Albrecht’s Pearl 70

 Chapter 70

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Guillaume Greitz Nasau.

A name the Emperor could not forget, for he was his rival half his life.

After letting the man go unpunished due to lack of hard evidence, the depressed empress succumbed to a vague plague and died of a lingering illness.

If this was indeed Nasau, the Emperor would recognize him right away, and he would not be able to say that he did not know Emperor Karl.

The Emperor threw Nasau's signet ring down on his desk and gritted his teeth.

***

A week later, the night of the ball.

The Burg’s ornate ceremonial carriage rolled through the Imperial gates. As it was a masquerade ball, the carriage did not bear the family seal.

Louise held her breath at the sight of the castle lit up like broad daylight, the endless flat lawns, and the procession of carriages coming and going.

Seated, she gazed out the window, her emerald eyes rolling back and forth in silence.

Outside, there was some commotion, but inside the narrow carriage, no one made a sound. Louise finally felt the awkward silence and looked back at Caius.

The Heidenberg's white uniform seemed tailor-made for him. A man born to be a Heidenberg, indeed.

His golden eyes, not yet covered by his mask, were dark and sunken.

He had traveled in and out of the capital, but this would be the first time in twenty years that he'd been to the palace.

How would it feel to come home after 20 years?

Louise had lost her nobility overnight, but she hadn't had a chance to feel the loss because she was still in her mother’s womb, but she was certain she would get a chill when she saw the Linz estate or the old Ermoli mansion.

She took a nervous breath and fiddled with the pearl pinned just above her breastbone when the carriage came to a halt.

It was time for the ball to begin, and the sound of the music from outside had leaked into the carriage. Louise's heart pounded in time with the music.

But Caius was in no hurry.

"Can you help me?"

He looked down and a flimsy mask dangled from his long fingers.

Louise took the golden mask and placed it on him, tying a ribbon tightly behind his head to secure it.

Heidenberg's golden eyes glinted secretly from within the mask, which was dusted with glittering gold dust. Beneath the mask, his full lips glistened with a charming sheen.

Louise unconsciously curled her lower lip into a pout and asked.

"Are you okay, not nervous?"

Instead of answering, Caius pulled down Louise's veil to cover her face.

The fishnet veil didn't do much to hide her features anyway, and anyone who knew her would recognize her.

But it left little to the imagination of strangers.

A pair of golden eyes, unchanged and serious beneath the mask, met Louise's for a moment. It had been like that every day lately, but today was one of those days.

"Don't worry, there are plenty of people who can help us, and the Emperor is probably busy right now."

The man's gaze was steady, unlike Louise's wavering gaze.

"What?"

Louise shook her head, not understanding his words.

There was a soft, hesitant knock on the door. Perhaps the coachman was hesitating whether or not to open it.

"You may open."

The door opened, and Caius stepped out of the carriage first. Louise took a deep breath to regain her composure and took the hand he offered.

It was the Imperial Palace of Parma at last.

***

Through the magnificent archway, they took their first steps into the palace.

The stairs to the central hall were already crowded, and a lively waltz from the hall echoed through the corridors.

Louise blinked her emerald eyes wide.

The surprise of her first trip to Burg and the shock of seeing the racetrack were nothing compared to the splendor of this imperial castle.

The ballroom was like a palace at night.

Thousands of candles flickered from dangling chandeliers.

Even the velvet on the floor was a different color for each section. 

Of course, it was precisely the imperial intention to be glamorous.

To be taken away from this luxurious home, to lose both parents in one day. She could understand a little more of the loss and fear Caius must have felt.

Louise squeezed his arm in sympathy.

"Do you know that there are over two thousand rooms in this imperial castle?"

The man looked up at her unexpected voice, and his face relaxed slightly.

Louise finally relaxed and answered.

"I had heard about it.................. but I didn't think it was true."

The man smiled sheepishly, but his golden eyes only sunk deeper.

Louise held her breath.

Whether it had a thousand rooms or two thousand, it didn't matter, Caius needed to take back this huge house.

Fortunately, their attire didn't make them stand out in the crowd.

Around them, there were many men dressed in imperial or guard uniforms, and often women in bizarre dresses that seemed to mimic ceremonial dress or executions.

There were too many people for either of them to examine the other's attire individually.

They made it to a balcony with a bird's-eye view of the hall without incident.

As they surveyed the dancing nobles, a servant with a tray approached and handed them champagne. The expensive, clear liquid bubbled with tiny dots.

Imperial guards stood from pillar to post, heavy rifles slung over their shoulders.

They were in the middle of enemy territory.

Louise could barely swallow her champagne, her heart pounding in her chest, but Caius tilted his glass and downed his drink calmly.

Nervously, Louise thought the music was growing louder and louder, until she realized it was her own heartbeat. Her hand clutching the glass, which refused to diminish, was damp with sweat.

How long had they been waiting?

The waiting guards exchanged signals and exited the ballroom in unison.

At that moment, the music stopped. It was the promised signal.

Through the milling crowd, Caius's unmasking was slow and deliberate.

His handsome face, with its striking resemblance to the Emperor's, was clearly visible in the light of thousands of candles.

A beautifully aged prince.

Caius picked up a large candlestick from a nearby table.

The candles burning brightly at his fingertips naturally drew attention, and even more so when the man spoke after a heavy silence.

"What is your brother's, do not covet."

The low voice was deep and clear. Just the right amount of resonance, as if he had thoroughly calculated how his voice would sound.

Now the people didn't even seem to breathe.

And for good reason. The imperial orchestra had stopped playing, and someone in imperial uniform had said something that meant so much.

Moreover, the current emperor, Karl, had brutally overthrown his brother, Wilhelm, a page from Heidenberg's shameful history.

Not one of the nobles of Hyreth still believed in the excuse that the emperor was mad. The late Emperor was harsh, but at least the empire hadn't been this poor.

In the awkward silence, someone muttered.

"Oh, it's the late Emperor Wilhelm’s son."

Then there was a scattering of gasps from those who recognized Caius's face.

Someone called out in a new voice.

"Her Majesty Empress Christina...............!"

It was probably the comrade who had spoken beforehand.

Unlike Caius, who resembled the Emperor in every way, Louise's resemblance to Empress Christina was limited to her hair.

But once the eyes were on her, there was something else that stood out even more.

"Ah, the pearl of Albrecht................"

The common people might not know about the pearl.

But nobles invited to imperial banquets would have seen it at least once. Or at least in a portrait gallery.

Dozens of pairs of eyes fell upon her.

Close to the pearl, Louise’s frail heart beat wildly.

Louise kept her feet firmly planted on the ground, feeling as if she might collapse at any moment.

Something her parents, who were supposed to stand by the man’s side, couldn't do. She had sworn to be the Ermoli who would finish the job.

"Kaaak!"

Someone screamed, and the crowd surged toward them.

Half of them, of course, were the people who had promised to help them escape, dressed in costumes similar to theirs on purpose.

Caius dropped the candlestick from the balcony. The red velvet of the banquet hall was as vulnerable to fire as it was beautiful, and there was a great uproar.

"Oh, fire...............!"

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