Chapter 77
Of course, I knew exactly what the Empress wanted from me.
“She wants me to bow first.”
And yes, according to imperial etiquette, that was correct.
In fact, I had even used that very rule to make Grand Duchess Axion submit to me.
“But right now, I cannot bow my head nor kneel before the Empress.”
I’ve said it countless times already—today is far too important.
I am the one who became Crown Princess with the weakness of a forced marriage hanging over me.
Because of that, even more than a month after my wedding with Arpad, I had yet to be properly acknowledged as Crown Princess.
It wasn’t until the matter of the dragon’s eclipse that I finally received recognition.
“So I must never be seen lowering my head to anyone. Not even to the Empress.”
When the Emperor appeared earlier and I paid my respects, that was different.
That was me borrowing his authority.
But if I bowed to the Empress now, it would have the opposite effect.
It was just like Evangelin’s earlier attempt to tarnish me.
“Like mother, like daughter.”
So I pretended not to understand the Empress’s order to kneel and ignored it.
Instead, I kept smiling sweetly, deliberately provoking her.
“His Majesty the Emperor has already recognized me, so it is beyond doubt that I am Crown Princess… But still, it feels different and all the more delightful when the mistress of the Inner Palace herself acknowledges and congratulates me.”
The Empress barely managed to maintain her composure.
But far behind her, I could see Evangelin’s face twisted hideously.
It was as if Evangelin’s expression revealed the Empress’s true feelings.
And no wonder—what I had just said was nothing short of humiliating for the Empress.
“I don’t need or care for anything but His Majesty’s recognition. But since your acknowledgment and blessing make me feel good, I’ll accept them.”
That was essentially what I had implied.
The Empress’s voice dropped as she replied, tinged with barely concealed fury.
“…It seems you are in dire need of lessons. Every noblewoman in the Empire is required to greet the Empress first.”
Lifting her chin sharply, the Empress ordered me:
“Go on. Do it.”
I could feel her grinding her teeth as she chased after me with that command.
But I just smiled even more brightly and replied:
“I hadn’t heard you would be attending today’s banquet, so I assumed you wouldn’t. And yet here you are, rushing in just to receive my greeting. You must have been eagerly waiting for this moment. How wonderful.”
I mocked her openly.
“After causing so much trouble for this banquet, now you barge in demanding my courtesy? Isn’t that shameless?”
Anyone with a shred of wit could pick up on the sarcasm in my words.
But throughout my stinging mockery, I kept my face radiant, that of a happy new bride.
The Empress’s cheeks flushed with rage and humiliation, but she didn’t retreat.
“Yes. I have been waiting eagerly. Very eagerly indeed.”
Her obsession with forcing me to greet her was almost pitiful.
And then—
A voice cut in, as if waiting for the perfect moment.
“That is enough.”
There were very few people who could intervene in a hostile exchange between the Empress and the Crown Princess.
And of them, only one could speak to the Empress in such a way.
“…Your Majesty?”
It was the Emperor, stepping between the Empress and me.
Facing the Empress directly, while leaving Arpad and me behind him.
“To anyone watching, it looked as though he opposed the Empress and shielded me.”
Perfect.
Exactly as I had expected.
When I had asked the Emperor to let me hold the banquet in the Artanus Hall, I had anticipated this as well and asked for it in advance.
“There’s one more favor I’d like to ask, Your Majesty.”
“You certainly ask for a lot.”
“I am greedy. That’s why I intend to protect my husband at all costs.”
“…So what is it you want?”
“If I succeed in holding the banquet and proving myself… then, just once, I ask you to stand by my side.”
“Stand by you? Are you saying someone will oppose you?”
“Yes. So whoever it may be, you must take my side.”
The Emperor had looked baffled.
“You speak in riddles.”
“When the time comes, you’ll understand who I meant—and why.”
I had finished with certainty:
“Because only then… will you be able to save your son, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor hadn’t given me a definite promise back then.
But he had remembered every word I said.
And it was clear that the things I had accomplished so far had moved him.
“That must be why he stepped in at the perfect moment.”
Normally, the Emperor would never interfere in a quarrel between me and the Empress.
That was why the Empress now stared at him with such a bitter, betrayed expression.
The Emperor hadn’t made Isabel his Empress out of love.
But since he had chosen her as Empress, he believed she deserved the proper respect and authority.
Especially matters of the Inner Palace and high society—he had entrusted them fully to her.
“Because the Empress is the Empress.”
That was why, during the feud between the Grand Duchess and the Empress, he hadn’t intervened.
So for him to step in now was highly unusual.
The Empress glared at the Emperor, her face a storm of anger, resentment, and betrayal.
“Your Majesty!”
How could he do this?
But the Emperor stood firm.
“On a day as joyful as this, to threaten a child? It is hardly a pleasing sight.”
The Empress’s lips trembled.
Barely steadying her voice, she asked—had she lost control of her emotions, she might have screamed.
“…As Empress, as her superior, I merely sought to teach her where she was lacking. Is that not both my duty and my right?”
The Emperor frowned.
“If you wish to cling to principles and etiquette, then there is something the Empress herself has forgotten.”
“…What do you mean?”
His voice was icy. Colder even than when he had first intervened.
“Here, who is it that must be greeted before all others?”
“…!”
If status and authority were to be invoked, the Emperor was the foremost.
Unless Artanus himself appeared, this was an unchanging rule.
“And since you did not enter with me, the Empress should have greeted me first. Yet I chose not to point it out or demand it.”
“Your Majesty!”
The Empress cried out in protest, but he was right.
Even as husband and wife, there was hierarchy between Emperor and Empress.
This was not about their marriage, but about monarch and subject.
By invoking this, the Emperor was making it clear: this was a warning.
“If you do not wish to be at odds with me, stop now.”
To everyone present, it was obvious—the Emperor had taken my side over the Empress’s.
From beside me, Arpad muttered quietly:
“Is she under some sort of brainwashing spell?”
I chuckled and shook my head.
“Of course not.”
Then whispered the truth only for him:
“It’s just that His Majesty cherishes his only son.”
Arpad’s smooth brow furrowed deeply.
“…You really aren’t very good at jokes, are you?”
“I wasn’t joking.”
But he didn’t believe me in the slightest.
In any case, the scene had already made it clear to everyone:
The Emperor was lending his strength to me, not the Empress.
And then—
The Empress, looking deeply wounded, glared at me with a vicious expression.
Really—she had fought with the Emperor, so why was she directing her fury at me?
She cried out:
“The reason I came here today is to accuse that girl of a heinous crime, Your Majesty!”
“A heinous crime? And what crime would that be?”
The Empress paused dramatically, as though to heighten the impact of her words.
“…Treason.”
The final word that would become her fatal mistake.
The Empress herself had uttered treason.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Just as I thought.”
Of course, I had anticipated this very outcome—and prepared for it thoroughly.
