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Chapter 55
When the orchestra stopped playing, a suffocating silence fell over the banquet hall.
Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the entrance, shocked at the sight before them.
Some opened their mouths in disbelief, while others pinched their noses, probably because of the scent of blood.
“Who dares! To step in here uninvited, do you know where you are?!”
The knights who were about to rush forward froze, as if on cue.
It seemed they had recognized the man standing with his back to the sunlight.
“What are you doing! Stop him at once!”
Even at the marquess’s urging, the knights hesitated, unable to take a single step.
They seemed incapable of daring to intervene.
“…….”
Finally, the man walked with measured steps along the red carpet.
He acted as if the commotion around him did not exist.
Under the glittering chandelier lights, his face appeared at the boundary between the boy and the man in front of him.
Even with blood stains on his cheeks, he looked unnervingly beautiful.
“Duke…?”
Kashian’s red eyes pierced through the crowd directly to Damia.
The usual boredom in his eyes vanished in an instant.
“Duke of Sarkis! What on earth is this outrageous behavior?!”
The Soro marquess shouted upon realizing the identity of the uninvited guest.
Kashian, far from intimidated, slowly turned his gaze toward the marquess.
“The prince himself is present! Put away that sword immediately!”
One of Prince Vasili’s bodyguards shouted loudly.
Only then did Damia realize how completely out of place Kashian was in this banquet.
He looked as though he had just returned from a battle, wearing dusty armor instead of ceremonial clothes.
His dark cloak was stained with blood.
His normally flawless black hair was disheveled, falling over his forehead.
The only sound filling the tense hall was Kashian’s low, rough breathing.
Behind him, the Sarkis knights lined up like shadows, radiating an intense aura.
If not for his unrealistically handsome face, he could easily have been called an intruder ruining the banquet.
“No matter that he is the Duke of Sarkis, barging into a banquet like this is far too rude!”
The nobles glanced at Prince Vasili, complaining, but Kashian merely raised an eyebrow.
He was the sole heir of the noble and prestigious Sarkis family. Such cold treatment must have been new to him.
Yet Kashian remained unshaken. He seemed to consider the entire commotion trivial.
No amount of glares could harm him.
‘I’ve never seen him like this before.’
Perhaps because of memories from her past life, Damia unconsciously felt a younger side to Kashian.
She knew that he was the descendant of the man who slaughtered the Great Dragon and had served as a knight in battles since he was a child, yet seeing his true face now left a different impression.
“What on earth is this, Duke?”
Prince Vasili stepped forward. Despite the sharp accusation, Kashian remained silent.
His cold eyes scanned the faces of everyone in the hall.
The nobles who met his gaze shrank as if guilty.
“If I was rude, I apologize,” Kashian finally said, his voice far too dry for an apology.
“However, today I stand here as the shield of the empire. I hope you understand.”
“Haha, the shield of the empire? You’ve hardly ever spoken of that honor, yet now you mention it,”
Vasili stepped forward, brushing his guards aside, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
“Looks like the empire must be facing some grave danger.”
At Kashian’s signal, the knights brought forward a large sack, stained with dark dried liquid.
It radiated a dangerous, ominous aura.
Kashian snatched it and strode down the red carpet.
“S-Stop!”
As he approached the center of the banquet, near Prince Vasili and Drury, objections erupted from all sides.
Yet no one dared to stop Kashian.
The sack seemed to contain something larger than a grown man, but Kashian swung it as lightly as a feather.
Thud!
The sack landed at Vasili’s feet with a heavy sound.
The loosely tied opening burst open.
Through the gap, something’s leg slipped out.
‘A leg?’
At first glance, it looked like a beast’s paw, but it was covered in tightly packed scales rather than fur.
Sharp curved claws still dripped fresh dark-red blood onto the marble floor.
‘What is that?’
Damia’s eyes widened, and stifled screams echoed across the hall.
“By the emperor’s order, I have captured a monster.”
Kashian nodded toward Vasili, showing a formal gesture of respect, but Damia could see the defiance in his eyes.
“W-What madness is this?!”
One of Vasili’s attendants shouted, pale-faced.
“How dare you bring a monster into my banquet hall!”
The Soro marquess also bellowed in outrage.
“Haha.”
Even amidst the shock, Vasili smiled faintly, though the stiffness on one side of his cheek betrayed his unease.
“Judging by this dramatic entrance… this isn’t something a few monsters killed could resolve.”
“Yes. The situation is quite severe. Hearing that the prince was in the west, I had no choice but to rush here.”
“What… what exactly happened?”
Kashian bent to grab the sack and begin opening it.
“Ugh…!”
As the sack was fully opened, a foul stench filled the hall.
The ladies covered their noses with handkerchiefs, and even the gentlemen frowned and stepped back.
Kashian remained calm amidst the chaos.
He looked directly at Vasili, about to pull the monster from the sack.
“Enough, Duke of Sarkis.”
“…….”
“Even so, today is my fiancée’s coming-of-age ceremony. She’ll hear about this when we’re alone, so why don’t you enjoy the banquet as well?”
At the word “fiancée,” Kashian frowned.
When he glanced at her, Drury’s lips trembled, as if she wanted to protest.
“Your face, all bloody… I cannot leave a noble guest like this. Drury, could you lend him your handkerchief?”
Drury, as if waiting for this, pulled a handkerchief from her dress.
“Thank you, but I must decline.”
“Accept it. It is not polite to refuse a lady’s courtesy.”
Drury stepped forward, seemingly entranced, and handed it to Kashian.
“…….”
He reluctantly accepted it. The coldness in his eyes made Drury flinch.
“Thank you, Your Highness. One should not refuse a lady’s courtesy.”
Kashian roughly wiped the dried blood from his cheek with the handkerchief.
Drury could not take her eyes off him. Her bright blue eyes trembled with strong emotion.
She gripped the edge of her dress, her knuckles turning white, trying to suppress her desire.
“Drury.”
At the prince’s call, Drury stepped back reluctantly.
At that moment, Kashian pressed his nose to Drury’s handkerchief and took a deep breath.
“……!”
Damia’s eyes widened at the sight.
Kashian stared at Drury as she returned to Vasili, his expression twisted as if in jealousy.
It was such a brief moment that only someone like Damia, who had been watching him closely, could notice.
Yet even that short instant made her throat tighten for some inexplicable reason.
