## Chapter 548 – 548. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated Into The Baek Family
548. The Plum Blossom Swordsman Reincarnated into the Baek Family
Prince Parein sought out Yuria again.
His face was gaunt, much more so than when she had last seen him. His golden hair had lost its luster, and his eyes held a dangerous mix of obsession and madness.
“Help me.”
“What are you talking about without any context?”
“Help me be with Mary.”
“Lady Komotofs is engaged to Lord Yorsen, is she not? I was there yesterday. It was quite a spectacle.”
“…I didn’t think that ignorant fool would move so quickly.”
“Would the royal family just stand by?”
“I’ll take care of the royal family. And this concerns you too. If… if you and I were to marry, I swear your life would be hell. I’d make sure of it!”
Yuria didn’t even raise an eyebrow at his murderous tone.
“Threatening me won’t get you much.”
“…So you won’t help me?”
“I will help you. I have no intention of marrying you either, Your Highness. How can I help?”
Prince Parein let out a sigh of relief.
“Yorsen. You have to seduce Yorsen. He liked you before he met Mary, so there’s a chance.”
“That’s impossible. Lord Yorsen proposed to Lady Komotofs in front of everyone. He won’t waver no matter what I say.”
“Damn it! Am I just supposed to sit here and watch?!”
“I never said that. Your Highness, find an ally.”
“An ally?”
“Isn’t there someone else who harbors anger and hatred towards Lord Yorsen, just like you?”
“…Matis. But would that guy cooperate with me? He’s potentially my rival too.”
“If you stay like this, you won’t even be able to compete. The Prime Minister candidate Matis is smart, so he’ll cooperate with you temporarily.”
“Cooperate, and then what?”
“We need to drive a wedge between Lord Yorsen and the Lady. We need to drag down Lord Yorsen’s reputation and create misunderstandings between them.”
“…Just as I thought, you’re a cold woman. How will you create these misunderstandings?”
“I heard the Lady likes tea.”
***
Yorsen fought a duel with Matis.
I couldn’t see it with my own eyes because I didn’t enter the academy, but I knew the situation from the rumors. Matis provoked Yorsen, and Yorsen, who valued his honor, couldn’t ignore the provocation.
A fight broke out, and Matis was severely injured.
Even if it was a duel, it happened at the academy. Moreover, the duel was said to be a one-sided beating by Yorsen. Rumors spread that Yorsen could have subdued Matis but intentionally inflicted serious injuries on him.
The rumors were maliciously exaggerated by someone, and the nobles treated Yorsen like a barbarian who abused his power.
And I approached Mary under Yuria’s orders.
“Lady Mary, you left your handkerchief behind last time.”
“Oh, oh? Did I?”
Of course, she hadn’t. I had stolen the handkerchief from Mary. She didn’t notice at all.
“Yes. And this is a gift. You gave me cookies last time. It reminded me of that, so I prepared some cookies.”
“Eujin’s cookies! I’m really looking forward to them!”
Mary smiled brightly and was delighted. My cooking skills were already rumored to be the best in the kingdom. As she happily received my cookies, her leg slipped, and she fell into my arms. I reflexively grabbed her waist.
“Lady Mary, are you alright?”
“Oh, ah…. I, I’m sorry.”
She quickly pulled away. But someone must have seen this scene.
“Did you sprain your leg? Just in case, let me support you.”
“No, it’s okay. I’m really okay!”
Starting with me, misunderstandings would be created, and suspicions would deepen. Moreover, she was a femme fatale who had charmed three of the academy’s most handsome men at once. Yorsen, who was going through a difficult time, would feel insecure.
Yuria didn’t stop there and provoked Yorsen’s family, the Selbreeze County. She made the rumors within the academy leak out.
As a result, Yorsen was summoned back to his family, and Mary was unilaterally told to break up by the Selbreeze County and they broke up. If Yorsen had been a little more proactive, he might have been able to get their marriage recognized, but he suspected the relationship between me and Mary.
Mary was said to have cried all day.
And Prince Parein was delighted.
“It worked out well! It worked out perfectly! Yorsen was pressured by his family and dropped out of the academy and was dragged into the military. He’ll never approach Mary again!”
“It worked out well. But why did you come here? Shouldn’t you be comforting Lady Mary, who is heartbroken?”
“Of course, I want to. When I heard that Mary was crying, my heart ached like it was being torn apart. But… there’s still one guy I need to deal with. It turns out there was someone who went to Mary before me. Matis. I need to get him away from Mary like I did with Yorsen. Only then will Mary be completely mine.”
Prince Parein had become ruthless. So ruthless that he was completely different from the original Prince Parein.
“…Prime Minister candidate Matis is easier. He has a weakness.”
“A weakness?! What is it?!”
“The fact that he’s a Prime Minister candidate. He’s the closest to becoming Prime Minister, but he’s just one of the candidates. There are many other candidates.”
“So you’re saying we should disqualify him from being a Prime Minister candidate. How?”
“Each Prime Minister candidate runs a small merchant guild. The performance of this guild has a big impact on the candidate. Bribe his subordinates to commit corruption. He will be held responsible for the crimes committed by the guild.”
“I understand! I’ll move right away!”
He jumped up and moved.
Matis, who had become Mary’s new lover, was officially executed a month later. And the next day, Prince Parein came to see me.
“Thank you, Yuria. Thanks to you, I understand what politics is.”
Prince Parein’s tone was different from the last time I saw him.
“…It’s unexpected that he was executed. Did you make him commit such serious corruption?”
Yuria frowned slightly.
“Not really. When I moved to bribe Matis’s subordinates as you said, I got some interesting information. The monster control plan that the royal family was promoting. Matis was in charge of the plan to tame monsters and control them as they pleased.”
“…He was more capable than I thought.”
“Yes. The Prime Minister saw through his magical talent and adopted him. He was actually very capable. But the Prime Minister had a lot of enemies. I leaked the information to one of them, and Matis was executed. The secret monster experiments were a major crime, so there was no way he could survive.”
“…Why did you do that? His experiments would have been a great help to the royal family.”
“How can I trust a guy who’s after my woman as a retainer? And the royal family is fine without such a plan.”
“There’s also the option of just using him.”
“What if Mary’s purity is taken by him during that time? I can’t stay sane just imagining it.”
“Now that there are no rivals, Your Highness has achieved your goal.”
“There’s one thing left. Our engagement cancellation.”
“I’ll think of a way.”
“I’ve only received help so far, but I don’t intend to just receive help until the end. I’ll take care of the engagement cancellation. I have a very good idea.”
Parein smiled eerily.
And a little while later.
The Crown Prince died of an illness, and Prince Parein was newly appointed as the Crown Prince.
It was a suspicious event. But I and Yuria remained silent. Because things had turned out well as a result.
Now that he had become the Crown Prince, the engagement cancellation was natural.
Yuria was the heir to the Philtainia Duchy. She had to lead her family, so she couldn’t become a queen.
“Lady, I feel uneasy. Is it okay to leave Prince Parein alone like this?”
“It’s fine. My relationship with him ends here. We won’t have any conflicts for the next few years.”
「Chapter 14. The Conspiracy is Complete.」
「Chapter 15. The Masquerade Begins.」
「Chapter 15. The Masquerade.
The last day of the year. A masquerade ball is held for the academy graduates. Participants must wear masks, and asking questions that can identify someone is a breach of etiquette. Due to the nature of the masquerade, where identities are unknown, anyone can participate, not just nobles.」
Time skipped, and the day of the masquerade was approaching.
There was no law that required one to participate in the masquerade. However, most nobles participated in the masquerade. Because such special parties were rare. It would be a good memory to happily talk about later.
“Eujin, you should also participate in the masquerade.”
“I’m just a servant….”
“You won’t be exposed anyway. And it’s an open secret that some servants participate in the masquerade.”
“I understand. I’ll prepare.”
If I’m told to do it, I have to do it. What can I do?
And around this time, the news of Prince Parein and Mary’s engagement spread. Prince Parein had finally persuaded his father, the King. I don’t know how he persuaded him.
‘On the surface, it’s a happy ending.’
***
The day of the masquerade.
I wore a black cloak to hide my identity until just before entering the banquet hall and went inside.
Even though we were wearing masks, the difference between nobles and servants was immediately noticeable. The atmosphere they exuded was different, and the type of confidence was different. But I acted perfectly like a noble.
In the ‘Baekhwan’ world, I was originally a noble.
Also.
「Advice: Your posture is off. Correct it.」
Since the advice was constantly nagging, I couldn’t help but look like a perfect noble.
For reference, I wore a steel mask and a formal suit. Yuria wore a splendid mask with jewels and a blue dress.
Masked nobles approached us one by one.
Men lined up to ask Yuria to dance. Even though she was wearing a mask, she couldn’t hide her beauty and grace. Her cyan hair was also exposed, so the nobles might have already noticed her identity.
[Advice: Ask Lady Yuria to dance.]
I politely extended my hand to her.
“Lady, would you like to dance with me?”
“Gladly.”
We went up to the stage prepared for dancing. We stepped to the rhythm of the calmly flowing music.
I was already familiar with social dances. Dancing at parties was almost essential, so I had been dancing social dances with Yuria since a long time ago. Yuria was my social dance teacher.
I could feel people’s gazes on us. It seemed like we were dancing normally, but the attention was focused on us. Was it because of me, because of Yuria, or because of the setting of this world? In my personal opinion, it was more likely due to the setting of this world.
“Eujin, are you enjoying the banquet?”
Yuria whispered while we were dancing.
“It’s less fun than I thought. Are you enjoying it, Lady?”
“I usually don’t enjoy it either, but it’s much better with you, Eujin.”
Our eyes met. Eyes that felt hot. I could instinctively tell what she wanted.
“Lady, you look very tired. I think you need a rest.”
“Yes. I feel particularly tired today.”
In the large banquet hall, there was a separate room prepared for rest. It was a place for those tired from the ball, but it was also a place for secret meetings between men and women who were attracted to each other. Well, it would be a big problem if a secret meeting was discovered.
I locked the door of the room and went inside. Yuria naturally sat on a soft chair, and I knelt in front of her. She extended her leg towards me. I slowly massaged her leg.
“Eujin, get up.”
She took off her mask and took off mine as well. Her hand stroked my face.
“It’s an order. Eujin, kiss me.”
“Yes. I will gladly obey.”
We kissed. The kiss didn’t end with just one. It grew deeper as time passed. My hands wrapped around her back, and her hands grabbed my shoulders.
The sound of our tongues mixing was wet and sticky. I and she didn’t close our eyes while kissing. Instead, we captured each other’s eyes in our pupils.
Click.
The door, which was definitely locked, opened, and someone came in.
It was Mary, wearing a blood-red dress.
