MTLNOVEL 18
“Do you dislike it?”
I wiped the cookie crumbs from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand as I asked.
Kyle glanced at me with a complicated expression, watching as I suddenly pulled a cookie from my pocket and ate it, but in the end, he obediently took my hand.
“No one has ever danced with me twice at a banquet.”
Ah, yes. Is that so? If you don’t like it, you can let go. Honestly, I don’t care who I dance with. My only goal is to get closer to Belial.
As I made to let go of his hand without hesitation, he instead tightened his grip and pulled me closer.
“……”
You bastard. Try aligning your words with your actions. Your mouth and your body are saying different things.
“You said no one has danced with you twice, didn’t you?”
Kyle remained composed despite my sarcastic remark.
“I never said I disliked it.”
“…Sure.”
Oh, whatever you say.
Fine, stepping on this guy’s foot is better than stepping on a stranger’s. At least I won’t have to worry about keeping up with the dance.
The sharp sound of a violin signaled the start of the second dance. A chaconne, perhaps? If I listened more closely, I might be able to tell, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the leisure to appreciate the music.
From the very start, I blatantly placed my foot on top of his. Kyle moved effortlessly as if he didn’t even notice my weight. Even though the pace was faster than before, he showed no sign of struggle.
‘He’s strong, I’ll give him that.’
I turned my head here and there, searching for Kyle and Sen. Fortunately, Sen’s green dress sparkled under the chandelier light, making it easy to spot her among the crowd.
No! You clueless bastard, Belial! Stay away from the center! Do you want to get smashed by the chandelier?
“Ah.”
Unfortunately, he was a prince. The moment he stepped into the center, the others naturally stepped aside to make way for him. Even Kyle, after a brief moment of hesitation, took a few steps back from the center.
‘Ah… This is bad.’
Knowing what was to come made my insides burn with anxiety.
My uneasy gaze kept flickering toward the chandelier. The lights seemed to be swaying ever so slightly. I squinted against the dazzling brightness, trying to pick up even the subtlest difference.
At that moment, Kyle subtly shifted our positions so that he was now facing away from the chandelier.
“Are you not paying attention?”
I replied indifferently, “Is there anything to pay attention to? You’re the one doing all the dancing anyway.”
So just focus on dancing instead of wasting time looking at my face. At least make sure people don’t laugh at us. I have no dignity or reputation to lose, but you, Duke Blake, have a different story.
Kyle clicked his tongue in mild irritation. He must have thought I was checking on Belial because I cared about him.
“Do you like Prince Belial?”
I swear, give someone two flowers, and they think you’re proposing. I only gave him white flowers in exchange for the invitation.
‘…Well, I guess it does look suspicious.’
An unknown commoner suddenly drops out of the sky with Belial’s invitation in hand, wears a suit gifted by him, and even gives him flowers?
Not just suspicious—highly suspicious. If I were in his shoes, I’d be interrogating me right this second.
“No, it’s not like that…”
I followed Belial with my eyes as I spoke. I knew I looked untrustworthy, but it was better than regretting it later when things went south.
Kyle smirked crookedly. “You’re staring at him so intensely, though.”
“…Who’s intense? That’s not it.”
Anyone would think I was completely smitten with Belial. But I’m not, okay?
Belial Serena Meinhardt was Kyle Blake’s greatest threat and most formidable adversary. Since my task was to increase my miracle rate by keeping Kyle alive, Belial was someone I could never view in a favorable light.
This is a win-win situation, dumbass. Guarding that bastard’s back is protecting the North, saving your life, and, incidentally, keeping me alive too.
“Let’s just finish the dance. You’re the host, so why are you standing in such an out-of-the-way corner?”
“……”
“There, that way. Let’s go to the center.”
Though Kyle shot me a deeply suspicious look, he eventually followed my lead. Good boy. He listens well.
Then, a sharp sound rang through the air.
Screech.
Even the faintest noise made me snap my head up.
[⊙﹏⊙∥]
The system was reacting. So, it wasn’t just my imagination. A cold sensation spread through my chest. Was fate something that could never be changed, no matter what?
‘No, that’s not it.’
That can’t happen.
I refused to hide behind the excuse that this was the original storyline or that things were simply destined to unfold this way. I didn’t come all this way just to give up so easily.
[Σ(っ °Д °;)っ]
[(>︿<;;)っ] [(ㅠ_ㅠ)=(ㅠ_ㅠ)]
Multiple system windows popped up at once, flickering as if to convey my desperation.
Screech.
The shadow of the chandelier swayed again, slightly larger this time, briefly casting over Kyle’s forehead.
“Trust me,” I whispered. “Whatever I do, I won’t do anything that will cost you your life.”
What kind of idiot do you take me for?
I let out a light chuckle as I stepped off Kyle’s foot and, at the same time, shoved his firm shoulder. The motion happened so fast that Kyle’s arm, which had been wrapped around my waist, loosened instinctively. In that brief opening, I twisted my body and launched myself toward Belial.
Snap.
At that exact moment, the weakened connection finally gave way, and the chandelier came crashing down.
Belial and Sen stood right at the center of the dance floor, just as the string instruments reached their climax. Kyle must have only just realized what was happening. I thought I saw his arm reaching out behind me. But there was no time to check.
“…….”
Time seemed to slow unnaturally.
That shouldn’t be possible.
My desperately outstretched arm never reached Belial. Instead, I managed to shove Sen aside. She lost her balance and toppled to the side—straight into Belial’s arms.
BOOM!
The chandelier crashed down.
Thud!
A deafening impact rattled my entire body, followed by the sound of glass shattering into thousands of pieces.
The music had long since stopped. People screamed. Kyle shouted.
I think he called my name.
But my thoughts didn’t last long.
My vision blurred. A wave of pain surged over me like a tsunami, drowning me completely.
I don’t know how many seconds it took before I blacked out.
Looking back, maybe it was a good thing I passed out quickly. At least I didn’t have to endure that pain for long.
***
It was a wretched sight.
The grand banquet hall, once shimmering with elegance, had turned into complete chaos in an instant.
“Guards! Evacuate the guests!”
At the urgent command, the doors flung open, and the guards rushed in.
Kyle quickly scooped up the collapsed young man in his arms and turned to Sen. She was helping Belial to his feet. It looked like her hand had been cut by a stray shard of glass.
“I’ll take care of it!” Sen shouted hastily.
Kyle didn’t even have time to respond. He adjusted the unconscious figure in his arms.
“Summon a doctor.”
The guards frantically nodded at Kyle’s order.
“Yes, Your Highness. We’ll have them come right—”
“No.”
It would take too long for a doctor to get here.
Kyle clenched his teeth and looked down at his own hands. His gloves were drenched in red.
The bleeding was severe.
Taking him anywhere at this point was too risky. Meeting the doctor halfway would be better.
Where?
There was no need to think.
“The study.”
The young man—Shu, was it?—had already lost consciousness. He was more than just exotic-looking; there was something distinctly foreign, even unnatural about his presence.
The chandelier hadn’t fallen directly onto his head—that was the only reason he was still alive. If it had landed cleanly on him, he wouldn’t have even had the chance to be carried away like this.
“…….”
There was no time to survey the wreckage.
Kyle bolted out of the banquet hall, moving like a madman.
He took the stairs four steps at a time, using every ounce of his strength to keep the body in his arms from shaking.
The warmth was fading.
His clothes were soaking with blood.
Anxiety gnawed at him.
He should have caught him.
The moment had happened too fast, but his body had moved on instinct, his arm reaching out immediately. His instincts had screamed at him to grab the man.
But he was just a second too late.
All that passed through his fingers was a wisp of thin, brown hair.
Or was it just his imagination?
For a moment, it had seemed as if Shu’s body had been engulfed in a pure white light.
Was that just the chandelier’s glow? Or…
“Hey.”
Kyle wanted to ask this suspicious stranger.
Tell me. Did you predict this moment?
Why did you keep looking around anxiously, as if you knew this disaster was about to happen?
You were searching for Belial, glancing up at the ceiling—was it because you foresaw this?
No one but a prophet could see the future.
Even then, no prophet could predict an event with such pinpoint accuracy.
So how did you know?
The uncertainty burned at him.
Kyle had spent over a decade in the brutal, merciless northern warzone. He had seen worse wounds than this. He had suffered worse himself.
And yet, this time, a strange sense of dread gripped him.
The nausea wouldn’t settle.
‘Don’t die.’
He muttered in his mind.
‘Don’t you dare die.’
You suspicious, bizarre bastard.
“Where’s the doctor?”
“He was tending to other injured guests, but he’s on his way now with all the necessary tools. He should be here in ten minutes.”
“Good. I…”
Kyle wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
The moment he laid Shu down, he stripped off his bloodied coat, removed the glass shards, and wrapped the wounds with bandages to stop the bleeding.
That was all he could do.
He glanced at Shu’s face.
Faintly, his chest still rose and fell.
‘You can hold on. Ten minutes.’
Shu’s condition was one thing. But the larger, more pressing issue was reality itself.
If Belial was injured, the future of the North was at serious risk.
“…I’m heading back to the banquet hall to take care of the aftermath. Follow me.”
“What about the study?”
“Leave the door open. The doctors need to be able to come in immediately.”
“Understood.”
Kyle forced his unwilling feet to move.
Even as he walked away, his mind remained in the study.
He felt an urgent need to finish up quickly and return to that man.