Chapter 915

After leaving the emperor’s office, Cain stood dazed for a while before cursing under his breath.

“This fucking...”

He wanted nothing more than to curse out loud until his lungs got sore. He thought that the task of wiping out the remnant of the rebel forces would be simple cleanup work, but no, it turned out he was being tasked to pioneer an entirely new dungeon.

At this point, there was no other way to describe his situation other than the words "royally screwed."

‘That damned emperor... A mere NPC dares to mess with me, a gamer?’

Cain growled inwardly.

Rage boiled inside him after realizing that Emperor Stuttgart was playing with him, and he wanted nothing more than to chop the emperor’s head off.

‘

Just you wait... I’ll bring your empire to its knees and chop off your head—’

Thud!

He turned a corner and bumped into someone.

“Kyaaa!”

He ran into a petite girl.

“Ouch...”

She fell flat on her butt, and tears welled up in her eyes as she winced from pain.

“Did you forget your eyes at home? Watch where the hell you’re going,” Cain growled coldly. He was already in a foul mood, and this was the last thing he needed. He knew that he had to be on his best behavior while inside the Palace of Blood, but his anger had blinded.

The petite girl raised a brow and asked, “What did you just say?”

“What? Are you deaf, too? I asked where the hell your eyes are,” Cain mocked.

The petite girl's shoulders trembled, and a crooked smile tugged at her lips.

“

Hahaha!

You’re insane, right?” she snarked.

“What? Me? Insane?” Cain muttered, his face twisting beneath his mask.

“Yeah, you.”

“You’ve got nerve talking nonsense to me. Stop yapping if you’ve got nothing better to say; get lost,” Cain grumbled and brushed past her.

At least, he tried to—

Thwack!

The girl stuck her leg out and tripped him just as he walked by.

Thud! Crash!

Cain tumbled forward and fell to the ground.

“

Kekeke!

Where’d you leave your eyes? Home?” The petite girl pointed at him and laughed mockingly.

“You bitch...!” Cain growled under his breath. Then, he shot up to his feet and threatened, “Do you have a death wish? Do you wanna die—”

It was then.

“Your Highness! Princess Irene!”

“What are you doing here, Your Highness?!”

“Please hurry! It is time to visit His Imperial Majesty!”

A group of servants and maids appeared, surrounding the petite girl.

“...?”

Cain stood stunned while his mind struggled to process what was happening. Then, he flashed his Rune of Insight and looked at the petite girl.

[Irene von Posteriore]

[The daughter of the late emperor and the beloved half-sister of Emperor Stuttgart.]

[She is the last surviving member of the imperial family aside from the emperor.]

[Warning: She is infamous for her wicked temper. Avoiding her at all costs is advised.]

‘

H-Hiiiik?!’

Cain inwardly shrieked in horror, and his face turned ghastly pale upon realizing the petite girl's identity.

Of all the people he could pick a fight with in the Palace of Blood, he ended up picking a fight with the beloved half-sister of Emperor Stuttgart. There were days when one would step on shit while walking, but this was more like diving headfirst into a cesspool.

Cain realized that he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.

***

“Ah~ I was just on my way to see

His Imperial Majesty

, the Sun of the Marchioni Empire, the most benevolent

Emperor

. But then I accidentally bumped into this guy,” Irene said, pointing at Cain with a sly smile spreading on her lips.

“You insolent wretch!” A middle-aged woman, Irene’s lady-in-waiting, bellowed with authority as she glared at Cain. “How dare you have the audacity to keep your head held high after bumping into Her Highness?! Bow down, on the ground, this instant!”

“I-I sincerely apologize!” Cain shrieked, hurriedly prostrating on the ground.

“Nanny~” Irene whined, clinging to the woman.

Judging by the way she called her

"nanny," it was clear that this middle-aged woman had been serving Irene for a long time. In other words, she was a person with considerable influence and status.

“He asked me if I left my eyes at home and why I wasn’t using them properly.”

“Did he truly say that, Your Highness?”

“He also asked if I was deaf. And then he told me to stop spouting nonsense and get out of his way. Oh, and the last thing he said was...” Irene trailed the end of her words.

Then, she flashed a wicked smile that made her look like a demon and added, “You bitch. Do you have a death wish? Do you wanna die? Was that what he said?”

“YOU INSOLENT!” the woman’s voice echoed like thunder, almost popping Cain’s eardrums. “Do you expect to survive after saying such things to Her Highness?!”

“I-I have committed a grave sin!” Cain cried out. He felt his soul nearly leave his body, causing him to panic and press his forehead to the ground.

“You dare...! I will immediately have you—!”

The woman was about to punish Cain when she was interrupted.

“Just a moment,” Irene said. Then, she flashed a mischievous grin and said, “Let’s just forgive him.”

“But Your Highness! This man has committed the grave sin of disrespecting you! He deserves to be torn limb by limb and—!”

“I’m sure he just didn’t know any better. Let’s let him off just this once,” Irene said with a smile.

“Y-Your Highness...?”

The woman was stunned by what she heard.

‘

Did her temperament improve during her training at the magic tower?’

she wondered.

Unfortunately, that was nothing more than a foolish misunderstanding and wishful thinking.

Irene approached Cain, who was groveling on the ground.

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes, Princess Irene!”

“You realize you did something wrong, don’t you?”

“C-Certainly, Your Highness!”

“Then lick it,” Irene said, lifting a foot in front of Cain’s face.

“...Excuse me?”

“Lick it.”

“...!”

“What’s wrong? Are you deaf?

Hohoho!”

Cain almost failed to keep his anger in check and nearly made a huge mistake when Irene told him to lick her foot.

Would any gamer ever lick an NPC’s shoe?

If he were to do as he was told, he would go down as the first gamer ever to do so.

‘

Should I... just do it?’

Cain hesitated.

He desperately wanted to rip this brat to pieces right then and there, but the problem was the consequences he would have to suffer. He was not confident he could withstand the wrath of the Marchioni Empire, let alone Emperor Stuttgart.

Everything he painstakingly built in BNW would be destroyed, and he would eventually be hunted down until he quit the game.

‘

But do I really have to go this far...?’

As Cain wrestled with his dilemma—

“Hey, what are you doing? I said Lick it. I’ll forgive you if you do,” Irene said firmly.

“...”

“You have three seconds.”

Cain glanced up at Irene and froze in shock as chills ran down his spine.

A demon.

Her expression was so wicked and sinister that fear struck him so hard that he forgot he was angry to begin with.

***

That night, Emperor Stuttgart granted Siegfried the privilege of using the

dressing room

inside the Palace of Blood.

After all, Siegfried did not prepare a proper outfit for the ball, nor did he have a mask prepared for the masquerade.

“Wow...” Siegfried gaped in awe at the sheer scale of the dressing room.

What kind of a dressing room was as big as the Proatine Kingdom’s royal palace?

“How the hell am I supposed to pick an outfit from here?”

The dressing room’s size was not the only impressive thing about it. The number of outfits seemed to exceed millions, and everything was meticulously arranged in perfect order.

All of the outfits were sorted based on style, design, and size, making it look like a giant department store.

‘

I guess I’ll just grab something random.’

Siegfried felt he was about to catch one of the worst syndromes known to man, indecisiveness, due to the endless rows of clothes in this gigantic dressing room.

Thus, he decided to just grab any decent-looking formalwear and mask that seemed modest enough.

‘

Let’s see...’

It was then.

Siegfried turned the corner and came face-to-face with Cain.

“...Fuck.”

“

Eh?”

Both of them flinched for a second, but Siegfried decided to greet him first.

“Hello, Cain!”

Since they were both Adventurers, Siegfried decided to strike up a conversation.

However, Cain’s response was cold.

“Fuck off.”

“

Eh?

Pardon?”

“I said get the fuck out of my sight.”

“...?”

“...Fucking annoying.”

Cain cursed under his breath before walking right past Siegfried and heading to the F-Grade section.

Unlike Siegfried, who had the privilege of wearing anything in the dressing room, Cain was only allowed to choose from the section with the lowest quality fabrics and outdated, tacky designs.

“What the hell was that about...?” Siegfried muttered, standing dumbfounded.

He was so confused that he wasn't even angry at Cain’s rude behavior.

The fact that a mere baron had dared to curse at a duke’s face was a blatant act of disrespect. If Siegfried wanted to, he could easily make an issue out of it and have Cain punished.

However, Siegfried chose not to make a fuss for one reason. His eyes were glued to the title floating above Cain’s head.

‘

W-What the hell is that...?’

Siegfried flashed his Rune of Insight at the title floating above Cain’s head. The title's icon was a combination of a tongue and a shoe, which was an odd combination.

[Adventurer of Shame: First Lick]

[A title awarded to the first Adventurer to lick an NPC’s shoe.]

[My life is a movie, and I licked an NPC’s shoe!]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Legendary]

[Note: This is not an honorable title!]

‘Ehhh?!’

Siegfried’s face twisted in disbelief.

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

The tongue icon floating above Cain’s head started licking the shoe icon beside it.

‘

N-No way... Did he actually lick an NPC’s shoe?’

Siegfried struggled to understand what the title meant even after reading its description and seeing its icon. After all, he had never imagined that an Adventurer would lick an NPC’s shoe.

***

‘Ah, what should I wear...?’

Siegfried initially thought of just grabbing something decent and wearing it for the ball. Once he actually started looking through the outfits, he found himself becoming indecisive. He was having a hard time picking something.

‘

How about this one? Ah, it doesn’t look good on me. Oh? That one looks good.’

Before he knew it, he was already trying out all sorts of outfits in the dressing room, leaving a trail of mess behind him.

The dressing room was so vast that just browsing through the clothes took up a lot of time. Fortunately, there were changing rooms and attendants stationed all over the place, making the process of trying on the outfits a lot less cumbersome.

However, despite spending nearly two hours sifting through countless outfits, Siegfried still could not find the outfit that felt right.

‘

Ugh... Should I just go with that one from earlier?’

he wondered.

Just as the thought crossed his mind while scanning the dressing room that—

Ding!

A title suddenly appeared above his head.

‘

Oh?!’

His eyes widened in shock at the sight of the familiar icon floating above his head.

The icon of a half-open treasure chest overflowing with gold and jewels sparkled, and the title that came with such an icon was none other than the...

[Treasure Hunter]

[A title given to those who had obtained a lot of treasures]

[Type: Title]

[Rating: Unique]

[Effect: +50% Chance of finding treasure rooms.]

‘

W-What’s going on?!’

Siegfried was bewildered by the sudden appearance of the Treasure Hunter title.

Why? Because he was in a dressing room.

There was no way there would be a treasure vault hidden in here, right?

‘

Why in the world would this title—’

he wondered.

At that moment, a green arrow suddenly appeared right in front of his eyes.

‘

Huh?’

Realizing that the Treasure Hunter title had found something, Siegfried decided to follow the green arrow. A surge of excitement and curiosity started brewing inside him at the thought that he probably just stumbled upon an incredible treasure hidden somewhere in this massive dressing room.