Read Novel Full Chapter 646: May I have this Dance?
Chapter 646: May I have this Dance?
“Are you insane!?” Damien shouted in a hushed tone.
Right before his announcement for the dance, he was gestured over to an isolated location—away from prying eyes and ears.
With his right hand running through his silver-grey hair, he looked towards the cultist priest from last night. His face wrinkled with hesitance as he clutched a syringe passed over to him with his other hand.
“You want me to inject someone with this? In public? How on Earth do you expect me to do that?” Damien inquired, “These people already have a high opinion about me. If I just brazenly assault someone, my reputation would be tarnished!”
The Cultist stood with his hands behind his back, his posture casual and relaxed.
“Sir Damien, you worry too much about your reputation. The moment your family joined us was the moment anything personal to you would be severed for the greater good.” The Cultist spoke, his voice oozing with calmness, “In addition to that, after today, no one would know about it.”
Damien’s eyes narrowed as he watched the Cultist Priest circle him.
“Look, Sir Damien, all I ask is that you would begin the chaos that would inevitably come to pass and kill as many people as you can, that’s all. And anyway, if something really did go wrong, I’m certain you would have no problem circumventing it.” The Cultist said with a knowing tone.
Damien snarled, “If my Mana Core isn’t destroyed, then yeah. But the bother of needing to go through another loop is far too strenuous for a plan I’m not even completely filled in on.”
“All will be revealed in due time, Sir Damien.” The Cultist responded before catching a look of hesitance in the man’s eyes, “However, if you’re so obsessed with keeping your image, I’ll do you a favour. I’ll pull off a distraction during the dance, around the five-minute mark, which should give you ample time to steel your resolve. I will also make sure to keep a close eye on anything hostile—”
“Tch! I don’t need your protection!”
With a turn of his heel, Damien walked off to return to the ballroom.
‘Who does that commoner think he is?!’ Damien scowled, ‘Just because he has the backing of the Cult of Jesters, he thinks he can boss me around!?’
Damien clenched the syringe before letting out a loud exhale.
Since last night, Damien’s mood had been irritably low. Due to the whole Outbreak yesterday, he was forced into a position of power for the remaining forces at the estate. Because of this, he was stripped of his sleep.
In most scenarios, this would’ve been fine for someone of his Tier. However, due to the serious damage his soul took last night, he was still left spiritually injured and fatigued.
After tucking the syringe into his inner blazer pocket, he returned to the ballroom.
‘I didn’t sign up for any of this. The host for the Legacy Table, the joint operation with those dirty commoner cult members… These bastards barely filled me in on anything!’
Cause chaos? Kill as many other nobles as you could? What then? What happens after that?!
Damien could repeat his actions as many times as he wanted without the consequences, but there was a limit to his ability. If his soul sustained more damage than enough, he would be left on the verge of destruction!
Or perhaps.
“I would like you all to find a partner for the End of Event Waltz that’s going to begin in 5 minutes!”
Death.
“Oh! And if you can’t find anyone you like, you may choose your servants, but try to avoid that. We are here to make connections, after all!”
While stepping down from the top of the stairs, Damien scanned around the ballroom looking for a suitable partner to dance with.
‘Too overweight, too skinny, ugh… Too ugly…’
Damien had two things he hated most: the first, people beneath him in social status, like commoners; the second, lack of beauty.
Unfortunately for some, he hated the latter option more than his hate for commoners.
As he and everyone else were looking for a partner, a woman with long black hair and red eyes began to have conflicting thoughts about her dire situation.
‘A dance partner…’ Marionette murmured in her mind, watching a rare few choose their servants to dance with.
She sighed.
‘What a waste of an opportunity…’
Marionette didn’t regret her decision not to bring Lillian along, since the girl had been visibly unwell yesterday. Despite hoping Lillian would obey her wish to stay back, there was a part of her that wanted the girl to come here regardless.
With another sigh, Marionette turned towards Millis. She would just have to make do with who she has.
“Hm?”
When she finished turning her head, she realised that the woman beside her was no longer there. Marionette raised an eyebrow at this and turned back to everyone, her eyes narrowing through the crowd and finding Millis holding hands with her mistress.
Seeing as the two smiled at one another, Marionette couldn’t help but feel a tinge of loneliness. Her regret for not bringing Lillian along was growing evermore.
‘Looks like I’ll have to find someone else, then.’
Pushing herself off the pillar, she moved to find herself a suitable dance partner.
Unfortunately.
“S-sorry, I already have a partner.”
No matter which direction she moved, people distanced themselves from her.
They avoided her like she was a bad omen in their mind.
Even nobles, who were struggling to find a suitable partner, gave up their search and chose the nearest available person.
In their eyes, she was volatile and dangerous—prone to lashing out at the slightest provocation. Those who weren’t confident in their dance skills distanced themselves from her the most, while those who were confident avoided her just to be safe.
The leak about her destroying a part of the Darkhound property had led to this.
Marionette was shocked by her lack of results. She had already deduced their thoughts about her and their negative impression of her, but she didn’t think it was this bad.
Dangerous? Unapproachable? She never tried to hide these traits in the past because everywhere she went, she was welcomed. It was mainly because of her—
‘Reputation…’
Marionette gently placed her fingertips on her masquerade mask. ‘Not many people have seen me in person to deduce who I am under this mask. So, all their knowledge about me are from the rumours…’
For a long time, Marionette hadn’t had to deal with a situation like this, specifically after meeting Lillian.
‘Now that I think about it… Why has she gone along with me so easily?’
From the first time they met, the Assassin knew the Rabbit was aware of her identity and how dangerous she could be, as shown in the Entrance Exam. And yet, the girl had no issue sticking around her.
It was like the Rabbit wasn’t scared of the Assassin at all.
Or perhaps…
‘She was scared all this time…’
Remembering back, the only time she had ever seen fear in Lillian’s eyes was when she had her by the neck in their Trial together—when she had momentarily mistaken Lillian for a cult member.
Inside a Trial, no one but those participating would know what happens within.
If on that day, Marionette had truly mistaken Lillian for a cult member, no one but her would’ve been a witness to a murder.
And even if the school managed to discover what caused Lillian’s disappearance, she could have given an excuse, saying that the girl was killed by a monster; this answer would immediately cause the investigation to be dropped or put on hold.
No one can prove anything that went on inside a Trial, unless you were there when it happened.
‘Could it be she’s still traumatised by that situation? No, she wasn’t possibly… Right?’
Besides that one time, she hadn’t ever seen Lillian express fear—only hesitation. The girl was reckless, insanely reckless. But she was also brave and willing to put in the effort. It was one of the main reasons Marionette had taken an interest in the girl, which then bloomed into something more.
‘Lillian isn’t scared of me… She has no reason to be…’ Marionette’s cold exterior cracked, ‘But it would make no sense for her to go along with whatever I wanted in the past…’
What about those restrictions and brief period of punishments in their earlier relationship? Like, the need for them to kiss again to finalise their relationship. Or that time, Lillian refused to let her touch her for days.
‘Those might’ve been her way of figuring out the boundaries of what she thought she could do…’
In life, every creature lives by a set of rules to sustain its well-being. One of such rules was abiding by the rule of a creature superior to them. As long as you did whatever they said, you would be safe.
Marionette wasn’t arrogant enough to say she was superior to Lillian in every way; she knew there were areas where Lillian was better than she was. But, in the contest of strength and resources, the Assassin was far above Lillian in those regards.
However, there were times in nature where the inferior would eventually topple over their superior…
‘Yesterday, to stop me, Lillian got in the way to try and save that woman… Could it be she gained a surge of confidence to go against me? Does that mean…’
Marionette clasped a hand over the lower half of her face as she felt a heavy weight press down on her heart. She had heard and seen countless scenarios where people used others for their own benefit, while hiding behind a benevolent smile.
‘Does that mean she was using me all under the pretence of… love?’ Marionette felt her heart crack a little as her beautiful red eyes glowed uncontrollably. She didn’t know what to think anymore.
And that was what the True Darkness wanted.
Like the dark parasite it was, it branched itself around Marionette’s immune system, feasting on the new wave of mana flooding the Assassin’s body.
The mana Marionette provided in the past was cold and tasteless, like food made without thought and left to go cold. But after last night, it discovered a way to cook its thoughtless cold meal.
Oxytocins.
A person’s love hormones.
Even mana can be affected by a person’s hormones, unnoticeable, but still affected. And by how much True Darkness tasted last night, it was enough to get it to want more. From cold and tasteless, the mana it was now feasting on was now warm and flavourful!
The more emotions its host experienced, the more delicious her mana would be!
And right now, the hormone infusing into Marionette’s mana was endorphins, a person’s stress-reliever hormones.
It had a milder, calmer taste compared to oxytocin, which was fiery and full of flavour. But it was still delicious, nonetheless, and…
‘I need to be told I’m wrong…’
Was worth the effort: True Darkness had been trying to figure out how to bring out its next delectable meal.
Marionette’s eyes squinted as they became glassy. She felt so vulnerable, and she didn’t know what to do about it. It had been so long since the last time she felt like this, which was when she was trapped in her room.
And when she cried in front of Lillian.
The recollection of that caused her heart to ache even more.
Before she knew it, the lights had already become dim, and the slow opening of music began.
The waltz was about to begin.
Damien, who was near the aching Assassin, quickly discovered Marionette was alone. His eyes widened, ‘Does she not have a partner? Where’s her servant?’
He wasn’t sure why, but…
‘Eyes directed towards the floor, hands clenched and over her mouth… And her posture…!’
With his long experience of womanising, he managed to gauge a shocking feeling from the woman.
Why did it seem like the woman was vulnerable right now?
‘Is it because of the rumour about her? Does she care about reputation just as much as I do!?’
Strength, status, beauty, and similar concerns about reputation…
Damien’s eyes shone like spotlights. ‘She’s truly the most suitable woman for me!’
“H-hey, S-sir Damien—!”
With complete disregard for his chosen dance partner, Damien began to take slow steps towards Marionette. He had completely forgotten what she did to him yesterday.
‘It’s finally my chance, now that her servant is out of the picture!’
As Damien gradually neared, Marionette’s heart had reached a point close to shattering; her mental state was now unstable.
It was a shame, truly.
If only she knew how wrong she was about Lillian.
If only about True Darkness’s intentions.
If only she knew how much Lillian truly loved her.
Damien raised a hand towards Marionette, his smile endearing and perverse.
“Oh, dear~ don’t you have a partner, miss? Would you perhaps like to dance with me—…”
If only…
“Phew, looks like I still made it on time.”
Amidst Marionette’s sadness, her dull and glassy eyes immediately sprang with life as she looked up from the ground and to her right.
And when she did, she was met with the sight of a 5ft10 person, with long and luscious white hair, which was tied in a ponytail. They wore a clean white suit, a dark blue tie, and a pair of white gloves. They had radiant blue eyes and outstanding beauty that failed to be hidden behind a familiar white-and-gold masquerade mask.
And Marionette had recognised them in an instant.
‘That mask belonged to that woman, Aurelia…’
The person’s appearance left the people who saw them stunned, gawking and gulping at their obvious beauty.
Even Marionette was left gulping, not because of their beauty, but because… They didn’t look like a corpse.
‘Their voice…’ Marionette’s eyes glistened with realisation as she stared at the person’s face. Her lips turned shaky, ‘I know it. I know this voice…’
Before she could think of anything else…
“What’s that line again… Agh, maybe I should’ve practised beforehand…”
Marionette watched as the girl stretched out her gloved hand for her to take.
“Uhm, may I have this dance with you? Hehe.”
Another long chapter today and WOWWW!! Our gorgeous Rabbit has finally arrived!
You know, at this point, I probably derive some sort of sick pleasure from making you guys frustrated with either Lillian or Marionette. But I’m sure you guys still love me regardless for that 😉
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Looks like the ‘Stop’ Lillian spoke about earlier was actually Aurelia’s place! I hope she’s doing alright because of what happened yesterday.