The Opposite Of Indifference - Chapter 9

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The masquerade took place in the grand banquet hall. Ladies wearing masks adorned with jewels appeared on a stage lavishly decorated with silks and candelabras.

The queen’s ladies-in-waiting took turns revising lines while dressing up at the vanity. They danced and sang.

Charlotte Brennan was decidedly self-possessed. She danced like a fluttering hummingbird in a pink silk gown. It was hard not to fall in love with the appearance. It was worth it to win over the god of beauty while enduring the resentment of the Queen and the other ladies.

“Give me more wine.”

Queen Jadalin snapped her fingers as she sat on the highest seat in the grand banquet hall, her spiky throne.

Millicent, who had wandered through the crowd of spectators with a bottle of wine, ran quickly and filled her empty glass. The king’s throne next to Jadalin’s was still empty.

“He would lead the vassals to the stage in time for the climax.” Noticing Millicent’s curiosity, Jadalin said.

“Will the king also wear a mask?”

“Yes. Have you ever met His Majesty?”

“No, but today, if he wears a mask and blends in with the crowd, I won’t be able to tell.”

“No matter what disguise he wears, once you see him, you can’t help but recognize him right away.” Jadalin laughed bitterly. “His Majesty is such a person.”

“I don’t know what the hell it means when everyone says the same thing.” Millicent grumbled.

“Well, just think of it as he’s the King of Trump cards.” Jadalin added absentmindedly, with only a completely useless explanation.

“Anyway, you mean to say that His Majesty will also be wearing a mask and dancing on stage?”

“Yes.”

“Why doesn’t the Queen dance?” Millicent wondered. “Everyone was itching to be on stage. Why didn’t Your Majesty take the role of the god of beauty?”

Jadalin had received the highest level of education on five continents since birth. Moreover, she was so beautiful that it was rude to compare her to the maids under her command.

“The stage of the royal palace is a stall where my presence is on display.” Jadalin chuckled. “I’m meant to be better regarded than the woman standing next to me. They do it so they can seek a better husband. Or to get in the eyes of the King to acquire a better title and land for their fathers and husbands.”

She said, drinking the blood-red wine with a very graceful movement. “So I will refrain. I never once felt a reason to sell myself. I don’t think anyone would dare to put a price on my existence.” Jadalin suddenly frowned. “Well, my mother used to think that way.”

The expression on her face looked very complicated as she recalled her mother, who had generously granted her the right of succession, but at the same time had taken it away from her so heartlessly.

Millicent wanted to know why. But she was not foolish enough to show curiosity.

“Anyway, I enjoyed studying astronomy from a very young age and tried to get the top score. I never liked that sort of thing,” Jadalin said in a tone of real disdain. “I always had to wear a white dress.”

Regardless of Jadalin’s personal feelings, the masquerade ball was at its peak. In the center of the stage, Charlotte’s singing enchanted the grand ballroom.

“Decorate the altar with roses, and put honeysuckle in my hair.” Charlotte dramatically extended her white satin-gloved hand. “Oh, God of the dead! Be the king of the living and save me.”

At that moment, the heavy doors of the grand ballroom flung open and the trumpeters entered. Millicent  was startled and nearly missed her wine bottle at the ear-splitting sound.

Then five men appeared among the loud trumpeters. They appeared to be the king and his retainers, dressed in disguises appropriate for the theatrical performance. Their costumes matched their partners, the ladies, and wore fancy masks, but Millicent recognized a man among them. It was Rubert’s assistant, a son of a Duke. He wore a yellow mask and stood out with his fiery red hair.

“How is His Majesty so dashing?”

Tracy exclaimed as she carried a tray of pickled cherries around the stage and offered them to the guests.

On the other hand, the others, with the exception of Millicent, seemed to have recognized the king, not the Cardinal’s assistant.

“Who is His Majesty?” Millicent rushed to Tracy’s side.

“Are you an idiot?” Tracy clicked her tongue in bewilderment.

“They all look so much alike!” Millicent protested with unfairness.

Meanwhile, the king and his vassals approached the stage, leisurely enjoying the shock of the intrusion. They led the dance, circling around in circles, holding the hands of the ladies who had been prearranged as their respective partners.

Everyone was good, but not the red-haired man. He was too nervous and staggered. So much so that he even stepped on the hem of Ophelia’s gown, who played the role of the god of marriage. Only the god of beauty remained at the center of the stage.

Charlotte’s smile was full of anticipation as she waited with her hand outstretched. Only one man remained single as the other men had found their partners.

He was the tallest, with pitch black hair and a silver mask. The sound of the heels of his very expensive boots, which covered even his firm calves as he took each step toward the stage, made the entire court weep.

Millicent suddenly felt a strange sensation. It was because of the way the others were looking at him. The orchestra was still playing and the choir boys were still singing, but it felt strangely quiet.

Everyone loved him. At the same time, they feared him. Somewhere along the way, all the theatrics and roles disappeared. Only the obvious awe that came from his very existence ruled the world.

“…Oh my God!” Someone eventually screamed.

Millicent immediately realized why. The man with the enormous presence did not hold Charlotte’s white satin gloved hand. Instead, he came to Millicent and stopped in front of her. Then he held out his hand towards her.

“You know,” Millicent whispered distractedly. “You can’t see very well

because of the mask, but it’s not this way, it’s that way.”

Although she didn’t know who it was, she could predict his future as he had ruined the masked play in which the king appeared. Not only would he be the laughing stock of society, but he would be banished from the court. If Millicent had as much feeling as others, she would have felt sorry for him to the point of tears.

“I’m just a passing maid, you poor fellow!” Millicent whisper-yelled but he made not the slightest movement, so she grabbed his arm and tried to push him toward Charlotte. But to her surprise, he distorted Millicent’s intentions.

He grabbed her right hand, which she had thrust out to push him, and led her to dance to the music. In one ridiculously graceful motion, he spun around and even snatched the bottle of wine Millicent was holding in her left hand and tossed it somewhere in the process.

“You must be crazy!”

Millicent was astonished as she  had no grasp of the situation.

A lowly maid dancing with a nobleman in the middle of the court, wearing an apron. Everyone was equally shocked by this bizarre sight. Still, the orchestra played the planned tune while fidgeting. The couples on stage holding hands also danced while looking at each other in wonder.

Unfortunately, Charlotte accepted reality most cruelly. She stood there at a loss of what to do between the continuing play and the men and women dancing in circles. Her hand, outstretched toward the man she believed to be her partner, was still in place, but her face was red with extreme embarrassment.

It was only natural that leg-injured Adriana, who was among the spectators with the help of her servant, laughed at Charlotte’s spectacle.

However, Millicent couldn’t afford to care about Charlotte’s misfortune. It was because she had to keep up with this crazy man whose head had turned perfectly in the opposite direction.

“As a maid, you know the Kurlander dance tunes so well.” He whispered.

It was not a wrong remark. Millicent was unconsciously moving to the tune. It was strange. It looked like it

was a song she had learned as a child, but never forgotten even when she was older.

“Just like a lady from a prestigious family.”

“Then for a crazy person, you know how to dance like a normal person!”

Millicent retorted. Wait a minute, she had had this similar experience before.

Yes, she recently had an argument with someone that had no nutritional value whatsoever. Was it Rubert? No, it wasn’t. It was a different person. It was someone she found far more boring and annoying…

“…. Frankie?” Finally, Millicent got a clue.

“Not even Phineas anymore?” The man laughed dismissively.

“It’s Frankie!”

“It’s Freddie.”

Millicent lost no opportunity to argue that it wasn’t, as he raised her hand above her head and twirled her around.

“Millicent,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. They were so close that their noses almost touched. “I remember your name so clearly.”

The part of his face that was not covered by the mask was his two eyes. Millicent’s face was in his gray eyes with a hint of blue.

“What’s the point of remembering my name? You’re going to get fired and banished.” (Millicent)

“Why am I going to get fired?” The man asked, amused.

“I heard you’re His Majesty’s servant. Do you think you’d be safe to ruin the play commemorating his victory? Stop dancing and go and pack your things. You will be banished anyway.” (Millicent)

“I am neither a hunter nor the King’s servant,” he said. “You really are an unusually innocent young lady.”

The cold gaze created by the gray eyes slowly scanned Millicent’s face.

Her long white hat had hidden everything from her hair to her expression, from her bright blue eyes to her straight, tightly closed lips.

“Or are you a young lady pretending to be innocent?” he said again. “Either way, it’s fresh.”

It was clear that this man had a talent for swaying Millicent in completely incomprehensible directions. She didn’t just feel like a fool, but also a prey.

“They only measure freshness at the butcher’s shop.” Millicent twisted his hand hard, pretending to move to the rhythm. “I am not a piece of meat on a shelf like those noble ladies. I have nothing to gain by looking fresh to you.”

“Really? Even if you’re a piece of meat that is well-prepared and sold in this court,” he said with no filler. “And if you knew who I am, even a humble maid would have something to offer. Everything thinks so.”

His hands were so strong that no amount of twisting would break.

“Think about it, Millicent. ” he said. “You already know who I am.”

The orchestra stopped playing. The comical masquerade was over. The men let go of the hands of the ladies they had been dancing with and stepped back with a bow.

The man who was either Frankie or Freddie did the same.

He looked Millicent straight in the eye, and his greeting was not at all polite. He was rather anxious and uncomfortable.

Among the ladies who bent their knees to greet the men, Charlotte stood there in embarrassment as she had no one to greet.

And suddenly, her humiliation alarmed Millicent. Surely, said the god of beauty, she would get one last chance to dance with the king.

“Let us take off our masks now.” Rubert Mulally requested in the silence when the music had stopped. As the patron of the banquet, he took his seat next to the queen.

Rubert’s expression was fierce when he looked at Millicent. Strangely, it was similar to the day when he saw a village boy pulling Millicent’s hair to attract her attention when they were young.

The people on stage took off their masks at the Cardinal’s order. But everyone’s eyes were solely on the man who stood before Millicent. His neatly pulled back hair had tousled from the dance, cascading gently  over his straight forehead. Gray eyes with a hint of blue dismissed the world’s interest in him as a matter of course. His red lips wore a confident smile that proved he owned this court himself. Finally Millicent realized what he said when he said she would know when she saw it.

“Praise!”

The king’s proclaimer exclaimed solemnly.

“The greatest king of the five continents, the guardian of our great kingdom, the Azalea that bloomed in the darkest shade of gray in the Grechis family, the most perfect creation God ever made… “

Everyone bowed their heads and bent their knees like soaring waves.

“Welcome, His Majesty Frederick!”

So his name was Freddie, finally Millicent learned correctly.

“Good evening, beautiful young lady,” Frederick whispered to her as he bowed. “Did I comply with your order to look more handsome the next time we meet?”

For the first time in her life, Millicent felt like fainting.

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