I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 722

“Aether. Do you perhaps… know how to dance?”

“……”

Aether stammered.

Of course, he knew how to dance. Non-citizens had their own culture.

However, what Ariel was asking for was obviously a social dance befitting the royal court, and there was no way Aether could do that kind of dance.

“Originally, my brother didn’t really enjoy these kinds of events, so he didn’t dance much… but still, you never know what might happen.”

Ariel smiled brightly and held out her hand.

“I’ll give you a quick lesson, just enough to get through the ball. Come here.”

And so.

From the evening when the red sunset was shining, until the night when the bright moonlight was pouring down.

Ariel gave Aether a short social dance lesson.

On the surface, it looked like a prince and princess, with the same silver hair and turquoise eyes, were dancing together in a friendly manner.

Fortunately, Aether had a talent for dancing. He quickly learned the steps, and the fake siblings were soon twirling around together, practicing the dance.

“It feels strange to practice dancing like this with someone who has the same face as my brother,” Ariel said, covering her mouth and laughing.

But the one who felt the strangest was Aether.

Just because he looked like the prince, he was acting as a fake prince in the royal palace, and he was practicing dancing with the princess, whom he wouldn’t even have been able to make eye contact with, at a distance where their breaths could touch…

‘Is this even real?’

In a daze, as if floating in a dream, Aether learned to dance from the princess.

“Well then, tomorrow is the ball!”

The day before the ball.

After teaching him not only how to dance but also party manners and who to be careful of, Ariel spoke with a slightly nervous expression.

“It seems like the most dangerous time while you’re pretending to be my brother… let’s do our best not to get caught!”

***

The day of the ball.

This ball was a kind of after-party following the victory declaration ceremony.

If the victory declaration ceremony was a place to show off national power with foreign guests, this was a place for the people of the Lake Kingdom to celebrate their victory among themselves.

It was an event hosted by the royal family, and since the king was absent due to illness, it was essentially a party that the prince and princess had to manage.

So, Ariel was incredibly busy. Next to her, Aether was also doing his best to act as Prince Christian.

Numerous guests came one after another to offer their congratulations to the prince and princess.

Each time, Ariel would call out the other person’s name first and respond with praise, and Aether would chime in appropriately, keeping pace.

“Whew, thankfully we’ve done well so far!”

After several hours of greeting people, Ariel smiled at Aether, fanning her flushed cheeks.

Unlike Ariel, who was maintaining a calm demeanor despite being slightly tired, Aether was completely exhausted and slumped in a chair.

He had never imagined that greeting people could be so tiring.

‘I thought royals just played around and did nothing…’

Not at all. Royals had their own hardships.

‘Still, if I had to choose between the two…’

Of course, he would want to live as a royal.

Aether glanced sideways. Ariel, fanning her cheeks, was wearing an elegant dress and was dazzlingly beautiful.

From her makeup to her accessories, everything was more extravagant than usual for the ball, but the red ribbon tied behind her head was the same as always.

Aether had tied it for her this morning.

At that moment, feeling Aether’s gaze, Ariel lightly shook her head and gently touched the ribbon.

“Hehe, no matter what event it is, I can’t give up this ribbon.”

Then, she winked playfully.

“Thank you for tying it so well, brother?”

“……”

The fact that he had left a trace on the princess, who was like the sky, made Aether’s heart flutter for some reason.

At that moment, music began to play in the hall.

It was time for the formal social dance.

People poured out into the central hall of the ballroom and took their partners’ hands. Ariel watched the scene with a smile, as if she was enjoying it.

“……”

Suddenly, Aether hesitated.

He knew it was presumptuous, but.

There was one thing he wanted to ask the princess.

‘Not just dance practice, but a real dance…’

It was the first wish that Aether, a slave boy who had no dreams and was just trying to survive day by day, had ever had. Aether swallowed hard.

If only he could dance with you, just once…

However, before Aether could make that presumptuous request.

“Prince!”

A woman, adorned like a peacock, approached and spoke to him.

Aether barely managed to recall her identity and awkwardly called out her name.

“Ah… Lady Peacock.”

“Would you please grant me the honor of dancing one song with you, Prince?”

And almost at the same time.

“Princess.”

A middle-aged knight with a stern face approached Ariel with another young knight. Ariel recognized him and made eye contact.

“Ah, Sir Baltimore.”

“My son wishes to ask the Princess for a dance, would that be alright?”

The middle-aged knight pointed to the young knight and stepped aside.

The young knight, with a flushed face, bowed deeply and then extended his arm towards Ariel.

Ariel, with a practiced smile, took the knight’s hand.

“Of course.”

Ariel and the young knight linked arms and went down to the central hall, and Aether, who had been hesitating, was also dragged down to the central hall by Lady Peacock.

The music started, and people twirled around, dancing.

“Ugh…”

Although he had practiced hard for the past few days, Aether knew that his steps were clumsy. He tried his best not to step on Lady Peacock’s feet.

And as he was struggling, he glanced to the side and saw-

His eyes met Ariel’s, who was watching him.

Ariel smiled and mouthed something small.

You’re doing well.

Aether’s heart thumped.

He didn’t even know what this feeling was, and he couldn’t even tell if this place was a dream or reality.

In a daze, Aether was swept away by the waves of people and danced.

The fake prince and the real princess were right next to each other, each holding the hand of a different partner, twirling around and dancing.

Twirling, twirling…

***

After successfully completing the ball.

After that, there were several events and schedules, but Aether, with Ariel’s help, successfully carried out his role as a substitute.

And, almost a month had passed.

“You’ve worked really hard, Aether,” Ariel said, calling Aether to praise him.

“I received a message from Director Dirandahi. He said he will be returning to the Lake Kingdom tomorrow.”

“Ah…!”

Aether sighed.

The time had come for the prince, who had left for the Eastern Continent, to return.

Ariel smiled at Aether.

“You didn’t even want to, but you were dragged here just because you looked like my brother… it must have been hard on your body and mind?”

“No, no! Not at all!”

Aether waved his hands in denial.

“For someone as lowly as me to be able to stay in the royal palace, it was just an undeserved honor…!”

It was the truth.

If he hadn’t been lucky enough to look like the prince, how could he have lived so well, even for just a month?

And how could he have been so close to the princess…

“Hehe. Thank you for the kind words, even if they are empty.”

Ariel, covering her mouth and laughing, suddenly held something out in front of her.

“Here, this is my gift!”

“Yes?”

“You’ve worked hard for a month. So I prepared this.”

What Ariel handed over was none other than an eyeglass case.

Aether, who had received it, was puzzled, and Ariel smiled awkwardly.

“When you first came, I had a physical examination to see if you were my brother… Aether, your eyesight is really bad?”

“Yes? Ah, yes… I do see a little blurry.”

Having always worked in the dimly lit underground, relying on dim lighting, Aether’s eyesight was poor despite his young age.

“It’s not just a little blurry, is it? Then I must have looked blurry to you too?”

Ariel opened the eyeglass case herself and took out the thick glasses inside, approaching Aether.

“So I had them made for you. If you wear these, you’ll be able to see better from now on.”

Ariel’s hands, holding the temples of the glasses and unfolding them, came closer to Aether’s face.

Aether, who was unknowingly tense, shrank his shoulders. Ariel gently put the glasses on Aether.

Ariel’s hand, holding the temples of the glasses, brushed against Aether’s flushed earlobe.

As clear lenses covered his lifelong blurry vision, the world became bright.

“How is it?”

And, in the very center of that bright and clear world.

The princess, who seemed to have gathered only the most dazzling parts of all the sunlight in this world, was smiling brightly.

“Can you see well?”

“……”

How should he answer?

It wasn’t just ‘I can see well’.

How should he express the feelings he saw in his eyes?

Aether cursed his own poor vocabulary and his even poorer status, and lowered his head. And he barely managed to answer.

“…Yes. I can see really well. Thank you, Princess. I will use them well for the rest of my life.”

“Hehe. Not for the rest of your life. I’ll get you new ones next time your eyesight changes.”

Aether blinked, not fully understanding the meaning of those words.

Ariel took a breath and explained.

“Aether. After my brother returns… how about becoming my attendant after that?”

“Yes?”

“You learn quickly when taught, and we might need my brother’s substitute from time to time… and, you tie ribbons well too. So I want to keep seeing you in the royal palace.”

Ariel’s face became serious.

“More than anything, the life of a non-citizen that you told me about… it was a shock that shattered my narrow perspective.”

Over the past month, Aether had told Ariel without exaggeration how the non-citizens of the Lake Kingdom lived, and what the Lake Kingdom looked like from outside the outer walls.

And this changed something within Ariel.

“Aether. I want to change this country for the better.”

Aether stared blankly at the princess’s profile as she looked somewhere far and high.

“Our country has prospered with magic, but I know. I know that magic alone cannot rule a country. Magic is just a means, and the country must be ruled by people…”

“……”

“I also know the historical lesson that if we maintain our national power with only one resource, a great crisis will come when that resource is depleted.”

Ariel shook her head slightly.

“But now, this country divides people’s status based on whether they use magic or not. This extreme structure will surely eat away at this country someday.”

“……”

“I want to change this country slowly. And I want you to help me.”

Ariel quickly added to Aether, who had a blank expression.

“Ah, of course! If you have other things you want to do, I’ll let you go. It’s your freedom. It was already hard enough to be dragged here against your will for this month…”

“Ah, no! That’s not it! I want to be by the Princess’s side!”

After blurting out those words, Aether, whose face turned red because his vocabulary was strange, added.

“If I can help the Princess on her path, whether as an attendant, a substitute, or in any form… I will gladly stay.”

Then, Ariel, as if relieved, let out a small sigh and smiled brightly.

“Thank you. Then… instead of saying goodbye, I’ll say this.”

At the words that followed, Aether also slowly smiled.

“Please take care of me in the future too, Aether?”

***

The next day.

The Eastern Continent expedition, which had returned to the Lake Kingdom, brought back one piece of tragic news instead of the magic of immortality.

It was the news that Prince Christian had been involved in an accident and had gone missing in the Eastern Continent.