Instead, the chandelier above the stage lit up, casting a bright glow over the performance area.
A middle-aged man, dressed in a tailcoat and wearing a mask, stepped onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I extend my sincerest gratitude for gracing this ball with your presence tonight.”
The man, who appeared to be an actor, delivered a grand welcome speech fitting for the play Masquerade Ball, then disappeared backstage.
Elsez had been about to slip away toward the back of the theater, but she hesitated and sat back down, her gaze shifting to the audience across from her.
“Wait. Rashiel doesn’t have to be backstage—he could be in the audience.”
According to her research, this play was divided into two acts.
“Then I should observe the audience while the first act is in progress.”
Soon, the play officially began.
On the now-empty stage, save for a lone table with wine glasses, two noblemen in extravagant masks entered.
They started chatting about the latest gossip circulating in high society.
Pretending to watch the performance, Elsez discreetly scanned the audience.
The theater had three floors of seating, and from her vantage point on the third floor, she had a clear view of both the first and second floors.
“But I can’t see anyone seated directly below me. That’s unfortunate.”
She focused on the seats across from her first.
With everyone wearing elaborate masks and the distance between them considerable, identifying anyone was difficult.
Elsez strained her eyes, inspecting each person one by one, until her vision grew fatigued, forcing her to shut them for a moment.
“Reti, you mentioned sensing other people’s energy. Can you tell if Rashiel is among them?”
“I can only sense life energy when it’s close. Right now, they’re too far away.”
“But you could sense the dimensional rift from a great distance.”
“Detecting its presence is easy. But distinguishing one specific person among many lifeforms is far more difficult. The differences between them are subtle.”
In short, Reti wouldn’t be of any help here.
Elsez sighed and turned her weary eyes back to the stage.
The two actors, playing noblemen, were still sipping wine and conversing, just as they were about to transition to a new topic.
“By the way, have you heard that rumor?”
“Which one? There are so many these days that I can hardly keep track.”
Elsez, finally paying attention to the performance, yawned in boredom.
“Are they using rookies for minor roles? They’re delivering their lines like they’re reading straight from a script.”
She rubbed her tired eyes and was about to resume scanning the audience when a line from the actors caught her ear.
“The twin prince who was supposedly stillborn… They say he’s actually alive.”
“Alive? I’ve heard all sorts of wild rumors, but that’s a first.”
“It’s true. Someone recently saw a man with eyes identical to the Crown Prince’s.”
A sharp glint flashed in Elsez’s eyes.
“Wait. That rumor… Could this not be part of the play but real?”
According to the intel Tracia provided, Masquerade Ball was a fictional story set in an imaginary country.
Yet, the actors were now speaking about red eyes—a distinctive trait passed down exclusively within the imperial family of Artes.
She wasn’t the only one who noticed. A subtle unrest rippled through the previously quiet theater.
But the actors continued their dialogue, unfazed.
“Then why did the imperial family claim the prince was dead? If he was alive all along?”
“Well…”
One of the actors glanced around the empty stage, then lowered his voice just enough for the audience to hear.
“Our emperor does not have red eyes.”
“That’s true.”
“But when the twin princes were born… neither of them had red eyes.”
“But His Highness, the Crown Prince, does.”
“His Highness was never seen in public before the age of ten, was he? The reason is—he didn’t have red eyes at first. But after extracting and transplanting the mana from the twin prince, his eyes turned red.”
“Then the prince who was supposedly dead…”
“Had all his mana drained and was left for dead after the experiment. But he managed to survive—”
“Enough!”
At that moment, a masked audience member shot up from his seat and shouted.
“I can’t listen to this nonsense any longer. What, the dead prince is alive? His Majesty experimented on him?”
“……”
“There are limits to the absurdity one can spout. How dare you slander the imperial family? And the deceased prince, no less! This is blasphemy!”
“……”
“Who is responsible for this disgraceful production?”
As the man’s furious voice faded, the theater was suddenly engulfed in darkness.
The hushed murmurs of the nobles ceased immediately, swallowed by the heavy silence that followed.
Sensing something was amiss, the nobles hesitated to speak.
Then—
Fwoosh—!
With the sound of magic activating, the extinguished lights flickered back on, illuminating the stage.
But the actors who had been gossiping moments ago were gone.
Standing in their place was a man wearing a white mask.
Beneath his shimmering silver hair, his piercing red eyes gleamed.
“What if the one who created this play… was the prince who survived?”
His cold voice echoed through the frozen theater.
Elsez exhaled softly, almost in disbelief, as a name escaped her lips.
“…Rashiel.”
Her gaze, locked onto him, wavered violently.
****
Beyond the mask, a pair of blood-red eyes locked onto Cedric, seated in the audience below.
They were identical to Cedric’s own crimson gaze, staring at him with unflinching precision.
Cedric clenched his jaw as he met that gaze.
“So, this was his goal all along—not to kill me, but to expose the truth.”
By gathering the nobles here, Rashiel had set the stage to reveal his identity.
Of course, if the truth of the prince’s survival came to light, it could lend credence to the rumors that Rashiel had been impersonating Cedric and plotting revenge against the imperial family.
But at the same time, it would also expose the imperial family’s darkest secret—the fact that they had conducted inhumane experiments on a young prince, and that Cedric’s revered crimson eyes were not a natural trait but the product of those very experiments.
If that truth spread, the imperial family’s authority would be shattered beyond repair.
Cedric’s grip on the armrest tightened, veins bulging against his pale skin.
“But this ends here.”
This theater would become Rashiel’s grave.
He tapped the enchanted earring that served as his communicator.
“Begin.”
At his command, a volley of arrows rained down toward the masked man standing on stage.
Rashiel attempted to cast a spell in response, but the magic circle forming in the air flickered and immediately dissipated.
Cedric smirked in satisfaction.
“He didn’t expect me to bring the imperial palace’s magic suppression barrier here.”
The magic suppression barrier was an artifact created by the first emperor and his younger brother, the first Tower Master, both renowned Archmage.
When activated, it formed an invisible dome as vast as the imperial palace itself, neutralizing all magic within its boundaries.
Though it was meant to remain permanently in the palace to safeguard the imperial family, Cedric had it relocated here tonight—solely to capture Rashiel.
“A mage who can’t use magic is no different from an ordinary person.”
Certain of his victory, Cedric watched as Rashiel barely managed to dodge the arrows.
But the real danger came next.
From the audience, armed men—imperial knights—sprang forth and rushed toward Rashiel.
At their center stood Tezette, now unmasked.
Rashiel raised his hand to cast another spell, but just then—
A woman in a dress came hurtling down from above, landing with a powerful punch to the knight beside Tezette.
“Ughh!”
Tezette barely blocked Elsez’s follow-up attack in time, but the impact still sent him staggering backward.
With Tezette thrown off balance, the surrounding knights hesitated as well.
Having widened the distance between Rashiel and Tezette, Elsez now stood protectively in front of the masked man.
Behind her, Rashiel’s crimson eyes flickered with turbulence.
Likewise, Tezette, facing Elsez, hesitated, his expression darkening with pain.
“…I didn’t want to hear this answer.”
The unspoken question—the one he had never dared to ask—had now been answered in the worst possible way.
Just then—
An iron bolt shot from a crossbow overhead, piercing the chain that held the grand chandelier above the stage.
The severed fixture plummeted straight toward Rashiel.
“Move!”
Reacting instantly, Elsez grabbed him and threw them both to the side.
In that split second before the chandelier shattered against the floor, she felt Rashiel’s arms wrap around her, shielding her from the flying shards.
CRASH!
The deafening explosion of glass and metal echoed through the theater. At the same time, every enchanted light in the venue flickered out, plunging the space into darkness.
Somewhere in the chaos, Elsez’s mask was knocked off, but there was no time to care.
She grabbed Rashiel’s arm and bolted for the backstage exit.
Though it was nighttime, the magic lamps behind the stage still provided some illumination, casting long, eerie shadows.
“Team A, this way! Team B, split up and search!”
The voices of pursuing knights rang behind them.
Scanning her surroundings, Elsez spotted a nearby prop storage room. She shoved Rashiel inside.
Following right behind him, she shut the door, and suddenly the small, cluttered space felt even more cramped.
With the room packed with props and stacked boxes, the two had no choice but to stand pressed closely together, facing each other.
Footsteps approached outside.
“Please… just pass by.”
Holding her breath, Elsez waited as the knights moved through the corridor.
Fortunately, they didn’t check the storage room and soon walked past.
“Haah…”
Only after hearing their footsteps fade did Elsez exhale in relief.
Then, realizing the presence of the man right in front of her, she looked up.
Behind his mask, Rashiel’s crimson eyes were filled with turmoil.
“Do you have any idea where you just ran into? What if you got hurt—”
“Was my interference not part of your calculations?”
Her sharp question made Rashiel’s gaze waver.
“You lured me here knowing exactly who I am.”
He didn’t reply.
Instead, Elsez slowly reached for his mask.
And at last—
She removed it, revealing his face beneath.
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