EVHE 35

Chapter 35

From Calix’s shadow, a black snake slithered silently up the wall.

The writhing snake opened its mouth and snatched the neck of a raven. The attacked raven quickly transformed into a person and tumbled down the alley.

“Stop right there!”

As the person tried to flee, the snake coiled around their ankle. With a thud, the unidentified figure fell to the ground and twisted toward Calix.

A woman?

The face under the hood belonged to an ordinary-looking woman. She tried to slash the snake with the dagger in her hand, but it was useless.

“Who are you?” Calix asked menacingly, stepping closer.

In response, the woman quickly pulled a white vial from her clothes and brought it to her lips.

“Wait—!”

He tried to stop her, but the woman drank the liquid in one gulp.

Before he could react, her skin began to boil and sizzle, and within the blink of an eye, flames burst from her entire body.

Without a scream, the woman turned to ashes and vanished.

“What the hell…?”

Her entire body, along with her clothing, had been completely incinerated. The same went for all her belongings.

Calix gathered the ashes, hoping something might remain.

“She killed herself the moment she was caught.”

He didn’t know the purpose of her surveillance, but one thing was clear—this wasn’t a simple job. If it were just tailing someone, she wouldn’t have destroyed the evidence by dying.

“Sigh…”

Just thinking of Lilyss gave him a pounding headache. She seemed completely unaware of how dangerous Ruben was without the festival.

She should’ve stayed glued to her escort, but instead, she kept her distance. What if she got kidnapped or worse? Foolish.

If he hadn’t found her wandering the streets, he might not have noticed the tail either.

“She hasn’t changed at all, even with age—still never thinking ahead.”

Clicking his tongue in frustration, Calix suddenly froze.

He was starting to understand why he kept meddling with Lilyss.

Have I really not gotten over back then?

He let out a hollow laugh.

It was a memory that now felt like an illusion—those childhood days of sneaking around the imperial palace with Lilyss, always evading the guards.

Yeah, we used to be close, once.

At first, things between them hadn’t been so bad. In fact, they had been quite good.

But only briefly—and it was ages ago.

The truth was, Lilyss had tormented him for a long time. And he’d suffered deeply because of it.

Now that she’d stopped bothering him, maybe he was deluding himself into thinking things had returned to how they once were.

So without realizing it, he’d been speaking and acting as if they were still close.

Laughing when she looked happy, comforting her when she seemed sad—like an old friend would.

But he couldn’t afford to keep making that mistake.

She was someone who could turn on him at any moment. He had to keep his guard up and suppress any feelings of weakness.

“Tch.”

Calix placed the gathered ashes into a vial and stood up.

“That girl’s always dragging me into trouble…”

Only seconds after firming up his resolve, he muttered something again that only a friend would say.

Frowning at his own inconsistency, he began walking toward Rose Tower.

✦✦✦

When I returned home, I collapsed onto my bed.

I’d only been in Ruben for half a day, but I felt like I’d accumulated a year’s worth of fatigue.

What happened today was one thing, but what was even worse…

‘Unable to identify the sender.’

It was the failure of the supposedly trustworthy Rose Tower.

But this only meant one thing: the card I’d received wasn’t ordinary.

Luke explained that if no traces at all could be found, there were only two possibilities.

“It was either sent by someone from the temple… or from the imperial family.”

Only those two groups held enough power in the Empire to cover their tracks like that.

“Who could it possibly be?”

The more I dug, the more stifled I felt.

“If I die here… would I have to restart again?”

Each time I died and restarted, the timeline crept closer to the execution scene. If I died one more time here, I might hit the true ending.

“That can’t happen!”

I shot up from bed and dragged my drained body to my desk.

Then I pulled out all the books Saint had given me for our first lesson. Just looking at them made me dizzy, but I had to endure it.

“I’ll become a magical genius and destroy whoever it is!”

Fueled by determination, I gripped my pen. I had no intention of just sitting around waiting to die.

After that, my life returned to a fairly normal routine. The threats ceased, and I no longer felt any ominous presence.

Still, I didn’t slack off on my magic studies or my temple volunteer work.

Meanwhile, a major event from the original story—the Imperial Ball—was fast approaching.

The Imperial Ball was a dream event for all the noble ladies of the Empire.

Every noble family attended, making it the perfect opportunity to search for a future husband.

As the ball drew nearer, tea parties filled with hopeful chatter were held back-to-back.

Lately, the conversation topics had started to shift accordingly.

“I heard Lord Ferrent recently became the commander of the Imperial Knights. He’s not only capable, but also…”

“Have any of you seen his ocean-blue eyes? They’re so deep and dreamy! Just looking into them makes you feel like you’re drowning…”

At today’s tea party, hosted by Lady Regen, names of eligible noble bachelors were flying around nonstop.

Perhaps it was because everyone was of similar age, but the mood remained light and bubbly.

“Well, all that aside, what really matters is that this time, we might actually get to see His Highness the Second Prince!”

The moment that name was mentioned, a short silence followed.

Not because of anything negative, but because everyone collectively swallowed a gulp of excitement.

Our Ruschel is quite popular, huh.

Ruschel was rarely seen in public. He didn’t even show up at parties thrown by his own supporters.

But his position as a likely crown prince, his stunning appearance, and his reputedly admirable character all made him a focal point for every young lady.

“Oh my, I can’t believe I said that in front of the Lady herself.”

With that one comment, all eyes turned toward me cautiously.

Though it hadn’t been officially announced, everyone seemed to believe Ruschel and I were engaged.

Instead of denying it, I just gave them a gentle, pleasant smile.

“I wonder if His Highness the First Prince will be attending the ball too. I heard he showed up at the Espahn family banquet?”

“Yes, that’s right. I saw him for the first time there, and he was nothing like the rumors!”

“He’s very different from the Second Prince, isn’t he? More of a sharp, cold kind of beauty?”

They quickly ended the topic of Ruschel and moved on to Calix.

While Ruschel might be the most eligible candidate, his supposed relationship with me made the other girls shift their attention to Calix.

“Isn’t His Highness the First Prince close to you, Lady?”

Once again, all their eyes focused on me, as if seeking my permission to discuss Calix.

“We’ve only spoken a few times at the palace. I don’t know him well.”

I didn’t want to say anything that might disappoint them.

In fact, if they could redirect Calix’s attention away from me, that would be even better.

“He only spoke to me because we recognized each other, that’s all.”

“Oh, I see!”

Relieved smiles appeared on their faces.

“Come to think of it, doesn’t the Primrose family have a knight as well?”

“Oh, that’s right. He’s part of the Holy Knights, isn’t he?”

“He’s famous for never attending parties. Will he come to this ball?”

I already knew the answer. He won’t come.

Lake wasn’t even mentioned in the original story!

With all this excitement buzzing wherever I went, I was finally starting to feel the reality of the ball approaching.

The Imperial Ball is the start of the war.

It’s the point in the original story where Olivia and Lilyss meet for the first time—and the beginning of the trials.

Lilyss falls for Nox at first sight at the ball. But soon, she catches him having a secret meeting with Olivia.

She tries to seduce Nox after that, but ends up getting humiliated in front of a crowd.

And then…

Pretending to be friendly, Lilyss pushes Olivia down the stairs.

Thanks to her Estella, Olivia isn’t injured, but the incident causes a huge scandal.

Calix also meets Olivia at the ball and starts liking her.

The ball was the event where character dynamics began to truly tangle.

But that has nothing to do with me anymore.

I had no intention of treating Olivia poorly, so I had no reason to attend.

You never know when an unexpected disaster might strike.

I’m just not going.

So for now, just going from tea party to tea party and soaking up the giddy atmosphere was enough.