CHAPTER 123……………………………………………………
A Bitter Ending (2)
It was only last week that the midday heat had been raging.
And now, suddenly, frost!
Gazing at the white, glittering powder that blanketed the world, Anje furrowed her brow. It was far too early to say autumn had begun. The mysterious silvery veil draped like gauze over trees that were still vividly green gave her an inexplicably ominous feeling.
“Why the long face so early in the morning?”
Had it been a mistake to stand idly in the corridor? Despite having avoided him for days, the duke spotted Anje and approached her first.
“Were you waiting for me, by any chance?”
He looked as though he had just returned home, still dressed in his outdoor clothes. A chill carrying the mixed scent of cigarettes, old paper, and ink clung to him. It was obvious the duke hadn’t slept a wink the night before.
“No, of course not. Did you just leave the palace?”
“Yeah.”
“Is the meeting still ongoing?”
“Will it ever reach a conclusion?”
At the duke’s skeptical reply, Anje turned her gaze back out the window. Indeed, calling it a debate or a meeting was generous—it was nothing more than a tug-of-war to shift responsibility onto someone else.
“It’s too early for frost,” the duke murmured, following her gaze outside.
“Do you know what an omen means?”
At the sudden question, the duke raised one eyebrow and looked at Anje. The woman, who barely reached his shoulder, still had a bold and lucid gaze.
Looking into her eyes, his foggy mind seemed to clear, and his heavy fatigue felt as though it melted away. Was that a good sign, or a bad one?
Being excited and flustered all by himself was clearly a bad sign… but the problem was that he couldn’t stop.
As the duke hesitated, Anje continued.
“An omen refers to a sign, signal, or hint that foretells future fortune or misfortune. For example, a cough can be a sign that you might be catching a cold. Then what kind of omen do you think that early frost out there is? Especially on the day of His Majesty the Emperor’s wedding.”
“The Emperor and Hildegard insisting on holding a wedding at a time like this… the nobles attending—including me—and even the weather itself—maybe it all means no one’s in their right mind. Ah, of course, except for my brilliant aide.”
Ignoring the duke’s remark, Anje shook her head.
“Just endure it a little longer. Hildegard will move first.”
Given her luck, this was a time she should not act—so the goddess of fortune would surely side with Duke Side.
“No, that woman has already moved. Our new Empress has already obtained the Emperor’s permission and seized most of the governing authority, including military command. His Majesty is nothing more than a scarecrow now. Yesterday, she even came to the council chamber to threaten me.”
“What did she say?”
“She gave me two days’ grace. If I don’t march out immediately and suppress the eastern rebels, the Side family will be considered traitors as well.”
At the word “traitors,” Anje involuntarily sucked in a breath. Narrowing his eyes as he stared ahead, the duke continued.
“That’s why I ended up attending the Emperor’s wedding, whether I wanted to or not. According to her, I should forget the ceremony and rush my troops to the eastern capital gate. …But why should I obey? That woman’s status as a marquis’s daughter is fake to begin with. The fact that the marquis’s side is staying quiet suggests there was some kind of deal, but that doesn’t change the truth.”
The duke’s gaze brushed past Anje. The real daughter of Marquis Crow was standing right beside him—Anje herself—though she looked utterly uninterested in that position.
The stiffness in the duke’s face softened, and a smile hung on his long lips.
“So I’ll show them. That House Side is not so easily underestimated.”
“She’s about to become Empress. Which means that if something were to happen to His Majesty and she claimed to be carrying his child, the imperial authority could pass to Miss Crow.”
The duke tilted his head and looked at Anje.
“But we have the lovely Archduke Algernon, don’t we?”
Anje frowned up at him.
“Lovely…? Have you finally lost your mind?”
“It’s not me—it’s the woman in the imperial palace… No, never mind. I don’t want to waste breath on her. More importantly, why are you standing around here?”
The duke’s eyes swept over Anje from head to toe.
“What do you mean, standing around? Is there something I forgot to take care of on time?”
No matter how she searched her memory, nothing came to mind. As Anje tilted her head, the duke said,
“We need to prepare to attend the Emperor’s wedding. Every noble in the Empire was invited.”
“I’m not a noble—”
Before she could finish, the duke bent forward and met her gaze.
The moment Anje met his deep blue eyes, she forgot what she was about to say.
His gentle, smiling eyes lingered on hers, then drifted to her nose, her philtrum, and her lips before lifting again to meet her gaze.
“Now you and I—and everyone—know who the real daughter of Marquis Crow is. Even if you weren’t, it wouldn’t matter. In fact, I just realized that since you’ve been by my side, I haven’t attended a single banquet with another woman—mother and Mariana included. What do you think that means?”
He was far too close. Every word he spoke brushed his breath against her face. The fine lines of his red lips and the white of his teeth gleaming between them captured Anje’s attention. She didn’t hear a word he was saying.
“…Uh, well…”
Flustered, Anje stammered and flushed.
“I don’t go with anyone but you. Not just because you’re my aide, but… I mean… this is driving me mad. How am I supposed to explain this?”
With a sigh, the duke raised a hand and swept back his bangs.
“Forget it. …We have to attend the Emperor’s wedding, so get ready.”
“The Emperor’s wedding,” “together,” “prepare”…
As those words finally registered, Anje frowned.
“Again? No—someone of your stature would have young ladies lining up. Why does it have to be me every time? I can’t. My injuries from last time haven’t fully healed yet.”
Her wounds had healed long ago, but Anje shamelessly made excuses.
She thought the duke, knowing she’d rested for quite a while, would see through it—but unexpectedly, he looked worried.
“I won’t push you. We’ll just show our faces briefly. Would that still be too much?”
His careful, questioning tone—rather than an order—made Anje uncomfortable, and she stepped back. She would have preferred the old way: bribery, shouting, or outright threats.
Misreading her silence, the duke hurriedly added,
“Are you still in a lot of pain? That poison was vicious, after all. It seems I spoke carelessly.”
Ha.
A faint sigh escaped Anje’s lips. Just give me an order already, Your Grace… If you’re like this, how am I supposed to refuse?
“When will you depart?”
“No, you don’t have to. Mother and Mariana won’t be attending this banquet anyway.”
“So… when?”
“After breakfast would be good.”
“Understood.”
Something had clearly changed, yet the result was the same.
Hiding her conflicted feelings, Anje backed away from the duke and headed toward her room.
The wedding was held in the largest garden of the imperial palace. A red carpet was laid along the path where the bride and groom would walk, flanked by white, beautiful marble pillars. Each pillar was adorned with grains and fruits symbolizing abundance, with elegant flowerpots and blossoms cascading between them.
It was obvious how much care the imperial family had put into the wedding—just looking at the tiny gemstones embedded in every decoration made that clear.
But what did it matter?
Despite the meticulously sent invitations from the palace protocol office, most of the brazen nobles didn’t attend at all. Only a few unwelcome figures appeared between the pillars, including Duke Side, who should have been guarding the capital gate.
Hildegard entered hand in hand with the Emperor, wearing a voluminous, exquisite dress whose skirt alone could have covered the entire red carpet. A crown studded with hundreds of diamonds rested on her head; one hand was linked through the Emperor’s arm, the other held a bouquet of white lilies.
Had she sensed Anje’s gaze?
Hildegard suddenly looked toward her. Many eyes—servants included—were on Hildegard, but her cold, sunken violet eyes were fixed solely on Anje.
At that moment, Anje thought that if looks could kill, then Hildegard’s gaze right now was exactly that.
