Moonlight Ball

Iris knew Rosemary was a crazy woman, and that it was best for her lips to remain pursed. But she wanted to know how bad the maid’s eyesight was and if there were any ways she could fix it. Iris opened her eyes widely, forgetting what the maid had said, “Sorry, what did you say earlier?”

“The Duchess of Sethang has just arrived.”

Iris wondered who that was. It was Duke Genes who’d received the treason letter yesterday so who was the Duchess of Sethang? Rosemary’s blue eyes started blinking rapidly and the maid, who was starting to feel uncomfortable, asked her carefully, “Are you okay, Your Highness?”

“Yes. I’m just feeling a little bit ill all of a sudden.”

The people from the court were all wizards. Although she was able to get through the unexpected situations today, Iris had put a spell on Rosemary’s body. If the magic could be hidden, it might do the trick, but meeting people from the court today wasn’t a good idea. Making magic hidden wasn’t a technique that Iris had thought about until now. I need to ask my teacher about this tonight. There were three things she needed to ask him: why did she have to get her neck licked and spread her legs to make an heir with the King; the rebellion with Duke Genes; and, ways to hide magic.

She needed to think about these three things first and she shook her head saying to the maid, “I just want to rest for today. I’d like to stay in my room and not meet anyone.”

“The Duchess of Sethang is your official representative. You should meet with her and tell her your schedule. If you’re continuously not feeling well, what are you going to do about the spring ball that’s scheduled three days from now?”

A ball? Teacher, there’s a ball!

 That would be the fourth thing she must ask him about… Iris wanted to faint. When she was young, she would sometimes try to scream out loud and she would make herself faint. Her teacher had a hard time trying to fix that habit of hers. Now, she recalled what it felt like and that’s what she wanted to do. She felt like screaming out loud and losing her mind!

One of the maids opened the door and announced, “The Duchess of Sethang is now entering, Your Highness.”

Why here? This isn’t an appropriate meeting place. This is a bedroom, so why is she coming in here? Iris kept her composure and nodded, but she was tempted to protest; she wanted to cry. Elena In Sethang was the Queen’s official representative and it was thought that the two would be on good terms, but that was not the case.

Duke Sethang kept his eye on the north and shared an inseparable brotherhood with the King. The age difference between the two was quite substantial, but they cared dearly for each other. Duke Sethang vowed to protect only two people in his life; the first one wasn’t the King, but rather his wife, and the second one was the King. The King had a genuine friendship with Sethang, to the point where he’d even laugh and tease him about his henpecked wife.

Elena and Clarence Sethang had been politically engaged since birth, but the two had a good relationship. Elena always wished to marry him and had supported him throughout their marriage. Even if he was a traitor and a lunatic, she probably would’ve still supported him. She was a very smart and fine woman but was also blinded when it came to love. As happy couples do, the two longed for each other, supported each other, and were crazy for each other. That’s why Elena had become the apprentice to Queen Rosemary, who was the opposite of her. For Elena, Rosemary was a vulgar, dirty, contemptuous woman, but even then, Elena still hid Rosemary’s issues to prevent harming the King and her husband. She wondered if the Queen had killed Iris Elaine.

Elena had been so mad that she hadn’t even eaten breakfast in the morning. She’d left the morgue in the capital earlier that day as her husband, Clarence, had said that it wasn’t a place for a beautiful and noble woman like her to be at. Unlike her usual self, Elena had yelled at her beloved husband, ‘Are you out of your mind right now? That crazy Queen killed Iris Elaine! Do you think Elaine would just sit there and do nothing?! I need to see what situation we are in, right now, with my own two eyes, so please don’t say another word!’ After screaming at her husband for the first time in a long time, she’d run to the morgue at 7 a.m., after knocking on the door and then forcing it open. Before her she’d seen Elaine’s body; it was a heart-breaking sight. Thanks to Anti-Corrosion Magic, which a very fond teacher of hers had put up, she wasn’t decomposing, but her whole body was swollen; she was dead. At that moment she thought about what Elaine would think when he saw this and her heart ached for him.

“Elena In Sethang wishes to see you, Your Highness.”

Iris, unaware of Elena’s boiling heart, glanced at Elena In Sethang with fearful eyes, as she would to a stranger. She was a middle-aged woman, but she was very beautiful. And above all, she seemed very intelligent and she could feel her magic. The mana in her body was quite pure and strong and was being well controlled. Therefore, she must be a person who’d studied magic a little bit. Iris felt a little bit of a good impression from this. “Welcome,” she said.