Chapter 23: The Ga, The Dance of Gamblers with Life and Love
“Miss, why did you dress up like a little boy today? Aren’t you going to attend the ball?”
Lina was heading to the market to shop that day, but Loka had woken her early in the morning, asking her to style her hair in a more masculine way.
She also instructed Lina to go to a shop to pick up so fruit candy that she had ordered last ti.
When Lina, full of confusion, handed the letter to the shop owner who didn’t even sell fruit candy, she surprisingly received a jar of exquisitely packaged fruit candy, along with a bouquet of bellflowers specially gifted to her, titled “Thank You for Your Care.”
While Lina was thrilled by this unexpected surprise, the shop owner had already rushed on horseback to the port area managed by the Oak Family, delivering an ordinary letter to one of their managing mbers.
So, when Loka left the Duke’s mansion, Lubi had personally co to escort her onto a carriage, having prepared in advance a refined and noble gentleman’s suit, naturally in a smaller size.
“Miss Loka, oh no, Young Master Robin, are you heading to the royal banquet now?”
Loka shook her head.
Going now would make it easy for that old fox, Duke Victor, to discover her identity.
Besides, Lubi’s status as a main family mber of the Oak Family alone wasn’t enough to gain entry.
Speaking of this, Loka waved her hand to signal a stop.
The two arrived at the familiar deep shadowy alley.
With the movent of a brick in the corner, a hidden door slowly opened once again…
Until the evening bell tolled, a relatively luxurious carriage slowly pulled up in front of the palace gates.
The guards, weary from a day’s fatigue, were a bit dazed but still gripped their spears tightly, blocking the carriage’s advance.
“Sir, please show your invitation.”
“We are representatives of the Oak Family, here to report to the family head.”
Lubi answered righteously, but after a brief exchange, the two guards still barred his way.
Seeing this, Lubi cast a pleading glance toward the person inside the carriage.
Loka stepped down unhurriedly, handing a delicate badge to the guard.
Without a word, she watched as the guard carefully inspected it several tis.
As the guard’s expression began to waver, Loka finally stated her purpose.
“This is a token entrusted to by the family head himself. If his plans are disrupted, I imagine informing His Majesty the Emperor would cause trouble for both of you.”
At these words, the guards’ already shaken emotions wavered further.
They exchanged a glance and hesitantly returned the seemingly delicate badge.
Yet one of them still blocked the way, uncertain.
“Could we… report this first, honored guests?”
Loka firmly shook her head, fixing the guard with an unquestionable gaze.
Beside her, Lubi, catching her signal, slowly pulled the carriage to the side of the road.
“Then, suppose two mysterious figures broke through your blockade and infiltrated the palace. Would that reason suffice?”
This approach allowed both sides to compromise: the guards wouldn’t violate their duty to protect, nor would they need to fear the wrath of powerful figures if the mission failed.
The two guards exchanged a glance and slowly cleared a path.
Lubi hadn’t expected they’d get through so smoothly.
Looking at the counterfeit badge Loka casually tossed to him, he marveled that the guards hadn’t noticed its forgery.
After all, a family head’s token would never be made with such crude materials and craftsmanship.
Even with the Oak Family’s principle of simplicity and refinent, it wouldn’t be so shoddily crafted.
“Psychology, spirit, and profit, Lubi. As a rchant, you should understand this better than I do.”
Loka ignored Lubi’s questions, rely watching as the bell’s toll gradually faded.
She adjusted her collar, the vibrant red rose at her chest, and the rose in her hand.
“Lubi, your task is complete.”
The rchant respectfully stayed in place, bowing slightly to his employer, watching as Loka slowly pushed open the tightly closed doors of the ballroom.
“So, you waited until now to show up?”
Yiwen pinched Loka’s palm with so dissatisfaction.
Loka gave a helpless smile, unsure how to soothe this high-maintenance princess, so she simply followed Yiwen’s steps, slowly dancing to the music.
As the lody gradually filled the dance floor, their steps beca more synchronized.
Though Yiwen hadn’t studied much dance, she quickly grasped the basics after a brief lesson.
In her past life, after becoming an heir, Loka had tirelessly made up for the aristocratic etiquette and ballroom knowledge she’d lacked in her youth.
Not only could she perfectly match her partner, but she gradually took the lead in guiding Yiwen’s steps.
Their harmonious and elegant dance soon drew everyone’s attention.
Besides the admiring and approving gazes of the nobles, there was also the gritted-teeth expression of the figure seated in a high position.
The Empress, furious, pulled over the attendant who had helped her orchestrate this farce, angrily demanding to know where this sudden intruder had co from.
The attendant, head lowered, stamred and dared not speak.
They had ticulously arranged the guest list for the banquet, even assigning specific dance partners to ensure the Empress’s goal: no one could help the Sixth Princess successfully navigate the ball.
Yet this silver-haired boy who appeared out of nowhere had shattered all their plans.
But if they expelled him from the ball, it would signal a failure on the part of the Empress as the organizer, so they couldn’t act rashly.
“Did you see the Empress’s expression? It’s like soone smashed her favorite crystal chandelier. But why haven’t the First Prince and Balesha co out to cause trouble?”
“You an your cowardly elder brother and his useless master?I dealt with them earlier today.
Now they’re probably just crying in a corner, waiting for his mother to comfort him.”
Seizing the mont of their gaze, Yiwen cleverly avoided everyone’s eyes, flashing a disdainful smile.
“By the way, where’s my birthday gift?”
“Uh… I sent soone to prepare it.”
Seeing Loka’s guilty glance toward the window, Yiwen shook her head, accustod to this.
In the mont of their dance’s turn, she leaned close to Loka’s ear, whispering softly.
“In that case, want to see the gift I got for you first?”
“Hmm?”
During the dance, as Yiwen leaned into Loka’s arms, their gazes intertwined—not with tenderness, but with a calm, unspoken understanding.
“There’s a long-sealed historical record in the royal library about a noble family that rose from commoners, the Keynes Family. But they no longer exist.”
Yiwen leaned closer, her warm breath brushing Loka’s ear, making her earlobe slightly red.
Loka remained silent, maintaining her dance posture.
“The Keynes Family uncovered the hidden truths of all nobles yet still stood for the commoners interests against the council of their ti. In the end, they were isolated and vanished from history.”
“And their descendants changed their nas to live as unremarkable commoners, yet always sought to expose the dark side of the nobility to the world.”
Seeing Yiwen’s smug expression, Loka’s eyes gradually widened in shock.
She quickly understood the “gift” Yiwen ant for her.
“Their family na now survives only in a branch’s alias—Burns.”
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