The Kingdom of Everlasting Night and the Last Ball Translation

20.2 After Story: The Orchard of the Night and the Seasonal Flavor

The wolf lady begged for help, looking behind Dia with widening eyes.

The wolf lady’s eyes softened while her ears, covered with beautiful glossy coat, quivered.

Unfortunately, her tail was still being grabbed by an evil human, but her slightly bowed gesture was more graceful and feminine than any of the noble ladies Dia had seen in the Royal Palace of Fashitar.

Following the wolf lady’s line of sight and turning around, Dia found Noin. Noin was clad in formal attire suitable for the evening ball.

Wa…

Noin, clad in jet-black, was breathtakingly beautiful. His purple eyes shone vividly as if they were emitting their own light.

His hair, which was akin to a jewel, was tied up loosely. His outfit, made using plenty of blessing stones, shone in a luster befitting of the King of the Night.

However, for some reason, the King of that castle, whom was showing a frosty smile, was staring at Dia.

Dia, who saw him, quickly released the tail she had been clenching.

She tried to pretend she wasn’t amidst the process of committing a crime, but the intensity of Noin’s glare didn’t change in the slightest.

“…As soon as I take my eyes off you, you’re already off causing problems.”

Mu. Aren’t I merely amidst receiving a tail from this lady, for I’ve pointed out that I’m currently in need of fur? Noin, you’re exaggerating.”

“…Okay, listen, that’s part of someone’s body. Don’t try to take it from her that casually.”

“B, but, high-ranking beings can regrow severed parts of their bodies, right?”

“Considering this creature’s rank, it will likely be lost forever—let it go.”

My, so she’s unable to grow her tail back? But that’s just… well, what a waste.”

Due to the pitiful gaze of the evil human, the wolf lady became confused.

As if forgetting what she had done before, she asked Shante if said human had ever hunted someone’s tail before.

“It is as you say. Lady Dia witnessed the Count of Shirloc restoring his own tail, which was severed during his battle with the cursed ones. Ever since then, she has developed a firm belief that it’s okay to secretly bring home someone’s tail because it’ll grow back anyway.”

Shante deliberately explained in a slightly mean tone. The beautiful wolf lady staggered back.

After staring back at Dia with a trembling gaze, she quickly bowed to Noin and fled.

Dia’s prey had escaped—not to mention, said prey also thought of Dia as a demon—but that was fine.

Either way, if she was going to hunt a tail, she had to be discreet about it—first and foremost, it had to be during Noin’s absence.

“…Geez. Did she say anything to you?”

“I was told that I lacked fur. It seems to be a matter of aesthetics unique to a certain race—Noin, is the ball over already?”

“Yeah, it’s over. This year, it seems that bite-sized pie desserts are popular—Shante, what was the fuss actually about?”

“That lady must’ve wanted to catch Lord Noin’s eyes. Since she showed the same reaction as Count Shirloc, I don’t think she’ll be mean to Lady Dia anymore.”

Dia glanced at Shante at her report.

Certainly, we didn’t get to have an amiable conversation…

But why would that be considered mean of her?

Even if to that wolf lady, Dia was unfavorable, she wasn’t malicious about it.

Dia, whom became familiar with voiceless malice and ridicule during her time in Fashitar, felt a sense of purity—that wolf lady was assaulting her head-on.

“Well, do I consider her to be mean to me? Considering her race, she might’ve purely thought that my lack of fur is unbefitting of Noin.”

Dia explained, tilting her head.

Dia was a creature with different shapes and habits to begin with, so she didn’t mind all that much—but of course, there were underlying concerns…

At that time, the squeaky sound of the shoes echoed—from behind Noin, a beautiful, black-haired fairy appeared.

Because the light particles that swirled around him, a path of witchcraft was made. Did that fairy just return using teleportation?

The light of the chandelier in the corridor sparkled on the fairy’s thin, jewel-like, wings. Dia exhaled involuntarily and sweetly.

Noin silently lifted his eyebrows—despite so, it wasn’t like she could help it—the wings of the fairy were just too exceptional.

“The biggest concern is why you just can’t understand that you shouldn’t carelessly speak to creatures of different genealogies.”

“Dilvier…”

“In addition, Lady Dia is already considered the child of the Fairy of the Night. As such, it can also be considered an insult to our kind.”

“Stop. Do you like it when your sisters go around making a fuss?”

“There’s such a thing as being ignorant to the difference of the race. Dia, you want only the tail, right?”

“Howa, thinking that she’s going to be hunted, it’s only natural she would be shocked—but to be so stingy to the point she wouldn’t let me receive her tail…”

“…Oi.”

Noin and Shante tend to be anxious of Dia’s actions—but incomparably so than them, was Dilvier’s overprotectiveness.

Last month, one of Dilvier’s older sisters caught the fairy of the table napkin trying to roll Dia. Long story short, an incident happened, not only were the fairy’s wings plucked out, the fairy was also thrown out of the window.

The table napkin fairy wasn’t trying to oppress her for coming from a different race. It was just part of her trait to devour humans on the night of the new moon. Despite so, she got ruined and trashed.

When she witnessed a woman with the most exquisite beauty in the world catch another woman about as tall as Dia and plucked her wings out, she felt quite excited.

Such tremendous love was also largely due to their difference in race.

Living in Noin’s castle, Dia gradually became accustomed to the manners of the outsiders.

For example, touching a fairy’s wings was a barbaric act. One could be cut down on spot.

Only close people, such as family members, were allowed to touch the wings of a fairy. In some cases, such acts of courtship could also be considered disrespectful, even amongst friends.

Other than that, the spirits’ method of courtship was to provide homemade food. Outsiders didn’t share food unless they were very close.

Also, the silver forks which could usually be found on the corridor floor were usually some sort of spoof, instead of a lost item.

“…Noin, now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ve captured another spy today. As of the present, he is dipped in the carbonated water Shante procured for me. The torture has been entrusted to the knight of the castle.”

“…Again, huh? For a spy, those are some sloppy monsters, but they have to cease from attempting to steal my recipe for celebration…”

“Why would they attempt to do that? If they’re trying to court someone, maybe they should also think about their survival a little…”

“My place isn’t their only target. Not only the spirits’ castles, they also spy at places with various types of food—for example, some famous restaurants.”

“…Maybe they should just hire a famous chef.”

Noin taught her about how some demons would scout someone from a distance as part of courtship—needless to say, it was confusing. Dia learned a lot about the lives of the outsiders.

Until then, the human Dia had a strong impression that the outsiders were terrifying and cruel beings who loved to use their authority to mess with the lives of those below them. Back then, to her, their existences were both blessings and a disasters.

Considering what happened during her final ball at Fashitar, said impression might not be entirely wrong.

The first incident Dia was involved in after she moved into Noin’s castle regarded a spy. A monster with the shape of an ordinary silver fork stole the recipe of Noin’s homemade food.

Dia couldn’t help but get more confused.

It was a mystery how a monster with the shape of a fork could convey said recipe to its employer—but more importantly, even if she was the fiancée of Noin, part of her was still human. For that monster to be caught by a human with a lower magical zone than it… was that okay?

The fork monster was a creature that ate fruits and sounds. The best it could do was count to two.

Although it was a direct vassal of a reconnaissance demon, it was also a great mystery why fork was part of the genealogy of the reconnaissance demon in the first place.

“Dia, I still have something to do, wait a little bit more.” Said Noin.

“There’s still time until dawn, why don’t you go relaxing with Lady Dia?” Said Dilvier.

“Dia, I’ve mentioned this before, but would you like to visit the moonlight orchard in Calwi?”

“I, I’d like to!”

The invitation was sudden, but since she had no lessons that day, Dia, whom was just spending time in the castle, leaped at the mention of the moonlight orchard she yearned to see.


***T/N: 

“It is as you say. Lady Dia witnessed the Count of Shirloc restoring his own tail, which was severed during his battle with the cursed ones. Ever since then, she has developed a firm belief that it’s okay to secretly bring home someone’s tail because it’ll grow back anyway.”

Something tells me she’ll be the ‘Tail-the-Ripper” of that kingdom if not watched closely…

The biggest change probably happened to Dilvier, w, what happened to the once merciless fairy?

Btw, I forget to mention in the last chapter, but Dia’s incense rose maids brigade remind me of ‘Elf of the Rose’, a short story written by Hans Christian Andersen. 

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