This is not the date I wanted.

Seeing this scene, Shidao and others who were secretly observing inside the city gate did not care about exposing their identities and prepared to go to help Mengyue.

"Wait a minute!"

At this moment, the soldier who was knocked to the ground suddenly called his subordinates and slowly got up from the ground.

After taking off the gold brick stuck on his face, the soldier didn't care at all that half of his face had become red and swollen, and gave Mengyue a flattering smile.

"This little gift is a token of our appreciation. You must be tired standing guard in such a cold weather. Let's buy some hot wine to warm ourselves up."

Meng Yue walked up and patted the soldier on the shoulder and asked in a very kind tone.

"Excuse me, can I go to the dance?"

"Of course no problem~ Please come in~ Please come in~"

19 The World in Books (IV)

==============================

"Excuse me, can I go to the dance?"

"Of course no problem~ Please come in~ Please come in~"

So, Mengyue swaggered into the city under the ashamed gazes of everyone.

By the way, the floating wooden cart behind Mengyue was like a well-behaved and loyal dog following her. Although the guard had forbidden this thing to be brought into the dance party at first, after Mengyue gave him a gold brick on the other side and made the red seal into a symmetrical shape, the guard readily let the wooden cart in.

"Hey, everyone is here after all. It's good that everything seems alright."

"Sister Mengyue, why are you here?"

"Hey. I followed you secretly~"

Looking at Mengyue who was maliciously acting cute, the corners of Qinli's mouth twitched slightly.

"… Never mind. You must explain everything to me when you get back."

Kotori stared at Mengyue with dissatisfaction, and then sighed helplessly. Although the other party did not say it explicitly, after understanding the other party's character to a certain extent, Kotori roughly guessed what Mengyue had done.

"learn."

"Hey, Bili-chan. Looks like you're lucky. You were assigned a good role."

Unlike others, Erya was not surprised by Mengyue's appearance. He put his arm around her shoulders affectionately and pointed at the wooden cart behind her curiously and asked.

"Honestly, what story are you from? I've never heard of a traveling merchant riding a flying cart."

"This is a little difficult to explain. I'll tell you when we find Miku and Origami."

"Hey~ Stop keeping me in suspense. Tell me, Bili-chan."

After shaking off Erya's entanglement, Mengyue glanced at everyone, and when her eyes stopped on Shidao, she immediately smiled brightly.

"Shiori-chan! I'm so glad you're okay! I missed you so much!"

"Yeah... Meng Yue too. I'm glad you're okay."

Shidou nodded stiffly. Compared to Mengyue who was able to hold his hands with a smile, his expression was obviously much stiffer.

(I don’t feel angry at all… Is this the power of Shiori-chan?)

Shidou couldn't help but admire the depth of Mengyue's obsession with Shiori.

(Young man, what are you doing? Take this opportunity to apologize quickly.)

Noticing the look that Niya was giving him, Shidou finally reacted. Indeed, now that Mengyue's mood had improved, it was the best time for him to apologize.

"Um... Mengyue... about what happened before... I'm sorry... it's my fault."

"Hmm? What are you talking about, Shiori-chan?"

However, Mengyue tilted her head in confusion at Shidou's apology.

"Shiori-chan, you did nothing wrong."

"Eh? It's about six..."

"Shiori-chan, you did nothing wrong."

Meng Yue interrupted Shidou forcibly, looked at Shidou with a smile on her face, and repeated it in an affirmative tone.

"..."

Shidao was speechless for a moment. Although he thought Mengyue had forgotten about the quarrel, when she repeated the answer for the second time, he realized that it was just his illusion.

"Hmm? Ally, what are you talking about?"

Yakuya asked in confusion. Not only her, but also Kotori and Nia who knew the whole story in advance were confused about the current situation.

"Well, staying here too long will only attract attention. Let's get to the dance venue quickly."

Kotori clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention to herself, and walked forward into the castle while urging everyone on.

"I'm sorry...boy...I said something irresponsible to you."

Niya quietly apologized to Shidou. She seemed to feel guilty for secretly instigating Shidou.

"No...it's not your fault. I was too impatient..."

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Shidou turned his gaze to Mengyue who was walking in front. As if noticing Shidou's gaze, Mengyue turned her head and smiled back shyly.

However, the action that should have made his heart beat faster now made him feel distressed.

(Don’t try to pretend to be Shiori to please me… Is that what you mean…)

Shidou didn't think that Niya's guess was wrong. On the contrary, if he interpreted Mengyue according to Niya's previous thinking, Shidou found that the other party's reaction was unexpected, but reasonable.

(I am not determined...)

Shidou thought to himself with self-mockery. He had already made up his mind not to seek forgiveness from Mengyue, but to reach a reconciliation with her.

————————————————————I am the dividing line into the castle——————————————

Inside the castle is a fairy tale world that is completely different from the ice and snow outside.

The chandeliers emitting soft light, the large red carpet covering the entire venue, and even the stair railings were carved by first-class craftsmen.

At the ball, various noble children dressed in gorgeous dresses gathered at the table, holding their glasses and chatting very elegantly.

"Oh--"

Seeing this scene, Tohka and the others exclaimed like country people entering the city.

"Shidou! Kotori! Can I eat the food here?"

"Of course you can...but remember not to act alone. If you leave the range of the matches, your disguise will be ineffective."

Seeing Tohka's extremely hungry look, Kotori realized that she couldn't stop her, so she nodded in agreement.

"That's what she said...Tohka, there's no one at that table, let's go there."

"Oh!"

After getting permission from Shidou and Kotori, Tohka cheered and walked to the dining table and started eating.

Although Tohka's eating manners were somewhat indecent in such a noble ball, surprisingly, no one at the ball came to criticize her. Rather, Shidou felt that everyone at the ball deliberately kept a distance from their group.

Of course, if you really ask what the reason is, Shidao actually knows it.

The rough cold-proof clothes without any elegance and the strange and weird floating wooden carriage, Mengyue's outfit was obviously out of tune with the entire venue. Coupled with the blatant bribery at the city gate before, although the nobles had complaints in their hearts, they did not dare to step forward easily before finding out the details of Mengyue's situation.

"Sure enough, this thing is too conspicuous."

Noticing the vigilant looks from the people around her, Nanashi turned to the floating wooden cart behind her, her mouth twitching slightly. To be honest, she always had the illusion that she was possessed by a ghost.

"This is good, isn't it? We don't have to deal with other people chatting us up, and our original purpose wasn't to socialize."

Kotori shrugged nonchalantly.

Just as Kotori said, in the middle of the ball there were indeed a few young nobles who wanted to invite the women in Shidou's group to dance with them, but after seeing Mengyue's vulgar outfit, they all went back with disgust on their faces.

"Is this also part of your plan, Sister Mengyue?"

"How is that possible? I didn't think that much. I just didn't bother to change clothes."

Faced with Kotori's slightly malicious sarcasm, Mengyue shook her head helplessly.

After eating and drinking for a while, Shidou and his friends finally waited for the highlight of the dance.

[——Dear guests, sorry to bother you during your conversation. Please focus your attention on the stage. We will show you a mermaid princess with a beautiful singing voice, which is extremely rare in the world.]

Following the host's voice, everyone present turned their eyes to the stage. The curtain slowly opened, revealing a half-human, half-fish woman sitting on a stage that was decorated to look like a beach.

Beautiful wet long hair like violet, a swimsuit made of shells, pitiful purple eyes, and - that moving voice that makes one intoxicated.

"Wow, where is this? Where is everyone? Darling, Honey, come and save me~"

“OO ...

Amid the cheers and applause in the venue of "I don't understand what the mermaid is singing, but it sounds damn good!", Shidao and Mengyue's foreheads were filled with black lines.

There is no doubt that this mermaid is the partner they are looking for, Yuiya Miku.

"The story of a mermaid princess... In a sense, it really fits Miku-kun."

Erya sighed thoughtfully.

"Now is not the time to feel sentimental. We need to hurry over and save her."

Shidou said with a smile on his face.

Fortunately, at this moment, everyone at the party focused their attention on the rare mermaid Miku, and not many people were paying attention to Shidou. Taking this opportunity, Shidou and his companions split into two groups. On the one hand, Mengyue, Tohka, and Shidou sneaked to the back of the stage to rescue Miku, while Kotori and others stayed at the venue and used phantom torches to create the illusion that everyone was present.

……

Backstage, after calming down the excited audience, the host looked at Mijiu swimming in the reservoir and seemed very dissatisfied.

"Now that you have been bought by His Majesty, stop having these random thoughts and serve the King wholeheartedly. -- Got it? I heard that you have the best singing voice among mermaids. I hope you can show your singing to the guests from afar."

"I refuse! Although I have the best singing voice, I don't know the king whom I have never met - I don't accept workism because I don't want to be myself!"

Meijiu righteously rejected the host's request, demonstrating his inviolable professional ethics.

Seeing how stubborn Mijiu was, the host seemed to have lost his patience and his face darkened slightly.

"Really? Well, there's nothing we can do. Mermaids who don't sing are useless. I heard that eating mermaid meat can make you immortal. Please ask the chef to add an extra dish of fish soup to your Majesty's dinner later."

"Yeah - Miku loves singing the most!"

Feeling that the other party's attitude did not seem to be joking, Meijiu couldn't help but sweat on her forehead and quickly changed her words.

"Really? When did our Miku become the property of your king?"

"Who—uh—!"

Before the host could react, Meng Yue went around behind her and covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Under the effect of the drug, she didn't struggle for long and passed out in Meng Yue's arms.

"Mengyue... When did you prepare this?"

Looking at Mengyue's overly skilled movements, Shidou couldn't help but complain and asked.

"Nonsense, of course I bought it before coming here, any problem?"

Meng Yue rolled her eyes at Shidao in annoyance.

"No……"

Seeing the huge difference in attitude between him and me when they were dressed as women, I should say it was Yumezuki after all. Shidou thought helplessly in his heart.

"Miku, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Darling! Honey! You're finally here!"

Meijiu cheered in surprise, and her fish tail swayed as she moved forward, splashing large amounts of water.

"Darling~ Honey~ I've suffered so much here. When I came to my senses, I was already in the sea like this. When I was trying to find everyone, I was suddenly approached by a strange old woman, who said, 'If you want to become a human, you have to exchange your singing voice.' It was completely meaningless! Can you understand? She wanted my singing voice, which was unbelievable! After I refused, she still pestered me, so I slapped her and ran away. In the end, I finally reached the seaside, but was caught by a fisherman and sold to the king. And then-"

"Yeah, I get it. It's all right now, just relax, Miku."

Looking at Miku who was complaining bitterly, Shidou smiled bitterly and touched her head to comfort her.

"Sorry, Mijiu, please wait a moment!" Meng Yue wiped the water stains on her face with her sleeve, sighed helplessly, and said, "We have to find a way to get you out of the castle now. When we get back, you can do whatever you want to Shidou."

"real?!"

"...Of course."