Those who had been watching politely greeted their partners and burst into applause.
‘It’s… it’s finally over…’
After this, all that remained was the congratulatory speech from Zeria, the Empress’s proxy presiding over the gathering. Then the real party would begin.
A red carpet stretched from the high platform down the stairs to the floor below.
Zeria stood on the platform, being fanned with an enormous feather fan as she looked down on us.
With her luscious, flowing auburn hair draped over one shoulder and her blue eyes shimmering sensually, she was the kind of bewitching woman who commanded the room just by standing there.
If the Empress I met was a herbivore, this woman was definitely a carnivore.
She already had a tall frame, but with heels that looked to be at least 10 cm high, she looked even more statuesque.
Lady Zeria rose to her feet and parted her red lips.
“May glory and prosperity be upon your noble houses.”
She raised her glass high as she spoke.
‘Oh? I thought the congratulatory speech would last over ten minutes…’
Surprisingly, she seemed to be quite brisk.
I was just about to lift my glass in response when—
“Not yet, Ria,”
Luca said with a soft smile.
“In our House of Croa, we have recently recruited new retainers through the last family council. We are exploring ways to unite the political factions and build a more prosperous Empire for all nobles—”
And with that, her red lips began to move non-stop.
She talked so much that she had to pause now and then to sip her wine before continuing the toast speech.
At first, I tried to understand what she was saying, but soon enough, I gave up and started counting the wall patterns instead.
To summarize, it was basically, “You want to support the Crown Prince? Or me? Choose.”
She spoke as if the opportunity to become a retainer of House Croa was open to everyone, and several nobles were clearly intrigued, listening intently.
Eventually, the speech veered off into the history of House Croa.
It got to the point where she even began spilling details about confidential business ventures. At first, the Marquis of Croa had watched proudly, but now he was sweating bullets, anxiously looking around, seemingly wishing someone would shut her up.
“Sehamon Island—that’s the key. There’s gold everywhere… Oh! Pretend I didn’t say that.”
As over 300 guests sent their attendants to go find where this Sehamon Island was, the Marquis nearly foamed at the mouth.
Lady Zeria’s congratulatory speech finally ended after a whopping 40 minutes.
Looking around afterward, I saw someone had pulled their hat over their face and was snoring while pretending to stay awake, while another person had a pile of napkin flowers in front of them too many to count.
I had managed to count all the patterns on the wall.
“One thousand, seven hundred ninety-four.”
“Accurate as always. I got the same number.”
“Eh? I got 1,780.”
“There are some behind that corner, Rachel.”
“There too?! So unfair! How many did you get, Haeld?”
“Four thousand, one hundred…”
How even?!
Even the musicians who had been napping were now being shaken awake by attendants as the music began again.
The party had officially begun.
“Ria, you danced really well earlier,”
Miller said, approaching at some point.
Beside him, Drehan was looking down at the foot that had been stepped on hundreds of times during practice.
“Do you have some kind of personal grudge against me…?”
“No, no! Luca guided me really well…”
Dad stepped in from behind and draped a shawl over my shoulders.
“Well done.”
With the whole family gathered, we drew attention from all sides.
People seemed genuinely puzzled seeing a noble family behave like any ordinary one.
“Drehan, there you are.”
A man with blue hair approached us.
“Eshil.”
Eshil… could that be Eshil Claire?
Drehan’s academy peer and future head of House Claire, Eshil turned to me and greeted me.
“I’ve only heard the rumors. This is our first meeting. I’m Eshil Claire, my lady.”
Before I could respond, Drehan shook Eshil’s offered hand for me.
“Haha, this guy…”
“Ha… I’m Raberia Zenne Rayes, young duke.”
Beside Eshil stood a boy with a youthful face.
He looked about my age and had wavy, ocean-blue hair—he resembled Eshil quite a bit.
“I think Sion and the young lady are the same age.”
“What’s your point, Eshil.”
“You could at least say hello. Wouldn’t hurt to be friends.”
Sion Claire was Eshil’s younger brother.
He didn’t play much of a role in the original novel. The Claire family remained politically neutral and stayed out of central politics, so they were relatively uninvolved in many events.
Still, Eshil Claire had a bit of screen time—he was obsessed with Senia since childhood.
Right now, he looked kind and pleasant, but later, his jealousy toward Luca would lead him to cause all kinds of incidents.
Of course, he never caused even a scratch to Luca. He was just an ineffective villain.
Seeing him in person jogged my memory about parts of the novel I had forgotten. As I tried to recall more, I suddenly locked eyes with Sion Claire, who was staring at me wide-eyed.
For someone my age, he was really short—he looked more like a younger brother.
When I smiled at him, his silver eyes widened and the tips of his ears turned red.
Boys that age are supposed to be shy. Luca’s just… weird.
“Call me Raberia, Sion.”
“I-I’m Sion…”
As he shyly took my fingers for a handshake, I couldn’t help but think of a baby animal and giggled.
“That’s quite the long handshake.”
Luca, who had gone off to fetch my fresh strawberry cake, returned and clasped our joined hands firmly.
‘You’re one to talk.’
He had held my hand from our very first meeting at the orphanage until dinner.
“Your Highness, the pro-Imperial faction nobles attending the Great Nobles’ Council have been gathered.”
“I see. Where are they?”
The Great Nobles’ Council was approaching.
It would be a critical event for proving Luca’s political legitimacy. A fierce factional struggle was inevitable.
Dad escorted him to the meeting area.
“Ria, I’ll step away for a bit.”
“Ah, o-okay… Please go ahead.”
My awkward speech was a delayed realization that the Claire family was still present.
Drehan followed after them.
As Luca was walking, he turned and glanced at our table before finally moving away.
The Claire brothers, who had stayed due to their relationship with Drehan, also left with promises to meet again.
It had been over thirty minutes of chatting with Rachel when—
“Shall we count the wall patterns on this side next, Rachel?”
Just as I spoke, Rachel’s glass spilled.
“Rachel…?”
Her clothes were soaked in the reddish drink.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“Rachel!”
Her eyes were vacant—like she was under a trance.
And then she collapsed onto Sir Haeld’s shoulder.
“Princess!!”
I shot up from my seat, my heart pounding madly, and rushed to her.
“Rachel! Wake up!”
Her body was cold, and her breathing had completely stopped.
Terror gripped me.
They couldn’t drop a chandelier, so they resorted to this?
Was the drink poisoned by a waiter?
Or had someone nearby laced it with a drug?
So many possibilities came to mind, but no clear answer.
My mind went blank, as if someone had scribbled nonsense across my brain.
A scene from my dream flashed back.
Luca, looking devastated, believing the Empress and Rachel had died because of him.
Luca, drowning in guilt, weeping blood—his face was seared into my mind.
And Rachel’s voice, calling me her person, echoed in my ears.
If Rachel died like this, I—
My hands trembled.
I could barely hear Sir Haeld and Miller yelling for a physician and healer.
Imperial knights began blocking all exits, treating everyone inside as suspects, and the murmuring crowd grew restless.
‘Thank you for being their friend—Luca and Rachel’s. Please take care of the children…’
That gentle voice stabbed into my heart like a thorn.
I shakily reached out and grasped Rachel’s cold hand.
The hall was in chaos, but around me, it felt eerily silent—like I was staring into the abyss.
Holding Rachel’s hand, I saw something—something grotesque and black, like sticky sludge, wrapping around her throat.
I didn’t have time to question why I could see it or what it was.
It felt like something was toying with her life.
Then suddenly, it began to take form—into ancient text.
It resembled a curse.
No—it was a curse.
Some called it black magic.
Unlike normal ancient language spells, which glow blue, this was pitch black and radiated a sinister aura.
‘How do I destroy it?’
If this wasn’t poison but a curse, no doctor could save her.
I thought of using Jen’s wish, but he was a water-elemental battle mage.
He could restore energy, but not break something this strong.
His current Tower had no healing mages either.
Then—the only healer here was Senia…!
I looked around frantically.
But I couldn’t see her violet hair anywhere.
Time was running out.
The black curse tightening around Rachel’s neck was growing stronger.
“Please…”
And then—
A gentle breeze blew between our clasped hands.
It tickled my palm—it was warm, comforting.
“What… what is this?”
A glowing symbol of the sun appeared on my palm, radiating warmth into Rachel’s hand.
A faint light bloomed from our hands like a flower and soon formed a pure white magic circle.
‘What is this…?!’
A blinding light burst out from the circle, and the soft breeze turned into a whirlwind.
A single beam of light struck the black mass around Rachel’s neck and obliterated it completely—without leaving a trace.
“What just happened…?”
As I slowly opened my tightly shut eyes, Rachel gasped and shot up, coughing.
“Kh…! Hah… hah…”
“Rachel!”
I couldn’t feel death’s presence on her anymore.
I didn’t understand what had just happened—but Rachel was alive, and that relief alone made me collapse to my knees.
“Th-that’s…! Isn’t that the mark of a healer?!”
The so-called Blessed by the Sun—healing mages received the goddess’s mark when they awakened.
And now that mark had appeared on my palm…
“W-what mark…?”
