Chapter 97
Black said,
“But Princess Reina will remember your face, brother. How are we supposed to disguise it?”
“Don’t worry about that. You look quite a bit like Prince Jeffrey, after all. Just run into her naturally here and show your face. That alone should make the disguise a complete success. As I’ve told you time and again, stop trying to think for yourself and focus solely on following orders.”
At Siegfried’s words, Black’s cluttered mind suddenly cleared.
“Understood.”
After prostrating himself and accepting the command, Siegfried left the waiting room as if he’d been anticipating it.
Left alone, Black donned his mask and headed toward the arena.
His final performance—and a special one at that—was about to begin.
* * *
Arteon guided them even better than expected.
Reina said in an admiring tone,
“That was truly amazing! As expected from someone who’s done this before.”
To think they’d earned the red mask in just half a day.
It was something she couldn’t have accomplished without Arteon.
It felt just like having the top student in school take the exam in her place.
At Reina’s praise, Arteon’s shoulders rose proudly without end.
“Well, this much is like child’s play. Am I a gold member for nothing? Hahaha!”
Kaiden, who had been watching this with dissatisfaction, interjected.
“I feel like I did all the physical labor, though.”
Arteon directed, and Kaiden moved accordingly—their fantastic synergy had gotten them to red in no time.
Arteon dismissed Kaiden’s complaint with a snort.
“Hey now! With a sturdy body like that, were you really going to make me do it? As you can see, I’m quite delicate.”
“You do look delicate.”
Kaiden scanned Arteon up and down with a mocking smile. Arteon picked up on it keenly and furrowed his brow.
“……What’s that? That’s really unpleasant right now.”
“Anyway, thanks for the help.”
Hit with both praise and a jab at once, Arteon wore an expression that showed he wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or annoyed.
While the two bickered back and forth, Reina was lost in other thoughts.
‘Now that I’m a red member, I can reach out to gold members.’
Reina was about to initiate contact with Mikael first when, right on cue, an announcement rang out that the final of the special match was beginning.
“Oh, the final’s starting just in time.”
Arteon pointed to the arena on the viewing orb screen.
Reina’s gaze naturally shifted that way.
Black, wearing a black mask, had a slender build compared to his opponent.
Yet the difference in their power was utterly overwhelming. Throughout the multiple exchanges, only the opponent took any damage.
Just when it seemed the match was all but decided.
In the opponent’s final desperate struggle, Black’s mask came off.
In that instant, Reina bolted up from her seat.
“Brother……?”
The face beneath Black’s mask was unmistakably Jeffrey’s.
The unkempt hair was a far cry from his once neat appearance, but those light blue eyes amid the disheveled locks were definitely Jeffrey’s.
Meanwhile, Arteon also recognized Jeffrey and gasped in shock.
“It’s real? It’s actually Jeffrey?”
He hadn’t expected to find him this easily.
For a while, silence hung among the three of them.
Then Kaiden spoke.
“That was a strike he could have easily dodged.”
Reina snapped back to her senses and echoed,
“You mean he revealed his face on purpose?”
“Probably.”
Why so suddenly?
What could be the reason for vanishing for so long only to reveal his identity now?
She’d been certain the emperor had imprisoned him.
She’d never dreamed he might have hidden himself voluntarily.
And the coincidence of coming to the arena to meet him made it all the more bewildering.
Shortly after, the match ended with Black’s victory.
With his mask shattered, Black ascended the podium barefaced.
The sponsors, upon confirming Black’s face, erupted in cheers.
It was because the face hidden behind the mask turned out to be quite handsome.
Reina couldn’t tear her eyes from the screen for even a moment.
It was the face she’d longed for after all this time.
Lest it vanish like a mirage right before her eyes.
She was simply staring blankly at the screen when.
“An invitation from a gold member has arrived.”
A staff member handed invitations to Reina and Kaiden.
It was a place accessible only to red members and above—the very spot Mikael had suggested for their meeting.
‘It’s Mikael.’
Reina and Kaiden exchanged glances.
He must have witnessed this entire scene as well.
Perhaps he’d known Jeffrey was here all along and summoned her for that reason.
Kaiden grasped Reina’s hand firmly.
“Let’s go.”
Reina nodded with a resolute expression. Then she turned to Arteon.
“Arteon, please make contact with my brother right away. Confirm if it’s really him, check his condition—don’t miss a single detail.”
“Don’t worry, go on ahead. If it’s Jeffrey, I’ll hold onto him so tight he won’t be able to go anywhere.”
Reassured by Arteon’s dependable words, Reina left the room without further hesitation.
* * *
In the top-floor private room of the arena.
Mikael was lost in thought, idly swirling his wine glass.
‘What on earth is he thinking?’
On the screen, Black was ascending the podium with his face exposed.
Mikael had already known that he was Jeffrey.
However, he hadn’t anticipated the reveal at this particular moment, leaving him perplexed.
A year ago, after meeting Reina in the north and returning.
Mikael had secretly investigated Jeffrey Eve Mernie.
The publicly known details weren’t much different from what he already knew.
A royal who had gone missing at twenty during a subjugation campaign.
It was an accident where the vanguard had been partially swept away when the demon realm’s gate suddenly opened.
Those who went missing alongside him were recognized as national heroes, and their families received enormous compensation.
The Eve count family was among them. With the compensation, the Eve family departed for their territory, and Jeffrey was naturally forgotten.
On the surface, it seemed like a straightforward accident, but it couldn’t escape Mikael’s keen eye.
The lottery to select the royal participant for the subjugation had been rigged.
Since it was conducted by the Promga family, that was a point he could discern.
Uncovering one irregularity revealed that the suspicious aspects were far from few.
Most of the vanguard swept away with Jeffrey consisted of individuals from humble backgrounds or illegitimate children—troublesome figures for their families.
That’s why the accident had been allowed to fade away without much fuss.
In other words, a vanguard assembled from people whose disappearance wouldn’t cause issues.
‘Did the demon realm’s gate really open at all?’
As he pondered that, someone knocked on the door. Mikael turned with a smile, as if he’d been waiting, and welcomed his guests.
“You’re here. You raised your rank quite strategically, I see. Thanks to that, we’ve avoided any complications.”
Despite Mikael’s warm reception, the two didn’t so much as twitch.
Moments later, Reina and Kaiden removed their masks.
Their expressions gleamed with a ferocity that suggested they might kill Mikael at any second.
Mikael paid no heed to their blatant hostility. Reina spoke.
“You don’t think I’m unaware that you deliberately invited us to a place only accessible to red ranks and above, do you?”
“Oh dear. It seems you’re misunderstanding this as me testing you.”
“Then it wasn’t?”
“The top floor is a place even the Black Spider can’t meddle in. It’s the only spot in the capital where we can converse comfortably, away from the emperor’s and the Black Spider’s eyes.”
Mikael subtly revealed that he knew this place belonged to Julid.
Only then did Reina temper her anger somewhat and speak.
“You already knew my brother was here, didn’t you?”
“I had intended to tell you from the start.”
“So you’re saying my brother’s reveal has nothing to do with you?”
“Exactly. If anything, I’m the one in a bind, having lost a valuable card for negotiation.”
At Mikael’s words, Reina furrowed her brow.
“Don’t treat my brother like a chess piece.”
