Chapter 385: Under the Fireworks
The old King’s speech was met with rounds of applause. After reading the opening words, the music began again.
The New Year was an important holiday for the country, and naturally, many other nations came to celebrate.
They brought New Year gifts for the old King. Some small countries even prepared performances just to make him happy.
Some performed dances and songs, some brought large-scale magic shows and circuses, while others, being a bit more modern, prepared talk-show-style comedy skits. Of course, all the lines were carefully chosen to please the King, and the old man enjoyed them thoroughly.
Daphne Astre Cleia, as the princess who had married the Crown Prince from a neighboring country, had also prepared a gift for the old King. A fine wine she had personally brewed to his taste. In the company of the crown prince, she presented it in a very public and respectful way.
The old King, knowing she was here to please him and that the wine was tailored to his liking, was quite satisfied with her attitude of submission. He even had her pour him a glass herself, drank it all with a smile, and considered it a show of goodwill.
Amid the music and dancing, everyone was waiting for the New Year’s final countdown, and the second prince was no exception.
He stood to the side, chatting with nobles who eagerly came over to talk to him. With his friendly smile, he easily overshadowed the crown prince, who was known for his strict demeanor.
“Your Highness, I heard you helped organize this year’s New Year’s party? It’s truly spectacular. The royal family is lucky to have such a talented young man like you.”
Hearing this, the second prince’s eyebrows lifted slightly.
It sounded like praise, but if he accepted it, others might see it as him trying to win favor with the king and claim credit.
“You flatter me. This event is hosted mainly by my father. My brother and I are just here to lend a hand. It’s His Majesty’s leadership that made this celebration such a success.”
Still smiling, the second prince silently committed the man’s name to memory.
Meanwhile, Armand took advantage of the lively atmosphere to quietly lead Evelia out of the main hall and toward the back garden.
Just like before, there was still no sign of Rachel anywhere. Even when they asked the guards, no one said they had seen a little girl with long platinum hair.
“Where on earth did she go…?”
Armand’s brows furrowed, cold sweat soaking his back.
“Maybe she wandered off somewhere to play,” Evelia said, trying to offer some comfort. But both of them knew very well, based on Rachel’s personality, she wasn’t the type to wander aimlessly.
Or perhaps… she had gone somewhere for a reason, but never came back.
“……”
For a brief moment, the two locked eyes, as if they had both thought of the same possibility.
“Mr. Armand, let’s split up and search.”
“What?” Armand immediately shook his head. “Didn’t I say you can’t leave my sight? We can’t find Rachel already. I can’t risk anything happening to you as well.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll just search inside the ballroom. There are so many people there, nothing will happen.”
“But—”
“We have to find Rachel sooner if we want to leave here quickly, right?”
“……”
Armand stayed silent, looking at Evelia. Her eyes were firm, but he bit his lip.
“—No.”
Even though Evelia was determined, Armand still shook his head.
He simply couldn’t bring himself to agree.
From the very start, his heart had been pounding hard. He didn’t know why. Maybe it was because he was worried about Rachel, or maybe it was because he had a bad feeling deep inside from the beginning.
“Mr. Armand…”
Evelia rarely frowned like this, and right now, she looked as if she was pleading with him.
“I can’t let go, Eve. I just—”
He was too tense.
So tense that when Evelia suggested splitting up, he immediately gripped her hand tightly, as if afraid she would vanish the next second.
“Mr. Armand, I am still an assassin. I can protect myself. Please trust me a little more.”
“But—”
Just as they were still arguing, Armand felt his foot sink slightly, like he had stepped on something.
“…?”
From the feeling, it seemed like wet soil, something had soaked into the ground and made it muddy.
He instinctively looked at the bottom of his shoe. If he tracked mud into the ballroom, people would keep asking questions. But when he looked down under the moonlight, he froze.
Evelia, seeing it too, swallowed back the words she was about to say.
It wasn’t mud, it was blood.
A streak of smeared blood stretched across the ground, trailing off toward some unknown corner.
Armand turned his head and saw bits of flesh hidden in a flowerbed. It looked like someone had tried to cover them with dirt, but had deliberately left part of it exposed.
The two of them said nothing, just exchanged a glance.
This scene… it felt familiar.
The last time Armand had seen something like this was with Evelia. Back then, in the chaos, he had been fooled by a female corpse. Now, it was like the same trick was being used again.
Was it really the same trick? Or was it “the wolf is here” this time?
Armand pulled Evelia along. He didn’t want to believe it, he had been tricked once before, but Evelia could feel his hand trembling.
Step by step, they followed the trail, noticing clearer animal footprints on the ground. The scattered remains were like breadcrumbs, leading them in a straight line.
“—!”
Finally, at the end of the flowerbed, Armand and Evelia both saw it. Rachel’s body, like a broken doll, her insides hollowed out and thrown there.
Whoosh—Bang!
As if announcing the tragedy, fireworks shot into the sky at that very moment.
They shone brighter than the moon, lighting up this unremarkable corner… and also lighting up the small, torn pieces of a body.
This time, as if to make the message painfully clear, the corpse still had a face. But aside from that, everything else was ripped apart, like a human skin mask stuck onto rotting flesh.
Evelia and Armand had both worked in the underworld before. They were no strangers to seeing the dead, and even gruesome deaths were usually within what they could accept.
But neither of them could accept that the body in front of them was Rachel.
Even her eyeballs had been removed and neatly placed to the side, as if to mock them.
“Eve…”
It was Armand, not Evelia, who spoke first. His voice trembled, whether from grief or anger, it was hard to tell.
The fireworks lit Rachel’s face, but could not light up Armand’s expression in the shadows.
“Right now, you have to leave this place… immediately. At once.”
“What? But—”
“Now!”
Evelia had never heard Armand shout like this before. This time, he finally let go of her hand.
—She had to leave.
This was clearly targeted. No matter what was going on, Evelia had to get out.
And as for himself…?
He… would stay behind to buy time?
“—”
The cheers of people in the hall and on the balcony, celebrating the New Year, drowned out Evelia’s words. The loud firecrackers also made it harder for them to hear each other.
Armand gave Evelia’s shoulder a gentle push. He believed that every extra second she stayed here was dangerous.
Then he turned and left, deliberately avoiding her eyes so she wouldn’t see his expression right now.
“Mr. Ar—”
“Happy New Year—!!!”
—BOOM!!!
People were cheering, Evelia was calling out his name.
Their voices blended together, only to be swallowed by an ear-shattering explosion.
She saw Armand run back into the ballroom, and in the next moment, under the dazzling lights, the royal ballroom blew apart with a deafening blast.
The cheers were drowned out by the explosion, and the shockwave flung Evelia into the air.
“—Mr. Armand?!”
And along with the cheers, the figure of Armand, who had only just gone inside, vanished from sight.