IBMV 19.2 (Patreon)

"Mr. Kian. You have really gorgeous countenance! You must have received many confessions."

stated a red-faced painter.

"Do you remember? How many women have confessed their love for you so far?"

When asked, Kian helplessly bowed his head, not knowing what to do.

The painter who saw his reaction asked jokingly:

"Haha, you can't remember because there are too many?"

"No, it's not like that……."

The man was one of those noisy uncle-types.

As I was listening to the conversation, I moved to alleviate a troubled Kian.

But Nicholas was one step faster than me.

"Come on, stop teasing an innocent young man. How about using your talents inspired by my beautiful muse, Kian?"

Everyone nodded at that. A composer who I've heard of before said:

"Then, let me start first."

He strode to the piano and positioned his hands on the keys.

Whenever his fingers rubbed the keys, an excellent melody flooded my ears.

It was an improvisational song, but it was impeccable.

People burst into applause. The composer lowered his head slightly with a smile.

The next exhibition was an opera singer.

She began singing the famous opera Aria, A Beauty I've Never Seen Before.

Her beautiful voice embroidered the party.

"How is it? As I said, Kian became the main character tonight, right?"

Nicholas said triumphantly.

I remarked blandly while glancing at him:

"You just wanted to show off Kian to your friends."

"Wow, surprisingly sharp words."

Nicholas said, frowning in one eye.

He's an unpleasant person. I can't even really hit you.

"Well, it's okay since Kian doesn't hate it."

"That's not a good enough excuse. We won't come back even if you beg."

"That's too much! I just wanted to promote Kian's beauty and benefit the world!"

I sipped a glass of champagne with Nicholas' whining entered through one ear.

The night deepened, and the heat of the party ripened.

Time really flew by.

When I looked up and checked the clock, it was well past midnight.

I asked Nicholas, who was busy pouring a drink--a typical sight.

"We're only going to go, aren't you coming?"

"I'm going to drink more first. I am going to burn the night very away."

He's going to drink himself to death...….

I shook my head and left the party with Kian.

Excluding Nicholas and others who intended to party all night until dawn, attendees started leaving one by one.

"Are you going already?"

"Kian, please come next time."

Leaving regretful people behind, Kian and I climbed into the carriage.

I muttered, leaning against the soft back of the sofa.

"I'm so tired……."

"You have had a lot of trouble."

"You suffered more than me."

"Even so, it was my first time to do a job like this, so I enjoyed myself. They were all very kind."

Did you have fun meeting new people?

What Nicholas said wasn't entirely wrong.

For a moment, I felt regretful that I had teased and bruised him.

The carriage ran unobstructedly through the forest road at night.

We were tired, so instead of having a conversation, we struggled to keep our eyes open.

Wouldn't it be lovely if I closed my eyes and when I opened them again we arrived home….

My eyelids were flushed and heavy with sleep.

The moment I was about to fall asleep when something jerked me awake.

The coachman screamed:

"Arghhhhhh!"

As if something had fallen, it struck the roof of the wagon.

The horses screeched with pain, and the carriage rattled.

The next moment, the horses fell, and the carriage tilted.

The wagon, which could not overcome the acceleration, dipped and crashed into something.

Even though the vehicle had a defensive magic spell, the aftermath of the impact was crazy.

The carriage whirled without reason, and Kian hugged me as if he was trying to protect me.

I heard Kian's soft, husky voice above my head:

"Master, are you alright?"

I wasn't hurt at all because he draped himself around me. However, when I looked up, blood was flowing from Kian's forehead.

"Kian, you're bleeding—!"

I took my handkerchief out of my handbag.

I put it on his wound when the carriage's door bursted open.

It was my escort knight, bleeding, that met my sight. His shout hit my eardrums.

"Lady—it's an assassin's attack—!"

It was a sound that signaled the end of a peaceful era.

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