“Is something wrong?”
When the prince, Jereon, asked nonchalantly, his aide, Dante, nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Of course something is wrong! His Highness the Prince has disappeared!”
“Is it really such a big deal? It’s not like this is the first time I’ve disappeared.”
“That’s exactly why it’s a big deal!”
Dante snapped, glaring at Jereon.
“Do you even know what day it is today?”
“Correct. Tuesday.”
“You know I’m not asking what day of the week it is!”
“Was that not what you meant?”
“Your Highness!”
“I know, I know. It’s the day of the imperial ball.”
At the prince’s casual attitude, the aide’s face turned as red as a shrimp boiled in hot water.
“If you know that, how can you be standing around here like this?”
“What difference would it make if I attended? It’s enough that Father and Mother are there, isn’t it?”
“Your Highness, really—”
“And His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince must be attending, too. How many more people do you think they need?”
“……”
Jereon knew his place.
The position of Crown Prince had long since been claimed by Arca, his half-brother and the son of the late Empress.
As the eldest son, his brother had been held to high expectations as the Crown Prince and had received an excellent education from an early age.
Of course, Jereon, the second son of the Empress and a legitimate prince, had received the same education from the same tutors. However, the emperor didn’t seem to have any particular expectations of him.
If anything, illegitimate sons like Marquis Fenley, who had caused a stir in the imperial capital with his duel, received more attention.
‘Perhaps they don’t see those illegitimate sons as a threat because they can’t even be registered in the imperial family.’
And above all, Crown Prince Arca was competent.
Anyone with common sense knew that supporting another prince while such a successor existed would be dangerous. The members of the aristocratic council thought so, and so did high society.
As a result, almost no one ever mentioned the Second Prince. Apart from gossip driven by idle curiosity, no one knew what he thought or what plans he had made.
“Of course, I’d be welcomed if I attended the ball. I’m not the Crown Prince, but I’m still a member of the imperial family, aren’t I? Until my brother has a child, I’m second in line to the throne.”
“Your Highness……”
“And when my brother becomes emperor, I’ll probably receive the title of Grand Duke. It’s not as good as being an empress, but being a grand duchess isn’t such a bad option, either.”
“That isn’t what’s important right now……”
“Oh, right. The emperor will decide whom I marry, after all. I suppose there’s a good chance I’ll be used as a pawn in a political marriage.”
At Jereon’s biting self-deprecation, Dante pressed his lips into a firm line.
As the prince’s aide, Dante understood better than anyone why he behaved in such a cynical manner.
The emperor’s indifference, the constant comparisons to the capable Crown Prince, and……
Dante swallowed a sigh before deciding to comfort him.
“Regardless of how the nobles judge you or what they think, Your Highness, you are still a prince of the Rodinia Empire.”
“Hmm.”
“And just imagine how pleased His Majesty would have been if you had attended the ball.”
“But when you say ‘His Majesty,’ are you referring to His Majesty the Emperor? Or Her Majesty the Empress?”
“O-Of course, I mean both of them!”
Caught off guard, Dante pretended to be angry and made a fuss.
“Now that we’re on the subject, I think you should go to your room and change immediately. And what’s that bruise on your chin? Did you get into a fight with someone?”
“A bruise?”
Jereon instinctively rubbed his chin.
He had noticed the soreness and thought a bruise would probably appear soon, but he hadn’t expected it to show up so quickly.
“Is it that noticeable?”
“If I were blind, I might say no. But yes, it’s very noticeable.”
“That’s a problem……”
“First, please go to your room. I’ll call a healer, and after that—”
“You’re too late.”
At the icy voice, Jereon and Dante froze on the spot.
The Empress, her cool expression contrasting sharply with her bright, lavish dress, was silently glaring at them.
Under her gaze, which felt as though it could carve out their hearts, both men felt a chill run down their spines.
“You must have known that the imperial ball was being held today, hadn’t you?”
“……I’m sorry. I got the date wrong.”
Jereon answered in a stiff voice.
Seeing the Empress’s expression grow even colder, Dante hurriedly spoke up.
“Your Majesty the Empress, this is my fault. I gave His Highness the wrong date—”
“Enough.”
At her command, Dante immediately fell silent.
The Empress’s gaze swept over Jereon before coming to rest on his chin.
“Have you been fighting?”
“……We had a minor difference of opinion.”
In truth, he’d been the one who got beaten up, but if he admitted that, she would undoubtedly scold him for being so pathetic that he couldn’t even hold his own in a fight despite being a prince.
“A prince should know better than to throw punches so carelessly and disgrace his dignity! Are you even aware of your status? Sneaking outside wasn’t enough, so now you’re going around getting into fights?”
He hadn’t expected her to let the matter of the fight slide, either.
Jereon changed the subject in a friendly, affable voice as he faced the Empress, who seemed to have draped herself in a veil of rage just moments away from exploding.
“Then why are you here, Mother? Shouldn’t you be at the ballroom? Especially since my brother is there.”
‘Ah, I shouldn’t have added that last part.’
The Empress’s face, which had remained cold but composed, instantly turned fierce.
“You know that, yet you still refuse to attend the ball? Even though you understand how important an imperial event like this is! Do you intend to bring shame upon the mother who gave birth to you and your father?”
“But, Mother……”
“I don’t want to hear it!”
The Empress, having completely lost her restraint, snarled.
“How can you be so selfish and thoughtless? What is it that you lack?!”
“……I’m sorry.”
She took a breath to calm herself. The fiery purple light in her eyes disappeared behind her eyelids.
“……I’ll explain things to His Majesty, so don’t leave your room. Just have that face of yours treated.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
The Empress turned away from Jereon as he bowed his head.
For the briefest instant, unbearable anguish surfaced in her eyes before vanishing.
Dante glanced sideways at Jereon, who was silently watching the Empress’s retreating figure as she returned to the ballroom.
Though he had deliberately chosen the most spiteful things to say, Dante could still sense a faint trace of pain and sorrow in him.
Trying to dispel the gloomy atmosphere, Dante deliberately brought up something unexpected.
“So, did you get an apology?”
“An apology? From whom?”
Jereon asked in confusion, unable to follow the sudden change of subject.
“Who else? The scoundrel who injured Your Highness’s face. Since they fought with you, I’m sure your opponent must have come close to death. Even so, you should demand an apology for daring to hit a prince in the face.”
“Ah!”
Only then did he realize.
He hadn’t received an apology from that woman!
***
“Good grief, I’m dying.”
After returning to the viscount’s residence, I plopped down onto the floor and groaned.
When I carefully slipped the shoes off my swollen feet, a pair of silk stockings, now covered in dirt and dust, came into view.
‘The maids in the laundry room will surely be horrified and throw a fit when they see these. Silk is so difficult to handle.’
But this was all that guy—whatever he was, a court count or a punching bag—had done to me.
If that man had simply handed over my shoes, I wouldn’t have had to cross the lawn wearing nothing but my stockings.
‘And I had to walk on tiptoe inside the building to pretend I was wearing shoes, too.’
I’m no ballerina, so what was all that suffering for? If anyone had seen me, they might have started a rumor that I was some kind of eccentric who went around behaving strangely.
Let’s kill the court count. The court count is my sworn enemy.
I grumbled to myself as I quickly washed up and got ready for bed. Just then, Bessie flung the door open and barged in without even knocking.
“My lady, we have a huge problem!”
“Eek! You scared me. Would it kill you to knock?”
“That’s not the problem!”
“It seems like a problem to me.”
If you keep barging into rooms and shouting like that without any manners, you’ll end up getting kicked out without even receiving a letter of recommendation.
But that didn’t seem to matter to Bessie, who was far too excited to care.
“Someone from the imperial palace is here!”
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