“You do?”
I turned to her with a puzzled look, fully expecting her to say no.
“Yes!”
Katana simply nodded with a grin. Was it something related to business? Tilting my head in curiosity, I quickened my pace.
Before long, we arrived at Caesar’s room. The problem was that Katana couldn’t enter the emperor’s private room without his explicit permission.
“Even as Lady Evelyn’s guest, no one may proceed further without His Majesty’s approval,” said the guard, firmly blocking our way.
It made sense—he was the emperor of an entire empire, after all. Security of this level was only natural.
I was deliberating what to do when, fortunately, Caesar appeared at just the right moment.
“Evelyn! … Katana?”
“We greet His Majesty the Emperor.”
Since we were in front of the guards, I performed a proper bow, and Katana followed my lead. Caesar, seemingly surprised to see Katana being so quiet, led us naturally into his office.
“She’s my guest.”
With those simple words, the guards immediately stepped aside.
Once inside, Caesar dismissed the servants and maids who had been waiting, leaving only the three of us. Katana immediately darted off to explore every corner of the room like she’d been waiting for this moment.
“Was today the day Katana was supposed to move into the palace?”
“Yes, I showed her to her room. Then she wanted to look around here…”
“Look around? More like she’s planning to break something.”
Caesar frowned as he glanced at Katana, but it wasn’t a truly displeased expression.
Over the course of a few meetings related to the lottery project, Caesar and Katana had grown quite close. Especially after the project had officially become a national initiative, the two had even met a few times without me.
Perhaps because of their difficult childhoods, they shared an odd sort of understanding. They acted like they disliked each other, constantly bickering, but their connection felt surprisingly warm.
‘Almost like siblings.’
They didn’t look alike at all, but their squabbling dynamic made Katana feel more like Caesar’s little sister than Floria did. After all, Floria could never treat Caesar with complete ease.
Caesar had even permitted Katana to call him by name—but only when no one else was around, of course.
“Stop running around and sit down already,” Caesar said, leading me to the tea table with my hand in his.
Katana, who had been busy inspecting the massive room that could fit dozens of people, finally plopped herself down into a chair.
When Caesar pulled a bell cord, a maid entered and quickly set up tea and light refreshments. In no time, the tea table was ready.
“Wow! This looks delicious!”
Katana couldn’t stop exclaiming in awe.
We sipped tea and chatted about trivial things until I suddenly remembered what Katana had said earlier.
“Katana, didn’t you say you had something to tell His Majesty?”
“Oh, right!”
“Something to say?”
Caesar straightened his posture, clearly assuming it was about business.
“Is there a problem of some sort?”
“Well, if you call it a problem, I guess it is…”
A mischievous smile spread across Katana’s face.
‘Oh no, that’s her “I’m about to cause trouble” look.’
“You know, Caesar, did you realize something?”
With an ominous chuckle, Katana suddenly clung to my arm and exclaimed, “Evelyn’s eighteenth birthday is just around the corner!”
“…Huh?”
Well, my birthday was at the end of July, so it was coming up. But so what?
As I blinked in confusion, Caesar’s expression froze as if he’d realized something. Katana, her voice playful, continued speaking.
“I’ve been studying books on high society recently, and I found out that starting at eighteen, you can debut into society!”
“You…”
Caesar’s voice sounded like he was gritting his teeth, but Katana’s voice only grew louder.
“Which means Evelyn’s debutante ball is practically right around the corner!”
Caesar’s face twisted into an utterly unreadable expression.
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