Chapter: 38
Knock, knock.
After tapping on the door with care, the butler straightened his posture once more.
He worried that even the slightest disorder in his appearance might unsettle his master’s temper.
“Come in.”
At the curt permission from inside, the butler opened the door silently and stepped in.
The Duke of Atlante was seated at his desk as usual, his eyes fixed on the documents before him.
He did not even acknowledge the presence of another person entering the room. For an ordinary man, such indifference would have been offensive—but the butler was accustomed to it. He walked up to the duke and waited quietly for him to speak.
After a moment—
The duke turned the final page of the documents and opened his mouth.
“Is this everything regarding Silvia?”
“Yes. These are the results of an exhaustive investigation into Miss Silvia’s movements, covering the month leading up to her birthday banquet.”
At the butler’s words, the duke frowned as he looked down at the stack of papers.
“…So the result is that you learned nothing?”
At the duke’s cold remark, the butler’s expression grew troubled.
“We were unable to uncover anything beyond this. According to the circumstances at the time and the testimony of those around her, Miss Silvia behaved no differently than usual right up until the banquet began.”
By “no differently than usual,” the butler meant that Silvia had acted exactly as befitted her disgraceful nickname.
Harassing those beneath her, throwing tantrums, hurling objects—
“After the birthday banquet ended, she did not step outside her room even once, nor did she allow anyone to enter. Therefore, if something did occur, it is presumed to have happened inside that room on that day.”
“……”
“As you know, my lord, by the very next day, Miss Silvia was already displaying a… markedly different appearance from before.”
A clearly different appearance.
One that, unlike her past self, truly suited the name Atlante.
And it was also the appearance of the mistress the butler wished to serve.
“So then. What happened inside that room that day?”
“…We were unable to determine that. However, if you grant us more time—”
“That’s enough. If you couldn’t find anything after going that far, then either there truly was no reason, or you’re simply incompetent.”
At the duke’s cutting words, the butler lowered his head without offering any excuses.
The duke regarded him with an irritated gaze, then closed his eyes.
Watching his master sink into thought, the butler hesitated before finally speaking.
“We may not know the reason, but one thing is certain—Miss Silvia has truly changed. She now shines more brightly than anyone beneath the banner of Atlante.”
Speaking without being commanded was an act of insolence.
Yet instead of reprimanding him, the duke mulled over the butler’s words.
For him to say something like this…
The duke knew better than anyone how loyal the butler was to the family. He also knew that the man never passed judgment lightly, nor did he speak carelessly to his lord.
What the butler reported to him were facts he had examined and refined dozens—hundreds—of times, truths as close to reality as possible.
That was why the duke kept him closer than anyone else.
In a world filled with flattery and falsehoods, a person who quietly did his duty was hard to come by.
Tap. Tap.
The duke’s fingers drummed against the desk before he finally spoke.
“Has Silvia returned to the main residence?”
“…Miss Silvia said she finds the west wing more comfortable and has refused to move.”
The duke frowned at the answer, clearly displeased.
One of his principles was to be clear in both reward and punishment.
Placing Silvia under a month of confinement for breaking Eirin’s arm and disgracing the family had been punishment in accordance with that principle.
Likewise, ordering her to return to the main residence once her confinement ended meant he believed she had been sufficiently punished.
And yet—she had refused to return.
Does she not understand the symbolism of the main residence?
The duke considered issuing the order again, then spoke instead.
“Wherever an Atlante resides, that place must be the finest.”
“I will keep that in mind, my lord.”
“And… investigate the Crown Prince as well. Determine what purpose that young snake has in approaching Silvia.”
“Understood.”
With fierce struggles for succession raging within the imperial family, even the smallest movement could not be ignored—especially when it involved a direct line of the Atlante family.
The duke gazed out the window with wary eyes.
A tranquil atmosphere enveloped the Lily Palace.
In the garden of the Lily Palace, where the Empress resided, two women were enjoying afternoon tea.
The Empress, one of the two, gracefully lifted her teacup.
“The fragrance is lovely.”
Seemingly pleased by the gentle aroma, the Empress smiled faintly.
“……”
However, the noblewoman seated across from her couldn’t even bring herself to inhale the scent of the tea.
She could not bring herself to lift the cup before her, instead shrinking back like a criminal, trembling all over.
The Empress paid her no mind and sipped her tea.
The Lily Palace was quiet enough for her to enjoy it in peace.
Not only the noblewoman, but a line of maids stood by to attend the two of them—yet not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
Those who worked in the Empress’s palace were always cautious, but when the atmosphere turned foul like this, they became even more careful.
At times, even the faintest breath could irritate the Empress.
Thanks to the maids’ desperate efforts, the Empress finally finished savoring her tea and spoke.
“So. Tell me more about that child. You claim that everything she did up until now was merely a façade, and that the reason was to keep her union with that one a secret?”
Despite the interest in her tone, the Empress’s face was cold and rigid.
The noblewoman’s head lowered closer and closer to the ground. Her voice shook as she replied.
“Y-yes… B-but it all seems to be nothing more than baseless rumors. As Your Majesty knows, there has never been any connection between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Atlante family—”
“Are they truly baseless rumors?”
The Empress tilted her head slightly.
“If that were all nonsense, why do people outside still gossip about it?”
“Th-that is…”
Once rumors took hold, they were difficult to suppress.
People gathered in small groups, eagerly whispering about what had happened at the Crown Prince’s birthday ball—about the relationship between Silvia Atlante and the Crown Prince.
And those rumors soon evolved into speculation that the previously neutral Atlante family was aligning itself with the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince’s faction was delighted by this unexpected windfall—but to the Second Prince’s faction, or rather, the Empress’s side, it was a bolt from the blue.
Her people had tried everything to quash the rumors, but every effort ended in failure.
In the end, the rumors made their way to the Empress’s ears.
“I tolerated it even though that one has been poking around everywhere lately, because you promised you would handle it yourselves. And yet—what happened? The ball was held quite successfully in the end.”
“……”
“And on top of that, rumors that the Atlante family and that one share a secret, intimate relationship have practically become accepted as fact. Instead of clipping his wings, you pushed him from behind so he could soar even higher.”
“S-sorry—”
“You shouldn’t have done something worth apologizing for.”
At the Empress’s firm words, tears welled in the noblewoman’s eyes.
She desperately wanted to fall to her knees and beg forgiveness.
But she dared not—because she knew that doing so would mean being discarded by the Empress without any chance of recovery.
“And that child—yes, Silvia Atlante, was it?”
“Y-yes.”
The moment Silvia’s name left the Empress’s lips, the noblewoman squeezed her eyes shut.
That’s right. Everything was because of her.
Silvia Atlante. Because of that wretched woman!
The Empress watched the clenched-jawed noblewoman with narrowed eyes and spoke.
“She had already been bothering me before. It was she who ruined matters that had been proceeding so smoothly. If not for that child, Fortum Street could have been taken with ease…”
She muttered regretfully, then continued as if recalling something.
“Didn’t you tell me back then as well that it was all nothing but absurd rumors?”
“Th-that is correct.”
“How unfortunate. Why is it that she only ever becomes entangled in matters I’ve been carefully tending to for so long?”
The Empress clicked her tongue softly.
“Of course, last time, those rumors surrounding her did serve as a convenient distraction…”
With narrowed eyes, the Empress recalled a recent incident.
The time when the Security Corps—headed by her own nephew—had come under scrutiny for an unsavory affair.
When word spread among the nobility that they had accepted bribes from the Black Scorpion and turned a blind eye to their crimes, the Crown Prince’s faction seized upon it and launched a relentless attack.
I would have had to give up something far greater—if that Silvia girl hadn’t existed.
No one knew where it had started, but a rumor spread that Silvia Atlante had played a major role in the purge of the Black Scorpion.
Most people scoffed, calling it nonsense—but the Empress did not ignore it.
Instead, she used it.
She deliberately fanned the flames, turning public attention toward Silvia.
