Episode 73: How a Mercenary Joins a Court Banquet (3)
They walked on a packed dirt path made flat so high heels wouldn’t be uncomfortable. Regina and Valentin drew the same stares they had in the banquet hall.
Regina scanned the area by instinct and glanced at the center of the hunting grounds.
The waiting area in the middle had everything set up for people to chat—servants ready to carry plates and plenty of tasty food.
‘It’s just an outdoor banquet hall. Not really a hunting ground.’
Still, Regina kept a close watch on Valentin’s condition. She shifted the potion into a pocket of her hunting outfit.
“You look much more dignified and beautiful than when you were soaked by the rain.”
His voice was buttery smooth, but his eyes were sharp. Regina inwardly mocked Kablen’s false compliment.
“Thank you.”
Her cool reply made the scar on his face twitch.
“Ahem, we have arrived.”
Kablen’s shoulders rose as he stood before the largest, most splendid red tent in the waiting area.
Many knights guarded the red tent. Their heavy presence made even small animals avoid the place.
“Announce the visitors.”
“Yes.”
A bowed knight entered the tent carefully, and after a short time the tent flap opened fully.
Regina stepped in without hesitation and almost frowned from the strong camellia scent that hit her like a headache.
Kablen seemed used to such a strong smell. Valentin, too.
“We honor the sun of the empire.”
Regina knelt at once without looking up at the man sitting on the round, long sofa.
A commoner must bow and touch forehead to the ground before a royal, but Regina was the Duchess Julius.
Of course, if the fake marriage contract were exposed, their heads would fall quickly.
Valentin bowed his head slightly by her side.
“Raise your head.”
But the command did not come from the Emperor in a deep voice—it was thin and seductive. When Regina did not raise her head, the order came again.
“I said, raise your head.”
“My apologies.”
She realized this was Empress Dowager Elba’s order, not the emperor’s, and slowly lifted her face.
Elba sat beside a man who did not look like Valentin at all. Elba’s face did not resemble anyone in the tent. Regina tilted her head slightly to one side.
“Hmm? Have we met before?”
“My apologies, but this is my first time meeting you.”
Blonde hair like bright sun, eyes dark red as if stained with blood, and full, very red lips.
She did not look like a woman with grown sons. No one could forget such a face. Regina felt sure of that.
“Hmm.”
It was rude to stare at royal faces too long. Valentin didn’t worry about manners, but Elba was different, so Regina lowered her gaze a little.
In that short moment, she took in Emperor Bertonin sitting beside Elba.
He looked nothing like Valentin. Where Valentin had delicate features, Bertonin had a broader, more open face. If not for his vacant expression, he might have seemed a hearty man.
Bertonin had not shown himself to the people in nearly ten years. Oddly, little rumor followed him.
For fifteen years the emperor had sat like a chess piece doing nothing. Perhaps that explained it.
To Regina’s eyes, Bertonin looked dazed. His eyes lacked life.
‘Like he’s addicted to something.’
She could not voice that thought. Saying it aloud would mean dragging herself to a dungeon.
“Valentin, my son. It’s been a long time.”
Elba greeted him, but Valentin stayed silent. Elba seemed used to that.
“You married without telling your mother—how shocking. Even if you left the palace, think of a mother’s heart.”
A mother—how easy the word was to spit out. Valentin wanted to tear that pretty mouth and cut out the tongue of the half-brother who sat saying nothing.
He only ever answered like a dog that follows orders, so why did they need a tongue?
Since he became the mad prince and set fire to that warehouse, the distance between them grew.
The emperor did not seek his brother, and the mad prince avoided public places. It was nearly ten years since they shared a space like this.
“When I become emperor I will take responsibility for my siblings. Power or no, I’ll make our home a palace where family can live.”
She did not trust that empty promise. If it was meant to fill the hollow with anger, it would only echo in vain.
Again, her stomach twisted and bile rose up. Seeing their faces brought back those awful feelings like perfume.
Cold sweat ran down her back. She did not know whether she wanted to leave or to attack and tear their throats.
She managed only a short reply.
“My apologies.”
“Is it because you are married that you answer only so?”
Valentin and she had never been able to hold a conversation, so Elba’s attention turned to Regina easily.
“Your Majesty, the duchess keeps bowing her head. A mother has yet to see her son’s wife.”
“Lady, raise your eyes and meet the Empress Dowager.”
Regina hid her surprise. Even if the regency had lasted long, Bertonin was little more than a puppet.
Following the imperial order, she raised her head and noticed camellias set all around the tent. That was the source of the heavy scent.
“For a mercenary woman to decide to be a duchess is bold.”
She saw a bouquet of camellias on the side table beside Regina.
“Yes, but I wanted to be by the duke’s side. Because I love him.”
It was an assignment. A job. She said the embarrassing words boldly and reminded herself it was only the contract. Elba’s mouth twisted into a sneer.
“Duchess Julius is quite impudent.”
Elba scanned Regina slowly and noted the fabric that glittered unusually.
At first the dress looked beautiful because of its design, but on closer inspection the cloth itself shone like a jewel. From what Elba knew, only gold dye could give that effect.
Most of the shadow-clan who made gold dye in the Northern hills had been exterminated. The dye traded inside the empire was costly. Some guilds brought gold dye from abroad, but it was still rare.
Elba snorted as if she knew this.
A former mercenary would not have the money for such clothes. The gold must have come from Valmen. If a small dye guild was brought into the domain, they might have saved some money.
“…What if I refuse to approve this marriage? What then? If I invalidate the contract?”
Her tone sounded both serious and teasing. It felt like she might change her attitude depending on the answer.
“Human ties don’t get cut easily even by the sharpest sword.”
Elba’s calm brows creased suddenly like fine porcelain. Kablen, who stood alert in the tent, noticed first. He let his hand drift toward his sword.
Elba crushed a camellia in one hand. Petals scattered sadly to the floor.
It felt strange—she crushed the flower with a smile as if testing the people watching.
“Are you trying to teach me a lesson?”
The edge in her eyes left out the word ‘dare.’
“I did not intend that. Pardon the rudeness.”
Regina kept her curiosity about the woman folded away beneath a neutral face.
Even after seeing many rulers and nobles in war, she had never felt such a sickening sensation. It was like facing a killer who had given up being human.
“Is the Pelgberg marquis family behind you? Do they think they can cut me easily? A fragile string can be cut if I wish.”
Elba made no secret that the ‘rats’ from Julius House were people in her network—she openly looked down on them.
“What was your family name before marriage?”
A sudden question. Regina answered calmly.
“Rofman.”
“Rofman… Rofman, is it.”
Regina quietly kept probing, moving her eyes little, watching Elba, Bertonin, and Kablen—the one who might draw a sword any moment—while keeping an eye on Valentin’s mood.
‘Is this okay?’
She had noticed his breathing quicken slightly the moment they stepped into the tent. He kept his mouth shut and looked down, but he was unnatural—straining, swallowing down something.
He looked like an animal thrashing in a swamp, begging to be saved.
