CHAPTER 06
“Lady Dianu! Are you all right?”
Cora, who had been sitting on the picnic mat, spotted Dianu and hurried over in a panic.
Dianu, trudging along, finally noticed that the hem of her dress was stained with dirt.
“I just tripped a little.”
“Oh dear. You’re not hurt, are you?”
Dianu shook her head.
At that moment, Sir Marek Loisen, who had been quietly following behind her, glanced at the sky and his pocket watch in turn before speaking.
“If we don’t leave now, the sun will set before we get out of the hunting grounds.”
“Understood. Let’s get moving.”
“Are you sure you’re all right? You look quite tired.”
“It’s just the tension wearing off.”
“Shall I carry you, then?”
Both Dianu and Cora turned to look at him at once.
Sir Loisen blinked back at them blankly.
Dianu cleared her throat.
“No, I couldn’t possibly, not when I’m unmarried…”
“In an emergency, it would be entirely acceptable.”
He spoke with unshakable seriousness.
Only then did Dianu realize he was trying, in his own way, to atone for what the Princess had done.
She let out a half-amused sound.
“I noticed earlier too, Sir—you seem quite close with Her Highness.”
Sir Loisen’s expression turned uncomfortable.
“Does it seem that way?”
“Yes. You called her by name.”
“…I was His Majesty’s playmate as a child. It’s true that I’ve been by their side since then.”
Cora didn’t seem surprised, which meant it wasn’t exactly a secret or new information.
Still, caution never hurt. Dianu turned to her maid.
“Cora. You remember the path we took, right? Go on ahead and let them know.”
Quick-witted as always, Cora swiftly packed the picnic basket, bowed lightly to Dianu and Sir Loisen, and started retracing their path back.
Once Cora had gone far enough, Dianu spoke again.
“You seem to care for Her Highness quite a bit.”
Sir Loisen answered carefully, studying her intent.
“Only as a noble lady—and as my sovereign’s only sister.”
“Don’t misunderstand me. I’m just curious as her tutor, seeking the opinion of someone close to her.”
“What would you like to know?”
“It seems Her Highness has no intention of accepting marriage to the Arasas Crown Prince.”
It was a very restrained way of putting it.
“Kill me first and send my body in a wedding dress,” she had said—words hard to imagine from the lips of Catalos’ finest noblewoman.
Dianu met Sir Loisen’s eyes directly.
“Does His Majesty wish for me to change Her Highness’s mind?”
He was silent for a long while.
Dianu began to think he might not answer at all.
After all, he had once refused to guess the Emperor’s intentions.
But at last, with a sigh, he replied.
“I believe so.”
“…Thank you for your honesty. Then one more question—what makes His Majesty think I could persuade a lady who would rather die than marry?”
“Because Lady Ortensa succeeded in persuading the Grand Duke of Erbinjel.”
Dianu let out a dry laugh.
She hadn’t won Erin’s trust with clever words.
It had taken years of patience and gentleness to reach the wounded child inside him.
But Princess Elpenlira was no six-year-old.
She was a grown woman who made it perfectly clear she would crush anyone in her way.
“If logic worked, His Majesty would have succeeded already.”
“With respect, Your Grace, Her Highness does not trust His Majesty.”
Dianu frowned.
She doesn’t trust the Emperor? Her own brother and the most powerful man on the continent?
Sir Loisen covered his tired face with one hand.
“I cannot tell you why. You must hear that from His Majesty or Her Highness herself.”
“……”
“Neither His Majesty nor anyone around him can persuade her. That’s why he needs an outsider.”
Dianu tried to pry out the meaning behind his words, but he only shook his head.
In the end, she gave up and reached a grim, inevitable conclusion.
‘I’ll have to see His Majesty myself.’
At least, he wouldn’t try to trample her under a horse’s hoof.
***
But Dianu didn’t get to meet the Emperor for another five days.
It was only natural.
She didn’t have the rank to request a direct audience.
She even loitered around the Oak Palace library, hoping to bump into him again, but that chance never came.
“Is there no way to see His Majesty?”
Countess Ornin, reading in the Oak Palace’s back garden, didn’t seem surprised by the sudden question.
“I heard you’ve already met him once in the library.”
Dianu prayed her face wasn’t turning red.
The thought of this elegant lady knowing she had spoken rudely to the Emperor without realizing who he was made her squirm.
“Things are a little different now. I have something important to ask.”
“Why not write a letter?”
“It’s something I must ask in person, even for a moment.”
Countess Ornin thought for a moment.
“His Majesty is likely handling affairs of state in the eastern wing of the Imperial Palace right now.”
“Yes.”
“He sometimes takes walks in the eastern rose garden afterward. No one knows exactly when, though.”
If she wanted to find him there and wait, she had little daylight left.
As Dianu hurried off, the Countess added gently behind her,
“Be careful. You may have rivals.”
***
When Dianu reached the Imperial Palace’s rose garden, she understood exactly what the Countess had meant.
She wasn’t the only one hoping to “accidentally” encounter the Emperor during his break.
After identifying herself to the guards, she entered and wandered among many others with the same intent.
Some were high-ranking nobles, others beautifully dressed young ladies.
‘Well, he is unmarried…’
Emperor Rision was twenty-six this year.
It was rare for a monarch to remain single that long.
He had no illegitimate children, no public mistresses flaunting influence.
Outwardly, he was the continent’s most eligible bachelor—and every young lady here seemed to know it.
Dianu could have wagered her entire fortune that she was the only one without ulterior motives.
The problem was that the Emperor seemed to know it too.
He never showed himself.
By the time the bell rang six times, marking the hour, she had nothing to show for her wait but a long tour of the gardeners’ prized roses.
Exhausted and a little defeated, she turned to leave—only to hear a familiar voice near one of the exits.
“Are you advising Me on how to handle My sister, Duke?”
The voice came from beyond a tall rose bush—unmistakably the Emperor’s, but sharper and colder than when he had spoken to her.
Even though the anger wasn’t directed at her, it made cold sweat prickle on her skin.
She could now easily imagine that the Emperor might wear the same icy expression as his sister.
Yet the man he was speaking to showed no fear.
His tone was polite, but overly confident.
“How could I dare, Your Majesty? But word among the court ladies is that Her Highness has secluded herself. It’s only a matter of time before the Arasas ambassador hears of it.”
“……”
“If ‘that matter’ leaks, the Emperor of Arasas will never accept Her Highness.”
Dianu couldn’t hear Rision’s reply clearly.
She took a cautious step closer.
It’s wrong to eavesdrop…
But with ‘Princess’ and ‘Arasas’ both mentioned, how could I ignore it?
This might explain why Her Highness refuses the marriage.
But before she could take a third step, a branch cracked loudly beneath her foot.
She froze, eyes squeezed shut.
Both men turned toward her.
The Emperor, unlike the last time in the library, was dressed formally—perhaps indeed coming from state business.
His cravat was undone, the top buttons open, revealing a glimpse of his chest.
Dianu, startled by where her eyes drifted, hastily turned them toward the “Duke.”
If he hadn’t been called that, she would’ve thought him just a portly middle-aged man.
Tall, yes, but with a belly softened by years of luxury.
He looked her over with clear annoyance.
“Who is this woman?”
Such rudeness was shocking.
For a moment, Dianu forgot to bow, simply staring at him.
A gentleman was supposed to address a lady with respect.
Even six-year-old Erin knew that—and so did the Emperor.
Apparently, this Duke did not.
Or he did, and simply wished to insult her.
But before Dianu could reply, the Emperor stepped in front of her.
“That’s enough. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your words, Duke.”
“But, Your Majesty—”
One look at Rision’s frozen expression silenced the Duke.
He bowed stiffly and withdrew toward the exit without even a glance at Dianu.
Only then did Dianu curtsy.
“Dianu Ortensa greets His Majesty the Emperor.”
“It has been a while. I seem to have allowed you an unpleasant encounter.”
He was referring to the Duke’s rudeness, surely, but Dianu feigned ignorance.
“I am honored, Your Majesty. I’m not sure what you mean.”
“…Then that’s fine. You may raise your head.”
When she did, she kept her eyes respectfully lowered—until she realized the Emperor preferred direct eye contact.
Up close, he looked tired.
He covered his pale face with one hand, sighed softly, and lowered it again.
The cold expression from before had vanished, replaced by the gentle one she remembered.
‘That’s his polite face,’ she realized.
It felt odd, the Emperor of all people making an effort to look pleasant before her.
But perhaps, being a proper gentleman, he simply thought it wrong to show anger to a lady.
He asked in a calm voice,
“How much did you hear?”
She had no excuse.
“I’m sorry.”
“Countess Ornin must have told you I’d be here.”
“Please don’t blame her, Your Majesty. I insisted on meeting you myself.”
“It seems my visits here are no secret anymore, so I have no reason to scold her.”
Thinking of the young ladies wandering the garden, Dianu smiled faintly.
“Many beautiful ladies seemed ready to drop their handkerchiefs in your path, Your Majesty.”
He looked embarrassed—she could’ve sworn his ears reddened slightly.
It was improper to think so, but Dianu found it… a little endearing.
‘If it were Sir Loisen, I’d tease him about it.’
But she lacked the courage to tease an Emperor, even one this gracious.
Swallowing her smile, she moved on to her purpose.
“I met Her Highness a few days ago. At the hunting grounds.”
“…I’ve heard.”
“There’s something I wish to ask. May I borrow a moment of your time?”
His face was unreadable again as he turned toward the exit.
“This isn’t the right place for conversation. Follow me.”
Dianu obediently followed.
The guards saluted smartly as they passed.
She could feel the stares of the ladies in the garden—their gazes shifting from the Emperor to her, scanning her from head to toe.
In those looks she could read curiosity, suspicion, and a touch of disdain.
For the first time since entering the Imperial Palace, Dianu became self-conscious about her plain dress.
Next to the elaborately adorned noblewomen, she looked almost ordinary.
‘Is that why the Duke treated me so rudely?’
Maybe he decided I wasn’t a lady at all.
The thought left a bitter taste, but there was nothing she could do.
After all, whatever she wore, the Emperor himself didn’t seem to care in the slightest.
