Diego, who suddenly spoke, winked at the Duke. Everyone was frozen on their spot and was dumbfounded. Of course, the Duke's face, which was soon uncovered from his mask, revealed his clear disgust to Diego.
He was the first to come to his senses, as well as the Crown Prince of the Imperial Kingdom.
"… Duke Miller, you were supposed to be in Genova, so how come you're here without beforehand notice?"
"Your Majesty, haha. I'll give you a detailed report regarding that later, but for now, can you order this friend of mine who's holding his silver mask to put me down?"
"I can't believe it. It was only yesterday that I received a report that it would be difficult for you to return before the Knights Competition."
"Your Majesty? Haha. Please pretend as if you didn't know that."
At the same time, Eun-woo had recognized the situation before her- Tashian was holding Marquis by his collar.
She wordlessly stared at the man, who apparently has the same hair as her, and a man who looked exactly like her while struggling from Duke's grip.
Eun-woo, who had been favorably familiar with the face of Eleanor through the mirror, could pinpoint that they really looked alike and she wondered if it was possible to have copy paste faces.
'Wow. This is really unbelievable… anyone can obviously tell that we're siblings…'
"Older brother?"
Diego replied quickly to Eun-woo's sudden call.
"Yes, that's me, Elli! Your older brother! You quickly recognized me thankfully. I almost felt disappointed if you hadn't any longer. However, I noticed that you seemed to have gotten closer to the Duke. In that case, why don't you ask this Lord to put me down? Your older brother's neck is tightening, and I can't breathe."
"Shut up, Diego, before I completely break your neck right now."
The Duke was against Diego, who was breathing unsteadily, and furiously spat out.
Eun-woo approached Diego's side and asked in an unsure voice.
"O, older brother… How can you be here right now? I was sure that you were caught by the Warawi pirates…?"
"There's a reason for everything. How can your Older Brother die that easily? Ack! Hold on, Tashian! Can you calm down?! Don't strangle me to death!"
"What's this fuss about? What is this animal blabbering?"
(TN: Simply saying that Diego is an animal, insulting him.)
"Ack! On the way back, I bought a circus troupe. More importantly, let go of me!"
"You….! What the hell is in your brain?! How dare you bring up a circus troupe at the ball in the Imperial Palace?!"
"I think everyone liked it! They gave me a round of applause. That's all that matters!"
"You crazy bastard…!"
The endless scuffle between the Duke and her brother unfolded.
However, Eun-woo's attention was focused on a completely different topic. She muttered, looking at a black mask away from Diego's face.
"That mask… Where did you get it?"
It was the one she saw from Chief Reinhardt when she met him. Even the black net behind the mask was an object that was similar to the Chief's mask.
Eun-woo's heart, waiting for Marquis Miller's answer, was thumping lightly.
"Ah. It's too long to explain."
Diego, while laughing, nonchalantly replied to her question. Although, his collar was still in Duke's hand.
"Did I already say that I escaped the Warawi Strait with my own blood? Oh, I did. Yes, when we crossed over and arrived at Hellasium Imperial Castle, the victory commemorative banquet was already in full swing."
Diego suddenly got into the emotion and touched his forehead with one hand.
"I thought my heart would collapse when I learned that I might not be able to return. Despite the fact that I looked like this, I won't dare break my promise to my lovely Elli. I said in the letter that I would definitely come back before the banquet, therefore I see this banquet as something of a big deal."
He suddenly stopped talking and shouted at Ikshid as if avoiding intensifying his emotions.
"Nevertheless, I have a lot to say related to this. Your Majesty, why did you hold a Ball without me? I never experienced going into the Banquet prepared by the Imperial Palace from the moment I had my hair. I firmly believed in you, that you'd postpone it until I came back!"
"Shut up! What's this promiscuous guy saying…?!"
"Tashian. Please calm down. And Marquis Miller, you didn't know, but I had to make excuses in order to not hold this Victory Celebration Banquet this day, yet it was inevitable. Thus, don't say nonsense."
Eun-woo didn't know what to express as she watched them conversing with each other, as it was a very interesting unfolding story for her.
Diego continued to explain.
"…. Anyway, after arriving at the Hall with the circus troupe, I learned that the morning celebration had ended and only the masquerade ball was in a full swing. With that, I hurriedly prepared inside an empty room for a surprise appearance. So Elli, I was desperately searching for you, yet another important business came up…"
"I'm sure you were flirting with women."
Tashian intervened with a grumbling voice. However, whether the Duke did or not, Diego continued to do what he had to say.
"… From the moment I took my eyes off of you, you had already disappeared. The mask I was wearing had vanished somewhere I don't know, and I wandered everywhere in order to find you. I went to the terrace in hopes of seeing you there, but what I saw was this black mask that vanished. Finally, I got to go here, attending the ball."
"With the spectacular… performance…?"
"Ha ha! You don't have to say that you liked my performance, sister. Since I'm done explaining, can you persuade the duke to let go of me now?"
Ikshid, who was quietly listening to him, muttered in an awkward voice.
"How the hell did you manage to buy a circus troupe in the middle of the night?"
"You'll get hurt if you know."
Diego responded with his solemn face. Ikshid then decided to put aside the elephant and giraffe animals, who suddenly appeared in front of the Ball and performed tricks.
That's absolutely possible.
The marquis' extraordinary and lawless way of thinking was no longer surprising for them.
"Wait, then… was it you who gave Elli a strange look throughout the Banquet?"
Diego tried to jump out of Tashian's grip, and shouted at Ikshid.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean? Forgive me if I misunderstood, but I feel offended. All I did was gaze at my lovely sister with my sweet look anytime, anywhere!"
"That's what I call an eerie pervert."
"Acck! Keeuk!"
Tashian groaned, slowly raising his hand higher and higher. Eun-woo contemplated what was happening, and stopped Tashian from doing any more tenacious move. It was time to stop them.
"Du, duke! Duke. Stop it. My brother's neck is going to fall off at that rate."
"Yes, Lord. That's right. Why don't you put him down? I understand your anger, yet even so."
Eventually, at her earnest request, Diego Miller was able to escape from the Duke's hand and found freedom within minutes of his endless scuffle.
Even after he got away, he could not warm up his sore throat for a while.
As soon as Tashian let go of Diego's collar, Eun-woo quickly ran to his side. And right after she was near to him, Tashian took her hand and turned her body around.
"… You're really fine, right? Where the hell have you been so far? I kept looking for you."
"Yes. I'm really fine. More than that… Are you calmed down now?"
Diego, who groaned and stroked her hair over and over again, stared at the two and blinked for a moment. He stood between Tashian and Eun-woo again with spirit, as if he had completely forgotten that the Duke had lifted his body like a sack earlier.
"Wait, why are you holding my sister's hand tightly now? Although I have entrusted you with my sister's safety for a very short time, I don't even remember that I included her hands."
"… Do you want me to lift you up in the air again? Good. So grant my wish right now."
Feeling a strange déjà vu, Eun-woo blocked the two people to mediate.
"Tashian… Stop it. Brother, everyone is watching."
However, her small body was not enough of a barrier between the two large men who were like giants. She found out that the two men who were over her head, were continuing their quarrel once again.
"Can't you see that her feet are already swollen? You're so selfish. Hurry up and get rid of your hand from hers. I'll take her to the lounge myself."
"Hmph. Now that Elli's one and only brother is here, why does this child need your help? You're the one who's going to take your hands from her. I'll take care of my sister from now on."
"A bastard who can't even properly extort bodies said that he'd take care of her."
"Are you done talking now? It was your negligence that made her like this. Whether she's like gold or jade, I don't care. Even if she'd fly off because of strong wind, or if she'd extinguish if being held. It has already been four months Tashian since I entrusted her to you. If I leave again, I'll entrust her to you for the second time, so now leave her to me."
Diego began to grumble as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"I was keeping a keen eye on you since earlier, and you were holding my sister's waist unsafely. But since I'm back, there's no way for me to leave her to you. Stay away from my sister more than five steps this instant."
Eun-woo could feel Tashian's desire to pull out Diego's tongue right now.
"Do you want your mouth to be pierced… what? I can't come close to her and keep five steps distance? Nonsense!"
"Then should I instead tell my Elli to avoid you? I don't think my sister deserves that work. That's why, move."
Even when he saw Tashian gritting his teeth, Diego's mouth was tightly closed, and had spat something that he wouldn't take back.
"The same goes for Elli's swollen feet. If it were me, I would have taken care of her in an utmost way, so it wouldn't result this bad. You're not a delicate caretaker Tashian, I see. You must have had a hard time under him, sister."
Eun-woo realized that Tashian and Ikshid's evaluation of her brother up until now was quite generous. She hastily intervened between the two before her older brother could provoke the Duke any longer, and eventually shut up Diego's tongue.
"Brother, brother. By the way, it's been a really long time. How can you come back without telling me? Do you know how long I have been waiting for you?"
Diego reacted enthusiastically with his mood as if about to shed tears in front of her, acting cute, which was mixed with his nasal voice to the fullest than usual.
"You're the only one who welcomes me in this vast empire."
However, their dramatic reunion after a month, fell instantly when Tashian blocked Diego, who was about to hug his sister.
"Keuk! Tashian, what are you doing…?!"
"This bastard, are you out of your mind? Where do you think you're putting your dirty hands onto…?!"
"Are you being serious right now?! That's my real sister."
"In no way you can do that."
Diego then approached the Crown Prince, informing him of the tyranny of Duke, who denies even Eleanor's relatives.
"Your Majesty, did you see that? That shameless move of the Duke?!"
"Yes, I've witnessed it. I've seen you rush at Elli with your lips sticking out in disrespect. Hey, are you acting as a pet? Be thankful that Tashian doesn't capture bulldogs."
Far from taking Diego's side, Ikshid was also about to bury him alive.
Eun-woo was surprised by Ikshid's words which were sympathizing with Tashian. She clung to Diego's arm again, as if to prevent Tashian's hand which was trying to grab Diego again by the collar.
"Tashian! Tashian! Calm down! He's my Older brother!"
However, he was rather serious, persuading her in a clear tone without stopping.
"Stay still. When I catch that bastard, I need to crumble his face into mush. Otherwise, I will not be able to get my revenge done, and it will be complex to do so in later days."