CHAPTER 65……….
“Today was really fun, Your Highness, First Princess!”
“You said you host tea parties three times a week, right? Next time I visit the Imperial Palace, I’ll bring something the princess will like!”
“Me too, me too! So you have to invite us, okay?”
“Sure.”
I looked on fondly as the excited young ladies chatted and escorted them all the way to the palace gates.
Emily Grisela insisted I shouldn’t, but since they were my first guests, I felt I couldn’t let them leave without seeing them off. The young ladies all got into their carriages, and Emily Grisela came closer to me and whispered softly.
“You were so impressive earlier, Your Highness, the First Princess.”
“Huh?”
“About Prince Iabel. Nobody expected you to return to society with the First Princess’s tea party, so everyone was subtly taken aback. Miss Rolobian also seemed very grateful to Your Highness for saving her.”
The Rolobian girl Emily mentioned was the one who accidentally spoke up during the early part of the tea party on Yevgeny’s behalf. Emily smiled slyly.
“Your Highness, you’re gaining supporters one by one. You’re a model ruler.”
“Oh, it was only natural.”
“You’re perfect even in humility.”
I blushed faintly at Emily’s unfamiliar praise and quickly nudged her back to her carriage.
“Go inside. You must be tired.”
“May I send a letter?”
“I don’t know if I can reply properly, but if you want to, go ahead.”
“Then I must write such an amusing story that the princess would want to reply to me. Well, I’ll be off then, Your Highness.”
Soon after, she signaled the coachman to depart. Watching the Grisela carriage grow distant, I also returned to the palace.
I hoped everything would end well, but I still had problems to solve.
“First Princess! First Princess!”
In the distance, I saw Ilia running toward me in a panic. When I turned around, Ilia, panting hard, said to me:
“The Empress has sent an urgent order for you to proceed immediately to the Empress’s palace…!”
“Really?”
“Yes, yes. Also, it seems the message went to Prince Iabel’s side too. W-what should we do?”
“What else but go?”
“B-but Your Highness, if something serious happens…”
Ilia grabbed my wrist tightly as she turned, eyes full of worry. I gently pulled her hand away and asked quietly, like sharing a secret.
“Are you worried about me?”
“W-wouldn’t I be? That Empress…! She utterly hates Your Highness—! S-sorry, Your Highness, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay, Ilia. It’s true, so it doesn’t bother me.”
“Your Highness…”
“So, will you help me?”
Ilia’s eyes sparkled, and she leaned in close as if to preempt anyone overhearing.
‘She’s got good instincts.’
I smiled warmly at Ilia and whispered into her ear. Hearing this, she immediately stood up and exclaimed:
“If it’s that kind of help, I can do it! Even though I’m scared.”
“Then maybe Mullin should—”
Ilia firmly rejected that and opened her mouth again.
“I’m better than Mullin at gaining trust. I’ll go carry out Your Highness’s orders, so please head to the Empress’s palace.”
“I trust you.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Ilia bowed deeply and ran off swiftly, looking so rushed I thought she might fall.
‘She needs to be careful.’
I watched her retreating figure briefly, then resumed my walk toward the Empress’s palace where Iabel and the Empress would be waiting, eyes blazing.
“Have you arrived, First Princess?”
“Where is the Empress?”
“She’s waiting for you with Prince Second in the guest room.”
Lady-in-waiting Camilla Sanna said this while coldly surveying me.
“Did you just finish your tea party?”
“Yes, but—”
“…You had enough time to change your clothes, surely.”
She was scolding me for my attire when meeting the most noble woman of the Gatabuta Empire.
But she overlooked one thing.
“This dress was personally gifted by His Majesty. Is it not to your liking?”
The dress I wore was a reward the Emperor gave me a month before the tea party, so Camilla’s comment was practically disrespecting the Emperor’s taste.
Realizing her mistake, Camilla cleared her throat.
“I meant only that I worried it might get damaged.”
“I didn’t realize you were so kind. I just thought I should look like this to meet Her Majesty the Empress.”
“My apologies for the rudeness.”
Just lead the way without further complaints.
I glared at her and she furrowed her brow slightly before leading me on.
We soon arrived at the grandest, most luxurious door I had passed by so far.
The door was engraved with the Empress’s symbol—the moon and a swan—and decorated with pearl-infused marble and silver thread intertwined beautifully.
Camilla bowed and slowly turned the door handle.
“The Empress requests Your Highness, the First Princess, to enter.”
“Let her in.”
“Yes.”
Camilla opened the door, and through the crack, the Empress’s furious face could be seen creeping out.
Beside her sat Iabel, reclining like a leisurely aristocrat.
‘The resemblance is uncanny.’
At least Dmitri never struck me as vulgar like Iabel did, even if he was born and raised by the Empress.
Dmitri was actually noble, resembling the Emperor himself.
I gave a cold, elegant curtsey while glaring at the obnoxious Iabel.
“I greet Your Majesty the Empress and Prince Second. May the blessings of the goddess Eridium be upon you. I am Lilien Sha Kaliberg, First Princess—”
Swish—!
Before I could finish, something white flew past the left side of my face. It crashed against the wall with a loud shattering noise, scattering fragments everywhere.
…It was a glass teacup.
‘This is just like Yevgeny.’
Throwing things without thought when angry.
Heart pounding from the near miss, I told myself to calm down.
‘They can’t bully me like before anymore.’
There was no way anyone would take me lightly now that the Emperor was beginning to pay attention to me, and with all eyes on me, the Empress wouldn’t dare use violence.
I steadied my trembling and lifted my head proudly, staring at the Empress.
“Why are you so furious, Your Majesty?”
“Hah…! Don’t you truly know why I’m this angry…?!”
“Sorry, I don’t know. I spent all day under the Emperor’s patronage, hosting the children of big-name dignitaries…”
Feigning innocence, I drooped my shoulders, and Iabel, who had been quietly watching nearby, burst into laughter while looking at me.
“A host? After humiliating me in front of everyone, a host—?”
“Oh, was the Empress’s summons about Prince Second?”
“Yes! Princess! How dare you disgrace my precious son in public…! Especially our Abel, the younger brother of the future crown prince…!”
She gripped another teacup so tightly I shivered.
“I know it was harsh, but it was unavoidable, Your Majesty.”
“Unavoidable? First Princess, I’ll hear your excuse, but if you don’t convince me, you’ll be punished.”
“Well, Prince Second was trying to oppress Miss Biante Rolobian… so I felt the situation was serious…”
“What? When did I ever oppress that girl? She touched Yevgeny first, so I got angry!”
“Touched Yevgeny? What do you mean? What brazen rat dared insult not only the Second Prince but also the Second Princess?!”
The Empress’s sharp shouting echoed through the guest room.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Iabel, furious about what happened that morning, approached me, and under the Empress’s watch, I was caught by the collar.
“You locked me up with an artifact earlier? You don’t know how awful it feels to be restrained?”
“I’ve never been restrained before, how would I know?”
“You’re still going to talk in this situation? If you sink in water, your mouth would just float. Should I test if you talk the same while being punished, like earlier?”
“If you punish me, it’ll disgrace Prince Second’s honor and bring dishonor to Her Majesty the Empress.”
Iabel grimaced and squeezed harder.
As the pressure tightened, I groaned.
“Lucky Yevgeny didn’t completely crush your face.”
“What…!”
“Wait, Iabel…!”
The Empress and I gasped in shock, staring at her. Feeling the heat nearby, I was speechless, looking at Iabel.
“Move aside. Let’s see if you can dodge my fireball at this distance.”
This crazy girl…!
I struggled with all my might but couldn’t escape her iron grip.
Just as the Empress rose to stop Iabel, a large hand suddenly blocked between us. Thunk! Iabel was thrown back, hitting the wall.
The situation was resolved in an instant by someone’s intervention.
I was speechless as I looked at Dmitri standing behind me. The Empress was also shocked, glaring at him, silently demanding to know why he was here.
“Ugh…!”
“This Iabel…!”
At her son’s painful groans, the Empress hurriedly picked up Iabel, who had collapsed against the wall.
Pat, pat-tuk…
Then, blood rained down from above Iabel’s head, making the Empress scream in horror.
“B-blood…! What have you done, Dmitri…! Why are you even here…!”
“I heard rumors Mother summoned this girl after hearing about Lilien’s tea party today. So I came.”
“What does this have to do with you? Your ‘younger sibling’ is the one in my arms, not that girl—!”
Dmitri cut off the Empress and said:
“I’m the one who gave the artifact to the First Princess.”
“…What?”
The Empress stared at her son in disbelief, then scowled and looked at me. She approached me swiftly and shouted thunderously.
“How could the First Prince lie about this, First Princess?!”
“I never asked the First Prince to lie. He wouldn’t do that, and why would he spread false info for someone like me—”
“That’s exactly why! Dmitri wouldn’t give a high-level artifact to the First Princess!”
“Mother!”
Dmitri cleared his throat and blocked the Empress.
“Stop speaking further. If the source of the artifact Lilien uses is investigated, it will be revealed to be me. You will be punished for giving dangerous magical items to the princess.”
“First Prince…! You’re the future crown prince, yet you’re to be punished for this trivial matter!”
Dmitri shot a cold glare at the Empress and said:
“Then, Mother, would you also punish that little child for this trivial matter?”
“W-well, the Second Prince Iabel and the First Princess Lilien Sha Kaliberg have different ranks…”
“The current First Princess’s influence has changed a lot.”
Dmitri said this, glanced once at the fainted Iabel in the Empress’s arms, then turned to me.
“You should leave now. I’ll handle this.”
“What? But—”
“Go.”
“…Yes.”
I glanced at the Empress and got up from the floor. As Dmitri shifted his gaze toward me, the Empress’s fierce eyes pierced the back of my head.
Opening the door, I saw Ilia nearly fainting while waiting for me.
I smiled softly and mouthed:
“Well done.”
Ilia’s face brightened.
Back at the main palace, Ilia finally spoke after holding back.
“What on earth happened? I never imagined Dmitri would really stand up for you.”
“The First Prince didn’t do it purely for me.”
“Huh? But when I delivered the message, he looked secretly worried.”
It’s guilt.
Though Dmitri seems cold, he’s a just man unlike the Empress or my siblings. He believes I should apologize for whatever mistakes I made and that false information must be corrected.
That’s why I asked Ilia to bring Dmitri
the letter I wrote during the tea party, which described everything clearly.
“I also heard Prince Second was hospitalized due to your tea party.”
“Pfft! That prince was always a jerk.”
“You don’t say.”
Ilia smiled.
“Even if he was a jerk, Prince Second is an influential man. If he’s hospitalized because of you, this will cause serious trouble for the empire.”
“That’s true…”
I leaned against the wall, tired but feeling strangely refreshed.
“For now, I’ll make sure to keep the peace. Next time, I’ll host a tea party with the Emperor’s knowledge and support. That will be the proper way.”
Ilia smiled with relief.
