Lady Alanka returned to the Alanka Marquis’s townhouse located in the Shalea district of the Imperial Capital.

Today was an extremely exhausting day. It was easy to socialize with the Western philosophers and ladies, but she didn’t expect to encounter the emperor. She thought she could avoid him and only meet from a distance during the grand event, the banquet, tomorrow, but here she was, facing him again today!

“Miss, have you returned?”

Catherine handed her gloves and coat to the maids, who were rigidly prepared. She then sat down, wrapped her face, and took a deep breath. Breathe slowly. Shaky hands and irregular heartbeats would calm down.

“Did you come?”

Catherine lifted her head in surprise.

“Why is my brother here?”

Cedric looked at his sister with an expression that said, ‘She’s turned crazy again.’

“Can’t I be in my own house?”

After the tragic death of the eldest brother Manuell, the Alanka Marquis and his wife stayed in the eastern Alanka.

Taking care of affairs between the capital and the territory fell on the shoulders of the second son, who had absorbed the duties of the eldest son. So currently, only Cedric, who managed upper-level affairs, and Catherine, who came to the capital because of these ladies’ gatherings, were in the townhouse.

“No…, now is not the time.”

“Our parents are coming up tomorrow.”

“What?”

Catherine was once again taken aback.

“They’re coming because of the banquet tomorrow. They’ve already set off. It’ll take them a long time to arrive by train.”

“Oh…”

Really. Catherine sighed and collapsed onto the sofa. Lady Alanka was an irreverent figure, but Catherine understood. In front of the second brother, it was okay to behave like this.

“Cedric.”

“Why, you ugly.”

Unlike Manuel, who scolded his sister arrogantly whenever she called his name, Cedric responded whether he liked it or not.

“Are you going to marry Viscountess Plache?”

“Is that any of my business?”

Catherine, who was lying down, suddenly sat up.

“You’re not going to? Father will definitely make a fuss, won’t he?”

Against the backdrop of her father’s typical Eastern male authoritarianism, Cedric crumpled his face. Unlike the free-spirited Catherine, he neither liked nor agreed with the big picture his father was currently portraying.

“The world doesn’t always go according to Father’s wishes. Viscountess Plache, that woman, said she has no intention of marrying me.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“What? Why?”

He just got rejected by his brother, and she said it’s a relief? Cedric looked at Catherine with a wrinkled brow.

“The Western philosopher couldn’t make it to today’s gathering. Something came up, and instead, the Emperor came in his place.”

She spoke of the emperor with a nervous tremor in her lips. Cedric saw it, but pretended not to. Catherine probably thought she was holding up well.

“He stayed for a moment. While everyone dispersed to go horseback riding, he disappeared during that time. Viscountess Plache was also not seen.”
Cedric listened quietly and then lifted his head at her words.

“The Emperor and Viscountess Plache were together?”

“Not exactly. However…, Yeongae didn’t appear until the end of the gathering, and His Majesty only briefly showed his face at the beginning before leaving again.”

“They said they went horseback riding. We can’t know who was with whom.”

“Still, disappearing in the middle is quite audacious.”

Catherine remained silent after that statement. Cedric also kept his silence without leaving his seat.

“Father hopes that I become the Empress, doesn’t he?”

Cedric still didn’t answer. If Manuel were alive, he would have said those words before Catherine had a chance to speak. He would have dryly uttered, ‘It must be done,’ without a doubt.

“Ivonne admires His Majesty.”

“Well, even a man would find that reasonable.”

Honestly, Cedric thought the same when he saw him, ‘How can there be a man who looks like that?’ Even Dragonlords, who had seen him, showed such a reaction. The Emperor was perfect in every way, with no lacking corners.

“I think she’s a bit crazy.”

“It’s not that she’s crazy; she already thinks he’s crazy, so… What…”

“How can you admire such a terrifying existence?”

Catherine suddenly shouted in response to Cedric’s deep sigh.

“Does that make sense? Even if you’re in your right mind, you can’t approach him. Everyone must have gone mad. Or maybe their memories are so poor that they’ve forgotten everything?”

The terrifying fear around the execution site, the aristocrats who couldn’t gather the courage to crawl on their hands and knees, the Duke of Moikwel who tried not to lose his dignity until the end but eventually screamed in fear, Catherine remembered it all. Even if she died, she didn’t want to marry the source of such terrifying horror.

“I… I hate it.”

She even hated going to the banquet tomorrow. Catherine was not so foolish as to be fascinated by the savage power of fear.

Cedric just remained silent, not saying anything.

The boy couldn’t explain why he was thrown onto the battlefield.