"His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Hobert Arthur! Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Rosalind Arthur! And His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Terrence Arthur has arrived!"
"Greetings to the Blazing Suns of the Empire!" All the guests greeted in unison.
Beautiful silver hairs and golden eyes. The main trait of the Imperial Family that everyone admired. And the family that was on the top level of the food chain.
No matter how many times I already saw them. They were always sparkling. Many guests immediately walked to greet them.
{Yvette! This place is dangerous!}
While I continued to observe everyone, a sudden voice rang up inside my head. When I looked around everyone was busy with their own business.
'What was that? Did I drink too much alcohol already? But this is still the first glass of champagne I have for this day.'
I simply shrugged it off, thinking I was just imagining things out of boredom. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the mutterings of the other noble ladies beside me.
"I heard she is the illegitimate daughter of His Majesty, the Emperor. It is really funny how she shows herself here. Does she know no shame?"
'Illegitimate daughter?' I glanced at whom they were speaking ill of.
'Hmm. That girl seems new here? The illegitimate daughter of the emperor is rather an interesting topic.'
When the lady, the subject of the rumors, turned around.
*Ba-dump!* Something that had been locked for a long time within me had been forced to open. A Pandora box that should not have been left unlocked. However, it's feasible that this was either a curse or a blessing in disguise.
I clasped my hands around my forehead. My mind was suddenly flooded with flashes of a long-forgotten past.
'Ah. How was it described again?'
Hair that was like the flames of a blazing fire, eyes that resembled the golden sun. Despite the criticism, she remained firm and unyielding. Her crimson trumpet dress matched with her hair and hugged her perfect and lovely curves.
The very perfect introduction for the game's female protagonist, Her Imperial Highness, Princess Estella Arthur.
How can I forget something like this for a long time? The sense of the unending Deja Vu I always felt. This world and everything about it.
It was all inside a simulation thriller game I had played before. Not in this lifetime but in my life in another world. A world that was very different from this one.
"Royal Nightmare."
'This is bad. If this is the appearance of the female lead, then it means... I need to find Veronica and Kristie and get out of here before that guy appears!'
However before I could even walk, the light from the chandeliers flickered.
And the next thing that happened, the whole place shook violently.
"Ah!" Everyone in the hall screamed and panicked. The earthquake became stronger.
"Veronica! Yvette!"
'That scream!'
"Kristie!"
{It's too late now, Yvette.}
I ran ignoring the voice that rang in my head. "Kristie!"
'Darn these heels!'
I took off the heels I was wearing and headed toward Kristie. I didn't care if I pushed other people my way.
I saw her under the table, hiding along with her other two new friends, Melissa and Eunice.
"Yvette!" Kristie yelled out as soon as she saw me approaching. She looked extremely scared.
For her first ball to be like this...
I clenched my fist, as I hurried in their direction.
"Let's get out of here, Kristie. You two as well, follow me and hold onto each other."
"Yvette, Kristie!" It was Veronica who rushed to our side. The trembling of the surroundings intensified. I held on to the wall to steady myself.
"Veronica, we must get out of here!"
"We need to stay in one place! If we move around, the falling debris might hit us!" Veronica said.
"No, sister! The most dangerous place here is the ballroom right now! I'll explain things later!"
I pulled Kristie with me. The main door was now full of other nobles that were hurrying to get out. I looked around and saw one of the windows. With a vase, I threw it towards the window. The glass shattered and some of the shards even scraped me. But I couldn't care nonetheless about that.
"Yvette!" Veronica screamed with worry. However, there was no time to waste, if the earthquake stopped, we would be doomed inside.
I used my heels to break the other sharp shards. "Kristie, climb and get out of here!" I said as I pulled Kristie with me. She managed to climb the window and made it outside. Then next was Eunice. However, just before Melissa could climb in. The tremor had finally stopped.
Crap! Without a moment of hesitation, I pulled Melissa back with me.
"Yvette! Veronica!" Kristie screamed as she reached for us.
"Don't come near the window!" I screamed which made her stop. Blazing fire erupted from the window. Not only the windows were covered with fire, but all the windows and the entrance door as well. Every exit that would lead to the outside of the palace had been blocked by fire. The nobles who got caught in the fire were burned instantly and became ashes.
"Go back to the kingdom! We will meet you there with Veronica!" I screamed. But Kristie looked hesitant. "Tell our brother to prepare rations for winter. That is the mission you have to do right now Kristie!" I gave her a reassuring smile and held Veronica's and Melissa's hands with me.
"But..." Kristie looked like she was going to cry.
"I promised that all of us three will make it out of here. So please leave this place now and do your mission."
I looked at Eunice, "Please take care of each other." Eunice, though she looked afraid, held Kristie's hands.
"Believe in your sister, your highness," Eunice said as she pulled Kristie with her.
"I will wait for the three of you," Kristie said with teary eyes as she ran away.
"Yvette, what is happening?" Veronica asked. And Melissa, who didn't let go of her hug to me, was trembling. I could feel myself trembling as well.
'Heck, for a game I repeatedly played for five years to make me scared like this.' I couldn't help but laugh wryly. 'It was exactly that because I played this game repeatedly for five years that is why I'm afraid now.'
"We need to survive now." At my mention of that, a joyous voice echoed through the hall.
"Welcome! Everyone!" A man in a white suit appeared in the middle of the hall. He was also wearing a white mask with three teardrops on the left side. "All of you have been selected to play the world's most exciting game! Dream Royale! And I am Cielo, the white joker, and the game master!"
Sounds of creepy cheers echoed through the whole room. Cheers, that came from the deep abyss.
I always found this sound effect back then to be quite a banger along with his appearance. A perfect sound effect to hype the gamers. But now that I was here, it sounded more like the cheers of death for me.
At the mention of that, blue translucent screens appeared in front of every one of us.
〔•System• First Event: Royal Ball Hunt
Main Mission: You must have a card until the end of the event.
Sub Mission: Those who have the most number of cards will gain absolute power.
Price: 10 gold coins
Event Failure: ???〕
And at the same time game cards appeared in our hands. Seven of Spades, to me. Three diamonds to Melissa and weary developed inside me, when I saw the card in Veronica's hands.
Six of hearts.
"What evil magic is this?! Capture that man!" The emperor yelled with a great imposing voice. And the knights immediately ceased Cielo. However, to the knight's horror, they just walked past him, as if he was a phantom.
"If you want to come out in this place, finish the first event successfully."
"The person who has the most cards will have the most authority. I looked forward to everyone's performance!" His laugh rang through the hall and disappeared.
Another translucent screen appeared in front of us.
〔First Event will now commence!〕
〔Event Time: 23:59: 00〕
"Yvette," Veronica's grip on my hands tightened.
"It is god! God has made an opportunity for all of us to have the power!" One of the nobles screamed. His eyes held madness. With a pork knife, he stabbed the nobleman that was beside him to everyone's horror. And he grabbed the card that was on the dead nobleman.
"What are you doing?!" The other nobles tried to reprimand him but they were sliced to death as well. As the mad nobleman grabbed the dead's cards, he grew stronger. "Why are you stopping me?! The gods have given us the grace to become powerful. Even the Imperial Family is now useless! Grab this chance now and become stronger!"
His incitement.
The suppression and anger that was buried within the lower nobility.
The greed that was rooted in most higher corrupted nobles.
"Let's find a place to hide first," I said. I pulled Veronica and Melissa with me and ran.
The entire ballroom would be bathed with blood now. No, not just this room but the whole Imperial Palace! This was the first horrifying event. The second one was one of that main character's appearances.
The one who would massacre everyone here aside from the royal family, the female lead along with other useful characters to him.
Prince of Darkness.
Hot Demon Prince.
Sexy Tyrant Prince.
Bloody Prince.
Mad Prince.
These were all the cringey nicknames he got from the players playing the game.
The second prince of the Imperial Family, Prince Ephraim Arthur.
I pulled both Veronica and Melissa to me. We entered the hallway of the palace while everyone was busy fighting each other.
This was how the twenty-four hours of the first survival event began.