149 – Masquerade Ball – 3
There is a saying about loneliness in a crowd. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I guess it’s something I say to someone in the same situation as me. There are obviously a lot of people around you, but you are terribly lonely. I was literally feeling “Solitude” In the “Crowd”. The conversation from last night replayed in my head.
“What? Should I go in separately?”
“There’s no point in wearing a mask if you go in with everyone.”
“Then, me too… ?”
“Of course. It is a tradition that has existed since ancient times.”
Hestia tilted her head as if asking for something obvious. No, then, at the ballroom, do I have to wear a mask and stand there blankly? As if I were looking for reinforcements, I looked for my friendless comrades, namely Seol-ah and Cordelia. I don’t know about Hestia, but the two of us are lonely comrades who have no one to be with other than us. However, neither of them seemed to have any intention of rebelling against the rule.
“Because they don’t say anything about finding each other inside. It’s just a moment.”
Cordelia tapped her on the shoulder. All of her friends got her suspended, so she wouldn’t have any friends either. As I said to Seol-Ah, most of the students were shunning me. Why….
As long as the two of them came out like that, they had no choice but to raise the white flag in the end. And the result was this situation.
Exciting food made from freshly harvested grains and fruits, students who are excited about the unusual environment of masks, and of course the orchestra is also of the highest quality. While everyone is excited, I am alone in the corner with my legs shaking. It’s pretty ugly.
Well, this isn’t a dog suffering from separation anxiety. I can’t imagine being separated from the kids for a second and it would be so uncomfortable. It was even more terrifying to have to endure the occasional glances. It will look weird Heo Woo-dae, a normal-looking guy, slumped in the corner of the ballroom, doing nothing but shaking his legs.
It’s not like I didn’t think of looking for a party first. Unfortunately, that was not possible. As much as we chose things together, they all knew what mask I was wearing today, but I had no idea what mask they would be wearing.
When asked why he didn’t teach me, he just smiled dubiously. To be honest, I think it’s a bit cheesy. In the end, it means that I have no choice but to stand there in a daze, praying inwardly to someone please find me first.
Speaking to someone else first? Skip the jokes. First of all I hate it. It’s not that I’m a person who lacks social skills.
If I approach first, what will the other person think? Academy students are not stupid. It’s not like I can hide my identity with a shabby opera mask like this. You will probably soon realize that I am Mikhail. Even though we haven’t talked right away, I can hear whispers around me.
And if my identity is revealed, it’s obvious after that. If they were the so-called prince faction, they would run away as soon as they knew my identity, and if it was the other way around, they would cringe in order to get closer to me somehow. If it’s not both, my existence itself would be filthy uncomfortable. I don’t really want to see all three.
That is the power of titles in this world. Maybe I can really count on one hand the people who only look after me. Why, in dramas, the son of a conglomerate family falls in love with the female protagonist, saying that you are the only one who really cares for me. It’s a story that I laughed at when I was an ordinary commoner, but I felt like I knew it when I became a party to it. When dealing with me, it’s rarer than I thought for people to see only me apart from the background, and my heart moved more than I thought.
No, by the way, when are they coming? By the time his nervousness had turned to worry, he turned his head to the finger tapping his shoulder.
It was a woman with dark black hair that fell to her shoulders and wearing a fox mask. Black hair? Hestia, Cordelia, and Seol-ah are far from her black hair. I wondered if she was looking at the wrong person, so she asked quietly.
“Who… See?”
But rather than answer my question, she quietly raised her two fingers and put them to her face. What? Is it aegyo? To someone you don’t know?
At me in her confusion, she emphasized the hand gesture she pointed to her face as if she was angry. No, what do you want to do? As if I wasn’t the only one feeling frustrated with her, she pounded her own chest.
Oh, no way. I asked with a curious mind.
“Guess who?”
“Mmm! Hmm!”
At my words, she vigorously nodded her head. It was only then that I realized roughly what this was all about. I see I was wondering why they didn’t teach me what kind of mask they were wearing, but they were planning such a cute prank. I was dumbfounded. What the hell do they think of me?
“Ha…. Miss Lily. Will you stop kidding?”
Seol-Ah hardened her body for a moment. She let out a deep sigh and lifted her mask slightly to reveal her own face.
“… How did you know?”
“You really thought that if I covered my face, hair, and voice, all three of you would be unrecognizable?”
Seol-ah said that she neither affirmed nor denied, but she said that the silence was rather more. She seemed a little embarrassed and belatedly picked up her excuse and served.
“No, I didn’t think I would really recognize you… , I didn’t expect it to be so easy to match. How do you know?”
“Trade secrets.”
Anyone who sees it for the first time might not know, but if there are only three candidates for the person behind the mask, guessing who it is is a piece of cake. Objective is better than subjective. The time we’ve been together is too long to fool my eyes with just that much makeup.
“No, don’t do that. I’m really curious.”
“It’s a secret.”
Actually, it’s not really a secret. No matter how much, if you say you knew something like the line falling from your neck to your shoulder, or the thickness of your waist, or something like that…. It’s kind of perverted. To be honest, I already thought I was out, but I didn’t get caught. And this is not a skill I acquired from admiring every nook and cranny of their bodies. It’s just because of Mikhail’s unnecessarily detailed eye.
And most importantly, compared to Seol-Ah or Cordelia or Hestia, she… , Midgar.
“Where are you looking?”
“I didn’t see it.”
“Shut up.”
Seola noticed my gaze and broke my joint at an angle invisible to others. I don’t know where he learned it, but his skills are extraordinary. In an instant, a star appeared in front of her eyes. Everything was perfect, but the last line of sight was insufficient.
Seol-ah protested as if she was really unfair.
“Originally, it’s bigger than this. It’s not that I’m small, it’s that Lily is small.”
“I got it. What about the other kids?”
“Isn’t that true?”
Originally, it was the timing for her to scratch Seol-ah’s insides one more time, saying that I can’t help you with how small your breasts are even if you argue with me.
From nob le mt l dot com
Mikhail von Sirius, aged 18, was murdered after teasing his first lady friend for having small breasts. Um, that’s terrible. Such a future is an emissary. I desperately changed the topic.
“It took me a long time to find you too. Why are you in a corner like this?”
Seol-ah criticized me.
“No matter how hard I was, I couldn’t stand in the middle of the hall.”
“What is that… , okay.”
Even though it’s been a while since I’ve been here, it’s still hard to go to a party like this. Should I say I don’t know how to enjoy it? Seol-ah nodded as well, probably the same.
I wonder if I stood there for such a long time, but this time the rabbit mask came running at me. The girl in her bunny mask raised her finger and pointed at herself, just like she did before. Did they make this move in advance?
This time it’s easier than before. I didn’t even need a keen eye.
“Cordelia. I didn’t know that even you thought of me that way.”
“Oh! How did you know?”
Cordelia covered her mouth with a really surprised sound. There was even an illusion that the ears of that rabbit mask stood up. No, I really had no intention of hiding her identity. If it wasn’t me, I’d ask any dormitory maid and ask.
I pointed my finger at Seola next to me.
“I see Lily next to me. There are two of you and Hestia left, but someone from far away is running over excitedly. Then who is it?”
“… I have never been so excited.”
“I don’t deny that they ran over and over again.”
“It wasn’t all that loud. I ran a bit….”
“Anyway, this is an essential problem before voice or hair color.”
She heard me and Cordelia tried to brush her hair out of habit, but then she realized that she was wearing her wig, so she slipped her hand back. She looked a little downcast. No, to be precise, it’s a pity that her mischief, which she put her heart and soul into, was so easily ruined.
“So, is Hestia the only one left now?”
“It’s a joke in a strange corner.”
“I think Ms. Hestia would collapse if she found out she heard such a thing from you.”
Seol-A gave a blow to Cordelia who was muttering to herself. Leaving the two bickering alone, I decided to find Hestia first. If I can’t find it there, I’ll go find it.
“Wait a minute, before you two fight, tell me what mask Hestia is wearing.”
“Eh, I don’t like it.”
“Why me?”
What, weren’t you two fighting? Cordelia and Seol-A unanimously refused to answer, as if asking when they had a fight.
“You have to be fair.”
“And to be honest, I’m a bit curious as to whether or not you matched our skills.”
“Wow, you still doubt me?”
To think there are two unbelievers who still don’t believe in me. Sounded very satanic, yes. This will need to show power and repentance. It’s impossible to find three people, but it’s a different story if you just need to find one Hestia. Besides, it’s a situation where you can get a vague sense of how Hestia would have dressed up with the first two. I was confident
“Shall we make a bet?”
“With what?”
“I’ll think about that later. Let’s say you put one debt on it.”
“Yes.”
Both Seol-ah and Cordelia readily nodded to her suggestion. It seems that even I thought it would be impossible to find Hestia among so many people. The two of them seemed to be imagining what to do with the debt they owed to me, so the fight stopped and the two of them whispered.
I’m not even sure. Just watch, you unbelievers.
I confidently set out to find Hestia.