Chapter 11

I’m the Only One Who Knows the Male Lead Is the Villain

A little while later, when we arrived at the reception room on the first floor, he spoke in a low voice.

“You seem quite close if you came all the way here. Did the two of you know each other?”

“No. I met him for the first time yesterday in the library. I came because I was worried when I saw that he was sick.”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t meet Ate alone from now on.”

Huh?

Why was he suddenly telling me not to meet his younger brother?

What was this supposed to mean…?

But why did this situation feel strangely familiar?

It somehow reminded me of Leon.

‘Could it be that thing… whatever it’s called, a brocon?’

No wonder he’d looked so displeased.

Was he about to say something like, ‘My little brother belongs to me, so stay away from him’, just like Leon?

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but let me make it clear that that’s not the reason.”

“Th-Then why?”

Apparently, my thoughts had been written all over my face, because Ivan immediately and firmly denied them.

I had secretly been looking forward to hearing it, too.

What a disappointment.

“Ate is terminally ill. Don’t grow attached to a child who’s going to die soon.”

Oh.

So Ivan knew about Ate’s condition too?

Was it because he was a devil and could sense the aura of death…?

“Then shouldn’t we be even kinder to him?”

“Who knows… The stronger one’s desire to live, the more painful death becomes.”

He was saying that since Ate didn’t have much time left, I shouldn’t give him unnecessary hope or become emotionally attached to him.

I understood what he meant, but…

I wasn’t a devil, so I couldn’t be that heartless.

“Is there no way to save him using Your Highness’s power?”

“All I can give is death.”

“Hmm. Even so, I can’t simply pretend not to notice. Ate is far too young, and he’s surely lonely.”

“I see. I understand.”

Understand, my foot.

His eyes practically said, ‘I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.’

Maybe having him act like a brocon would have been better after all…

“Why did you come here? I don’t think it was because of Ate.”

“You’re here.”

Ivan answered as though I had asked the most obvious question in the world.

But hadn’t he been suspiciously good at figuring out where I was lately…?

Was he really telling the truth about not assigning someone to keep watch over me?

“Ivan, are you absolutely sure you didn’t assign someone to follow me?”

“I didn’t assign a person.”

…

He definitely said a person, didn’t he?

Just as I was glaring at him suspiciously, an attendant knocked on the reception room door.

“Your Highness, His Highness the Prince has finished preparing.”

After that, we quickly joined Ate, and thanks to the carriage Ivan had prepared in advance, we were able to reach Diamond Palace without being late.

Everything was fine up until then.

‘Wait… surely not…’

The problem was where Ivan led me.

I looked around and nervously bit my lip before gradually coming to a stop.

“Ivan.”

I called him quietly, and Ivan turned toward me.

Beyond his calm green eyes, my pale face was reflected.

“What is it?”

“This isn’t the entrance to the banquet hall.”

“Of course not. We’re not ordinary guests attending a party.”

The place we were standing wasn’t the first-floor hall where everyone entered.

It was the passage leading up to the platform on the second floor.

In other words, it was precisely the place where countless gathered nobles would all be able to see us.

A dizzying wave of panic rushed over me, and I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut.

‘You never said we’d be entering from the platform!’

There was one thing I hadn’t told him.

I was far more vulnerable to crowds than he could possibly imagine.

‘The parties I’d attended until now were fine because everyone treated me like I was invisible.’

The largest gathering I’d ever personally faced in my life had been my debutante ball on my seventeenth birthday.

At the time, including my family, the Marquis and Marchioness Dayard, whom we were acquainted with, and several minor nobles they had invited, there had been a grand total of thirty people gathered in one place.

That alone had been enough to give someone who had spent her entire life quietly alone in a laboratory a full-blown hyperventilation episode…

‘Gasp, Rine! Pull yourself together! Don’t close your eyes!’

‘Mother, this isn’t going to work. Let’s throw all those people out.’

‘B-But Leon, they’re people who came all the way here to celebrate Rine becoming an adult…’

‘Our princess is going to die!’

Ugh.

I even remembered things I didn’t need to remember.

Fortunately, I wasn’t at the point where simply seeing a large number of people would make me collapse.

They just couldn’t pay attention to me.

That was why I’d been able to attend parties with Ivan without any major problems.

‘Just thinking about all those eyes looking directly at me makes me feel like I’m going to faint already.’

‘I could probably collapse faster than anyone else here…’

Ivan silently observed my increasingly pale complexion.

Then, as if he’d thought of something, he clasped his hands together.

“You’re more shy around people than I expected. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure no one looks at you.”

“Wow, can you actually do that? …No, wait. You can’t do that!”

“Just trust me. There’s nothing my brother can’t do.”

“But what could that devil—I mean, Ivan—possibly do…?”

Even Ate, who had been quietly listening, chimed in.

He suddenly grabbed my other hand.

Before I could say anything, I found myself being led toward the brightly illuminated platform with Ivan holding one hand and Ate holding the other.

As soon as the knight’s announcement introducing our arrival ended, Ivan began reciting a strange phrase I’d never heard before.

At that very moment, something appeared over everyone’s faces.

“Oh my, where did these masks come from?”

“Goodness, they’re beautiful!”

“Could it be magic? How romantic…”

Domino masks instantly descended over everyone’s eyes.

Each mask had a unique design, and together they made the enormous banquet hall sparkle with even greater color and variety.

‘No way. This is possible?’

There were so many people here!

Casting a spell simultaneously on dozens—or rather, hundreds—of people was by no means an easy feat.

Even for an advanced mage like me, my maximum was only around fifteen people.

‘One thing is certain: he’s definitely not an ordinary devil.’

‘But I still can’t figure out what he really is.’

Normally, the higher a devil’s rank, the less vulnerable they were to holy objects.

That was why, when I saw his flesh burning the moment he touched holy water, I’d naturally assumed he was a low-ranking devil.

But this time, he had casually used an advanced spell as though it were as easy as breathing.

…

‘What kind of devil is he?’

‘It didn’t look like an act… Is he hiding something?’

No matter how gentle he appeared to be, he was still a devil.

Perhaps I really shouldn’t trust him too much.

“Brother, your mask is amazing!”

Ate, who had received a silver mask decorated with diamonds, praised Ivan with an expression of genuine admiration.

I had received a mask decorated with amethysts, while Ivan’s was adorned with rubies.

Just like a devil who manipulated people’s desires, it seemed the masks had taken the form of whatever design each person desired most.

Perhaps because of that, delighted murmurs gradually began filling the hall.

“Are you all right?”

Ivan lowered himself slightly, as though checking my complexion.

There really was nothing more dangerous than a considerate devil.

No wonder humans fell for them so easily.

“Yes. I feel like I can breathe again.”

Since everyone was wearing masks, I couldn’t tell whether they were actually looking at me or not.

That made me feel much less pressured.

I’d been worried, but perhaps this was actually a pretty good solution…

“It suits you. Though you look better without it.”

“…Ivan, someone might misunderstand you if they heard that.”

“Misunderstand?”

Embarrassed, I hurriedly raised my index finger to my lips.

Ivan tilted his head slowly, his eyes filled with mischief.

“Are we not close enough for that?”

He reached out and personally straightened my crooked mask.

His shamelessness left me speechless.

My lips parted, then closed again.

‘I almost nodded just now…’

His unreadable green eyes curved slowly behind the red mask as he looked at me.

Only then did I finally come to my senses.

“Stay by my side. I’ll keep you hidden as much as possible.”

The restrained, composed atmosphere surrounding Ivan was unbearably alluring.

‘How am I supposed to change my feelings when my favorite character’s face hasn’t changed at all…?’

Quit being a fan?

What’s that?

How do you even do that…?