◈ 518. [STAGE 25] Dancing With The Devil (2)
2nd floor of the banquet hall.
There is a situation room overlooking the party hall.
Although they were long-distance combatants or non-combatants who were difficult to deploy in the field, the Crossroaders who needed to look at the situation were looking down at the banquet hall from here.
And among them, there was a serenade who was in charge of preparing the party.
“… .”
“… .”
Damian and Junior, who stood on the left and right of the serenade looking down at the banquet hall with a calm smile, looked at them in cold sweat.
Ash is now walking towards the center of the banquet hall. And the enemy white night.
The two naturally held hands and stood in the center of the banquet hall as if they were close dance partners, not peers.
gulp.
Damien and Junior swallowed dry saliva.
Among the people on the front lines here, there is no one who does not know the relationship between Ash and Serenade.
That’s why they were all the more afraid to watch Serenade smile peacefully.
Even if it’s an action during the operation, I can’t help but notice it… … !
“I’m OK.”
Perhaps recognizing their concerns, Serenade smiled thinly and whispered.
“Because His Highness gave me a word beforehand. I’ll be deliberately close to the enemy general at this party, so don’t misunderstand me.”
“aha… !”
“It was talked about beforehand!”
Damian and Junior wiped their hearts out.
How fortunate that it was talked about in advance. If it weren’t for that, the atmosphere here in the situation room would have been difficult to breathe properly… … .
“You are so strange. Did you think I would be jealous of something like this… … Whoop whoop.”
Wooddeuk.
Covering her mouth and laughing, the hand on the other side of the serenade grabbed the table.
The papers above it were crumpled. It seemed as if blue cold air was emanating from around the serenade.
‘No, you’re jealous… … .’
‘You harbored resentment with the momentum to bring down frost in May… … .’
Unable to spit it out, Damian and Junior broke into cold sweats.
At that time, Elise, the escort in maid uniform who was standing behind the serenade, glared fiercely.
“That playboy couldn’t fix his old habits and… ! Shall I change my habit at this point, Master?”
“No, hold on. Elise. Not yet Not yet… … .”
… ‘Not yet?
Some terrifying conversation passed by, but Damian and Junior swept their heads away to erase the memory. Didn’t hear! I didn’t hear you!
“… Right now, I’m just Your Highness’ ex-fiancée.”
Serenade looked at Ash with sad eyes and whispered.
“Because I’m used to waiting for him.”
“… .”
“… .”
Damian and Junior nodded at each other.
No matter how much I think about it, I think Ash is a bad guy!
“I’ll cheer you on, Serenade!”
“Hold tight! which… Please correct Your Highness’s bad habits later!”
“Whoops. Thank you for your support. two minutes.”
Serenade smiled and looked back at the two.
“Anyway, don’t you two want to go to the banquet hall? There’s a little bit left until the start of the operation, and everyone is having a good time dancing. You two can come too.”
Damian scratched the back of his head and refused.
“that… I have no thoughts of that kind.”
Damian is a friend who has been together since childhood and then died two years ago… … Because I couldn’t forget half. The very fact of dancing with someone was burdensome.
“Hahaha, me too… .”
Smiling bitterly, Junior also refused.
There was also a problem with his burnt appearance, but Junior had never had a crush on someone of the opposite sex. I still had no idea.
Just then, a voice came from behind the control room.
“Don’t do that, both of you!”
Looking back, it was Lily.
Lily, who was working to manage the artifacts inside the banquet hall, left the child with a nanny, and approached with a wheelchair.
“I enjoy the party when I can dance. Serious advice?”
Lily, patting her disabled leg with her hand, gestured cheerfully outside.
“Is it really necessary to dance only with lovers? It’s a fun place to play with like-minded friends. Even a friendship dance would be fun.”
“Ha but… .”
“Oh, okay, let’s go quickly! In the meantime, we will protect this place.”
At Lily’s torch, Damian and Junior looked at each other shyly.
Although they didn’t seem to be of the opposite sex at all, they were colleagues who had become close friends over the past two years.
“Then, as Lily-sama said… .”
“Shall we do a friendship dance?”
Damian and Junior left the situation room together in awkward and mismatched suits and dresses. Lily said, “Come home~” and waved her hand.
The waltz played by the orchestra begins in earnest, and one or two people hold hands and dance in the center of the banquet hall.
Serenade stared at Lily, who was staring at her, as if she was a little worried.
“… Are you okay, Lily?”
“huh? sure. It’s okay.”
Lily clenched her chin and smiled.
“Just looking back, I don’t remember dancing with him.”
“… .”
“The fact that I can’t use my legs, that I didn’t have a party, and that I was at war are all excuses. There are so many things you can do if you put your mind to it.”
Lily suddenly imagined.
God Hand… … Imagine dancing hand in hand with Carlyle.
It doesn’t have to be the center stage of such a beautiful banquet hall.
In the corner of the banquet hall where no one can see… … No, not at a banquet hall, but somewhere in the dark crevices of this world.
Holding hands and looking into each other’s eyes with Carlyle, who lives and breathes like a lie… … Imagine dancing.
“… .”
Eventually, Lily smiled bitterly and shook her head. I erased the vain imagination from my head.
The winter that the man decided to come back has already passed, and even this winter that came after that is over.
Now, for her, reality is more than imaginable… … The future his son Sid will live in is more important.
“I hope this operation will be successful.”
After tidying up her face, Lily smiled at the serenade.
“And after saving the world! Serenade often dances with Her Highness whenever she has free time. Got it?”
“… Yes I will.”
Serenade smiled brightly and held out her hand. Lily held her hand silently.
Looking down through the control room window, the party was in full swing.
***
Nameless stood awkwardly in the corner of the banquet hall.
The heroes of the Crossroads who had fought alongside her had welcomed her, but the other members of the World Defense Front were clearly wary of her.
The position of the representative of the Lake Kingdom was really ambiguous.
Because the Lake Kingdom was the main culprit that brought about the crisis of world destruction by spitting out monsters from under that lake.
His name was as conspicuous as his beauty, and his origin and status were even more conspicuous. It’s been a long time since we had a party with so many people.
Avoiding the burdensome gaze, he isolated himself in a corner of the banquet hall, and at the end of his isolation, he was finally able to catch his breath in a place where no one was around.
Moo-myeong, who took a long breath, eventually noticed the abnormality.
“oh.”
The headdress had fallen off, and the hair, which had barely been tidied up, lay tangled on the floor.
It was because my hair was too long. Having raised it for the last five hundred years, it was more than enough to drag it on the ground.
Unable to bear this weight, the headdress fell off.
‘What should I do with this… … .’
It was a time when unknown people were perplexed.
“If it’s not rude, may I tie my hair?”
A voice I had never heard before rang from behind.
Surprised, Moo-myeong turned around to see a man in a waiter’s attire standing there.
He had tangled, shaggy gray hair and was wearing high-prescription glasses. A young man with a poor physique.
It was Ader, the lord’s aide.
“You… .”
Anonymous who recognized the opponent tilted his head.
“Didn’t you tie my hair back the other time when I visited the manor house?”
“It is a natural thing to do as a servant here. If you allow me, I will tie your hair again this time.”
“Please. You seem to be able to trust me.”
Anonymous gave his back to Ader without hesitation.
Coming cautiously behind the veil, Ader carefully collected her disheveled hair and carefully braided it.
Ader, who had finished brushing her hair for the last time and fixed her hair ornament, leaned back.
“It’s done.”
“Thank you again.”
“You are welcome. then.”
Ader, who looked down, stepped back. And then he turned around and tried to leave.
Anonymous shouted involuntarily.
“excuse me!”
“… yes?”
Ader turned around and smiled faintly.
“Is there anything else you want me to do?”
“… .”
Anonymous didn’t know why he called this person.
I couldn’t even figure out the identity of this sharp dull pain in my chest.
After burning her name and soul to save her homeland five hundred years ago, she forgot many things.
That’s why he didn’t know why his voice was shaking now.
I didn’t know, but I spit it out.
“dance.”
“… yes?”
“Would you like to dance with me?”
In the center of the banquet hall, people are already dancing to the music.
Ader, who looked blankly at her once, burst into laughter before long and shook his hands.
“I am lowly… It’s just a lord’s aide. You deserve to dare to dance with the princess… … doesn’t exist.”
“I came here at the invitation of your superior, the lord. And I haven’t danced in five hundred years.”
I felt my cheeks heat up, but I decided to force myself.
“As an aide to the lord, wouldn’t he also have an obligation to assist me with my dancing?”
“… .”
“Please.”
Anonymous reached out his white hand toward Ader.
“Stop embarrassing me anymore and dance with me.”
Ader looked at such an unknown from afar.
And before long, his trembling lips slowly drew an expression.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It was a grim expression.
“… It is the honor of a lifetime, Princess.”
Approaching, Ader held the unnamed island corn carefully as if worried that it might get scratched.
And slowly lowered his back.
“May I dare escort you?”
“Gladly.”
Ader took Nameless’s hand and slowly led them to the center of the banquet hall.
The first song just finished. The two naturally intervened in the wave of people who had stopped dancing.
The two of them stood facing each other and stared into each other’s eyes – the turquoise eyes that seemed to contain lakes, and the gray eyes that looked like they were worn out by time.
And the next song started.
Close to each other, the two slowly began to step to the music.
It was a very old, old dance that was completely different from today.
***
A waltz sounds in the banquet hall and
people dance while holding onto each other.
“You asked me if I could dance, so why are you such a mess!”
“Ah?! After all, I was the party queen at the academy prom?!”
“Are you the party queen? That’s ridiculous! The reason why I made you the party queen was because you graduated early, so the seniors must have been considerate of you!”
“Why is such a man so stiff?! Am I dancing with a human or sparring with a wooden doll?”
Close to each other, Lucas and Evangeline squealed and fought,
“Stop clinging! Isn’t a waltz a dance like this?!”
“Nope? won’t you let go? Let’s stick together and dance together all night… … !”
“Hey!”
Quylan and Yun are sticky and emit hot heat,
“Wowaaaaang!”
“I’ve never danced like that. Ohhhh!”
Damien and Junior, who had never learned ballroom dancing, gave up before long and began spinning in place with arms crossed.
Dusk Bringer takes turns dancing with his knights, saying, ‘It reminds me of the old days!’
Kelly Bey and Berdandi dance the traditional dances of their respective tribes, ignoring the waltz, while holding hands with red faces as if they were drunk… … .
Other than that, many of my colleagues danced round and round in the banquet hall looking at me happily or still nervously.
“It looks good,”
muttered Midnight, who was dancing slowly with me in the center of all of them.
《The world might be destroyed within a year, but seeing everyone happily hugging each other and dancing like this.》 “
So they must be dancing more desperately.”
I replied while skillfully leading the dance.
“Hold each other because the world is about to end… It is to check the warmth and to check the life.”
《I envy you.》
The white night pursed his blue lips.
《An undead like me has neither warmth nor life.》
“I can give it to you.”
《What?》
“I’ll give you warmth and life, White Night. That’s why.”
I whispered softly in her ear as I faced the midnight sun with a serious face.
“Will you ‘really’ be my ally?”
《… .]
A blank smile caught on the pale face of the white night staring at my face like that.
“Ha, I really didn’t know this, but I’m weak in the world of beauty… ?》
