When Rachel looked up in surprise, the Emperor’s face was right in front of hers.
“You need to concentrate.”
“……My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Hesitantly, she moved her hand and placed it on the Emperor’s shoulder. The dance began.
Even before her regression, she had never danced with the Emperor.
“You’re the first person to look away while standing before me.”
Moving to the slow rhythm, the Emperor spoke to her. Rachel quietly lowered her gaze.
“I apologize, Your Majesty. I was just a little flustered.”
“Why? Because you never expected me to ask you to dance?”
“……That too, but.”
In truth, she was a little worried. Aisha Labelyn seemed to have been quite shocked.
‘What if this causes things to go wrong?’
Rachel had accepted Aisha’s approach precisely because she might have to accompany her when rescuing the Emperor.
Of course, Rachel didn’t know how much help Aisha Labelyn, who was currently an apprentice mage, would actually be.
‘Still, wouldn’t it be better to move together with the person who originally became involved in this incident?’
It was when Rachel unconsciously glanced toward the place where Aisha Labelyn was standing.
The Emperor, who had been watching everything she did, let out a small laugh.
“Seeing even you react this way, it seems choosing someone else this time was the right decision after all.”
“……Pardon?”
It was quite a meaningful remark.
As though the future in which Aisha Labelyn became Empress had not yet been decided.
To Rachel, who knew 「Record」, it was a rather unfamiliar thing to hear.
Then the Emperor whispered quietly.
“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I was also planning to lend you my support.”
“Me?”
“I heard those stiff-minded people have been criticizing you, saying you stabbed your fiancé in the back? You accomplished something great, yet they’re treating you like that. How could I allow it?”
“……!”
She had thought about it when she received the handwritten invitation as well, but the Emperor in this life was somewhat unfamiliar in the way he reacted.
Even when she had married Paris Valencia, the Emperor had never shown this much concern for her.
“More importantly, there’s something I want to ask you.”
“Please ask, Your Majesty.”
“I hear that there has been talk of a marriage arrangement between you and Duke Nathan. But I also heard that the Duke ignored you earlier today, and frankly, I’m rather confused. Could you explain what exactly is going on?”
“…….”
Rachel instinctively realized it.
The reason the Emperor had chosen her as his first dance partner had been heavily influenced by this matter.
Rachel calmly explained.
“You misunderstand, Your Majesty. Duke Valencia only said, out of courtesy, that he would consider the possibility because of my parents’ insistence. He has absolutely no intention of marrying me.”
“Is that so? But I see it differently. You may not know this, but ever since his days as the Mercenary King, he has been famous for being ascetic. For someone like him to say that he would at least consider marriage… Whether it’s true or not, wouldn’t that be something to welcome from my perspective?”
“……!”
At this rate, the Emperor was going to try to play matchmaker between Nathan Valencia and her.
Rachel’s eyelashes trembled slightly before she continued in a calm voice.
“Your Majesty. I’m sorry, but I already have several candidates in mind for marriage.”
“Hmm?”
“Please, I beg you to withdraw your words. My parents want me to marry Duke Valencia somehow, but I don’t. I want to marry the person I have chosen and live a peaceful life. I don’t want to get entangled with any more high-ranking noble families.”
“…….”
There was sincerity in her voice, and the Emperor let out a low hum.
The Emperor, who had been about to speak, glanced at the nobles who had gathered to join the first dance before leaning slightly closer to her.
“That sounds like someone your parents, the Marquis and Marchioness of Ingrave, would not approve of.”
“……Would it really be impossible?”
Rachel quietly looked up at the Emperor.
From this close, her sky-blue eyes and his violet eyes met silently.
After a moment of silence, the Emperor asked.
“Who is the person you want?”
“Ash McNair, Kaul Solena, and Shulei Ronan.”
“…….”
The Emperor was silent for a moment before his expression twisted.
“Are you serious, my lady?”
“Yes.”
They were the ones she had chosen after careful consideration.
Even if they were merely from viscount or baron families, they came from families with fairly solid businesses and respectable bloodlines. Their reputations were not bad, either, and they themselves seemed to possess decent abilities.
Of course, Rachel would have to meet them herself to confirm.
Still, the fact that they hadn’t been present at the Great Hall that day alone was enough to give them a passing grade.
“……Ha.”
The Emperor let out a long breath and looked troubled.
“Why, my lady? You’re a marquis’s daughter. You seem to be on somewhat poor terms with Valencia, but regardless, you’re Valencia’s benefactor. And this time, you even received a large diamond mine from the former Duke of Valencia as compensation. So why would you deliberately marry into a viscount’s or baron’s family? Surely practically every noble family would welcome you with open arms.”
“…….”
Rachel was a little surprised, but it would have been strange for the Emperor, who had thoroughly investigated the fake duke incident, not to know about the mine she had received.
Rachel quietly pleaded with him.
“Because I don’t want to live in fear anymore. I want to live with someone who can give me a peaceful life, Your Majesty, rather than someone who would be displeased with me.”
Which meant that person could never be Nathan Valencia.
“…….”
“Would it really be impossible?”
The Emperor looked as though he had come to get rid of one headache only to end up with an even bigger one.
After briefly glancing toward the throne, the Emperor released his arm from Rachel’s waist and said,
“I’ll think about it.”
By then, the first dance had ended.
His expression was stiff, but at least it was much better than him saying he would personally play matchmaker.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
Rachel bowed deeply.
The Emperor silently turned around and walked back up toward the throne.
Nathan Valencia, who was still standing beside the throne, was looking toward her with a strangely complicated expression.
“…….”
“…….”
Rachel quietly averted her gaze.
She couldn’t understand why he had been looking at her like that for a while now.
She could at least understand if he had looked at her coldly as he had before.
Just then, she saw the foreign delegations approaching the Emperor to pay their respects.
Among them was the Borza Kingdom.
‘Wait, where is Aisha Labelyn?’
Rachel hurriedly checked the place where Aisha Labelyn had been standing moments ago.
“……!”
The spot was empty.
Of course, she could have gone to have the first dance with someone else, or perhaps stepped away to rest for a while.
But—
……An ominous feeling washed over her.
For some reason, Rachel felt that Aisha Labelyn had not left merely for some trivial reason.
Rachel immediately returned to the spot and asked the noble ladies nearby.
“Have you seen Lady Aisha?”
“Oh, she said she wasn’t feeling well and was going back to the ducal residence. By the way, my lady, it’s truly amazing that you became His Majesty’s first dance partner!”
“…….”
If only she hadn’t danced that first dance.
Rachel raised her trembling gaze and stared at the throne again.
The Emperor, who had waved a hand toward Nathan Valencia, was leaving together with the Borza Kingdom’s delegation.
The moment had finally arrived.
‘What should I do?’
She thought about it, but—
First, she had to confirm whether the Emperor was really going to be attacked.
And since there was no one to help her, she had to move faster.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
“Ah, my lady!”
Rachel politely declined the people trying to stop her and stepped outside the hall.
All kinds of gazes followed her from behind, but this was not the time to care about that.
The Emperor and the Borza Kingdom’s delegation, who had left through another passage, were nowhere to be seen.
Rachel looked around the deserted garden and thought.
‘Where was the location again?’
……Now that she was in a hurry, she couldn’t remember clearly.
She had actually thought she wouldn’t need 「Record」 or the life she had lived before the regression anymore.
Once this is over, though, perhaps she should at least make a brief note of the important events mentioned in 「Record」, just in case.
It was when Rachel hurriedly made her way out of the palace and finally managed to recall the location where the assassination attempt against the Emperor would take place.
Thud—
“Ah!”
Rachel collided with something and began to fall backward, only for a large, firm hand to catch her.
Black hair that seemed to blend into the dark night sky.
Red eyes reminiscent of blood.
Nathan Valencia was standing right in front of her.
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