CHAPTER 20
Ugh… that damned corset still made it hard to breathe.
I couldn’t believe today was the day of the aristocratic faction’s ball.
Time had passed frighteningly fast. In the meantime, I had memorized and re-memorized the list of nobles Maya had brought me. I had been told that all I needed to do was attend, but since greetings were unavoidable, not knowing names was out of the question.
Arahan had even decided on the concept for me and the Emperor: nobles from a distant region who had come to meet the leader of the aristocratic faction, Marquis Soboron, in order to relocate to the capital.
“Unexpectedly thorough…”
I walked toward the carriage the Emperor would ride in, concealed behind a secret door at the rear of the Arlesia Count’s residence.
A few days ago, I had used a mysterious potion that arrived under the Emperor’s undercover name, Kai, to change my silver hair to a normal brown. To hide the faint reddish undertone, I wore an ash-brown wig. Unlike Elizabeth, who usually dressed in red, I wore a simple white gown adorned with pale blue gemstones, clearly prepared to match the image of a provincial noble.
A deliberately shabby carriage waited outside. Karlcia Senil Morc was already inside.
Ordinarily, a partner would escort their companion, but we weren’t exactly close. Since this wasn’t a public appearance, he didn’t even bother opening the window to acknowledge me.
I pouted slightly as I climbed in, quietly vowing revenge someday.
“……”
“……”
Normally, I would have greeted him first. But once inside the carriage, we were equals as partners.
As soon as I sat down, the carriage began to move.
After a long silence, Karlcia frowned and spoke.
“I’m warning you. Just help me get inside. Don’t act like the flower of high society. Understood?”
“I don’t recall ever calling myself a flower. I didn’t realize Your Majesty was so concerned about me.”
“…Ha. Ridiculous. I’m only saying this out of caution. Don’t misunderstand.”
That irritating tone—who had taught him that?
Annoying as he was, he was undeniably a capable emperor. If he truly couldn’t manage politics, rebellion would have broken out long ago.
He was a tyrant to the nobles, yet a saint to the common people.
Unlike his late father, who never taxed the nobility, Karlcia imposed land and wealth taxes on them. Some nobles passed those taxes onto their peasants and serfs. When Karlcia discovered this, he exterminated an entire noble house as an example and ordered monthly inspections of noble lands. To prevent concealment, he sent disguised shadow knights rather than official investigators.
The nobles hated him.
That was precisely why they wanted Osborne Luciela, the saintess of the empire, to become empress.
She had a spotless reputation, fewer scandals than Elizabeth Arlesia, and was revered by the people. They believed that if Osborne became empress, the populace would naturally follow.
Perhaps that was why she had danced the first dance.
“In a way, the most pitiful one is Elizabeth,” Karlcia muttered. “She’s nothing more than a punching bag.”
“Oh my. I didn’t realize Your Majesty was so concerned about me. I’m honored.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea.”
He called me Elizabeth, not Lady Arlesia.
That meant he was angry.
The warning was clear.
My forced smile faded, replaced by a serious expression.
“Your Majesty, don’t misunderstand either. I’m only moving because you need me.”
“Ha. There are plenty of others who could replace you.”
“Then wasn’t it because there was no one else that you came to me?”
“……”
He turned his head away.
This suffocating silence—why was this carriage so slow?
I didn’t come here just to attend a ball. I came to torment Osborne and leave without embarrassing myself.
At last, the carriage stopped before the Marquis Soboron’s residence. A palace knight opened the door.
“Be careful not to be discovered as Elizabeth Arlesia.”
“Your Majesty, I hope you perform well with your disguise as well.”
Karlcia stepped out first, instantly donning a flawless smile as he extended his hand.
I hesitated briefly, then took it.
The hand Elizabeth had once desperately wanted to hold—I was holding it now.
Strange.
But Elizabeth’s soul was no longer here. This was merely duty.
If the real Elizabeth had held his hand… what kind of expression would she have made?
As a regional noble, there was no trumpet or grand introduction. Only Karlcia and me entered quietly.
He scanned the ballroom, then strode toward Marquis Soboron and greeted him.
A few minutes later, Soboron laughed heartily and clapped Karlcia’s shoulder.
“Haha… Soboron might not notice, but I can sense Karlcia’s faint murderous intent,” I muttered internally.
More importantly—
Where is Osborne?
Then I heard it.
“Oh my, look over there. It’s Lady Luciela.”
“So the rumors are true. The Luciela family has abandoned neutrality.”
“If the saint sides with the noble faction, the temple will follow.”
“Wouldn’t it only be a matter of time before Lady Luciela becomes empress?”
Karlcia frowned.
It seemed the Luciela family’s tightrope act was over.
“Well… she did dance with the Emperor.”
“She’s far more beautiful than the villainess, Elizabeth Arlesia.”
“Look at her golden hair, her forest-green eyes—”
Ah. She’s here.
Time to do what I came for.
Before I could move, Karlcia returned—with Marquis Soboron in tow.
“Let’s make introductions.”
“…It’s a pleasure to meet you, Marquis Soboron.”
“Hoho. Your fiancée is quite beautiful.”
“Thank you. She still has much to learn.”
“You’re blind. Those eyes are sharp and intelligent. They remind me of the villainess’s eyes, but… ah—there’s brown mixed in. Interesting.”
What?! Is the potion already wearing off?!
“I’ve heard that often. They’re simply gray-brown, Marquis. Not silver.”
“Ah, perhaps the lighting fooled me. For a moment, I thought the Emperor had arrived in disguise—with the villainess herself.”
I flinched.
Karlcia’s smile stiffened.
At this rate, I’ll be exposed.
No. Not yet.
I haven’t even tormented Osborne.
I need to finish this—and escape.
