Moonlight Ball

But that was Iris’s huge mistake.

Rosemary didn’t keep a diary. She was too lazy to record anything. She, a queen, had many letters to write or to sign. She was sick of all of it and out of all of it, she was not sensitive enough to record anything. The letter regarding treason was burned after being read once. It was too much work to hide it somewhere. She didn’t even think about reading it again.

“Your Majesty?” The Duke called her questionably. Iris came back to her senses. Either way, she had to reveal information to the Duke.

“S, sure. Duke,” she stuttered.

Sure? Elena was surprised. The Queen was very shy. She was Iris Elaine. She knew nothing about Duke Zeneth. She should have never allowed him to speak to her in private but she was permitting it.

“Your Majesty, the private chat is a little…” Elena carefully whispered, but Iris shook her head. “I’ll see him in private,” she answered.

The Queen’s will was unwavering; there was no choice. Everyone left the café. Elena was the last to leave. She looked at Iris with worry but then bowed as if she couldn’t do anything about it. “I’ll dismiss myself,” she announced, not forgetting to send a threatening glare at Duke Zeneth.

The territories in the Letaire Empire were named after the family that owned them. The territory owned by Sethang family became Sethang. The territory was divided into regions and named accordingly. That was why the place Iris was at was called Surah Rones. Sethang Replin, Sethang Lyn, Sethang Poperinus. The region had their titles as such.

The Sethang family was one of the families with significant contributions to society. They were a powerful family whose territory was becoming larger each generation. Their territory had remained Sethang for numerous decades. Other lands had  become Sethang, but Sethang had never become another title. In contrast, Zeneth was recently established, only for 50 years. There was a huge power gap between them accordingly.

Even so, it was between a Duke and a Duchess. Normally, the Duke should be higher and stronger. But the person concerned was Elena en Sethang. She was in a high position as the Queen’s official deputy and one of the King’s supporters. On the other hand, Duke Zeneth became a Duke at a young age and then became the young Queen’s play toy after wasting his life doing nothing.

Elena had every right to glare at him, and the Duke looked away.

I will definitely look into why things went this way. Elena’s eyes pierced at him like a lioness about to pounce and then left the café.

Iris looked at the door after she heard it close. She was worried about what kind of persona she should show to the Duke. She promised herself that if the Duke spoke to her, she would respond appropriately. She was worried that she wouldn’t do well. That moment, she felt the Duke approaching her.

“Mary.” The Duke called Rosemary almost lovingly, and Iris thought they were not in a simple relationship. To confirm her suspicions, the Duke’s face hovered before hers, their noses almost touching.

I, isn’t this a little too close? Iris panicked.

But as Iris fretted, the Duke closed the distance between them. Panicked, Iris unintentionally swung anything she grabbed on before his lips could touch hers. It was a jade vase that hit the Duke’s head. Duke Zeneth opened his eyes wide as staggered backwards before eventually collapsing to the floor.

A normal café had just become a crime scene.

***

When people do something crazy for the first time, they become weird. It was excusable to commit one outrageous act once, but like sliding on ice, people end up becoming more unwise. Right now, this applied to Iris.

Iris lifted Duke’s body with a groan. The body of an unconscious man was heavy and it was too much for her, whose only exercise was to stir the beaker. But she used all of her strength to put the Duke back on the café chair. She panted and looked down at the Duke. Treason, I have to find out about treason.

She couldn’t find out pretending to be his ally anymore. She had hit him with a vase, which was made with jade. It was the same as hitting him with a brick.

<Come out, Leiden.>

A house fairy that came out of a teacup looked around the fancy café curiously and then flinched as she saw the Duke.

<I don’t want to ask but I must, Iris. You didn’t kill him, right?>

The house fairy mumbled worryingly. House fairies were born hoping everything will go well, so they didn’t like any situation that became negative. Iris flinched at Leiden’s word and put her fingers on the Duke’s neck. She breathed a sigh of relief.

<He’s alive.>

<Do you mean he’s just alive, or he’s alive and well…. Ok, I’ll stop.>

Leiden shut her mouth at Iris’s death glare.

<Bring me these things.>

Leiden frowned as she heard Iris’s list, but, having no choice, she sighed and then went back into the teacup.

“Uh… Uh…”

The Duke shivered while moaning. It seemed like he didn’t know what happened to him and where he was sitting. He held his throbbing head, unable to open his eyes properly yet.

Iris’s eyes widened.

<Leiden, hurry.>