CHAPTER 34: COMMOTION AT THE BANQUET

"What...? What the hell is she talking about?"

I couldn’t believe that this shameless woman could actually lie to my face so brazenly. How could she say she hadn’t laid a finger on Ruby? After all, until recently, I had been absolutely certain that Ruby had been abused at the duke’s estate.

But...

"I repeat. I haven’t laid a finger on that girl."

The moment Magritte clearly uttered this phrase in front of me, I involuntarily clenched my jaw.

Anger at my older sister and the confusion that involuntarily arose in my soul did not give me peace. But before I could open my mouth again and say a few kind words to my sister, suddenly...

Bang!

In the midst of our argument with Magritte, something unexpected happened.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise coming from the ballroom we had left. This was followed by people shouting, which meant that something bad was happening there.

While Magritte Weinstein next to me was visibly frightened and looked tense, I immediately understood what was going on and just sighed quietly.

"Well, Serpens must have started his plan after all..."

Since I already knew that the man was going to carry out his evil plan at this banquet, I wasn’t particularly surprised by what was happening. But at the same time...

"Oh! What about Ruby?"

For a moment, I completely forgot that my niece was still waiting for me to return to the banquet hall. And, of course, now she was also completely alone in the midst of all this commotion.

Of course, she must have been very frightened.

Based on this, I was going to return without hesitation.

Magritte, noticing that I had turned around and was about to leave her, grabbed my arm sharply.

"What are you doing?" she frowned.

"Can’t you see? I’m going back."

The duchess gave me a tense look, in which, despite her usually reserved nature, a very clear excitement was beginning to show.

"Go back there?" The woman smiled nervously. "Didn’t you hear what just happened? There’s clearly some kind of chaos going on there. What if the enemies of the empire have decided to stage an ambush right at the banquet?"

I frowned.

"So what?"

Surprised by my indifferent reaction, Magritte froze for a moment.

"Ah, you really are such an idiot," she exhaled angrily. "If you really don’t care about your own life, then please go wherever you want."

"......"

After a pause, I slowly said:

"Ruby is still there. Shouldn’t I go back for her?"

After I said that, Magritte Weinstein stared at me with a stupid expression on her face. The emotion was similar to confusion. Meanwhile, I just smiled coldly as I pulled my hand back again and moved on without hesitation.

It really did seem ironic.

In a moment of danger, the duchess didn’t even think for a second about her daughter, who was still alone in the banquet hall. And so, when someone like me suddenly pointed this out, the woman was indeed somewhat embarrassed.

After all, it was only a distant relative who cared more about Ruby’s well-being than her own mother. Even from the outside, it seemed absurd.

But in any case, I had to hurry and get back as soon as possible.

On the way to the banquet hall, I saw some people who had managed to escape running past me in a hurry. This involuntarily made me frown even more. Ultimately, I hoped that Serpens hadn’t done anything completely out of the ordinary.

When I entered the hall without any particular obstacles, I saw that the entire room was surrounded by people in dark robes. Of course, it wasn’t hard for me to guess where they came from. The minions of the Order of Shadows had trapped all the remaining banquet guests in a trap from which they could not escape. Moreover, my attention was immediately drawn to...

Duke Dickens and Roger had also been ambushed along with the others, and since they had no weapons with them, they were also unable to offer any resistance to the attackers. When our eyes accidentally met in the commotion, Roger’s face showed obvious confusion.

"Lady Weinstein, can you explain what is going on here?..."

Oh, right, I hadn’t warned them at all about what was going to happen at this banquet.

But, on the other hand, this was a matter between Serpens and me, which had nothing to do with outsiders.

Based on this, I just shook my head slightly in response to the guy’s silent question, deciding to get away with such an ambiguous answer.

At that very moment...

"Auntie!"

I heard a thin voice that made my heart skip a beat.

"Ah, Ruby! Are you okay?"

As soon as the girl saw me, she immediately ran up and clung to my skirt. I stroked her back, feeling somewhat guilty for having left the girl alone in such a situation for a while.

"Ruby, were you so scared?" I said with concern.

"No, I..." She sniffed. "I’m just so glad you came back..."

"Of course I came back. How could I leave without you?"

Tears welled up in the main villain’s eyes, as if for a moment she had really been afraid that I might leave her here and run away. And now that she realized that wasn’t the case, she felt relieved.

"It’s okay. Now your aunt is here, and nothing will happen to you."

As I continued to reassure Rubiella and held her close, I looked around gloomily.

In any case, the atmosphere in the banquet hall was still extremely tense.

And even more so when I heard a familiar voice amid all the commotion.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor, it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?"

The minions of the Order of the Shadow stepped aside, letting their leader pass. He was a man with silver hair, whose face was hidden behind a strange mask resembling a spider’s face. It was this man who had disrupted the order in the imperial palace and caused justified fear on the part of everyone present.

Well, except for me, of course. After all, I already knew who it was.

Serpens Strange walked slowly toward the emperor’s throne, where he sat clutching the armrests. The knights who were supposed to guard the emperor had already been defeated by the warriors of the evil organization, leaving the ruler of the empire completely defenseless at that moment.

The ruler of the empire, Eidelman, and the father of the main character. Serpens smiled contemptuously at him.

"You... You..."

"You still haven’t forgotten about the spider that has woven its web around your empire, have you?"