Chapter 6

In the back of the crowd, Elphie calmly retracted her foot. The lingering cold soon dispersed, leaving no traces.

While she had been thinking that she had successfully thwarted the novel plot, she noticed some movement in the crowd behind Countess Frieda, whom she had been watching.

Normally, people would walk in and out of a crowd, and few would move sideways. Sometimes, they would be moving towards a companion, but this person would shift and stop after reaching them. This person she noticed kept subtly dodging behind other people, obstructing sight of her.

She slowly made her way over from the opposite end to behind Countess Frieda.

Why?

Was there mention of someone like this in the novel? But someone acting shady like this never boded well. Elphie continued to monitor the situation, mana gathering in her body.

Suddenly, she saw a slight smile creep onto the woman’s face. Countess Frieda shrieked in alarm, and Crown Prince Troy jumped back along with the crowd. As black lightning began to shoot haphazardly, a gleaming silver sword blocked a strike about to land on a nearby young lady.

At the same time, the suspicious lady raised a finger with a black ring on it. Metal, electricity… These two words instantly crossed Elphie’s mind. She quickly raised her hand, forming an ice casing around the ring on the floor.

Sure enough, black lightning tried to connect with the woman’s ring. If it had linked together, Crown Prince Troy would have found it difficult to avoid all injuries. Elphie strengthened the layer around the ring, ensuring that no lightning could escape and attack the crowd.

With that done, she stepped forward with a foot, casting a large-scale ice spell. White frost began to extend across the floor, snaking towards the attacker. Once it had spread past Crown Prince Troy, Elphie’s golden eyes focused, and a huge spike of ice shot out from the floor.

The attacker dodged the first strike, but it was too late, she had already fallen into Elphie’s trap. A layer of ice she had circled behind the attacker surged up, forming a towering ice wall. When the attacker hit the ice wall, the ice in front of her quickly pinned her against the wall. Although she tried to break it, ice wasn’t a good conductor of electricity.

Soon, the royal guards entered the encirclement and took the attacker into custody. Elphie relaxed and withdrew the ice, keeping the casing around the ring just in case. Suddenly, she caught sight of Crown Prince Troy looking around the crowd.

Was he searching for something? Or perhaps, someone. A layer of goosebumps ran up Elphie’s back as she suddenly realized… only one family in the kingdom used ice magic: the Elraba family.

The moment she thought of this, she dipped her head down, trying to diminish her presence. However, Ariadne began to chatter beside her: “Elphie!!! Oh my gosh, that was so amazing! I didn’t even have time to react, not that I could’ve done anything anyways, but I can’t believe you were able to stop the situation so quickly! Even the guards didn’t respond so fast!!”

“Calm down, Ariadne.” Elphie tried to grab Ariadne’s arm, stopping her from jumping in excitement.

Ariadne continued to bubble in excitement, squealing as she lavished praises to Elphie. Finally, Elphie gave a polite smile, “Why don’t we go look for my parents?”

She could see her mother and father standing not far away from them, in the middle of the crowd. If the Crown Prince was indeed looking for the Elraba family, it would be better to face him as a group.

Wait… Elphie suddenly glanced at Ariadne. If she brought Ariadne over to her parents now, wouldn’t that put her back in the spotlight? Though she had successfully diverted the Northern Duke and Crown Prince’s attention on Ariadne, a part of it had landed on herself instead. In this case, it would be better to part for the night.

Elphie held Ariadne’s hand, “I will be heading over to my parents now. I’m sure the night was quite thrilling, so it may be best for you to go find the Count and Countess. Write to me tomorrow, okay?”

Ariadne laughed, “Sure! I’ll go check on my parents then. Make sure you reply my letter then, don’t forget!” With that said, Ariadne waved giddily and trotted off through the crowd. Elphie smiled and waved back before turning to head back towards her family.

The Marquis and Marquess were still towards the back of the crowd, watching the commotion. With the attacker subdued and taken away by the guards, the guests slowly began to leave.

Crown Prince Troy stood by the entrance, surrounded by the crowd along with a larger entourage of guards. The guests swarmed towards him, wishing to be the first one to show the prince concern.

Marquess Diana smiled as Elphie came back, “Where’s Ariadne?”

“She went to find the Count and Countess.” Elphie nodded in greeting.

“Ooh. Well, the show appears to be just about done anyways. Why don’t we head out too?”

Elphie glanced around the crowd but wasn’t able to catch sight of them. Her father looked at Elphie and seemed to want to say something, but held back. He took Marquess Diana’s hand and began making their way through towards the exit. The crowd ahead resisted the newcomer, but immediately made way upon realizing who they were.

This was the power of social status. Elphie ruefully thought. Ahead, Crown Prince Troy looked up and noticed them. He made a few polite gestures and took a few steps forward to greet them: “Good evening, Marquis and Marquess Elraba. I hope tonight hasn’t posed too much of an inconvenience to your family.”

“Not at all, Prince Troy. I hope that your injuries are not serious?” Marquis Elraba politely greeted him while Marquess Elraba smiled with her face behind a fan.

Elphie trailed slightly behind them, standing just out of view. This was her first time seeing the prince up close. He had a sharp jawline, aquiline nose, and was quite tall. Befitting a male lead from a novel, he was quite the strapping young man.

However, this man’s thoughts ran deeply. Elphie knew that she had exposed herself by using ice magic tonight, and the Crown Prince wasn’t dumb enough to not realize. She would rather him say something now than guess at his thoughts.

Crown Prince Troy looked over Marquis Elraba’s shoulder and met gazes with Elphie. He flashed a warm smile at her before saying, “Thank you for your family’s assistance tonight, Marquis.”

Elphie couldn’t see Marquis Elraba’s face, but his face came out evenly, “It is our honor, Crown Prince. It is only right for us to lend our strength to the royal family.”

The crowd nearby began to whisper, confirming that Marquis Elraba was the one who assisted. Countess Frieda stood to the side with an ashen face, obviously still not recovered from the ring’s attack. Elphie was also surprised that her father would direct the fire towards himself.

“Your magic prowess is as astounding as ever.” Crown Prince Troy chuckled, “It was an honor to fight alongside the legendary Ice Mage.”

“You jest, Your Highness. That is but an old title. I hope I did not embarrass myself with my clumsy assistance.”

Crown Prince Troy extended a hand, “Not at all. It was most timely. Thank you again and I bid you and your family goodnight.”

Marquis Elraba shook his hand and led Marquess Elraba away. As Elphie passed by the Crown Prince, she could vaguely feel eyes boring into her neck. She calmly turned towards the Crown Prince, curtsied, and exited. Crown Prince Troy smiled kindly as she felt a strange chill run down her back, hastening her steps.

Finally, the eerie feeling vanished upon boarding the carriage. Elphie let out a slight sigh and relaxed her back. However, she instantly straightened up again when she saw the creepy smiles plastered on her parents’ faces.

Marquess Diana Elraba laughed lowly, “Ho ho. So, Dear, would you like to explain to us?”

Goosebumps rose along Elphie’s arm at her laugh. Finally, she sighed and began to explain how she had brought the servant over with missing items to calm Countess Frieda. During this time, she noticed some suspicious movement behind the Crown Prince, which was why she was able to respond in time.

At this point, she asked the Marquis, “Father, why did you tell the Crown Prince it was you?”