"Entering, is Crown Prince Friederich Breytenbach; and Hereditary Princess of the Edeltraud Grand Duchy, Lady Lilith Edeltraud." A servant at the door loudly said as he opened the door for us.
A large ballroom, with frescos on the ceiling, long tables full of food, large windows on either side with glass doors that led to balconies; was what welcomed me, alongside the whispering and muttering from the people there, the most common one was, "Oh my, why is Lady Edeltraud and the Crown Prince together?" While others were actually noticing my usual cane that I always tend to carry around had some small stains of dried blood; unfortunately I didn't have time to clean it before coming to the ball.
Fondly enough, most of the most unbecoming comments were from a group of noble ladies I recalled being the lackeys that used to follow Lilith in the story, about how I was dressed, apparently females wearing military uniforms was too weird, even if I was wearing a formal one…
"It looks as if two men came in together, how uncouth!" One of them said in a quite shocked voice.
Soon many nobles started to get near us; most of them looking at us with the morbid curiosity as if they were looking upon a freak of nature, it was well known that the crown prince was single, but a tyrant; and well, my rumors were no better, Ernaline had improved them a bit, but I was still known as a bloodthirsty maniac.
One of them finally steeled himself and said, "Are you two, em… together?"
My eyes must have told them the answer, full of hatred I quickly said, "What nonsense…" But was quickly interrupted by him.
"Of course we are!"
"What the fu… What are you even saying?!"
"How wouldn't I be with the most beautiful lady in all of the kingdom! Lady Edeltraud, her eyes as dark and mysterious as the darkness of the night, and her immaculate red hair, just like the beautiful roses that sprout in spring."
I didn't know what to do… Should I just stab him, was the only thought that came to mind. I had never felt this angry before.
I knew I couldn't do something like that in such an event, but I couldn't help but hatefully glare at him, staring daggers, my only hope being that he would say that he was just joking; but unfortunately, this story and this universe has a very peculiar and special way of just continuously and constantly fucking me over…
"Oh my… I never expected Lady Edeltraud and Crown Prince Friedrich to be together." One of the noble ladies said.
"Crown Prince, we need to talk!" I said as I turned towards a balcony, he quickly followed me and we left the nobles behind.
As we got to the balcony, outside of everyone's view I finally made my move; I turned to the crown prince, grabbed him strongly by the collar, punched him in the gut and told him, "You are treading on very, very thin ice… I told you before, my patience was wearing thin, and now you are crossing the line. Now do tell me, do you want to die a painful death or a slow one!?"
"Ow, ow! Ok stop it, I'm sorry."
"Now, you better tell me what you want, unless you want me to smash your face in!"
"Stop, please. This was the only way I thought of to have a private conversation."
"What the hell do you want!?"
"Your help, I'm begging you Lilith!"
I was finally calming down a bit, so I simply said, "Nobody wastes my time, so you better have a good reason for making me drag you here!"
"I have a brother, I didn't even know I had one, but he apparently is aiming for the throne."
"How can a bastard be a problem, just kill him…"
"He has gotten support from some powerful people, I think even my own father, the emperor, supports him."
"Well, either way I don't see how this is my problem, what do you even want me to do?"
"I want people to believe we are together. You are the strongest mage of the empire, having you by my side would give me a massive advantage."
"Well, maybe you are telling the truth, but if so why did you even send those assassins after me?"
"I wanted to look better, that way I thought you would want to be with me."
"My goodness gracious, you are actually an idiot…"
"Please, I will give you anything you want!"
Wait a minute, this may prove useful; according to the story, he will become the emperor, there's no doubt about it, and if he does and he owes me a favor, then that means…
"Oh…"
He looked at me with inquisitive eyes, "What are you thinking?"
"As much as I'd like to send your body back to the emperor in small tiny bits; I will help you, with a condition of course."
"Which is?"
"You shall grant me an official pardon once you become the emperor."
"A pardon? Are you planning on doing something that warrants a pardon?"
"Maybe, who knows. One never knows when something like that may be useful."
"So…"
"I want a contract, no physical contact and don't you dare call me anything more than a friend, if you break any of this I will smash your face in, and probably take your heart."
"Take my heart?"
"I will literally tear it off from your body and feed it to my horse."
"Eek!" He said with a scared look in his eyes, I knew he was faking the emotions though, he made it evident.
He then continued, "Wouldn't it be easier to say that we are in a relationship?"
"Do you want me to throw you off the balcony?"
"Alright, alright, point taken. I guess I agree with your conditions…"
I know the story perfectly, and I know for a fact there is no threat for the imperial throne. Honestly I have no clue why he is making such a convoluted lie, but he must need my support for something, and I am getting something useful out of it for my revenge.
Even if his plans are something that could affect the whole empire I shall follow through, it's not as if I care for this world, or even Lilith for that matter, I only care of ending the time loop.
I'll play dumb, for now. We'll see how this turns out; to be fair the inner workings of his mind are a mystery to me, he is behaving very differently from how he did in the story…
I finally made up my mind and simply told him, "I'll go back to the ball, now if you actually want to follow through with the plan, I expect the contract at my desk tomorrow…"
Before he could even say anything, I turned and left.
