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Chapter 33
I did not avoid the young ladies approaching me and instead looked straight at them.
Their smiling faces carried such obvious malice that it was almost fascinating.
“Hello, Lady Wentworth.
I didn’t expect to meet you at the Royce family’s party.”
Let’s see, judging by the stored data in Amelia’s memories, the one who spoke first must be the Count of Follier’s daughter.
Beside her stood the daughter of Viscount Tilen, and behind them… who was that again?
Anyway, someone.
I put a pleasant smile on my lips and answered them.
“Yes, it’s a pleasure.
It feels like it’s been a long time.”
“It has been a while.
The last time must have been after you pushed Baron Brown’s daughter into the pond.”
“Baron Brown’s daughter?
Who is that?”
At my question, their gazes suddenly turned sharp.
The young lady at the back, the one whose name I couldn’t recall, glared at me with eyes brimming with tears.
Why was she looking at me like that?
The answer came quickly.
“How cruel you are, Lady Wentworth!
To ask who I am while I stand right before you!
Are you mocking me because my family is of lowly baron rank?”
Ah, so that was the Brown baron’s daughter.
Why did I have no memory of her?
Perhaps Amelia never found her worth remembering.
Unintentionally, I had offended her.
It did seem like enough to upset someone, so I quickly offered an apology.
“Ah, I’m sorry, that was not my intention.
I didn’t mean to insult you.
Please accept my apology.”
I reached for a wine glass from the table as I spoke.
I hadn’t thought much of it, but the three young ladies instantly retreated from me at lightning speed.
“Why… why are you lifting a glass while apologising?”
“You mean to splash us again!”
“Lady Wentworth, put that down at once!
We didn’t come here to fight!”
“Ah…?”
So, thanks to Amelia’s past, even this wine glass looked like a weapon in their eyes.
I set the glass down and showed them my empty hands.
“There, see?”
Only then did they inch closer again.
Why they would bother coming closer after acting so fearful was beyond me.
Perhaps they were embarrassed, for Lady Follier half-hid her face with a fluttering fan.
“Ahem, ahem.
I heard you arrived with His Highness the Crown Prince… but where is he now?”
So that was their aim after all.
“Well, I’m not sure.
He left in a hurry earlier, and I haven’t seen him since.”
Their disappointment was plain.
They looked at me with mock pity.
“Oh dear, how urgent his business must have been to leave his partner alone.
But then, Lady Wentworth, you must be quite used to that.
It has always been this way.”
“That’s why we came to you, my lady, since you seemed rather lonely.”
“I’m quite fine, really…”
I was about to decline politely, as it seemed a nuisance, but Lady Follier gestured subtly.
At her signal, other young ladies began to gather around us.
“Lady Wentworth, since this is your first time at the Duke of Royce’s estate, you may not know, but there is a traditional game we always play at these parties.”
“A game?
What kind of game?”
“A maze hunt.”
Just then, a loud sound rang out, and fireworks exploded across the sky.
Boom, boom, boom!
Naturally, everyone’s eyes turned upward.
Amid the glittering bursts, a figure descended, robe fluttering.
An elderly mage landed gracefully on the platform and bowed deeply to the gathered nobles.
“Thank you for inviting me.
My name is Roben.”
So the fireworks had been his doing.
Occasionally, great houses invited mages to perform at parties, both for entertainment and as a display of wealth, power, and connections.
It was the sort of spectacle only hosts like the Royce family could afford.
From the platform, Roben began his performance.
Flames poured from his hands, transforming into light, drifting as steam, then reappearing as ice.
It looked simple, yet changing the nature of matter in such succession revealed a highly skilled mage.
At the same time, I realised why mages sought to elevate their standing—because even one this capable still had to come when a duke summoned him.
Keeping my eyes on Roben’s display, I spoke to Lady Follier.
“A maze hunt, you said?”
She was so entranced by the magic that she jumped at my voice.
“Y-yes, that’s right.
It’s a game played among the ladies only, without the gentlemen.”
“How is it done?”
Her eyes lit with excitement as she explained.
“It’s simple.
We walk through the Royce family’s maze garden, note the statues and the flowers placed beneath them, then come out and report what we saw.”
“I see.”
“The one who escapes the fastest and answers the most correctly wins.”
“And you play this at night?
Sounds more like a daytime activity.
Isn’t it frightening?”
“That…”
Lady Follier faltered, but Lady Tilen quickly cut in.
“That’s what makes it fun, of course.
It may be a little scary, but it’s perfectly safe.
We are inside the Duke of Royce’s estate, after all.
Nothing could happen here.”
“Of course, if you don’t wish to join, Lady Wentworth, no one will force you.
Unless, of course, you prefer to stand here as a solitary flower among all the gentlemen.”
“If you win, the Royce family grants you one wish.
Something small, of course.”
They clearly had no idea how transparent their scheme was.
Otherwise, why would they insist so eagerly, all while pretending it was casual?
I glanced around at the other young ladies, still absorbed in the mage’s show.
If they all took part, then not everyone could be in on it.
Some would join just for fun, or simply because everyone else was.
And even if traps were laid in the maze, it didn’t mean only I would fall victim.
Perhaps someone will be hiding in costume, pretending to be a ghost?
It was such an obvious setup that I didn’t feel the need to play along.
But truthfully, the Royce family’s maze garden was worth seeing.
Something very important was hidden there.
Since I didn’t know when I might get another chance, this game could serve as the perfect excuse to enter.
“Very well.
I’ll play.
It sounds entertaining.”
At once, the young ladies exchanged glances, far too clumsily to hide it.
For a moment, I even felt curious about what they had prepared.
At worst, their scheme would aim to humiliate, not harm.
That much wouldn’t trouble me.
It might interfere a little with raising Amelia’s reputation, but it wouldn’t cause me any real damage.
I was not someone who cared overmuch for appearances anyway.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes my performance.
Thank you, and may you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Roben bowed once more and withdrew.
The nobles applauded, then quickly returned to sipping wine and conversing as though nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, the young ladies began slipping away, gathering in one place.
With the guidance of butlers and servants, only the women made their way to the entrance of the maze garden.
Someone asked whether those who had played before held an advantage.
The answer was no—the paths were changed frequently by the gardeners.
A sign of their tireless work.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
No need to tell Vincent, is there?
He would learn of it soon enough if he cared.
At the front, the butler handed small slips of paper to the young ladies.
“Please pass these along to those behind you.”
The papers were passed back until one reached me.
“Here you are, Lady Wentworth.”
Lady Tilen handed me a sheet.
I l
ooked down at the crude little map.
It showed the entrance and exit, marked with simple directions.
But there was no sign of the statues’ locations.
Once every lady held a map, the game began.
One by one, with a slight delay between each, we entered the maze garden.
