Chapter 98 - The Middleman

Chapter 98: Chapter 98 - The Middleman

"Expelled?! Arrested for treason?! That’s impossible! Lucy would never–"

"Oh, quiet down! Did you not hear Prince Quinton?! Duke Elsa was arrested yesterday! They tried to assassinate royal blood! Even if it’s an Ebony!"

"The hell does that mean?!"

"I said what I said!"

"Where even is Princess Maelle?! If the Duke fell, where is the Fourth Princess?! I heard she’s the one who attacked his residence! She should have been arrested instead!"

Throughout the chaos, a group of noble students, once so smug and high-handed, stood frozen in wide-eyed disbelief. Lucianne’s clique of elite friends all gasped in horror, their mouths hanging open as they failed to process the sudden fall of the prominent House of Elsa.

As Quinton stepped down the elevated platform and made his way to the exit, dozens upon dozens of frantic students surged forward like a tidal wave.

"Your Highness! Please wait!"

"Is Lucianne really in custody?!"

"Where is Princess Maelle hiding?!"

"Was there really a plot?!"

Quinton kept his head held high. He ignored every shouted question thrown at him as he marched straight toward the massive exit doors. He had fulfilled his promise to clear Maelle’s name before the entire Academy and expose Lucianne’s crimes – he owed the screaming mob nothing more.

From his vantage point near the main floor’s stone columns, Vincent watched the noble crowd dissolve into screaming arguments with a smirk on his face.

Eugene poked his tiny snout out and cackled under his breath. "Gahaha! Look at them crying over that slimy girl! Shirtless Goldie Boy really dropped a bomb and just walked away like a boss!"

"How’d you figure she’s slimy if you’ve never met her?"

"Didn’t you hear Goldie?! She kidnapped our princess! That’s all the information I need to judge her!"

"Fair." Vincent chuckled quietly while adjusting his half-mask. "Can’t deny he handled that well. Come on, lizard, keep your eyes open. We still have a bunny to find."

Up on the second-floor, Maelle watched the chaos below with a quiet sense of justice. But she didn’t let the satisfaction distract her. While the crowd was wild, she looked for anyone nearby who seemed suspicious.

Then, her gaze froze, and a flash of genuine surprise flickered across her features.

Standing near the far archway, entirely isolated from the screaming crowd, was a young Ebonspirian dressed in a pristine black-and-crimson suit. He had dark, swept-back hair, intense dark eyes, sharp aristocratic features, and was casually eating a plate of gourmet snacks, looking thoroughly unbothered by the unfolding scandal.

Maelle hesitated for a fraction of a second at the sight of him before snapping out of her shock.

Taking a glass of cider from a passing server’s tray, she glided smoothly across the floor and leaned against the wall right beside him.

"Hmm?"

Not recognising her under the illusion magic, the young man turned his head toward her. A charismatic smirk spread across his handsome face as his dark eyes locked onto her.

"Tragic, isn’t it? All those lovely dresses, and everyone is too busy shouting about a fallen Duke to appreciate the finer things in the room... Like the exquisite company right beside me."

Maelle didn’t pull back or act cold. Instead, she put on a smitten demeanor, leaning her shoulder slightly against his as she flashed a rare, beautiful, and charming smile to him.

Down on the main floor, Vincent happened to glance up toward the second-floor at that exact second.

His heart instantly plummeted.

He went completely rigid as he stared up at Maelle offering the dark-haired young man a dazzling smile that he had barely ever seen her give anyone. A sharp sting flared right in the center of his chest.

"Huh? What’re you looking at? WHA–!?" Eugene’s eyes practically bulged out his sockets/ "HOLY SHIT! Look at her! Wait! Who the hell is that guy?!"

Vincent’s eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his fists tightly.

Up on the second floor, Maelle casually weaving the password into her sweet tone. "Haha. Is that so? Speaking of pets... to be truthful... I’m actually thinking of getting a bunny-rabbit myself. What do you think?"

The young man’s flirtatious smirk faltered for a moment. His dark eyes sharpened, and he let out a quiet, amused chuckle under his breath as he leaned in closer.

"Well, well... You’re definitely not Ava."

Maelle’s sweet smile instantly dropped into a cool, professional expression. "I am glad to have finally located you."

"Tell me. Why are you here instead of the succubus? Much less knowing the password and what it entails?"

"I am acting as her proxy. Ava cannot attend this gala, you see. This is a human-only venue, after all."

"Hahaha. How troublesome. If only my employer knew that, perhaps we would have made a different arrangement." He smirked again. "I can’t exactly hand over her reward to a proxy now, can I?"

"Naturally. Which is why it is my job to take you directly to her. She is waiting nearby."

"Perfect." He offered his arm with a charming bow. "Lead the way, my lady."

Maelle gracefully took his arm, and together they began walking toward the secluded side exits leading down to the private gardens.

Down on the main floor, Eugene went into absolute hissing overdrive! "Look at him! He’s taking our girl! Bluey, DO SOMETHING!"

"Don’t have to tell me twice."

Without another word, Vincent thrust his champagne glass into the hands of a student showing off his owl Familiar, shoved his way through the crowd, and took the stairs three at a time to follow them outside.

The quiet, moonlit garden behind the gala hall was bathed in gentle blue starlight where Maelle guided the dark-haired man down a stone path lined with glowing white roses.

SWISH.

Suddenly, a shadow detached itself from a high tree branch. Ava dropped down with breathtaking grace, landing softly on her high-heeled boots in her full succubus form.

"Good evening, handsome~"

Unbothered by her demonic appearance, he smiled casually. "Good evening, Ava. Glad to see you’re actually here."

He reached inside his coat and pulled out a heavy, chiming leather pouch filled with gold – the agreed payment for "successfully assassinating Princess Maelle." He handed it over.

Ava weighed the heavy pouch in her hand and smiled with satisfaction. "A pleasure doing business with you."

"With that taken care of," he turned back to Maelle and offered his arm once more, "if you’ll excuse us... your proxy and I were just getting to know each other better, weren’t we?"

Before stepping back, Ava asked casually, "This is quite a lucrative amount of coin. I’d love to offer more of my services to your employer in the future. Who are they?"

"Ah, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But that won’t be necessary. If they require your unique talents again, they will contact you the same way they did the first time."

"Aw~ Really?" Ava cast a subtle, fleeting glance at Maelle.

Maelle offered an almost imperceptible nod, signaling that she got the information they came for from this middleman.

"Very well," Ava slipped the gold pouch away. "Until next time~ Toodles~" With a flutter of her bat wings, she melted into the dark canopy above.

As the he turned back, extending his hand to Maelle–

"AHA! There you are, my dear ’Lily’!"

A loud theatrical voice shattered the quiet garden atmosphere.

Vincent stepped right out of the rose bushes and put on an absurdly exaggerated, cheerful grin. "I’ve been looking everywhere for you!"

Looking between the golden-masked young man and Maelle, the dark-haired man raised an eyebrow in mild annoyance. "Do you know this person, Lily?"

Vincent took three comically large strides and stepped right between them, shoving himself right into his personal space while glaring at him fiercely.

"Lily... is my girlfriend!"

"Your... what? What is a ’girlfriend’? She is a girl, yes. Are you just friends? Sorry, I am not up to date with Imperial slang."

*Tsk!* "Lover! I’m her lover! Don’t you see our matching masks?!" Vincent’s face flushed red with embarrassment under his mask as he yelled in frustration. "What are you doing walking around in the dark. Are you taking her somewhere suspicious?!"

"No. She came to me willingly, friend. And frankly, a lady of her exquisite taste deserves someone who doesn’t barge out of the bushes shouting gibberish."

He turned to Maelle, extending his hand once more with a charming smile. "Come along, Lily. Let us leave this crude fellow behind."

As Maelle looked at his hand and Vincent, she smirked with subtle amusement.

Gracefully stepping past his extended hand, she reached out and wrapped her arm firmly around Vincent’s arm instead.

"My apologies, sir... but I must go with my... lover."

He stared at her in sheer disbelief, his smooth, unbreakable confidence cracking for the first time all night. "I don’t particularly enjoy having my feelings toyed with, Lily."

"... Hurts, doesn’t it?"

He raised an eyebrow, failing to catch her quiet muttered words. "What did you say?"

"I said, I apologise if you felt led on," Maelle stated smoothly. "However, my only task was to bring you to Ava. With that completed, I believe we may go our separate ways."

Looking between the two of them – he took in Vincent’s smug, victorious smirk and Maelle’s unmoving position beside him – and let out a dry, defeated laugh, shaking his head.

"Hahaha. Fine. But just so you know, Lily... I am not the type to give up easily."

Offering one final, lingering glance, the young man turned and back from where they came.

The exact moment he was out of sight–

"GAHAHAHA!" Eugene popped his head out from Vincent. "LOOK AT HIM RUN! THAT SMUG PRICK GOT DUMPED RIGHT IN THE DIRT! YOU SEE THAT, BLUEY?! OUR GIRL CHOSE US!"

Vincent reached down and flicked Eugene’s snout deadpan. "Shut up, lizard. Stop acting like she’s yours. Besides... we both knew this was going to be the outcome."

"Oh, please! You were sweating bullets! You literally burst out of the rose bushes screaming about being her ’girlfriend’!"

Maelle didn’t pull her arm away from Vincent’s. Instead, she leaned just a little bit tighter into his side, and looked up at him with amusement.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I don’t know. Perhaps I simply enjoyed watching my usually cool, all-powerful Familiar get flustered and openly territorial over me."

"It was just an act to get rid of him!" Vincent covered his blush with his free hand.

"A ’girlfriend,’ Vincent? Is that what I am to you now?"

"Maelle..." Vincent turned his head away, completely unable to look her in the eye as his face burned bright red.

["Attention guests and students!"] An enchanted voice echoed from inside the venue. ["Please clear the main floor for the evening waltz."]

With their mission concluded, Maelle took off her mask. The illusion magic dissolved in shimmering motes – her hair shifted back to a flowing silver-white, and her eyes returned to their striking, regal violet.

"I have all the confirmation and information I need regarding the hit. We don’t need these anymore. Come. Let us return inside."

"Really? If we’re done, why don’t we just leave and go home?"

"I am still obligated to attend this gala as a student. Besides..."

She reached up and gently took off the mask from Vincent’s face. The illusion dissolved, returning his hair to brown and his eyes to green.

"Besides... it is time to see if you actually remember what I taught you earlier."

The blush on his cheeks gave way to confidence as he offered her his arm to her in return.

"Heh. I won’t step on your toes this time, Princess."