CHAPTER 71…………………………….
At the very moment Lady Filern was trembling and trying to make some sort of excuse,
“I-I…!”
It wasn’t anyone else who reacted first—it was the Emperor.
“What on earth is the meaning of this?”
In truth, the Emperor had only heard bits and pieces from behind the curtain.
Yet he deliberately pretended to know nothing.
Even if he had stayed out of the squabbles of high society until now, he was the Emperor.
His sense for these matters had been sharpened to perfection over a lifetime.
Seeing the Emperor feign ignorance, Evangeline didn’t waste the opportunity and rushed forward.
She collapsed almost to the floor, and with tears streaming down her face, cried out:
“Your Majesty! Please judge my grievance fairly!”
“What grievance are you speaking of?”
Evangeline was confident in her argument.
“Whether Hilia is recognized as Crown Princess or not, I’ve known the Emperor longer than anyone!”
Evangeline had often been at the palace and met the Emperor more than any other young lady.
“And in fact, I was even more favored by the Emperor than the Empress!”
When she was a child, the Emperor had once said after seeing her playful antics:
“If I had a daughter, perhaps she would have felt like this.”
At that time, he had even shown a rare faint smile.
Evangeline had proudly told everyone about this for years.
Because of this, those close to her believed the Emperor had quite a fondness for his stepdaughter.
This rumor contributed to the social circles treating Evangeline almost as if she were royalty.
And Evangeline herself had come to believe this rumor as fact.
After insisting on it for so long, she genuinely thought:
“His Majesty will surely take my side over that foolish girl!”
With the most pitiful earnestness, she repeated her earlier accusation:
“Your Majesty, it seems someone greatly disliked me. I am not of royal blood, yet I was favored by the Emperor and grew up close to the Crown Prince. It was an unavoidable situation, that’s all.”
The Emperor tilted his head in slight confusion.
“Someone?”
Evangeline’s gaze briefly flicked to Hilia standing beside Arpad, and her eyebrows furrowed.
“I cannot bring myself to say it out loud.”
It was then.
The comment Evangeline hadn’t expected at all came from the Emperor:
“Then why can’t you directly name the ‘Crown Princess’ standing before you? Didn’t you speak clearly just now?”
“…Your Majesty?”
Startled, Evangeline lifted her eyes.
Only then did she realize that the Emperor’s gaze looking down at her was far from favorable.
The Emperor rarely displayed emotions; his expressions, actions, and tone barely changed.
But now, very unusually, his intentions and feelings were unmistakably clear.
“I understand your accusation. You may indeed feel wronged. Asking to reveal it in front of me is acceptable.”
Evangeline’s face, previously pale as paper, regained a bit of color.
Just as she began to feel a slight sense of relief, the Emperor presented a problem she hadn’t anticipated.
“However, everything must follow proper order and etiquette.”
“Order… and etiquette?”
The Emperor’s cold voice pressed down on her shoulders.
“It is improper to refer to someone as ‘someone.’ You must address her as the Crown Princess. Otherwise, it would tarnish my face, as I just acknowledged her as the Crown Princess.”
Surprisingly, the notoriously hostile Archduchess Aksion nodded in agreement.
“Indeed, Your Majesty. Titles must be correctly used. To maintain the order of the Empire and the continent, even small courtesies must be observed.”
Evangeline silently swallowed a curse.
“What does the continent and order have to do with anything!”
The Archduchess smirked mockingly at her.
“In my observation, there is not a single person here who has shown the proper respect to the Crown Princess.”
“…!”
“Whether it is an accusation or a plea of grievance, shouldn’t the first step be clear?”
At the same time, the Archduchess bowed slightly to one side and stepped back a few paces.
Evangeline’s eyes naturally fell on ‘someone’—the very person she had been reluctant to name.
Hilia, with a serene and innocent expression, appearing entirely unaware of the situation.
Evangeline bit her lips.
Even the most oblivious would understand the message:
‘If you wish to accuse or complain, first show proper respect to the Crown Princess.’
And, of course, that meant…
‘You want me to call that girl “Crown Princess” and kneel?’
It was a humiliation beyond imagination.
Something so dreadful she wouldn’t want to experience even in her dreams.
Evangeline glanced around as if seeking help.
But the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and Archduchess Aksion—all titans of authority—stood beside Hilia.
Moreover, their justification was clear.
Now officially recognized by the Emperor, Hilia deserved to be treated with respect as the Crown Princess.
The western nobles naturally sided with Hilia and whispered ill of Evangeline.
“Her words are strange. Why must she say ‘someone’?”
“Yes. It’s as if she refuses to call her ‘Crown Princess.’”
“I’ve heard the rumor. That Miss Lus acts as if she were royalty because her mother is Empress.”
“Could it be that she believes herself of equal rank to a princess and refuses to say it?”
Though they whispered, Evangeline heard perfectly.
That was clearly their intent.
Still, the central nobles did not support Evangeline.
When their eyes met hers, they looked away.
No one dared to confront the Emperor for her sake.
‘After all the flattery up to now!’
It was as if everyone silently demanded of her:
Kneel before Hilia and call her “Crown Princess.”
Evangeline bit her lip.
‘Yes. To get ahead, I must concede a step. One step back… I can manage that.’
Trembling all over, she slowly rose to her feet.
‘Yes. I can endure temporary humiliation. Better to raise the dress issue and expose flaws in the new Crown Princess’s character and manners!’
Hilia had not yet fully established her place as Crown Princess.
Now was the moment to shake her position.
Evangeline swallowed the bitterness rising in her throat and, reluctantly, knelt before Hilia, bowing her head.
And in a trembling voice, she spoke:
“Daughter of Lus, before the Crown Princess… I pay my respects.”
I watched Evangeline kneel with a very peculiar feeling.
And to have her call me “Crown Princess.”
It felt oddly foreign.
During the three previous regressions, Evangeline had never once lowered her head or knelt before me.
“Not even once did she properly address me as Crown Princess, or even as Archduchess.”
When Ludwig became Crown Prince, I was in a state of constant guilt. I never fully assumed the role of Crown Princess.
The Archduchess was different. Even unwillingly, I always had to be Archduchess Kielrn.
Yet Evangeline had skillfully avoided addressing me as “Your Highness,” always citing, “We’re friends.”
If anyone said they’d imagined this scenario before, they’d be lying.
Yet, contrary to expectation, it wasn’t exhilarating or satisfying.
“Rather… it’s just… this is how it is, I suppose.”
The feeling was anticlimactic.
Surprisingly, Evangeline seemed to notice my expression.
She raised her head, and our eyes met.
“…!”
Her pale face flushed crimson with humiliation.
An expression I had never seen before.
I merely smiled back. There was no other reason.
‘That will infuriate her the most.’
A step back for progress.
Swallowing her pride as if ingesting poison, Evangeline knelt before Hilia.
As she bowed and raised her head, our eyes met.
The sense of humiliation she felt now, kneeling before Hilia, surpassed anything before.
It would have been better if she had felt triumphant or sneered.
Even if filled with hostility, that would have been preferable.
But she felt neither.
Watching her own disgrace with listless eyes, as if it held no value.
‘As if… as if I’m not even worth it!’
Evangeline felt the most intense humiliation and disgrace she had ever experienced.
She grabbed Lady Filern’s trembling hand beside her and pulled her up.
“Your Majesty, I have heard what schemes the Crown Princess plotted against me just now!”
Evangeline pointed to Annie, standing behind Hilia.
“First, the dress that maid is wearing is evidence! How can a mere maid wear such a lavish gown?”
Then she practically shoved Lady Filern forward.
“Moreover, the lady herself confessed to me! That she took my dress design and reported it to the Crown Princess!”
A confident smile spread across Evangeline’s lips.
‘With evidence and witnesses this clear, you think you can escape?’
It was then that Evangeline realized, a little too late,
that Hilia’s previously faint, indifferent smile had begun to sparkle with vibrant life.
A creeping sense of unease began to rise.
