LUCIA

Chapter 101 The founding party

All the carriages entering the palace for the founding party briefly stopped at the palace entrance to sign in the guest book. Of course, even the carriage of the Taran ducal house could not be exempted from that formal process.

After confirming the identities of the personnel in the carriage, the palace guard told Roy that he had to leave his sword behind.

"You're telling a knight to surrender his sword?"

Roy looked at the palace guard and frowned menacingly. Well aware of Roy's notoriety, the palace guard flinched and hesitantly replied.

"You cannot carry a sword into a party held in the palace."

The palace guard was merely carrying out his duty faithfully and had done nothing wrong. While grumbling, Roy released his sword and handed it over. In any case, weapons didn't mean much to Roy. An expert didn't distinguish between tools. If he wanted to, he could use a fork to kill someone in the party hall. He didn't even need a fork. If he snapped their neck, that would be the end of it.

After receiving the sword, the palace guard quickly sent the carriage in. He didn't want to get involved with the Mad Dog. As so, the walking murder weapon confidently entered the palace.

As soon the Duchess of Taran appeared, the surrounding noblewomen flocked to her. Seeing Lucia surrounded by layers of women, Roy wondered to himself.

'The Madam is pretty popular. Does she remember the faces of all these women? I definitely have to ask later.'

Roy continued to watch over Lucia from a distance. Being a noblewoman's escort was more complicated than guarding at the side of the Crown Prince. The escort must be considerate so that the target being guarded can enjoy the party, in addition, the escort must not stick too close.

When people saw Roy standing at the side, their eyes would widen, then they would spin around and walk away. Thanks to that, Roy was able to occupy an extensive area without bumping into anyone. Roy did not neglect to look over the vast party scene from time to time.

'That woman.'

Roy spotted a familiar woman. There weren't many cases where Roy remembered someone. They either gave him a good feeling or the exact opposite, a very unpleasant aura. The woman he spotted was definitely the same one he saw at the coronation party with bad smell that gave him a bad feeling.

As he watched over the Madam, Roy stealthily monitored the woman that gave him a bad feeling. The woman wandered around the party hall without interacting with anyone, then she stood in the corner and fixed her gaze on one location. There were a lot of noblewomen gathered where the woman was staring at, and at the center of the crowd was the Madam and Princess Katherine.

'It's strangely irritating.'

Roy pondered about what he should do to the woman if she showed up next to the Madam. However, the woman swiftly turned around and left the party hall. When the woman was finally out of sight, Roy felt refreshed, like he had finally gotten rid of the sand in his shoes.

'Oh, that bastard came too. Well, he's not the kind of guy that would miss stuff like this.'

David was also one of the few people that Roy could remember. When Roy was guarding the Crown Prince, he saw David almost every day. Every time David saw Roy, he looked as if he was seeing something insignificant. But whether he did that or not, Roy also faced him with an insignificant gaze. If only he wasn't the younger brother of the Queen, Roy would have beaten him up a few times already.

'Why is he like that?'

David was practically hiding himself in an inconspicuous corner of the party hall. Even when someone occasionally acted like they knew him, he put on an expression of I-don't-want-to-talk and shook them off.