Golden dots send shivers down the spine

In the grand dining room that could accommodate 30 people, only five seats were filled.

They were all seated on the side near the balcony.

On the chair facing away from the balcony, the Queen sat gracefully, the smile on her face never fading as she watched three of the royal heirs eat their dinner.

To her left, two heirs were eating in manner. The heir sitting closest to her was around 17 years old; and had the same blonde hair and emerald eyes as the Queen. The other one's blond was a bit dark, almost brown, and his eyes were blue.

To her right, her precious daughter ate with vigor, while Niveus just stared at his food with his dark mask still stuck on his face.

The Queen could only sigh and shake her head.

"Ni—"

"Lord Niveus, How are you going to eat with your mask still on?"

Before the Queen could call Niveus out, her daughter had already called him first.

Amused, the Queen decided to keep quiet as she watched how the situation would unfold between them.

Niveus was 'invited' to this little dinner of the royal family. As a guest, it was expected that he partake in the meal as a sign of respect and appreciation. This meant if he didn't eat anything, that would be very impolite and disrespecting the Queen who had invited him.

However, Niveus was too focused on his personal problems to not reveal his face to anybody lest it caused more layers to change everyone's perspective of him having unparalleled beauty like the Saintess.

"I'd assume Her Highness, Princess Aurum, and many nobles already know about me being adopted into a Duke family and have only lived in the remote area of Glacend all my life," Niveus said.

"Because of that, I haven't accustomed to noble ethics. What I'm saying is that I was observing and learning the royal family's table manners."

Princess Aurum tilted her head.

"But that doesn't answer my question. Also, you don't need to worry about table manners, Lord Niveus. It's just a family dinner with no formality," she said, turning to the Queen. "Isn't that so, Mother?"

'It's not formal for you, but not me, damn it...'

Following the Princess, Niveus also looked at the Queen silently, sending a signal for help through his body cue.

"That's true, dear. However," the Queen smiled. "Due to circumstance, Sir Niveus has to wear a mask for the rest of his life."

Niveus's eyebrows knitted. 'Not to that extent, but fine...'

"Is he injured his face?"

"Yes," the Queen nodded. "Severely."

Niveus glanced at the Princess briefly before turning his attention elsewhere, thinking about her words.

'Looks like she doesn't remember me,' Niveus muttered, eyes locked in with filets. 'But she seems to act differently than in the game.'

As he adjusted his mask, his mind wandered.

The secret character, Aurum Chryseus, was a character whose fate was determined to die in every route unless the player put an effort to actually save her. Only after an ending with her being alive was achieved, the player could start choosing to make her a Queen or attain Godhood.

In every storyline where the player chose any heir but the secret character, would have her die in various scenarios. Her character was timid and reserved and didn't look like she was a princess with dignity at all.

The other heirs acted as if she didn't exist, leading to a situation where the player sometimes forgot that there were 6 heirs they needed to face to make their character a King or Queen.

It stayed the same when the player chose to play the secret character's storyline; she was still a timid and reserved princess.

But only she had a unique introduction and gameplay.

Instead of playing as the invisible hand raising the heirs to become the proper ruler, the player played as the secret character directly. Besides that, her first and second episodes were three years before the prologue episode of other characters.

During those episodes, the player would have to reshape her timid personality, or else it was a guaranteed death ending when they reached the third episode.

The player could make her a ruthless Queen, benevolent Ruler, or anything. The possibilities were almost endless and the endings were expanded as though Niveus made the game with her in mind.

'Which isn't wrong...'

Because he had a bias for the secret character.

Anyhow, the reality was much more different than in the game.

'Not only does she act differently than in the game, but these two Princes also seem to adore her? That's what their face has been saying...'

Whenever the Queen was not looking at them, they would subtly hint at their disdain for Niveus for sitting beside their sister.

'And there's the matter with the other four heirs who are currently studying in the Empire.'

'Maybe I should stop comparing everything in this world with anything and just live with it... as I've always done, huff.'

"Sir Niveus, you seem to be restless," said the Queen as she noticed Niveus's body language. "You should go and rest. The servant will show you the room and bring the food there instead."

...

After Niveus left the dining room, the two Princes immediately turned their heads at the Queen.

"Mother, are you sure he's not suspicious?"

"He's so suspicious, Mother!"

Smiling, the Queen asked, "Why do you think so?"

"He... he dares to speak to Aurum! That's so suspicious!" Both of them said at the same time.

"A-also, why do you send Aurum to check on that suspicious guy, Mother?! What if he kidnapped our sister?!"

The Queen chuckled.

Meanwhile, in the place where the moonlight illuminated the dark corridor, Princess Aurum walked with a full thought.

The moon hung high outside, its light seeping in through the windows, serving as a perfect backdrop for the little princess whose expression became more thoughtful with each step she took.

Then, as she arrived at her destination, a guest room where Niveus stayed, Princess Aurum peeked through the gap.

"?!!"

Her heart suddenly beat faster, sweat cold flooded her body, and a distress signal from her brain made her tremble and finally stumbled backward with a thud.

As she tried to get up and leave from there, the door opened wide.

In front of her stood a figure with a dark featureless face, but the golden glow of his eyes seemed to shine in the darkness.

Those pairs of golden glow stared down at her, sending shivers through her body.

"Are you okay, Princess?"