Chapter 109
Odette turned her body. The nobles placed their right hands over their left chests and bent their knees. As they lowered their heads in full respect to the new emperor, Marien’s eyes stayed wide open, staring at the floor.
“I won’t cry. I absolutely won’t cry. I can endure this.”
Even the slightest blink could bring tears welling up, ready to fall to the ground.
Odette signaled that they could rise. The coronation ceremony in the Rosette Hall was over. She moved slowly toward the balcony for the next part of the ceremony.
Today was the Open Palace Day. Commoners, who normally couldn’t enter the palace, were allowed to gather below the Rosette Hall balcony to see the new emperor.
During the coronation, those waiting and straining their necks to watch from below the balcony began to murmur in excitement.
The air, thick with expectation and excitement, could be felt even through the glass doors.
“He’s coming out! Look, there!”
“Waaaah!”
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
As the glass doors finally opened, the crowd erupted at the sight of the new emperor.
At that exact moment, fireworks exploded. Multicolored paper blossoms rained down over the cheering crowd. A young girl riding her father’s shoulders reached out, trying to catch the drifting petals in the autumn breeze.
Odette smiled. The cold, sharp smile of the emperor drew an explosive reaction from the crowd.
“Long live! Long live!”
They seemed to have completely forgotten the old emperor—aged, incompetent, and suspicious-minded.
Marien, if standing among them, would have felt the same.
Everything looks better when it’s new—whether it’s clothing, a house, or even the emperor who rules the country.
And Odette wasn’t just a new emperor; she was a rising star, gaining public achievements one after another. Naturally, people placed high expectations on her.
“And she looks better than the old emperor, too.”
Marien glanced at the former emperor, crouched on the chair atop the dais. Decades ago, he must have heard cheers like today—but he would never hear them again.
Even if he did, the cheers would not be for him, but for Odette—just like today.
“Long live His Majesty the Emperor!”
“Look over here too!”
“Did you see that? She made eye contact with me and smiled!”
The former emperor was still alive, yet he looked almost frustrated to death as Odette monopolized the affection of the people.
Indeed, Odette’s decision to keep her father alive as long as possible had been wise. Death is instant, but humiliation persists as long as one breathes.
“You didn’t cry earlier, did you?”
Marien furrowed her brows. Cain, unaware, had approached.
The person who had originally sat next to Marien had chosen to move aside rather than challenge Duke Blackwood.
“You made everyone shift a seat over because of you. What a nuisance.”
“Your rude tone hasn’t changed, even as a marquis.”
“And who’s pointing out whose tone now?”
Marien glared at Cain. Now that Odette was officially emperor, the next event would be her engagement to Cain Blackwood.
“So this human is the official consort? Forget palace intrigue—I’m going to have to deal with him myself.”
For now, the best strategy was to ignore Cain as much as possible.
“Then will you follow if I say this? Marquis Rishen, I have something urgent to discuss privately.”
Cain, knowing Baileon was nearby, still made an absurd request.
“Privately, you say?”
Once the balcony greetings ended and Odette allowed the dispersal, Marien excused herself with a sudden urgent errand and fled to the ladies’ lounge.
◇ ◆ ◇
After washing her hands, Marien adjusted her appearance in front of the powder room mirror when someone cautiously spoke.
“Marquis, hello. I am an assistant to the First Aide of the Ministry of Welfare. First, congratulations on your unusually rapid promotion.”
The woman’s narrow eyes crinkled into a smile as she continued.
“You may not remember, but when you stayed at the aide’s residence, I was in the room next door. I still live there now.”
“I see. So we were neighbors once.”
Marien responded warmly.
“Honestly, I was so distracted back then that I barely remember who lived next door. But if you were nearby, we may have crossed paths in the hallway.”
“Yes, I’m rather unremarkable, so I wouldn’t stand out. But you, Marquis, naturally drew attention with your distinctive hair color.”
After the slightly flattering introduction, she moved to the main topic.
“I’ve heard your assignment has changed to overseeing the inner palace. Still, among us… among those who stayed at the aide’s residence, you are the closest to His Majesty. I have a difficult request—would it be possible for you to suggest some remodeling of the aide’s residence?”
Marien’s mouth dropped. She immediately thought of the poorly furnished aide’s quarters.
No basic furniture, no small mirror—back then she had thought it would have been better to live with a bed in the hallway, at least there would be space. Just a few months ago, the cramped room had been shocking.
But Marien herself had now changed. She had lived there, unlike the nobles in Rosette Hall, who cared only about punctual attendance.
“People can’t live like that. Not for long!”
Her open-mouthed reaction had been instinctive, but the assistant misinterpreted it, flusteredly trying to clarify.
“Th-that’s not a strict request. Marquis, you’ve lived there for a few months, and you know… our quarters are just….”
“Terribly cramped, yes.”
“Yes! Exactly!”
“No storage space either.”
“Yes, yes, that’s right. Even if you save to buy something, there’s nowhere to put it.”
“The soundproofing is terrible too.”
“Yes… even stuffing ears with cotton couldn’t help. Thank you for understanding.”
Marien sighed deeply. This request wasn’t a thinly veiled attempt to present her son to the inner palace overseer.
“No, I’m grateful you told me. Based on my experience, I’ll make sure His Majesty hears this request.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ll personally take responsibility for pushing the remodeling of the aide’s residence. And if anyone opposes….”
Marien quietly clenched her fist. She was still taking self-defense classes twice a week from Hugo.
“Let them stay in the quarters until they withdraw opposition. Let them live there with that old desk, writing diaries, eating, whatever—like a solitary cell. They’ll realize it’s unfit for habitation.”
The assistant expressed gratitude repeatedly. Just as she left the powder room, she added a final remark.
“Just as a side note, last year when you came to take the special civil service exam, I was the first-period examiner. Compared to then, you’ve changed remarkably. Not just your title, but your presence and personality. You look much better now.”
The assistant left, looking more relaxed than when she arrived. Marien, however, began to brood.
“Changed so much since before possession…?”
She remembered what happened in front of the vanity last night.
“The girl in the mirror was me. The young Marien.”
How had she, who grew up under her aunt and uncle running a general store, ended up at the Imperial Academy, where even most noble children fail the entrance exam?
“Textbooks filled with study notes… If the vision last night wasn’t a hallucination, but the memory of the previous Marien…”
She had entered the Imperial Academy at fourteen. So the Marien she saw studying until her nose bled must have been no older than thirteen.
“Why did a thirteen-year-old have to study so desperately?”
There were other boarding schools she could have attended with less effort. Yet she chose the prestigious Imperial Academy.
“There has to be a reason.”
Before leaving the lounge, she checked the hallway to avoid encountering Cain, then moved through a secret passage to the Ministry of State. Her goal: to review her own personal records.
They contained detailed grades from the Imperial Academy and the civil service exam.
“Honestly, she didn’t look like someone who cared about studying.”
Her strong subjects barely passed average; weak subjects remained weak until graduation. She had narrowly avoided failing twice.
The only highlight was her first-year homeroom teacher’s evaluation: friendly, adaptable, active in class activities, with good relationships.
Perhaps that’s why the previous Marien had obtained a recommendation from the first-year teacher for submission to the Ministry.
“But that doesn’t match my impression upon possession. The previous Marien had almost nothing in her room—everything could fit in a trunk. A twenty-two-year-old’s room, left like that, looked too bare.”
Perhaps a prejudice, but Marien thought someone sociable and active wouldn’t keep their room that way.
The previous Marien’s room seemed ready to vanish like the wind at any moment.
“Hmm….”
So many contradictions. There were circumstances she didn’t yet understand.
“I need to investigate this.”
Odette, the original heroine, had achieved her great accomplishments. According to Allied Marriage, it was nearly the ending.
There was still a side story about Odette after marriage, but Marien, originally an extra, couldn’t ignore these ominous signs.
Memories not her own were surfacing. If this was a sign of possession ending, she had to prepare.
“I don’t want to part from Baileon.”
He said he was happy because of Marien. She didn’t want to leave the kind, naturally lonely Baileon alone again. And she herself couldn’t bear to be separated.
She realized she rarely thought about returning “home” after possession. Except for the shock of the aide’s poor heating, she barely thought about it.
“Friendly, adaptable, sociable… This description fits me now, not the dry young Marien.”
Suddenly, she considered visiting the academy.
