The Masked Omen and the Crushing Crowd

“The Prince?”

If Aiden was speaking of a Prince, it had to be Erkel. I accepted the box Aiden held out.

“It’s, uh, it’s not that I don’t trust him. No, it’s just, I was worried Elliot might be sad if I, um, delivered something only to you.”

No wonder he kept glancing nervously at Elliot. What a precious thought. To think Elliot would be sad over not getting a gift. It was more likely that he’d fall in love and abandon his family. I glanced at the peacefully sleeping Elliot and spoke.

“Thank you. Did the Prince say anything else?”

“No. He just said to, uh, give it to you.”

I toyed with the tightly sealed box and asked again.

“Did anything seem unusual to you?”

Aiden shook his head once more.

“Since he just told me to bring it to you… I just carried it exactly as I received it. I, I’m sorry, I don’t know more.”

Even if told not to look, curiosity is only human. I patted the shoulder of the apologetic Aiden and gave an awkward smile. To think he transported it exactly as received just because Erkel told him to give it to me. Aiden wasn’t exactly a fiercely loyal knight; he was still just a kid. Perhaps that was exactly why Erkel chose him to deliver the item.

I tucked the box away safely. If this were something ordinary, a parcel would have been much faster. Since he used this method, it meant I needed to examine it carefully when I was alone.

And finally. Starting with the fireworks display Helena had waited for with bated breath, the week-long festival officially began.

“Crazy.”

I thought I had spoken out loud. I was thinking, ‘This is insane,’ but Elliot beat me to the punch.

“Maybe going to the reserved seating would be better after all?”

Reserved seats are provided for certain families—those of high enough ‘rank’ to be invited to Imperial banquets. There, one could sit comfortably, enjoying drinks and snacks while watching the fireworks. Since it was a VIP area restricted to the elite, the comfort level went without saying.

But Helena wasn’t satisfied with that. Her reason was that she couldn’t give up on seeing the performers marching down the main street and the boats on the canal. I understood her; watching from the sidelines isn’t the same as the vivid excitement of being in the thick of it. I myself had wavered when I saw a giant bird-shaped lantern inflated by magic.

The problem was that a lot—no, a hell of a lot—of people had the same idea. It wasn’t even sunset yet, but the streets were already packed. Once it got truly dark, the crowd would easily double.

“You want to push through that?”

Elliot looked disgusted. He was gritting his teeth so hard his words came out clipped. I joined him, trying my best to persuade Helena. It wasn’t like we had no other choice. There was no need to suffer in that throng when we had perfectly good seats waiting.

“It’s dangerous with just us.”

Even Aiden, who usually didn’t voice his opinion much, stepped in. It was the most realistic and important point. A group of children, none of whom were even half-grown, wandering into such a crowd? The Marquis of Swarton was no pushover; there was no way he would allow it. However, Helena, who had been pouting at our opposition, brightened up at his words and clapped her hands.

“Don’t worry about that! My father sent Dan.”

Dan—Daniel Seltz—was a brown-haired knight with a pleasant impression. Right, Helena’s family was a Marquisate. Families of that rank and above are permitted to maintain private guards in the capital. As I mulled over his name, I realized the surname sounded incredibly familiar.

“Seltz… by any chance, do you know Sir James Seltz?”

“That’s right. Jim is my cousin.”

Come to think of it, his smiling face was very similar. Having inherited the same sociable personality, Daniel quickly struck up a conversation with us and led the way.

The crowd was massive. It looked like a lot from a distance, but up close, it was staggering. It was more crowded than the amusement parks I remembered from an era that now felt like a distant dream, and denser than a college town on a weekend. Except, precisely, for the area around us. Daniel explained the festival with a kind smile while the Swarton knights formed a protective circle around us. They maintained a certain distance so we wouldn’t lose sight of their backs, and no one else was allowed inside that circle. It was a perfect guard that even Leo would have approved of.

Given the prestige of the Swarton name alone, plus the fact that they were wearing gleaming armor, it was only natural people kept their distance. Honestly, I was embarrassed as hell. It was comfortable, sure, but this felt like being a public nuisance on a grand scale. Apparently, I was the only one who thought so; the others were too busy looking at the lanterns beginning to glow with the sunset. Even Elliot, who had been acting grumpy, was captivated by the spectacle.

Helena kept stealing glances at Elliot. Elliot didn’t give her a lick of attention. I had been told not to interfere—that not giving her an opening was better than giving false hope—so I had no choice but to ignore the subtle tension between them.

The further we walked, the more brilliant it became. The decorations put out by every shop and the large lanterns hanging from buildings were all unique. Even though these were streets I frequented, everything felt new, as if I were in a foreign city.

As the crimson sky turned a deep indigo, the crowd gravitated toward the canal. Daniel changed our direction, saying there would be much to see there. He was right. Small, unmanned boats passed by, projecting massive lanterns like holograms—a warrior with a sword, flames blooming from a hand outstretched to cast magic. They were as spectacular as one would expect from a display fueled by the labor of low-ranking mages. We moved slowly along the canal. The procession, moving in the opposite direction of the crowd on the other side, was sluggish.

That was why I didn’t notice the protruding tile beneath my feet. Thanks to someone brushing past me, I didn’t fall and quickly regained my balance.

…Brushing past me?

The perimeter had narrowed, but the Swarton knights were still guarding us like an iron fortress. Any normal person would avoid them, and anyone who tried to enter would be stopped. But just now, no one had reacted. I spun around quickly. I didn’t expect to find an unidentifiable face among so many people, but—

I found him instantly.

It was because he was staring directly at me. I recognized him without any difficulty. A mask that covered his face, leaving only his mouth exposed. The strange sense of dissonance as people around him seemed to unconsciously avoid him. It was the same person I had encountered on the day I went out with Helena and Louis.

The man vanished into the crowd the moment our eyes met. My pace slowed as a feeling of unease settled in my gut. Was it really a coincidence to run into him again after several years, especially at a festival? Last time, the masked man had looked straight at me as he passed. This time, he had waited, as if to make sure I saw him. Once is a coincidence; twice is a pattern. I had a gut feeling it was time to dust off the information I had buried after hearing it at the Magic Tower.

First, let’s get through today. I shook my head at Aiden, who asked if something was wrong, and rejoined the procession.

Up ahead, Helena complained that her legs hurt, so Daniel looked for a place to sit. It was about time. Aiden and I were used to physical training, but Elliot and Helena had been walking a long time in formal shoes.

While the guardian was away and the children were exhausted—at the exact moment everyone had let their guard down because nothing had happened so far—it happened.

Without even a chance to scream, Helena was sucked into a sudden swell of the dense crowd. Seeing her eyes widen in shock, I instinctively lunged forward and grabbed her hand. I tried to pull her back, but the force dragging her away was too strong for me to handle alone. I heard Elliot’s voice shouting Helena’s and my names, but even that soon grew distant.

I gripped her arm tight, determined not to let go. We were buffeted and pressed by the crowd, and I realized anew just how peaceful our walk had been until now. After being hit in the head about seventeen times by anonymous elbows and hips, I finally managed to get a firm grip on Helena’s forearm. I was the disciple of the Empire’s greatest knight, after all. Whipping myself with the thought that I had to at least manage this, I finally managed to veer us toward the side.

By the time we reached the left edge of the procession, we were spat out like a spring releasing. We tumbled onto the ground as dust swirled around us. I coughed repeatedly as if I were going to throw up. Still hacking, I reached out and grabbed the hem of Helena’s dress.

“Are, cough, ugh, are you okay?”

Helena nodded, looking like she was about to cry. Her braided and decorated hair was a mess, and her dress was so wrinkled it was hard to recognize its original fullness. If her maid saw the blackened lace covered in dust, she would surely scream.

I comforted the girl, who was shaken by the sudden accident, while looking for the Swarton knights. When they were close, I thought their height and gleaming armor would make them easy to spot from afar, but now that we were actually separated, I couldn’t see them anywhere.

Rather than recklessly jumping back into the procession, I thought it would be better to find a recognizable building. The problem was that, being the Empire’s largest event, most of the shops had locked their doors. If this were Korea, everyone would have been open for the peak business hour, but in the Empire, even the merchants had left their shops to enjoy the grand festival that came only once every few years.