The Kingdom of Everlasting Night and the Last Ball Translation

16.3 The Pie Stew and The Hairdresser

Certainly, Calred, who was six years old at that time, would have had nothing to do with the purging of the Gillasfi family.

In addition, Dia was certain that Ricardo and the others didn’t divulge any information to the third prince.

Prince Calred, who loved his eldest brother, wouldn’t be against it in the first place. But they must’ve thought that kind of secret would burden the young prince who didn’t comprehend politic affairs very well.

“But even if I were to be feeling better, it’s hard to forgive that bastard… fortunately, there’s no need for me to adhere to thing called etiquette anymore… so, using that fairy dress, I am going to bump into him at tonight’s ball!”

“The royal family will have their share—in short, they will pay the adequate price. Therefore, there’s no need for you to do unnecessary things.”

“What’s with that instruction? I am not pleased…”

“It doesn’t matter what you feel, or what will happen to that third prince. The most important thing is to not mess with nonhumans and their prey.”

Muguu…”

Dia groaned with a tinge of regret, but she was happy that it was quite possible that third prince would fall to the hands of the Spirit of Death.

Some might think that foreign, delicate, sweets and delicious fruits—and also being eaten by Mukmugris as trivial things, but Dia’s resentment ran deep.

There were nights when living felt too unbearable because she just couldn’t stand even a mere spoonful of what the royal palace usually served.

…Mumu, it smells good.”

“For lunch, it’s pie stew.”

“Pie stew!”

Her sorrowful childhood memories were easily dissipated by the delicious scent.

The simple meal consisted of freshly baked tea bread and pie stew, but Dia recalled the sad incident which happened last night—

—there was a pie stew store which caught her interest in that ‘Evemeria Town’, but her stomach was too full, thus, she failed to taste it.

“Don’t eat this side, your portion is on that side.”

“What’s on this side…? …Jelly?”

“It’s a grape jelly. Should I put fresh cream on it?”

Muguguu… no, you shouldn’t.”

While Dia was shaking at the overly cruel question, Noin quickly prepared lunch for her.

If she broke the beautiful brown pie and placed it inside the stew, she would be able to enjoy both a thick and soft texture.

…I like Noin’s brother.

Because he was there, Noin was able to have a pie stew with her on a snowy afternoon like that—that was enough of a reason to like him.

Dilvier, who brewed black tea, didn’t seem to eat the same thing as humans, only the dishes made by the genealogical king. Noin was different.

However, instead of a solid meal like what they were currently having, it seemed that he would enjoy something light like muffins or soup, and they were only eaten during special occasions such as the evening ball of the Kingdom of the Night.

Noin was kind. Not only did he take care of Dia’s meal, he also said he would take care of her hair for the ball.

While eating the grape jelly, he let her listen to the story of the Midnight Thrones, and also the other genealogies of the night. Dia thought about various things of the world she had never seen.

I wish I was born as a spirit, instead…

Although it was unclear how long the dead can stay active, the spirits’ sense of time seemed to be much slower than that of humans.

Dia spent a lot of time with Noin, and no matter how long she thought it was—to him, it was just a blink of an eye.

…On the other side, who would be beside Noin?

They talked about various things—Noin was talking about how back then, he teamed up with a chef to overcome the magical trial of a high-ranking demon.

Dia, who thought Noin grew to enjoy cooking due to having such a friend, asked.

“Do you still meet with the chef who fought alongside you at the demon’s magical trial?”

“It seems that he angered a demon somewhere and got killed. I went to the man’s restaurant after the trial—but instead, he lost some of his skill. If I recall his skill from before undertaking that trial, the opposite should’ve happened—afterwards, I never met him again.”

Noin talked in a casual manner, as if that man was nobody to him.

She couldn’t help but fear about what was in store for her if she incited the contempt and disdain of other high-ranking outsiders…

that’s why, I hope you will stay beside me until the end…

A long time ago, Dia had reworded their contract and told Noin that instead of dying, she wanted to exact revenge upon the people of that kingdom.

He might enjoy such misery-inducing ideas; perhaps that was the reason why he was willing to help her—

—but Dia’s purpose for making such a crazy choice was so he wasn’t disappointed in her.

Revenge was akin to dignity for Dia.

Of course, she was willing to pay the price—after all, it was to save her own heart.

Looking up at the falling snow from the windowsill, she tried to remember the days she had spent with her family when she was little, but she couldn’t remember the peaceful days she had.

Eventually, the preparations for the ball began late in the afternoon.

Dilvier helped her putting on the dress. The preparation was finished with a fiery feeling because she was about to do something important.

“Noin can arrange someone’s hair, huh…”

“At every ball in the Kingdom of the Night, those who aren’t royalty arrange their own hair, I often watched them do it and learned from that.”

“I see, so when there’s an upcoming ball, there’re things you have to do by yourself…”

“No, recently, there are a lot of people who shorten their hair, or just plain use magic to alter it. Hair does get in the way during cooking.”

“I see…”

…I wonder what kind of spirit is in charge of cooking?

She wondered if a spirit that governed midnight snacks existed—if so, would he be able to conjure any kind of food in a single breath? She would like to meet one!

“…My!”

Dia’s hair wasn’t arranged in the usual, complicated, ballroom hairstyle.

Although not too organized, her hair was tied in an elegant but also delicate way. The end of her hair fell loosely, putting in display its glossiness.

Completely happy, Dia looked at her own reflection in the mirror from various angles before jumping on her chair.

The dress prepared by Noin was also fascinating in a brilliant way—the fairy embroidery consisted of blessing stones and jewels, and they was sewn into the blue fabric with silver threads.

The dreamy color of the night was shown on the hem, and there was also a violet underdress under said hem—it was the dashing violet color of the dusk.

On the collar which gave a deep and solid feel suitable for a ball was the ornamental necklace Dia treasured.

Just looking at the twinkling ornament, which glittered on her skin, instantly revived the shining memory of Evemeria in that town.

Although she didn’t like it very much, she put on some light make up and inserted her feet in her old shoes.

Dia lifted her feet in good mood—the shoes gave great comfort to her skin.

“My! How comfortable it feels!”

“Because magic was applied, after all.” Said Noin.

Dia was stunned when she heard that those shoes wouldn’t hurt her legs even if she ran the entire night.

She wondered what kind of balls the outsiders were accustomed to—to use abundant magic for that kind of things…

However, when she thought about it, the palace of the Night Kingdom seemed able to even fit a dragon inside… therefore there was a considerable distance before the main venue could be reached.

In the mirror, the figure of Dia, whom was fully dressed for the ball appeared.

At the same time, it was also the figure of that girl, who kept crying during that stormy night.

“Kya?!”

Suddenly, Noin, whom was behind her, patted her neck using his fingertips and Dia again leapt from her chair.

When she hurriedly covered her neck using both hands and shook her head, Noin smiled with a slight disappointment—

—that beast-like smile of his made Dia think.

Speaking of which, I don’t know what kind of payment Noin will harvest from this kingdom…

Although she was a little worried about the fate of Fashitar, she closed her eyes and gently pushed the thought away.

She was sure she would learn all about it after she died.

Now, she needed to think about what she was supposed to do while she was still alive.


***T/N: I, I’ve said this a chapter ago, b-but now, for real (I think), OUR LADY IS READY FOR HER REVENGE!!!!

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