I Decided to Kidnap the Male Lead

‘It’s surely about the village, since he hasn’t left for it.’

“Let him in.”

As soon as permission was granted, the door opened and a person who she might have met somewhere before appeared.

(TL/N: not sure if my tl conveys this, so i’ll just say it here – he has a common enough face that would make you think you’ve seen him before.)

He’s just plain enough to not arouse suspicion wherever he goes.

The tool and messenger that conveyed the man’s messages and general information to and from the village.

He entered the room with a pale face and a hurried step.

“What’s going on?”

At the chilling malice lurking in the darkness, the messenger had to wipe away the madly flowing cold sweat.

He opened his mouth, but it was dry from rushing here too hastily, and his lips, which were a powdery white, made only a clicking noise.

But the messenger managed to squeeze his voice out.

It was because he thought, no, he was convinced that if he didn’t open his mouth now, it would be the end.

“Uh… Mm… Mmm…”

Before the messenger knew it, Raisa had approached him.

Extremely frightened to the point he couldn’t even scream, the messenger’s forehead was soon forced to hit the floor.

Desperately, he opened his mouth again, even though he was in pain at the sharpness of the heel of a shoe on the back of his head.

“Uh… there’s a problem.”

At the words that came out properly, the foot that was stepping on the back of his head lost some pressure.

“The problem?”

“There’s a problem…”

A dark night when the thin moon hid its face behind the clouds.

“…and I’m keeping an eye on that man, but it’s still just a suspicion.”

After the report, the messenger lifted his nose, which was barely breathing, from the floor as the pressure on his neck disappeared.

Right after that.

—Krrrek.

With her eyes glistening, Raisa crushed the weakest bone in the messenger’s neck with her sharp heel.

From behind the clouds, faint moonlight barely leaked, illuminating her face then disappearing soon after.

Raisa, stepping on the broken neck of the messenger who had already stopped breathing, let out a calm, cold breath that was unlike her seething inside. It was as if she had never been angry.

“If there’s a problem, it has to be dealt with.”

She had no desire to regress.

Since she learned from experience that if she went back every time there was a problem, another problem would arise.

Unless it was a problem she couldn’t solve no matter what she did, she would rather not regress.

“If I can’t deal with it, I’ll do whatever I can until it can.”

That sentence rang in the dimly lit room.

.

On the surface, nothing much happened, and the strange downpours that had been going back and forth throughout the empire stopped. A few days later, in the evening…

At a villa owned by the Marquisate of Sheffield, located in an area slightly out of the center of the capital.

It didn’t boast as much splendor as the Sheffield family’s main mansion, but compared to the surrounding buildings, the lights that brightened the night more than the day were lit one by one.

And in the middle of the very red decorations…

The servants were running like crazy to finish the job they were entrusted with.

“Hey, not that tapestry over there! More red!”

“Oh, no. I can’t use this fondue. Yellow doesn’t suit it at all. Get rid of it.”

“Ah! There’s not much time left, we have to finish it quickly!”

“Rose! Yes! Don’t we have red roses? If so, bring white ones and dye them red! There’s no time, so move quickly!”

It was time for the party to begin.

(TL/N: in case anyone forgot, because I sure kinda did… this is the party to sniff out Neir’s potential other involvement in the festival license stuff.)

The busy hands of the servants became even faster, and the sunset gradually ripened against the ground.

The snake, the owner of the villa and the organizer of the party, appeared.

No, Catherine appeared, wearing a red snake mask.

“Is it ready?”

“It’s done.”

“If you say so, then so be it.”

Contrary to her words of faith, the eyes behind the mask shone extremely sharply.

At that, the butler in charge of the villa bowed deeply and hurriedly retreated.

Catherine, who caught a glimpse of the butler’s back, took a look at the outdoor garden that was to be the main stage of the day.

A variety of tapestries and pieces harmonized with red roses in full bloom seemed sufficient to create a more splendid night than the day.

Even so, Catherine examined closely for any shortcomings.

This should be a very special evening.

After all, wasn’t this the first thing she did for Ophelia?

‘And I don’t know if she will notice…’

Red, representing Bolsheik, was designated as the theme color of the evening party.

Catherine immediately shook her head.

No, it would be perfect if Ophelia was satisfied and happy without recognizing it.

‘So even if it’s not perfect, it must be prepared to be as close to perfect.’

Catherine’s eyes shone fiercely.

She didn’t just sit back and talk.

She walked the talk, inspecting the whole garden herself, moving right up to the beginning of the evening party.

“Open it.”

With Catherine’s order, the front door of the villa opened, and the invitees stepped into the villa one by one.

It was an evening hosted by the Sheffield family, and Catherine at that.

The hive of society and all, standing out with Lady Neir was a disaster in and of itself.

There was not a single one who did not respond to Catherine’s invitation, and there were not merely one or two who were eager to be invited to this evening.

Being invited to her tea party or ball ahead of the festival was a very useful advertisement that the family had a close relationship with the Marquisate of Sheffield.

“I thought you would call me here before the festival.”

“As expected, right? You have to do it once every year and move on.”

“Sure. Anyway, this year’s a masquerade, which is also a night party.”

“I liked the tea party of the past year, but this one is also interesting.”

“What do you mean? This one is much more fun. Day and night, even the mask. I’m already looking forward to the fun things that will happen.”

The young ladies who covered their faces with various masks burst into laughter at the frank words.

As Catherine’s goal and Iris’ assertion, the night of the evening party with a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than usual was about to ripen.

A servant approached Catherine, who was busily dealing with the young ladies due to her duties as an organizer.

He whispered something and Catherine’s face became wide enough that anyone could tell.

After Catherine, with a more gorgeous smile blooming under the colorful lights, flew away…

Those left behind shared the same emotions to the extent that they could recognize each other’s expressions even though they were covered by masks.

Surprise and bewilderment mixed, and soon they opened their mouths one by one.

“She’s so happy.”

“I think it’s the first time in my life seeing Lady Sheffield so happy.”

“Me too.”

“What’s going on?”

“Hmm, did the jewelry or dress she wanted arrive?”

Then someone raised a mischievous topic.

“Is someone she loves coming?”

After a moment of silence among the young ladies, they opened their mouths at the same time and became noisy.

Other people’s love life was always fun.

How long did they kick back and forth over Catherine and her possible love affair?

“What’s everyone talking about? You all seem to be having a lot of fun.”

The person they were chewing, tearing, and tasting appeared with two companions.

Once again, a moment of silence passed between the young ladies, but with a different meaning than before.

Very unusually, one of the companion’s faces was covered with a mongoose mask, but judging by how she seemed to be wrapped in cold air… It must be Iris Fillite.

First of all, the fact that Iris showed up at such an evening party was shocking. On top of that, the host of this party was Catherine.

Was there anyone who didn’t know that the two of them were bitter enemies gathered in this villa?

No, even among those who were not invited to this evening, surely there was no one who did not know that the two of them exchanged bloody conversations whenever they met.

“The person using the mongoose mask… oh!”

A young lady, who spoke to Iris without thinking much, was pinched on the side by her friend right next to her and shut her mouth.

—Right now, they were at an evening party where everyone was wearing masks.

The unspoken rule was to not talk about who was who, whether you could clearly tell the person’s identity or if it was vague.

The young ladies had so many things they wanted to say at the sudden appearance of Iris, and their mouths were itchy, but they couldn’t say anything.

Of course, it would be possible to indirectly ask who Iris was and why she suddenly came here.

“These are the people I ‘specially’ asked for.”

Catherine, the host of the evening and the esteemed Lady of Sheffield, had said so, so the surrounding ladies couldn’t bring it out anymore.

—How could Lady Sheffield, who had invited Lady Fillite, say ‘specially’ with such a wide smile? Don’t tell me… the Sheffield and Fillite?

This common thought came into the minds of the ladies, but none of them could say it.

And the other person besides Iris Fillite…

There was nothing to identify the person wearing the rabbit mask.

Indeed, because the mask she wore was faithful to her duties, completely hiding her face, to the extent that not a single hair was visible.

The young ladies exchanged glances.

However, no one could guess who the rabbit was, and because of that, curiosity only spread like wildfire.

“Now, let the evening party begin in earnest…!”

“I apologize, my lady, but this is an urgent call.”

Catherine was about to raise her champagne glass when an urgent-looking servant interrupted in an even more tight voice.

“Whose?”

In response to Catherine’s sharp question, the servant bowed his head deeply.

“The young master sent it.”

At the words of ‘young master’ coming out of the servant’s mouth, the young ladies’ ears widened and perked.

Credits goes to Jassie for raw providing, Ame for translating, and Dea for proofreading.