmuring about the heat gave Delina a glimpse into the terror she must
Del is so observant and really smart to notice the reason! I wonder if Celine had anything to do with her rewinding time. Honestly where did Celine even come from?!
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I wonder how well Zen understands Del’s speech. Also does the Duke think of her fondly? Does he even know how to laugh?? He calls her Jester so he definitely thinks she’s like a clown. I also wonder how the OG FL is like, the one everyone was obsessed with. And the girl who was Gideon’s lover, I wonder if she had a unique power that gave her a second try
I wonder how well Zen understands Del’s speech. Also does the Duke think of her fondly? Does he even know how to laugh?? He calls her Jester so he definitely thinks she’s like a clown. I also wonder how the OG FL is like, the one everyone was obsessed with. And the girl who was Gideon’s lover, I wonder if she had a unique power that gave her a second try
The kids are really cute!! They are only 12, but they still have childish tendencies while still being powerful. Truly good luck to Del, especially with the Duke having an unusual fondness with training the kids. Cause what do you mean your trying to X a child??