IBTBD 01

Chapter  01

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Beneath a dazzling chandelier, sweet melodies flowed through the grand ballroom.

“Who is that young lady?”

The gazes of the gathered nobles, like iron to a magnet, were drawn to a single spot.

It was because her face had never before been seen in the social circles.

Hair like liquid silver gathered from moonlight, and eyes tinged with a clear cherry hue.

Her appearance, reminiscent of a goddess of the moon from myth, held a magnetic allure that drew eyes without end.

“I’ve never seen her in the capital…”

“Could she be royalty from the Western Continent? Just look at her dress, her accessories—things rare and near impossible to obtain in the Empire, no matter the price.”

Those whispering endlessly were the young noble ladies who wielded their family names as weapons, reigning at the center of high society.

They peeked and stole glances at the unfamiliar lady.

Since some ducal houses had deep ties with the Western Continent, the idea wasn’t completely absurd.

“But doesn’t that silver hair… look familiar?”

It was the count’s second daughter who cast a stone into the calm waters.

“Now that you mention it, she looks like that marquess’s half-wit.”

“Oh, Lady Lawrence! That ‘half-wit’ had brittle, broomstick-like, disheveled white hair. How could she ever compare to such radiant silver locks? Besides, she would never dare to attend a ball like this.”

“That’s true. I was being too wicked.”

A tinkling chorus of laughter rang loud, but no one paid it much mind.

After all, if she were a princess of the Western Continent, she wouldn’t understand Imperial tongue.

Muriel Aymond—better known as the marquess’s ‘half-wit’ than by her name—wouldn’t dare step foot into such a ball.

Mocking gazes fell upon the silver-haired lady who stood alone.

Though the stares were sharp and biting, the subject of all the chatter didn’t so much as blink.

“…She really must not know the Imperial tongue.”

“So it seems. But Lady Lawrence, your brooch—what a unique design.”

“You have such keen eyes! My father had it specially commissioned for me.”

Maria straightened her back with subtle pride.

“A spotted-lizard brooch… Th-that’s certainly unusual.”

“What do you mean? My brooch is shaped like a lily-of-the-valley inlaid with diamonds.”

“Then this one is…”

The ladies’ eyes shifted naturally to Maria’s brooch.

Its leopard-like spots were strikingly lifelike.

As though it might spring to life at any moment.

It didn’t take long for the truth to reveal itself.

Twitch.

The lizard, which had until then played the part of an ornament, suddenly stretched out its legs and leapt—

Landing squarely on the face of the young lady standing opposite.

Smack!

With cold, clammy feet pressed against her cheek, the young lady shrieked.

“Kyahhh! Someone, get it off me!”

“Stay still! Don’t come near me! Aaahhh!”

From one pale-faced girl to another, the lizard bounded across faces and shoulders.

Like a fish in water, it hopped gleefully, tugging at hair and nipping at cheeks.

“Move out of the way!”

“Don’t push me—ahhh!”

As they scrambled to escape, the young ladies collided and tumbled, their gowns ruined and hair disheveled beyond recognition.

“Tsk tsk, such disgraceful behavior from young ladies these days.”

“Indeed. To act so shamelessly on such an important occasion. Which families do they belong to?”

The noblewomen watching from afar wrinkled their noses in disapproval.

For this was no ordinary gathering.

This ball, held once every ten years—perhaps the first and last of its kind—

Was being hosted at none other than Black Dragon Castle.

And here, these girls behaved like clowns.

“Whichever house they hail from, they’re a disgrace to nobility.”

As they shook their heads in dismay—

“But wait… madam, isn’t that your second daughter?”

“Oh dear heavens, why is she there?!”

“And that one’s mine…!”

Fans fluttered to the floor, skirts whipped about as noblewomen rushed forward in panic.

The chaos only grew louder.

“Someone fetch the knights, quickly!”

Not that it changed the situation much.

Amid the utter bedlam—

“Pfft.”

A small laugh slipped out.

It was from the silver-haired lady who had been quietly watching the spectacle without a flicker of expression.

Her gaze fell on—

[Boss, I told you I’ll punish anyone who bullies you.]

A little lizard, weaving through the crowd.

Clutching strands of stolen hair in its mouth like trophies, its tiny fists trembled with fury.

“Sevi, I told you I’m fine.”

[Hmph! But I’m not fine!]

She stroked its back gently, as though holding a conversation.

The nobles’ faces grew all the more bewildered.

Of course—

“No matter how many beastfolk treat animals as family…”

To them, the lizard’s voice was inaudible.

Just then—

“…Muriel Aymond?”

Maria, finally free of her tormentor, stared in disbelief.

Those cherry-red eyes crinkling when she smiled, that delicate voice like soft bells.

It could only be Muriel Aymond.

“Wh-why are you here?!”

The murmurs swelled into waves across the hall.

Because Muriel Aymond had died three years ago.

The tale had shaken the entire Empire: the Marquis of Aymond had committed treason, his household annihilated. The fugitive Aymond daughter had been hunted down and killed in the end.

And yet here she stood.

Not as the disheveled “half-wit” of rumor, but utterly transformed.

“How is this possible…?!”

Maria could hardly speak as she glared at Muriel.

Her eyes then caught on the infuriating lizard perched on Muriel’s shoulder—

The very creature that had ruined her grand debut!

Suddenly, it all clicked.

“This was all your doing, wasn’t it, Muriel?!”

Maria had no doubt.

She stormed forward, intent on striking the impudent girl—

When a gasp froze the hall.

Descending the spiral staircase was a man.

“My word…”

A collective murmur of awe spread, regardless of age or gender.

Hair black as obsidian, eyes like captured sunlight.

The master of Black Dragon Castle himself—head of House Kreuz.

Kenig Kreuz.

“Y-your Grace…”

Maria hastily withdrew her outstretched hand, scrambling to straighten her appearance before curtsying.

But she did not capture even a flicker of his attention.

His steady steps carried him past her, halting elsewhere.

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Myu.”

Before Muriel Aymond.

‘Myu?’

A name only spoken by the closest of intimates.

Every gaze in the hall fixed on the striking pair.

“Why aren’t you on the dais? Did you meet someone you know?”

Draping his arm naturally around Muriel’s shoulders, the duke asked.

“No, Sevi went missing, so I came looking.”

“Tsk, this glutton ran off again.”

That explained why Muriel had descended from the dais.

“It’s not like someone like me has acquaintances here anyway.”

She glanced toward the group of nobles, muttering softly.

The hall gasped.

For the dais was reserved for the host family—or their future family.

Meaning—

“Muriel Aymond might become Duchess Kreuz?!”

And that was not the last of the shocks.

“What nonsense! You’re no loner when you have this old grandfather!”

The former duke, said to have stopped counting birthdays after eight hundred, declared.

“Cherry, cherry, tell me—did any of these pests bully you? Just whisper their names to me.”

The Empire’s most feared duchess, ruthless beyond compare.

And—

“Insulting Lady Muriel is the same as insulting Black Dragon Castle itself!”

“Just give the order, milord!”

The knights of the fortress, ready to draw their swords on her behalf.

All stood united around Muriel.

The shrewder nobles began calculating frantically.

‘A traitor of the Empire lives on—’

And not only that, she was shielded by the mad House of Black Dragon.

Muriel only shut her eyes tightly.

‘I swear, I never intended to make my return so loud and grandiose.’

How had it come to this?

To explain, the story must go back four years.