Our target was the princess. We had every expectation that she would be generous with the candy. Unfortunately, the traps standing between us and her were brutal.
“Do you think it’s Prince Theodore?!”
Could our own boss be one of the special ghosts? Just as we had exchanged glances, a cheerful voice cut in from the side.
~.~.~.~
Gosh, the queen sure comes up with some fun ideas.
I, Alan Ferrera, stepped out in front of the court staff. I was dressed like a pirate, one eye covered with an eye patch and my head and belly wrapped in cloth.
“Hi there! I’m the second ghost. Want some candy?”
The civil officials greeted me, seemingly satisfied with the answer to their questions. It looked like they’d only just remembered my existence, but it made sense in hindsight. It likewise must have dawned on them that I was their second best shot after Lady Elianna, seeing as they all came rushing over at once.
“Please, Lord Alan! Share the wealth!”
Surrounded by a herd of ghosts begging me for candy, I was a little daunted.
“Now, now, hold your horses,” I said. I wasn’t about to let such an entertaining setup go to waste. “If I hand out all the candy I have, it’ll leave you all on equal footing. There’d be no point. Use your heads a little, my dear civil servants.”
The ghosts exchanged bemused glances. “Umm... Are you inciting us to fight amongst ourselves and steal each other’s sweets?”
“No, silly. You just need one of you to come out the winner. If you all make it to the finish line together, no one will get the prize, right?”
Thinking back on the rules, they all realized I had a point. Only the one who collected the most candy would get the queen’s prize.
“Besides,” I went on, “the greatest obstacle awaiting you is the demon lord. If you can’t get past him, you’ll never make it to the princess. Don’t you think it makes more sense to form a united front?”
“What do you mean, a united front...?”
Hm. That blank look the ghosts were giving me wasn’t the least bit endearing.
I repeated myself like a teacher patiently lecturing his students. “Only one of you needs to get to the end. If that person makes it to the finish line, you all win. You can split the prize among yourselves. And if you have the hope that at least one of you can make it, you won’t be afraid to face the demon lord that lies ahead. I’ll give my candy to the last man standing. What do you think? Isn’t that a good idea?”
The men nodded along in agreement. Beaming, I added, “So leave your candy with me for now!”
Just as the ghosts had traded glances and reached into their pockets for their sweets, someone said, “I can see your tail, Alan.”
I was so startled that I jumped in the air, my hands flying to my rear end. When I turned around, I found that the last boss—the demon lord himself—had graced us in person. Naturally, he was dressed as his devilish namesake, complete with spiral horns and an all-black outfit. Somehow, his golden hair looked more radiant than ever. His blue eyes, on the other hand, were shooting me a look as frosty as Lord Alexei’s.
“There’s no rule that says a special ghost can’t make it to the finish line. I’m sure you’re scheming to cheat everyone else out of their candy and claim the prize for yourself.”
The civil officials stared at me in shock. Next thing I knew, they were looking menacing enough to match their ghoulish costumes.
I backed away, attempting to laugh the whole thing off. “C’mon, guys... Now that it’s come to this, why don’t we all team up to steal the demon lord’s candies?”
I was about to add that we could then head straight for Lady Elianna, but Prince Chris bitterly beat me to the punch. He told us she wasn’t around. When we looked back at him in surprise, he claimed he’d been looking for her, casting an irritated glance around his surroundings.
He then added, “Besides, there’s no point trying to get candy from Eli. She has that incorrigible sweet tooth Jean hanging around. No doubt he’s eaten it all by now.”
The same possibility occurred to the rest of us. As they groused that this sent them back to square one, I could sense the civil officials shifting their target to me, so I scrambled to keep the conversation going.
“Th-Then why did you get in everyone’s way, Your Highness? If we can’t get any sweets from Lady Elianna, there was no need to set all those traps.”
Fierce eyes worthy of a demon lord turned on the crowd. “Tell me... Did you all plan to say that line to Eli?”
Both the officials and I blinked, confused. A moment later, I struck my palm with my fist as I put two and two together.
“Oh! You mean that stock phrase everyone says on Masquerade Day? ‘Trick or treat’? Jeez, Prince Chris, that’s so petty!”
“The only one who can ever, ever say that to Eli is me.” Defiant, the demon lord set his sights on us. “Now that it’s come to this, I’ll take all the sweets and claim the prize from my mother. Hand over the goods, now.”
“You sound like a thief-turned-bandit! Aren’t you supposed to be a prince?!”
Prince Chris threatened us to shut up and hand over the candy, so the civil officials and I formed a united front and declared all-out war. None of us noticed that someone was watching our raucous antics from above.
I stared in disbelief at the spectacle downstairs, wondering what on earth those kids were doing.
Today was the free-for-all masquerade. It didn’t seem like the young ones were going to make it here any time soon, however. That makes victory mine, I thought, turning on my heel with a grin.
The moon was especially bright for a mid-autumn evening. Hence, the door to the second-floor balcony of the archives, which was rarely used, had been left wide open. It was a tad chilly outside, but the sight of several women giggling and squealing had a certain warm glow to it.
Seated at the table and surrounded by maidservants was the Bibliophile Princess, Elianna. She was dressed as a charming witch, trademark hat and all.
Her maids called out to me when they saw me come through the door. “My, are you the first to arrive, Prince Theodore?”
I walked up to Elianna with a smile, brought my vampiric face close to hers, and uttered the line Chris has tried so hard to stop anyone from saying. “Trick or treat, Eli.”
Eli gave a blink of her gray eyes, then said something surprising. “Oh, but I’m not participating in the costume contest...”
“Hm?”
That was when a smug voice cut in. I turned around to find Queen Henrietta, the hostess of this event, sauntering toward me. She and Eli were wearing matching outfits, like a mother and daughter. “No shortcuts, Theodore.”
As I greeted my sister-in-law, she gracefully took a seat next to Elianna. She then slowly opened her fan.
“I don’t see any sign of Chris, the military officers, or the civil officials,” she said. “What a pitiful showing.”
I wondered what was going on here, only to hit upon a certain possibility. When I asked for confirmation of my theory, I saw her eyes dance playfully behind her fan.
“That’s right. I’m the fourth special ghost. Why don’t you try that classic line on me, Theodore?”
I threw up my hands in surrender. “Absolutely not. My brother would kill me. That aside... Your Majesty, did you plan all this just so you could wear matching costumes with Eli?”
“Why, I should be offended. I organized the event in the hope that it would give the court staff a nice break. Then again...that’s an interesting thought. Elianna, dear. Would you like to say the traditional line for me?”
Eli seemed surprised to be put on the spot. Still, she seemed to have picked up on the queen’s meaning, as she wrung her hands and shyly ventured, “Um...trick or treat, mother.”
I could practically hear the queen’s gaze intensify on the other side of the fan. Eli looked taken aback, but my sister-in-law was so easy to read.
Clearing her throat, the queen handed Elianna a special savory treat she’d saved just for her. The sight of the two of them happily munching on their snacks together made me realize the true purpose of this undertaking.
Downstairs in the archives, the hustle and bustle was still going strong, but the atmosphere on the balcony was different. Under the moonlight of a long autumn night, an amicable ladies’ tea party was in session.