PMBA | Chapter 5

After Lexion and Dominique left the Crown Prince’s Palace, and some time had passed… 

Kyrie neatly composed her lingering smile.

‘I suspected as much… Just as I predicted.’

In the end, the Crown Prince hadn’t shown himself, even as the time for the banquet approached. He had likely slipped out the back entrance.

Knowing that she wasn’t particularly fond of crowded places, he would have gone straight to the banquet hall.

Did he think that, by leaving through the back entrance, she would wait here forever, unaware of his departure?

This wasn’t the first time he had avoided meeting her like this.

“It’s actually better this way.”

Kyrie recalled the past years she had spent pursuing Lexion.

He was truly capricious. While claiming to be exasperated by her, he would subtly caress her shoulder or stroke her arm whenever she sat next to him.

It was as if he wanted to remind her that he held the power in their relationship, that she was the one receiving his favor. He seemed to have forgotten that he was also in a position to receive something from her – the list.

He used Kyrie to get rid of the young ladies he had grown tired of, hiding his own frivolous behavior behind her notoriety. And then, whenever he was in a bad mood, he would often run away like this.

Even if she went to the banquet hall, it would be difficult to speak to the Crown Prince privately.

Kyrie fiddled with the pendant, warming in her hand. And she thought about all the efforts she had made to pursue her happiness, even without truly understanding what it actually was.

“You haven’t met a real mad dog yet, Your Highness.”

Lexion might not have realized it, but she had been thinking about this situation for a long time. She had also anticipated that he wouldn’t easily keep his promise.

He would probably toy with her and give her a hard time before finally bringing up the subject of marriage.

“Did you think I’d let you off so easily?”

But Kyrie had a last resort, one she had saved for the very end. This time, it might not end with mere bad reputation.

It could even result in her death…

‘But whether I die being dragged off to a convent or die now…’

To Kyrie, the two options held no essential difference. Ironically, at that moment, she made up her mind to become a real mad dog.

Kyrie turned away from the banquet hall and began to walk in the opposite direction.

Now, with everyone gathered in the banquet hall, it was the perfect opportunity for her.

* * *

Bang!

The sound of a gunshot echoing through the banquet hall would have been considered highly inappropriate at any other time, but not today. As the night deepened, the intoxicated guests chattered excitedly.

“What excellent marksmanship, Your Highness!”

The bullet had landed slightly off-center of the target placed in the middle of the banquet hall. Hanging in the center of the target was a small cage containing a bird.

Lexion, having loaded the new musket that had just been developed, licked his lips as he looked at it.

“So close.”

Flutter.

The bird, startled by the gunshot, flapped its wings. Its feathers shimmered between blue and silver in the light.

“Look at that!”

“Ahahaha!”

No matter how desperately the bird flapped its wings, the surrounding people only laughed. A few expressed pity for the bird, but it was merely a superficial display of sympathy.

“Isn’t that bird the national bird of the very kingdom His Highness subdued?”

“I heard it was quite a struggle. They put up a fierce fight to the very end.”

‘It was more than just a fierce fight.’

Dominique thought impassively, staring at the missed target.

Numerous gazes were directed at him, a sharp, prominent figure even in this setting, but no one dared to approach him. The cold and sublime atmosphere he exuded created an invisible barrier.

“Take another shot!”

“Shall I?”

Dominique’s gaze rested on the Crown Prince, who was basking in the attention. Lexion was reloading the musket with another live round.

The Emperor’s decision to hold an event like this, where shots were fired in the middle of a banquet, must have had multiple meanings.

‘His intentions are so transparent.’

The recently conquered kingdom was one the Emperor had made an example of. The royal family of that kingdom were distant relatives of Dominique, sharing a common ancestor.

When the kingdom showed signs of transforming into a republic based on a constitutional monarchy, the Emperor specifically ordered Dominique to suppress it, with the Crown Prince at his side.

And Dominique carried out the task indifferently. He burned down the royal palace, summarily executed the royal family without trial, and seized their national bird, bringing it here.

Bang!

This time, the bullet Lexion fired struck the top of the cage and ricocheted.

Screech.

The bird fluttered again. Silver feathers drifted down to the bottom of the cage with each flap of its wings.

“One more…”

“Enough.”

Just as Lexion was about to reload, the elderly man, who had been sitting silently but exuded an even more overwhelming presence than Dominique, spoke.

“That’s enough, Crown Prince.”

“But Your Imperial Majesty…”

The Emperor, commanding the attention of the laughing and chattering crowd, raised his hand to silence Lexion. Just as Lexion, subservient to his father, was about to hand the musket to an attendant, his face contorted with displeasure, the Emperor casually gestured to the attendant and said…

“It was Duke Haswell who taught the Crown Prince marksmanship.”

“…”
“It would be fitting for the Duke to take a shot now.”

He said, looking directly at Dominique.

Instantly, dozens, hundreds of pairs of eyes turned towards him.

Despite the intense scrutiny, Dominique remained utterly composed.

No matter how eagerly the nobles searched for any sign of his unease, they only saw the confidence and arrogance of a man accustomed to being admired by others.

Indeed, Dominique felt no pressure at all. Their gazes were utterly worthless to him.

The nobles gathered here, those who resided in the capital and busied themselves fluttering around the Emperor like flies, were, to Dominique, nothing more than the Emperor’s “furniture.”

Ornaments to enhance the Emperor’s power. Trophies to make the Imperial Palace appear more opulent. Toothless dogs allowed to live within the Emperor’s cage, having sacrificed their families’ prosperity and freedom.

He himself, self-deprecatingly, played the role of the imperial family’s loyal dog, but he was different from those who had tucked their tails between their legs.

Would anyone be bothered by the stares of mere furniture?

So Dominique walked towards the musket with a leisurely gait. Lexion, having lost his chance to hit the target again, simply gritted his teeth.

“…”

Reaching the attendant, Dominique gently stroked the smooth barrel of the musket, as if coaxing it.

The restrained yet somehow caressing movement evoked a strange feeling.

“Ahh.”

The gesture alone drew a sharp intake of breath from someone in the crowd. Dominique, savoring the cool metal of the barrel, replied,

“As you command.”

What happened next was so swift that few could properly see it.

Click, clack.

The long barrel, centered around the trigger, spun around, emitting a metallic sound. Dominique, swiftly reloading the spinning musket with a series of bullets, swept his cloak back and assumed his stance.

The trail left by his swirling cloak resembled an elegant dance.

And in the moment everyone’s attention was captured…

Click.

The muzzle of the loaded musket slowly turned towards the Emperor.

“…”

A suffocating silence descended upon the banquet hall, which had been filled with cheers and excitement. A few nobles, realizing the situation, shifted their eyes nervously. Just as a wave of quiet horror was about to wash over the room…

Bang!

Dominique swiftly turned the musket back to the target and fired. Unlike his previous flawless and precise movements, this action, from shouldering the weapon to pulling the trigger, was deliberately exaggerated.

However, even this exaggeration didn’t look comical coming from him. It was a fluid and beautiful movement, so natural that even those who knew how to shoot wondered if such a posture actually existed in textbooks.

As if mocking something.

Flutter!

The bullet, as if to make a point, missed the target entirely and lodged itself in one of the hall’s pillars. The silver bird in the cage flapped its wings once and then stared calmly at Dominique.

With a quiet desperation for life hidden beneath its calm demeanor.

It reminded him of someone he had seen earlier. Dominique chuckled, realizing he was projecting emotions onto a mere bird.

‘Such uncharacteristic thoughts.’

Should he have just killed it?

Dominique mocked himself as he handed the musket back to the attendant. Wiping away the gunpowder residue from his hands, he bowed slightly.

“It seems I am so lacking that I have caused concern for His Highness’s marksmanship.”

“…”

People exchanged bewildered and uneasy glances at his self-deprecating words. Despite his humility, his dignity remained undiminished.

Lexion stared at his cousin with a strangely stiff expression, as if trying to decipher his thoughts. Dominique calmly ignored Lexion’s gaze and continued,

“That bird is unduly fortunate.”

“…”

“Its fate differs from that of its unfortunate masters.”

The Emperor’s eyes gleamed ominously upon hearing his words.