Let's start over, Your Majesty.

Chapter 219 A Kiss Under the Moonlight

Caesar kept a certain distance, following them neither too close nor too far, and walked back to the outer field of the backyard.

Three men stood around the trash can. The man with the goatee took out cigarettes and offered them to the three of them. They then began to smoke around the trash can.

"Crivin, you should explain yourself. What exactly did you mean by 'tough measures'?"

Krivin exhaled a smoke ring, his expression slightly melancholy, and gazed at the deep blue sky as he said:
"Of course, it's still what I said before: abolish the approval department and sever ties with the kingdom. Only in this way can we free up more authority."

"It was because of the compromises made three years ago, in the name of so-called freedom of action, that the approval department was established, thus ruining the future of the Restoration Society in the hands of Fein."

But the Mediterranean man next to him shook his head: "In the end, you were still influenced by the views of the offensive faction. If you hadn't gotten the support of the kingdom three years ago, the Restoration Society would probably have disbanded after Helen's death."

"It's no different from disbanding now, so we might as well take a gamble and look for other possibilities." Crevin flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the trash can.

"If we don't move forward, we'll just be waiting to die."

“I’ve already thought it through. As long as we abolish the approval department and sever ties with Fein, we can regain the support of the Church of Abundance. If we can move the organization’s headquarters abroad, we will have the opportunity to develop again.”

“You’re oversimplifying things,” the man with the goatee said, shaking his head.

"Don't be fooled by the fact that Finn seems to care about us now. If anything goes out of their control, they'll act faster than anyone else."

"Alas, it's still because we lost the parliamentary seats we should have had. We can only deal with many things passively. The impact of the purge five years ago was too great."

“That’s true. Right now, the Restoration Society can’t even elect a decent leader. They can only appoint guys like Booth. We’re practically no different from a third-rate association now.”

All three sighed, and Jaden remained silent, continuing to smoke.

"By the way, do you think Carol could help us if she came back?" the goatee asked again.

"Carol? Wendy Carol?"

Caesar, who was eavesdropping nearby, suddenly became alert and listened even more attentively.

"Are you pinning your hopes on that woman? Or do you think this place isn't chaotic enough?" Jaden said.

"It's not that I wanted her help, it's just that... she contacted me a while ago," the man with the goatee said.

"Oh? When did it happen?"

“She contacted me by letter on the 26th of last month,” the man with the goatee said.

"What did you say?"

“She said she encountered some trouble and asked us to help her solve it. Once it’s resolved, she will also help us at the Fuxing Association,” the goatee said.

"The 26th?" Caesar noticed the date. He remembered that the day before, he had Fantasy Custom sent a message to this old friend, and the next day Carol wrote to say that he had encountered trouble.

Is this a coincidence?
"I advise you to ignore that woman. You've probably heard that she has a mental illness, right?"

“We should have cut ties with that woman a long time ago. We shouldn’t have treated her like one of our own in the first place,” Mediterranean added.

"That's true. I'll tell her that when I get back."

The three continued smoking, and after finishing one cigarette, the Mediterranean man rubbed his palms together.
"Alright, let's go back now, it's really cold outside."

The three walked back, and as they rounded the corner, a black-haired boy came along, deep in thought. He didn't notice them and bumped right into the man with the goatee, who nearly fell to the ground.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, sir, I didn't notice." Caesar quickly helped him up and apologized.

"Watch where you're going," the man with the goatee muttered, patting his clothes.

As they walked past, he suddenly realized that the boy who had bumped into him earlier seemed to be the one who had danced the opening dance with Princess Sia earlier.
When they turned back to look for him, they found that he had already disappeared.

Caesar walked through the flower garden, pondering their conversation.

It seems that the Restoration of Eldaria is in dire straits and on the verge of collapse.

However, none of this concerned him much, and he had no interest in caring about an association that served capital.

What's really important is that they have intelligence about the author Wendy Carroll.
Since Fantasy Custom sent the signal, there hasn't been a single response. According to what Goatee said, the other party probably already knows that someone is looking for them and is seeking refuge.

To be able to think of this with so little information, Wendy is either overly cautious or someone who has been threatened too much and reacts to the slightest disturbance.

He had just placed a location spell on that goatee. He and Wendy corresponded, so he must know where she lived. He could just go and wait for her at her doorstep.

"I never expected to find my target like this. Is it luck or just bad luck?" Caesar thought to himself.

Just as he was about to turn back, a petite figure walked towards him.

"Ita? Why are you only coming out now?" Caesar stepped forward and asked.

Ita gave him a resentful look, then turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
"Hmm? What's going on?" Caesar wondered.

"What's wrong, Ita? Who upset you?" he asked with a smile.

Ita glanced at him, then turned her head away, let out a heavy snort, and remained silent. Caesar: "."

"Could it be that they know about me and Sia dancing the opening dance?"

Looking at her expression, which was full of resentment like a little wronged woman, Caesar felt that this was probably it.

Caesar wanted to say something to make amends, but after thinking for a long time, he could only say, "Are you cold? Let's go back to the ball."

"So what if I'm cold? You don't care about me anyway, Caesar," Ita muttered to himself.

"What are you saying?" Caesar said helplessly.

"Okay, it's my fault. I broke my promise to you. I'm sorry, Ita."

He reached out to stroke Ita's head. Ita shrank back, seemingly wanting to avoid his touch, but in the end, she lowered her head and accepted his caress.

"I prepared for this ball for so long, looked forward to it for so long, just to dance with you, Caesar. But instead, I saw you using the dance I taught you to dance with another woman. I..."

Ita muttered to himself, and as he spoke, his voice choked up.

She looked up at Caesar with a pitiful expression, her big eyes gazing at him: "Caesar, why did you go to participate in that competition and dance with that princess? Is it... is it because you like her?"

"What are you thinking? Let me explain," Caesar said helplessly. This little dragon's sensitivity in this area was simply off the charts, so he could only explain to her:

“That Princess Sia is His Majesty’s heir. His Majesty entrusted her to my care. I danced with her because she asked me not to dance with strangers, which is why I participated in that competition. It’s not as complicated as you think.”

"That's right...that's right," Ita pouted. Even knowing the reason, seeing Caesar and Sia dancing together still made her feel uncomfortable.
All she wanted was for Caesar to belong to her alone.

“Alright, it was my fault. Shall we go back now? The ball shouldn’t be over yet,” Caesar said to her.

“Caesar, you danced with her, how could you invite me?” Ita said softly, her face full of grievance and disappointment.

"makes sense."

As the boy who danced the opening dance with the princess, he can no longer invite any other dance partners.

In other words, the plan to dance with Ita has fallen through.

Caesar glanced at the fairly spacious backyard flower garden, filled with flowers transplanted from the greenhouse. The moonlight was bright, like snowflakes falling around it.
"Well, the atmosphere here is pretty good, why don't we stay here?" He pointed to the open space over there.

"there?"

Before Itha could agree, Caesar grabbed her hand, pulled her to the center of the "stage," then stepped back, smiled, and gave her a gentlemanly bow.

Ita hesitated for a moment, but then complied with his gesture, lifting her skirt to bow.

Caesar grasped Itha's hand, pulled her slightly, and embraced her soft, boneless waist.

"Is it about to begin?" He stared into Ita's eyes.

"Hmm," Ita hummed softly.

And so, the dance began, and Caesar, with Ithaca by his side, danced gracefully in the moonlit flower-lined garden.

The evening breeze rustled, carrying flower petals into the air, as if to add to their merriment.

Gradually, Ita also cast aside her unpleasant mood from before and immersed herself in the dance with Caesar, taking light steps, gazing into the eyes of the person in front of her, and dancing with him.

Having already performed a perfect dance tonight, Caesar is now even more skilled, making no mistakes throughout. His coordination with Itha is also more seamless. Although there is no music, the two of them move precisely to the beat, dancing to the accompaniment of the evening breeze.

With her final movement, Ita spun around Caesar's arm before being pulled into his embrace and pressed close to his body.

"It's alright, isn't it?" Caesar whispered in her ear. "It's more perfect than any of our previous rehearsals."

“There are no spectators,” Ita said softly.

“We don’t need an audience,” Caesar said.

Ita gave a low hum, then looked up at Caesar: "Caesar, you broke your promise tonight. Don't you have anything to make up for?"

“Okay, what kind of compensation do you want?” Caesar asked.

"Anything is okay?"

"Alright, alright, anything is fine, my dear Ita," Caesar said helplessly.

"That's what Caesar said."

Ita smiled, put her arms around Caesar's neck, and stood on tiptoe.

Under the moonlight and in the evening breeze, the kiss seemed exceptionally warm and long.

(End of this chapter)