Princess, Please Fall in Love with Me-Chapter 24 : Chapter 24

Chapter 24 : True Heart, Please Pay with Benefits
“How is it, are you satisfied with this gift?”
Yiwen Kelake’s few short sentences made Loka understand the sequence of events.
From the moment Yiwen told me about Weber Burns’s location, to that inexplicable fire, it seemed the other party had planned everything long ago.
In my previous life, I relied on a single piece of paper left by Weber Burns to successfully quell the fury of the rebel army that could have toppled the entire Austin Empire.
But Yiwen Kelake was able to dismantle my rebel army in a short time, so it all made perfect sense—the one who ties the bell must untie it.
Clearly, Weber Burns’s death in my previous life was merely a ruse to deceive others.
The real Weber Burns had already been taken under the wing of the only one who knew his true identity at the time, the last heir of the Kelake Royal Family, the Sixth Princess.
“Your Highness, you’ve truly given me quite a surprise.”
Yiwen Kelake smiled as she looked at Loka, gently stretching out a finger to poke that slightly puffed-up little face.
She loved seeing Loka’s unwilling yet helpless expression.
“What, are you upset because I took your person?”
“No, I was just thinking about the birthday gift for Your Highness.”
Loka changed her previous surprised expression and instead revealed a smile.
With a turn, she gently pulled Yiwen Kelake into an embrace, responding in an equally gentle and soft tone.
“Your Highness, the Golden Griffin was already down to just one by the time of the previous emperor. The members of the Kelake Royal Family only have gilded griffins now.”
Yes, that night when Loka questioned Lycan about what he saw, she had already guessed some of it, especially the Griffin Badge deliberately placed at the other party’s waist.
In her previous life, Loka had also chosen a pure Golden Griffin Badge to infiltrate the palace.
But a member of the Kelake Royal Family, who frequented the Black Market, drunkenly revealed the truth to Loka.
The pure Golden Griffin Badge was actually made from the gold plundered by the founding Emperor of Austin when the empire was established.
It served as the sole token of the Kelake Royal Family, and seeing the griffin was akin to the emperor’s personal presence.
But each emperor would take it to the grave upon death, so the number of Griffin Badges only decreased, never increased, stored in the treasury of successive emperors.
“The one in the Emperor’s hand is the last pure Golden Griffin, and only he can possess it!”
Those words from the drunkard remained vivid in Loka’s memory even now.
Unless the Emperor of Austin personally ordered it, a pure Golden Griffin could not appear.
If the other party was betting on shifting the blame to the Emperor of Austin, then Loka was betting that the Emperor of Austin wouldn’t care about this matter.
To use a pure Golden Griffin for a powerless scholar would make the Emperor of Austin seem far too lowly and cautious.
Thus, it was more likely a counterfeit made by the mastermind to frame the Kelake Royal Family.
“It seems, Your Highness, that being too clever has backfired.”
This time, it was Loka’s turn to look at the displeased Yiwen Kelake with a half-teasing, half-indulgent gaze.
The other’s eyes clearly held a trace of resentment, and she stomped hard on Loka’s foot to vent her frustration.
“Hiss—Your Highness, you must cherish the delicate! If you ruin my foot, there won’t be a dance partner as good-looking as me to accompany you in the future.”
“Silver-tongued! Do you see that person over there?”
Yiwen Kelake suddenly gripped Loka’s hand tightly, making her follow her steps and turn her body.
Her gaze fell on two noble children dancing.
They appeared to be dancing, but their sinister eyes kept staring in the direction of the two.
Sure enough, as the dance music progressed, the pair got closer and closer to Loka and Yiwen Kelake’s position, their steps gradually quickening, even showing intent to stretch out a leg to trip them.
But in the next second, Yiwen Kelake and Loka executed a graceful spin, causing the scheming duo to stumble and fall to the ground.
“Did I step on you? Sorry, you were a bit too inconspicuous.”
Yiwen Kelake didn’t even spare them a glance, instead looking provocatively at the furious First Prince not far away.
Then, she took Loka’s hand and slowly walked to stand before the Emperor of Austin and the Empress, both bowing respectfully to the Emperor of Austin.
“Yiwen, my daughter, where did you find this dance partner? He’s not on the Empress’s list.”
Miles Kelake curiously scrutinized Loka, who was dressed in male attire.
The Empress beside him, holding a fan, looked at the two with a gleeful expression, unsure how to explain themselves.
To embarrass Yiwen Kelake, the Empress even admitted her own oversight in letting an outsider slip in.
“Yiwen, although letting someone sneak in was my mistake, you can’t just dance with someone of unknown origin. What if he’s an assassin with ill intentions?”
Her words immediately shifted the blame onto Yiwen Kelake.
Seeing the Emperor of Austin’s scrutinizing gaze, Yiwen Kelake was about to stand, but Loka gently stopped her with a hand, smiled, and nodded to her, respectfully stepping before the Emperor of Austin.
“The daughter of the Alva Family, Loka Alva, pays respects to the Austin Empire.”
Loka undid the ornament in her hair, revealing a touch of silver-white short hair, and performed a greeting bow neither humbly nor arrogantly.
Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, she took Yiwen·Kelake’s hand slowly helped her up.
“Loka Alva, why didn’t you attend the Ball with Duke Victor, but instead sneaked into the Ball uninvited? Are you defying the rules I’ve set?”
“Naturally, I wouldn’t dare, Your Majesty. As the Study Companion of the Sixth Princess, I naturally had to prepare a grand surprise for my dear Highness. Thus, my father and I planned this grand finale entrance, didn’t we—Father?”
The curious gazes of the crowd followed Loka to Duke Victor, who had been silently observing the farce from the sidelines.
Clearly caught off guard by the sudden responsibility thrust upon him, he could only nod silently under the Emperor of Austin’s half-smiling expression.
Looking at Loka’s sly eyes, Duke Victor’s face darkened, his wine glass trembling involuntarily, nearly spilling red wine onto a nearby guest’s clothes.
“Hahaha, Duke Victor thought this through so thoroughly that even I was almost fooled!”
Miles Kelake suddenly laughed heartily, patting Duke Victor’s shoulder as if they were close friends.
Seeing the Emperor of Austin’s stance, the surrounding nobles also smiled and chimed in.
Thus, amidst the flattery of the nobles, Loka led Yiwen Kelake slowly left the dance floor, and the Ball came to a temporary pause.
Everyone understood that the children would leave, and next came the discussions concerning benefits.
“Alright, there’s no one here now—let go of my hand!”
The two, hand in hand, reached a corner of the Amethyst Palace.
Yiwen Kelake finally escaped the noisy adults, her face flushing as she quickly shook off Loka’s hand.
Loka smiled at her the entire time.
“Your Highness, close your eyes and count to three.”
“Do you still think I’m an ordinary twelve-year-old girl? I won’t—”
Moonlight poured through the window, scattering pure silver-white starlight, falling on the shyly budding Rose petals.
As the moonlight grew hazier, the petals slowly bloomed, pale purple petals drifting in the moonlight, falling into the silent, empty night.
“Your Highness, happy birthday.”