Chapter 62
“I wanted to greet you from the hunting grounds. You’re even more beautiful than the rumors say!”
Delina’s gaze sparkled as if entranced, making Eliana’s face warm. She pressed the back of her hand to cool herself.
“That’s flattering.”
“No, really. I’ve never seen skin like Your Grace’s anywhere else.”
Delina couldn’t take her eyes off Eliana’s face.
Eliana studied her carefully. Beneath the heavy makeup that didn’t suit her age, Delina’s skin was swollen and blotchy.
“Ah! It’s not contagious.”
Noticing Eliana’s stare, Delina hastily covered her face with her palm and quickly explained. Although the eldest daughter of the Orante Count, she had neither marriage prospects nor an engagement. Her younger sister had just had an engagement ceremony at her debutante party this year with the eldest son of a capital city count.
The Orante Count had postponed the younger sister’s marriage, citing that the eldest daughter, Delina, remained unmarried.
Delina touched her own cheek and smiled awkwardly.
Throughout the social season, Delina had heard many rumors about Eliana. Everyone called her a temptress, but seeing her in person, the title “the most beautiful woman in the empire” seemed more fitting than “temptress.”
“You should change your skincare,” Eliana suggested.
“Excuse me?”
“Could you remove your gloves?”
At Eliana’s request, Delina hastily took off her long gloves that reached up to her forearms. Normally, she would never have done such a thing, but she followed Eliana’s gentle, soothing voice almost without thinking.
“I showed it to the famous doctors in the empire, but even they couldn’t identify the cause,” Delina said, seeming resigned to her skin condition. Makeup could hide her face, but not her skin.
“Perhaps it would help to spend some time away from your territory?”
“What nonsense is this, Grand Duchess Kraiber?”
Rosella, who should have been enjoying the whispers of noblewomen from her seat of honor, was now leaning back with her arms crossed, glaring down at Eliana.
“Ah! Your Majesty the Empress.”
Eliana and Delina stood up. It was impossible to sit comfortably with the Empress standing above them.
“It’s been a while, Lady Orante.”
“Yes? I greeted you this morning.”
“Oh? I must have forgotten, your presence is so inconspicuous.”
“……”
“I hear your younger sister, Lady Selina, has been engaged to Lord Borta’s heir?”
The engagement between the second daughter of the Orante Count and the heir of the Borta family, known as loyal to the Emperor, was a hot topic even in the capital. The Orante Count, known as the master of the Orante Forest, was considered a neutral noble.
Whether the Orante Count aligned with the Emperor’s faction due to this union was politically significant.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Delina lowered her head, as if guilty.
“The Borta family wishes for a quick marriage, yet you are blocking your sister’s future.”
“……”
“Why? Are you receiving special lessons from the Grand Duchess?”
At Rosella’s words, the observing ladies around them burst into laughter.
Born into a prestigious family, Delina had not drawn much attention due to her chronic skin condition since childhood. Apart from her father, the Orante Count, people valued her appearance over her abilities.
“I was merely speaking about the Grand Duchess’s beauty,” Delina said, standing her ground against Rosella.
She was simply seizing the chance to talk to someone she admired. No matter how she thought about it, she had done nothing to deserve the Empress’s scolding.
“So, you made her reveal her ugly arms to make your beauty stand out?”
“Excuse me?”
Delina’s eyes widened. She looked between Empress Rosella and Eliana, trying to discern the truth behind the words.
“If not, why else would you have removed her gloves? Just looking at them makes one nauseous. You forced her to expose herself to showcase your beauty,” Rosella said, frowning deeply. Her words prompted the ladies to turn away or gag, and some giggled.
Delina’s face flushed red instantly. She tried to put her gloves back on, but they were custom-fitted, making it hard to do alone.
At that moment, Eliana took the gloves from Delina and opened them for her.
Flustered, Delina slid her hands into the opened gloves.
“Your Majesty the Empress.”
Deliana’s earlier mockers turned their attention to Eliana at her quiet, calm voice.
“Lady Orante is ill.”
“What?”
“What an ill person needs is comfort, not scolding.”
Eliana’s soft, quiet tone made Rosella’s face burn red.
“Isn’t it the Grand Duchess who exposed Lady Orante’s flaw in front of all these people?”
Eliana, who had been looking down at Rosella, lifted her head. Her blue eyes were icy, like glaciers.
“It was not I who exposed Lady Orante’s flaw, but Your Majesty the Empress.”
“Wh-what!”
Unlike the flustered Empress, Eliana’s voice remained calm.
“Do not be flustered. Do not panic. If you wish to control a situation and turn the game in your favor, keep your mind cool and your heart burning.”
“Excuse me?”
“In life, unfair things happen often. I do not know what your father might do with you, but I suspect you will encounter many such events.”
Hoffman, Deliana’s father, had only wanted her to captivate men and command their attention. But the woman had taught her more than that.
By the time the wine was running low, the woman who once claimed to hold the empire in her skirts had left Eliana with many lessons.
And now, Eliana finally understood her teachings.
“I did not make her remove her gloves to expose her flaw.”
“Then… what? You expect the Grand Duchess to cure Lady Orante’s skin condition, which even doctors could not fix?”
Rosella’s voice rang through the dining hall, deliberately agitated. She justified her argument loudly, and the other ladies followed suit.
“Your Majesty? What on earth is happening?”
It was Florian.
Returning to the dining hall to retrieve something, he sensed the tense atmosphere and hurried to Rosella. Seeing Florian, Rosella wobbled.
“Your Majesty!”
Florian quickly pulled her to his side. Half-supported, but no one seemed to notice or care given the situation.
‘What’s happening?’
Rosella was flustered by Florian’s protective gesture.
“Are you alright?”
“I just felt dizzy for a moment.”
Florian’s chest thumped violently as he held her. The impact of her leaning against him was surprising.
“You should rest.”
“I was only dizzy for a moment. I’m fine now, so don’t worry.”
Rosella waved her hand and stepped away from Florian’s solid chest. The warmth leaving her made her sigh softly.
“But—”
“I am the Empress. I cannot send away those who have waited so long to see me over something so minor.”
Her wistful smile and graceful gesture moved everyone. For lower-ranking nobles, seeing the Emperor or Empress was rarer than catching a falling star.
“Then I shall stay by your side.”
Florian offered himself as her bodyguard. Rosella, caught off guard, awkwardly laughed and declined.
“No need, Master Kels. I was merely excited over a debate with the Grand Duchess.”
Rosella’s gaze naturally shifted to Eliana.
The empire’s most renowned temptress.
Third marriage to a Duke.
Rumored as the most beautiful Harbinger of Death.
Even Florian’s arrogant stare at Eliana did not ruffle her.
In fact, she enjoyed the sense of protection from him. A forgotten feeling under the weight of her duties as Empress blossomed quietly in her chest.
Even her husband, Emperor Mateo, or her superficial lover, Gredi, had never shown such consideration.
“So, you are the rumored Grand Duchess.”
Meeting his cold gaze, Eliana felt exasperated. Moreover, the rumors Florian referenced subtly belittled her.
“How rude, Master Kels. She is the Grand Duchess. Show proper respect.”
Delina stepped forward, glaring sternly. Florian lowered his eyes slowly under her gaze.
“I was disrespectful, Your Grace.”
Though his look was audacious, it was not worth further reprimand. Florian’s attention was entirely on Rosella, so Eliana had no reason to intervene.
