Episode 134
The door closed quietly.
I pressed close to the door and leaned my forehead against it.
I could feel so clearly that Callisteon was still standing outside.
I placed my palm flat against the closed door.
It shouldn’t be possible, but it felt as if his body warmth was seeping through the lukewarm wood.
Finally, the day to depart for Babenberg arrived.
We had been thoroughly celebrated and had sufficiently returned thanks at the raucous banquets that had lasted for over ten days.
This was because it had been announced that only family would attend the wedding ceremony in Babenberg.
—Knock, knock.
Hearing a knock from early morning, I opened the door to find an unexpected visitor.
It was Zenais.
She smiled brightly, almost unnervingly so, and opened a very luxurious velvet jewel case.
Inside was a necklace with about ten large, splendid emeralds strung together. If she had brought this intending it as a sign of reflection or reconciliation, then Jenais had made a very foolish choice.
“Congratulations on your marriage, Louise. I wanted to congratulate you before the wedding.”
Jenais spoke with a smile that couldn’t be sweeter.
However, when I didn’t respond at all, she added with a slightly awkward expression.
“I wish I had known sooner that life is so unpredictable, don’t you?”
Genais continued speaking nonchalantly before my silent form.
“I… made many mistakes towards you when we were young. Though it’s late… as a token of apology…”
She closed the jewel case and held it out towards me.
“This is the most valuable piece among my jewels. I sincerely want to apologize.”
Her words were somewhat doubtful in their sincerity.
The Pereira Marquise operated the Fey merchant group, which specialized in gem imports, and that was why they had long been in the favor of Imperial Consort Victoria.
I took the jewel case and placed it on the table with a careless hand.
“Emeralds. Lovely.”
Jenais indeed flinched at my words.
“But seeing this reminds me of a similar gift I received once before?”
It was during the first Thanksgiving Banquet after entering the Academy.
Back then, Zenais and Chirilla gave me a necklace, saying His Majesty had bestowed emeralds and I should wear it to the banquet.
However, even if I was the pitiful wretch of the imperial palace, the one even being second was lamentable, I was still an imperial princess and Ernst’s friend.
Having seen the gems Ernst collected as a hobby and investment more than once or twice, I could tell at a glance that the necklace my sisters were offering wasn’t emerald.
But all I could say was:
“…I am deeply grateful for the imperial grace.”
If deceiving me brought my sisters joy, I had no choice but to endure it.
Also, while the necklace was peridot, not emerald, it was a decent quality piece.
It was good enough that those who didn’t know might mistake it for emerald at a glance, so I judged it wouldn’t be too undignified for a princess to wear.
However, when I encountered my sisters at the banquet wearing the necklace, I realized I had fallen into another trap.
Jenais and Chirilla had both come out wearing necklaces of the exact same design.
“Oh my, it seems all Her Highnesses are wearing the same necklace. How sisterly.”
When someone complimented, Cyril boasted.
“Not all imperial princesses are the same.”
I clearly remember the shame of that day, when dozens of pairs of eyes scrutinized my neck.
I stood there rooted to the spot, my face flushed red, unable to even hide my necklace, which was only similar in shape but fundamentally different from my sisters’, not knowing what to do.
Someone who wanted to curry favor with Cyril finally noticed the difference and burst into laughter.
“Aha, Her Highness the youngest’s necklace is a deep-colored peridot. Well, I suppose wearing ten precious gems like emeralds would be a bit much…”
While I could say nothing and just took it, Ernst did save me.
He knew I had received a peridot necklace and deliberately appeared at the banquet wearing a peridot brooch himself.
Of course, his was immensely larger and of better quality than my necklace, but regardless, Ernst said:
“Peridot has the characteristic of shining even brighter at night, so it has been called the ‘Emerald of the Night’ since ancient times. The gem that traded for the highest price at last spring’s auction was this very peridot. Isn’t it beautiful?”
What need is there to speak of Ernst’s beauty?
Thanks to him diverting everyone else’s attention, I managed to escape.
And now, Jenais had brought the genuine emerald necklace she herself had worn back then, under the guise of an apology.
‘Should I pray desperately that I’d forgotten that incident? Is she as brainless as Cyril?’
I thought that, then suddenly realized.
Jenais isn’t stupid enough to carelessly bring up her old misstep.
Rather, what she intended was…
‘Something like, “Don’t get cocky, remember your place.”‘
So, she had come bearing a grudge over me ignoring her throughout the banquets.
I felt a bit tired and let out a sigh.
It was understandable, as the time I spent in the parallel world was as long as my own life.
‘And it’s not like that life was a bed of roses either.’
To someone like me, Genais’s petty attacks no longer even tickled.
They couldn’t kill me moment by moment like an illness.
Checking the clock, it was nearly time for Callisteon to arrive.
He liked to be punctual.
‘Callisteon is probably waiting outside the door right about now.’
Without even excusing myself to Jenais, I abruptly opened the door.
Sure enough, Callisteon was standing right there.
A sweet smile rose on the man’s previously expressionless face, and he slowly bowed his head, greeting me with a kiss on each cheek.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, and you, Carl?”
Only after I took a step back did he enter the room and notice Genais.
Callisteon and Zenais merely bowed their heads slightly in greeting.
They were by no means on good enough terms to be pleased to see each other.
Looking at Jenais’s expression, she seemed to feel awkward about disturbing the newlyweds, but what did I care?
I opened the jewel case containing the emerald necklace Jenais claimed was her most valuable possession, showed it to Callisteon, and asked:
“By the way, darling, don’t we have plenty of these back in Babenberg?”
Ahem. He let out a slight cough, seemingly a bit startled.
It was undoubtedly because I had suddenly called him ‘darling,’ but regardless, Callisteon soon collected himself and answered.
“Well, I’d say we have about thirty sets prepared.”
However, when I blinked rapidly a few times, the number dramatically increased.
“No… if we include newly made ones, perhaps eighty sets…?”
I smiled brightly at Genais.
“It seems so.”
Then, I snapped the jewel case shut with a thud and pushed it back towards her.
I turned to look at Callisteon and said:
“Darling, I’d like a merchant group as a wedding gift.”
He seemed to have clearly caught on to what I was doing now.
Callisteon wrapped his arms snugly around my waist from behind and brought his lips close enough to brush my earlobe.
Yet, he answered in a voice that wasn’t quiet at all.
“Which merchant group? Just name it.”
“Hmm, among the merchant groups in the southern part of the Empire… I’d like one that deals in gems.”
“Ah, a few come to mind.”
I leaned my back even more comfortably against him, rather than pulling away, and looked at Genais.
“…It seems so, doesn’t it?”
As I tilted my head slightly, I could feel Callisteon’s heartbeat against my cheek.
Jenais, her face bright red, tried to hurriedly leave my room, but I quickly grabbed her wrist.
“But, sister, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask you.”
She looked as if she wanted to spit on me, but, glancing warily at Callisteon, she gritted her teeth and asked.
“…What is it?”
So, I tilted my head as if genuinely curious and asked:
“By any chance, before my brother ascended as Emperor, was there even a single time you considered me family?”
