IGCHPM 66

CHAPTER 66…………………..

Evangeline couldn’t even count how many times she had doubted her own eyesight today.

‘What…? Am I dreaming?’

The hall, which should have been completely empty, was instead packed with people.

They wore exotic and extravagant formalwear, chatting and laughing, while a superb orchestra played a pleasant melody.

Tables in the corners were laden with delicious dishes.

An attendant brushed past her, teasingly offering a drink.

“We have Xilang Rosé wine and Musset champagne. Would you like some?”

“…….”

Evangeline glared at him with a terrifying intensity—and realized something.

Both drinks were famous in the western regions.

And now she understood the source of the unease she had felt when entering the hall.

‘Almost no familiar faces!’

Evangeline had long been the flower of the capital’s social circle.

Naturally, she knew all the nobles active in the capital’s social scene.

If they were unfamiliar to her, that meant they weren’t from the capital.

Her eyes fell on a woman standing next to Hillia.

‘Lady Solenu!’

The same woman she had recently tried to sway—and failed to, ending up insulting her. She had disappeared afterward…

That she was here meant only one thing.

‘Could it be… all of these attendees are western nobles?’

That would explain why everyone looked unfamiliar and why their attire seemed so foreign.

The western and central social circles had been isolated for over ten years.

It was natural that their fashion trends differed.

Someone inside the hall confirmed her suspicion.

A noblewoman with neatly coiffed silvery-white hair, deep blue eyes, and a blue diamond tiara—her presence radiated authority at a glance.

The oldest and highest-ranking among Evangeline’s attendants, the Countess of Kessling, gasped in shock at seeing her.

“E-Evangeline! It’s her! It’s her!”

“Her?”

“Her Imperial Highness, the Duchess of Aksion!”

“…!”

For the first time in over a decade, the powerhouse who had withdrawn the entire western social circle in defiance of the Empress had appeared.

And at the banquet most crucial for Hillia’s recognition as Crown Princess.

The implication was clear.

‘Could it be that the entire western nobility has sided with Hillia?’

Even Evangeline, who tended to underestimate Hillia, couldn’t ignore the significance of that.

But there was an even bigger problem at hand.

How?

‘Neither I nor the Empress sensed a thing… Did she use some kind of magic?!’

I took a sip of Musset champagne and smiled contentedly.

From a distance, I could see Evangeline entering the hall in a rush, utterly shocked.

Surprise.

Followed by confusion, frustration, and tension.

Reading the changing emotions, I felt thoroughly satisfied.

The bubbles of the champagne popped pleasantly in my mouth.

Evangeline’s expression seemed to scream:

‘How did they gather this many people from the West? I had no idea!’

And that was the very part I had most carefully orchestrated for this banquet.

‘Transporting the barley and turnips was the hardest and most time-consuming part.’

The note I received from the mercenaries just before the banquet read: “barley” and “turnips.”

It was a code referring to a specific group: the western nobles.

If it had been only Josephine or the Duchess of Aksion individually, they could have avoided the Empress and Evangeline’s eyes.

But hiding enough people to fill the hall was no easy task.

Firstly, simply moving them from the West to the palace posed a problem.

We solved this by disguising them as goods for the banquet—placing nobles on transport ships under the guise of provisions.

It just so happened that barley and turnips were specialties of the West, making it feasible.

For proud nobles, being loaded like cargo and transferred in covered carts would have been a trial.

But their resentment toward the Empress and Evangeline outweighed any inconvenience or bruised pride.

‘If you want to get revenge on someone you dislike, you’re willing to endure discomfort yourself.’

Their goals aligned perfectly with mine, securing their cooperation.

Bringing them to the capital was one thing, but getting them inside Artanus Hall was another.

I had prepared meticulously for that.

The Crown Prince’s palace had a passage leading outside.

For a month prior to the banquet, people had come and gone constantly between the Crown Prince’s palace and Artanus Hall, naturally, as preparations were underway.

I used that pretext to conduct certain constructions.

Tall ornamental trees were planted to block sightlines, and sun-blocking drapes were hung.

The drapes contained magical devices.

I had obtained these magical tools through a “creator” secured a few weeks earlier.

‘From a certain distance, the viewer sees only what the caster wants them to see.’

From outside, it must have appeared as though only attendants and maids were coming and going.

In reality, beneath the drapes, the western nobles streamed in.

Trusted knights of the Crown Prince’s palace and the Black Mercenary Corps guarded the surroundings.

The result: Artanus Hall now bustling with people.

Of course, the influence and persuasion of the Duchess of Aksion also played a part.

But that alone wouldn’t have convinced such a large group to cooperate.

I achieved it by stirring regional pride.

“The central nobles would never expect the western nobles to pull this off.”

“Don’t you want to see the Empress and Evangeline’s faces contort when they see you on the banquet day?”

Thanks to this, not only I, but also the prominent western nobles, including the Duchess of Aksion and the Solenu family, were eagerly watching Evangeline.

Watching how shocked she would be.

Watching how furious and frustrated she would become.

And Evangeline delivered perfectly.

Her face remained ash-colored, unable to recover for some time.

I felt as if a heavy stone resting on my chest had finally been lifted.

Those behind Evangeline were equally dismayed.

Seeing the lineup of western nobles in Artanus Hall, they were aghast.

“Her Imperial Highness, the Duchess of Aksion…!”

“That’s Lady Solenu and her husband.”

“And those over there are surely the Muter family!”

Almost all the major western houses were present.

I smiled softly at Evangeline.

‘How does the drink I carefully prepared taste?’

Of course, Evangeline’s face was twisted in full.

But she wasn’t one to shrink from this easily.

Soon, she glared at me with hostility far exceeding her shock and frustration.

‘Of course. Evangeline wouldn’t just take this lying down.’

Naturally, I had already prepared countermeasures from Plan A to Z for whatever she might attempt.

Hillia, smiling brightly among the western nobles, was undeniably beautiful.

Not in the green dress made for Evangeline, which didn’t suit her, but in a fresh, bluish-purple gown of a color never seen before.

Her pale pink hair and mysterious violet eyes, and the color complemented her thin, almost translucent skin.

On her head was a unique and stunning tiara.

At its center sat a large crescent-shaped rainbow moonstone, surrounded by hundreds of tiny diamonds cut into star shapes.

Evangeline knew it well.

‘The Moon and Stars Tiara!’

It had belonged to Princess Estrid, mother of the first emperor.

She had passed her tiaras to the first empress, all of which were considered treasures of the royal family.

This particular tiara had been worn when Estrid was forcibly married to Artanus.

Thus, it could only be worn by the Empress or Crown Princess at weddings or banquets.

Its last owner had been Empress Roxellin, Arpad’s mother.

After her death, the Duchess of Aksion had taken it from the palace alongside other relics of Empress Roxellin.

Arpad never allowed his stepmother to have it.

Hence, it was one of the empress’s most cherished symbols.

Yet now, it gleamed atop Hillia’s head.

‘This… this can’t be happening!’

Evangeline’s green eyes blazed with anger and jealousy.

Just then, the maid wearing the green dress—the very target—was standing beside Hillia.

Evangeline ran over in one burst, shouting, applying the same logic as before:

“How dare you take the design of my dress and dress a maid exactly like it? How can you do this?!”

A bitter, tearful wail suddenly echoed through the hall.