Chapter 47 – The Monstrous Elite

A few hours later, the group of people who stopped by the fairy forest before the start of the festival headed to the Horsseum. The Horsseum, known as the capital’s amphitheater, was a grand theater that could accommodate as many as five thousand spectators.

Levisia had only heard of the name and it was the first time she had been there. So, she was busy looking around. The Horsseum was in the shape of a circle surrounding the audience with a circular stage in the center.

As expected, even among the spacious seats, the seat of the royal family was fixed. An exceptionally open area among the northern seating areas and the chair in the center was a brilliant golden color. When the bell rings at noon, people will come in and fill the seats, and the Emperor will sit in the golden chair and receive the applause of the crowd. There were two red chairs next to the golden chair. A level below it there were five chairs and another level below it, there were seven chairs.

After a cursory glance at the people who had already arrived, Levisia pulled out the rightmost of the seven chairs and sat down. Fortunately, the upper floor was still vacant, so there was no need to be mindful of it.

After sitting in the chair, she could see why people who had arrived before her were hanging around without sitting in the chair. On the circular stage, the five main characters were gathered.

“I think it’s been some time since I’ve seen the five of them gathered together.”

“I guess the 7th princess won’t be coming this year as well?”

“Obviously, she is studying abroad, afterall.”

“I heard the First Prince recently went to visit the Hisa empire. I wonder when he had the time to prepare for the fairy festival?”

“I can’t wait to see what they will show us this year.”

Their murmurs were filled with awe that could not be hidden in their voices.

‘They look fascinating to me as well.’

Those who cast envious eyes on the five Kraiden were also the most famous of the nameless brothers. Unlike Levisia, they turned the palace upside down at the time of entrance. So there weren’t many differences between the Kraiden or the nameless brothers for Levisia.

‘Why am I here, where all these monstrous people are…’  She placed a hand on her forehead when she realised she felt someone’s gaze on her. The origin of the gaze was not far from her. It was right next to her where she had just heard the voices talking. ‘What now?’ Even she was able to tell that their conversations had come to an abrupt stop. Which was a normal reaction when one finds an unusual person in their territory.

“But, isn’t that…”

Even as her side profile stung from the piercing gaze she did not turn her head. Which would be useless if she started sweating, but for now ignoring it was the best option.

‘It is hard not to draw attention to yourself.’

Since in comparison she was like a duck amongst swans. The elite pack who had been laughing and talking to themselves would definitely have felt uncomfortable by the presence of someone below them. They would naturally stare.

‘Even so, can’t they just let it go? Even if I am a duck that looks peculiar like a chicken, hmm? In life, you might find a chicken or a duck mixed in with a pack of swans!’

Levisia was staring at the ground with her head bowed. When she felt someone approach her in order to start a conversation with her.

“Excuse me…”

‘Damn it,’ she thought to herself.

Clang. Along with the sound of a loud sound a gust of wind blew. Levisia’s fringe blew off her forehead and the strong wind made her close her eyes. The unexpected situation must have startled the person approaching me as he stood frozen.

“Wh,what…?”

The voice of the person approaching her was shaking, which was understandable, since the clanging sound had happened right in front of him. The floor, which had been fine before, was dug up as if it had been scratched with numerous sharp objects. The wind was so strong and sharp that it left a trace of it, so it was natural for it to cause a loud sound.

“Ah! Sorry, my bad.” A calm voice broke the frozen silence. Immediately, Leivisia could identify the owner of the voice and looked up. Sure enough, Lidan was laughing out loud. “Sorry I was practicing then lost control.”

After hearing those words,  Levisia subconsciously looked up at the person who now stood frozen. It was a man with long dark brown hair and droopy eyes.

‘Was this… the 9th prince?’

Lidan winked at the 9th Prince, who was frozen to the spot. Even though he may have said that it was a mistake, there were no signs of an apology. Even so the 9th Prince turned pale and repeated continuously that it was okay.

“Really? Then, that’s good.”

After making such a comment, Lidan turned away and began talking to his brothers again. He looked as if he didn’t feel sorry at all. Even as he said those words, they sounded insincere.

‘He’s the worst.’ Levisia then wondered if she should be thankful since the attention had been drawn away from herself. ‘Hmm?’ Then she thought of another possibility. Perhaps Lidan had truly acted out of concern for her. ‘But, how did he know?’ After their conversation in the forest with Siaphyl, Lidan didn’t pretend to know her. Not even once. He hadn’t even glanced so much her way, so she wondered how he knew? She was thinking to herself blankly, when the bell started to ring. The sound brought the dispersed people together as they started looking for their seat.

When the bell sounded exactly twelve times, the closed Horrseum door opened and people started pouring in. At the same time, a deafening loud shout began. The commoners poured in and cheered for the royals.

Levisia was the only one who couldn’t adapt to the cheers and felt puzzled. Not only the Kraidens, who had found and sat themselves down, but also the other prince and princesses on the same level as Levisia, seemed used to the cheering.

“Your Highness, the 15th princess.”

As Levisia was staring blankly at the waves of people rushing in, the person seated next to her engaged in a conversation. Levisia flinched and turned towards the voice that had called out to her.

“Long time no see.”

A man with loosely tied brownish blond hair looked at her and smiled faintly. Levisia looked at his red eyes and immediately realised who he was.

‘Oh, this person is…’

He was the 17th Prince. Someone who had entered the palace roughly around the same time as she did. She recalled the day when his younger self, who was only a small child, grabbed a hold of her and asked her something on the day he entered the palace. Back then, she too was only a child.

“Are you the one who lost your way in the central palace…?”

“…So you remember.”

As she asked, he placed his gaze downwards and let out a dry cough in embarrassment. It was a wonder for her to recall something that had happened ten years ago.

“I am able to find my way around now.” He added on in a low voice and smiled. Levisia recalled how she had answered ‘There’s no way I know the way around’ and thought to herself, the one who should be smiling should have been her instead.

‘But from what I know, this person…’

From what she recalled, like herself, he wasn’t a character invited to the Fairy Festival.