The one who appeared was Ileon.

Unusually, Ileon appeared wearing a half-mask made of black snakeskin.

Ileon was wearing a blue uniform, which, as luck would have it, looked like he had matched dress codes in advance with Celiya, who was wearing a sky blue dress.

“It seems I forgot to send an invitation to the Imperial Knight Commander, Duke Calypso.”

Referring to himself as ‘we’ came naturally to him.

Dietrich looked at Ileon with dry eyes.

Celiya did the same.

“What were you thinking inviting me?”

To Celiya’s question, Ileon curled his lips crookedly and replied.

“You don’t have to be so wary of me. I haven’t done ‘anything’ to you yet.”

At Ileon’s words, Dietrich wrapped his arm around Celiya’s and said.

“It seems the new Emperor doesn’t see that my beloved is uncomfortable.”

“Beloved… Are you confirming the rumors as fact?”

A faint smile appeared on Ileon’s lips.

“Your courage is admirable, but I wish you’d stop monopolizing. It’s not like you.”

“…”

Dietrich stared at Ileon with cold eyes.

Instead of rebuking Dietrich for being disrespectful, Ileon smiled, crinkling his eyes.

“Or is there a secret between you two that I don’t know about? For example…”

Ileon pretended to adjust his clothes and whispered in a small voice only the two could hear.

“Are you both survivors of a certain kingdom that perished ten years ago?”

Before Celiya could say anything, Ileon stepped back and entered the ballroom first.

A surprised Celiya grabbed Dietrich’s clothes.

“Just now!”

Celiya’s eyes shook like fierce waves.

Dietrich lowered his head to meet Celiya’s eyes.

He spoke in a gentle voice as if to reassure Celiya.

“It’s alright.”

“…”

“Don’t worry. No one can harm you.”

Dietrich patted Celiya’s back with his large hand.

The knights noticed that the relationship between the two was out of the ordinary.

The two people with striking appearances that couldn’t be hidden even by masks looked like lovers to anyone who saw them.

And they seemed to cherish each other very much.

“His Imperial Majesty, the dazzling sun of Abelon, is entering.”

The ballroom was greatly stirred by Ileon’s appearance.

His ash-gray hair was pulled up, revealing a smooth forehead.

Shedding his gentle saint-like image, Ileon in a uniform as blue as his eyes looked like an almighty ruler who could have everything he wanted at his feet.

From his entrance to every single step, it was admirable.

In keeping with the theme of the masquerade ball, Ileon was also wearing a mask, but even so, he looked to be of a different class.

The eyes of everyone in the banquet hall turned to Ileon at once.

Until Ileon crossed the red carpet and ascended to the platform at the top of the central staircase, no one took their eyes off him.

Even the band stopped playing their instruments and stared at Ileon.

Settling into the golden chair on the platform, Ileon took the glass handed to him by his aide and spoke.

“For today only, eat and drink to your heart’s content without a care. You may dance as much as you wish.”

With those brief words, Ileon raised his glass.

Ileon didn’t add any explanation about how he became emperor.

“Long live the dazzling sun!”

“Long live the Emperor!”

People cheered and raised their glasses following Ileon.

Deep respect for a powerful ruler, and awe for one who had the power to encompass that power.

Before the perfect emperor, no one dared mention the deaths of the past royal family.

Just by his appearance alone, the perception of royal family = Ileon was deeply rooted in people’s minds.

“… Will Your Majesty not dance?”

To the aide’s question, Ileon replied in a languid voice.

“I have no intention of doing so right now. Perhaps I might feel like it later.”

At Ileon’s words, the eyes of the young ladies shone sharply like hawks eyeing their prey.

Today, if Ileon were to ask someone for the first dance, that lady’s value would skyrocket.

‘His Majesty has always been kind to women.’

Ileon, who only rarely showed up at important banquets, never asked anyone to dance first.

If a woman gathered her courage and asked Ileon to dance first, he would smile brightly and dance with her.

There were many young ladies who admired Ileon for his kind demeanor.

A marquis’s daughter who had experienced dancing with Ileon before kept glancing at him.

Ileon, as if uninterested in anyone in the ballroom, was fiddling with an empty glass while resting his chin on one hand.

Besides the marquis’s daughter, there were many others aiming for Ileon.

The ball had started, but no one was dancing.

The young ladies’ gazes were all directed only at Ileon.

A nobleman who had boldly asked a noble lady to dance was completely ignored.

He kept pouring wine into his stomach to soothe his bitter feelings.

“Your Majesty.”

The marquis’s daughter cautiously addressed Ileon, gathering her courage.

Ileon’s gaze, which had been looking down at the empty glass, turned to the young lady.

As the sharp blue eyes turned towards her, the marquis’s daughter felt her mouth go dry and barely parted her lips.

“If, if it’s alright with you, would you like to have the first dance with me…”

“The first dance?”

Ileon lifted one corner of his mouth.

“Your courage in asking me to dance is admirable, but I’m afraid I must decline.”

“…”

The cheeks of the marquis’s daughter, beneath her red half-mask, turned as red as a ripe tomato.

Originally, it was the men who asked for dances.

There were cases where women asked men to dance first, but these were very rare.

It was against etiquette for men to refuse a dance request from a woman, so men would not refuse to dance even to protect the woman’s reputation if she asked first.

Before becoming emperor, Ileon had never refused dance requests from women, so thinking it would be the same this time was a miscalculation if it was one.

At Ileon’s refusal, the young ladies reluctantly began to dance with men who seemed decent enough, with heavy hearts.

The band began to play classical music and the atmosphere in the ballroom gradually began to heat up.

In the heightened atmosphere, couples who had connected emotionally went out to the terrace or shared intimate skinship behind secluded pillars.

Ileon rose from his seat when the quiet entrance of the banquet hall suddenly became greatly stirred.

“Duke Calypso!”

“It’s the angel of Brillian!”

Exclamations burst forth from the people.

Indeed, it was an appearance that could not possibly be hidden by a mere mask.

A faint smile spread across Ileon’s lips.

From the entrance of the banquet hall, two people who shone even while standing still were walking in.

Tall and well-built, Dietrich looked impeccable in his black uniform.

Celiya, who appeared escorted by Dietrich, was also beautiful enough to believe she had stepped out of a masterpiece painting, wearing a flowy sky blue dress that didn’t emphasize her figure at all.

“Look over there. Celiya has become even more beautiful since we last saw her.”

“Indeed, it’s rewarding to raise such a child. One that anyone would covet.”

Vincent and the Viscount of Brillian looked Celiya up and down with greedy eyes.

At that moment, Dietrich’s gaze, which had been looking straight ahead, fixed on the two men positioned on the left wall.

“Why does it feel like Duke Calypso is glaring at us? We’re quite far away.”

“…It must be your imagination. Ahem. Everyone’s wearing masks after all.”

But Dietrich’s blade-like gaze was clearly directed at the two men.

Sensing the intense killing intent, the two men hurriedly averted their gaze elsewhere.

Only then did Dietrich take his eyes off them and look straight ahead.

With every step Celiya and Dietrich took, exclamations poured from the people.

Ileon descended the central staircase with elegant steps.

Approaching the two, Ileon smiled at Celiya.

“…Celiya Brillian.”

Celiya’s gaze, who had been holding Dietrich’s hand, fell on Ileon.

Celiya stared at Ileon with a cold face.

In her fresh green eyes, resentment and hatred towards Ileon were intertwined.

A bottomless darkness.

The unfathomable darkness, contrasting with her beautiful outward appearance, intrigued Ileon.

Ileon bowed to Celiya and extended one hand.

It was a smooth palm without a single callus, as if it had never known hardship.

Celiya stared blankly at Ileon’s hand thrust before her.

“I would be honored if you would grant me the first dance.”

At Ileon’s words, a violinist who had been playing music dropped their bow with a twang.

Everyone in the ballroom was shocked.

It was surprising enough that Celiya had appeared escorted by Dietrich, but now Ileon was asking her for the first dance.

“…What on earth is going on?”

“She’s so lucky. Her skill in bewitching men is at an insane level. No matter how beautiful she is, could she really be a witch as the rumors say?”

The noble ladies whispered behind their backs.

“If she’s not a fool, she won’t refuse His Majesty’s dance invitation, right?”

“Surely not. It’s such a great honor.”

Celiya alternately looked at Ileon’s hand and his blue eyes beneath the black snake mask.

This was a test prepared for her.

A scenario where she would be confused by his words implying he knew her identity, and readily accept Ileon’s dance invitation.

Ileon must have been confident of that. He must be expecting that she would never refuse this dance invitation.

Celiya stared coldly at Ileon, who was smiling leisurely.

Celiya seemed as if she might take Ileon’s hand, then suddenly withdrew her hand.

“I must decline Your Majesty’s dance invitation.”