Chapter 382.1: The White Ghost in the Moonlight (Part 1)
When the Second Prince’s gaze landed on Armand, Armand naturally noticed that “someone” was watching him.
There was almost no direct eye contact between the two. By the time Armand lifted his head, the Second Prince had already set down his wine glass and walked away.
Even so, just by watching the servant carrying away the empty glass, Armand could still sense where that earlier gaze had come from. Without thinking, he tightened his grip on Evelia’s hand.
“He noticed us?” Evelia asked.
“Mm,” Armand nodded in response. He casually picked up a glass of fruit wine, though he had no intention of drinking it. He simply didn’t want to give anyone the chance to put something into his hand.
“Then should we…”
“Just don’t leave my side.”
Lowering his eyes, Armand looked into the wine’s reflection, seeing the whispering nobles standing behind him. Then he gave the glass a small swirl, scattering the shadow.
“Alright, I understand,” Evelia replied. She stood close to him, ignoring everyone else’s eyes, content to simply stay by his side.
Meanwhile, Rachel swallowed the last bite of cake in her hand.
She wiped the cream from the corner of her mouth, her gaze fixed on the area around Armand and Evelia.
Although Armand’s whole demeanor screamed that he wanted nothing to do with noble socializing, nobles and politicians were never short on shamelessness.
A group of older men, their faces layered thick with smiles like masks, approached Armand and started chatting with him, sticking to him like a smiling, unwanted patch of glue that wouldn’t come off.
Armand didn’t have the best reputation among nobles, rumor painted him as not very bright, but he wasn’t known for having a bad temper either. That alone made him approachable enough for some to try their luck.
After all, he was still the Captain of the Royal Knights. Even if people looked down on him, he was still a high-ranking officer. There was no shortage of people hoping to get close, even just to ask if he could arrange a good position for their sons in the Knights.
The annoying part was that, even though Armand had no desire to deal with these people, he had to.
He was connected to too many things. His friends, the servants at his estate, the knights under his command, and even the Crown Prince’s public image. For their sake, he had to put on a polite front with these high-ranking figures.
From across the hall, Rachel could clearly see the deep frown on Armand’s face. She could easily imagine how much he disliked that man, and how thick-skinned the noble must be to keep standing there.
“It’s not easy for him…” she muttered to herself, licking the corner of her mouth as if she could feel tired for Armand’s sake.
“Hmm…”
She glanced left and right. Using the act of picking more cake as cover, she slowly drifted toward the far corner near the back door of the ballroom, where fewer people were paying attention to her.
Even though she was attending the ball as Armand’s adopted daughter, most people had only looked her way briefly and very few had bothered to greet her.
For one thing, most nobles felt that currying favor with Armand himself was enough. And for another, many of them already had their own adopted children. There had even been a period where “adoption” became a noble trend, families competing to show off a “kindness” they didn’t really have by taking in many orphans.
In reality, those adopted children were little more than decoration. Whether they turned out good or bad didn’t matter much, as long as they didn’t cause trouble.
So it was no surprise that few nobles paid much attention to Rachel, just a little “adopted girl.”
Besides, Armand hadn’t given Rachel any fancy, high-class identity. To the nobles, she was nothing more than an unwanted stray girl, someone unpresentable, not worth talking to. Speaking with her would only lower their own status.
Because of that, because they looked down on her, Rachel was finally able to quietly “disappear” into the bustle of the crowd.
She slipped out through the back door.
Since she had once told Anna she really wanted to wear comfortable flat shoes, Anna had designed a pair that were perfect for “moving around.” She didn’t have to worry about twisting her ankle or making loud noises when running or jumping.
Only a few soft, muffled steps sounded from the flexible soles as Rachel relied on her memory of the royal back garden, combined with her quick observations of the building when getting out of the carriage, to find the long corridor that led there.
“Phew—”
Even though she was wearing what looked like a proper, elegant princess dress, its light design made it easy to move in.
There weren’t many guards in the back garden, and since she was an invited guest, she didn’t have to sneak around.
She still avoided passing right in front of patrolling guards to save herself from explaining things, but even if she was seen, it wouldn’t be a problem, coming to the garden wasn’t against the rules. And since she had come out early, there were very few nobles taking walks here now. Later, during the middle or late part of the ball, there would be far more people strolling around.
“Oh… oh—”
The moment she entered the back garden, Rachel caught the scent of herbs.
Ever since the old King had fallen ill, he had started focusing on health and wellness.
When he was still able to walk, he often came to the back garden for strolls. Because of that, the garden now contained even more medicinal herbs, good for the body, and many of them were high-quality. If she picked some, they might even be helpful for Armand.
Rachel thought she’d really struck gold by coming to this ball. She jogged along the little gravel paths of the garden, using the moonlight to identify the herbs and materials, breaking them off and slipping them into her alchemy seal.
She had to move quickly. After all, she’d snuck out. Sure, Armand was stuck dealing with shameless nobles and keeping an eye on Evelia, so her slipping away probably wouldn’t be a big deal, but she couldn’t stay gone too long.
Rachel carefully examined the herbs in her hand, identifying their names and properties, her heart beating faster.
—As expected of the royal family.
She couldn’t help but think in amazement.
If these rare herbs were used properly, they might actually slow the progress of Armand’s illness. If she could just have enough time, maybe he could be saved.
“Little one, what are you doing?”
—?!
The moment the moonlight above her was blocked, a strange man’s voice reached her ears.
She turned around awkwardly, hiding the freshly picked herb in her hand, pretending to be nothing more than an innocent little girl, not an alchemist with an alchemy seal.
“Hehe—Uncle—”
She thought it was just a patrolling knight and was ready to smile sweetly and act like a child to get away with it.
But halfway through her words, she froze, swallowing the rest back down.
In front of her stood a tall man, or at least, she thought it was a man.
Because she couldn’t see his face at all.
What stood before her was a white shadow, completely covered by a white cloak.