As the Emperor smiled like a ray of sunshine, sighs of young ladies leaked out from here and there in the banquet hall.
Tsk. Why did the Emperor show up? It can’t be that he came after hearing I would attend, right?
“I pay my respects to the Sun of the Empire. May the blessings of Goddess Yustera be with Your Majesty.”
“May the love and protection of Goddess Yustera always be with the Grand Duchess as well.”
Today, the unluckily handsome Justin Della Ponti kissed the back of my hand and gave a blooming, luscious smile as usual.
The young ladies who had gathered cozily behind me at some point flushed red, admiring the Emperor’s smile that came without warning.
I heard no small amount of blood was unjustly spilled here and there in the palace after the Emperor killed me, finding absurd faults. There must be some ladies who directly witnessed those bloody scenes.
Perhaps because the memories have faded. Or perhaps due to the stunningly good-looking face that makes the memories fade.
Sky blue, jade green, pink… The sparkling eyes of various colors were sharply glaring not at the discourteous Emperor, but at Lady Helena Figuera who had taken the seat next to him.
Just looking at her appearance, she’s so pretty, exactly like a female Justin.
“Your Highness the Duchess. It’s an honor to meet you. I was really curious about what kind of person you were.”
I wonder. If her smiling face is also such a splitting image.
As the female Justin stands next to the real Justin and smiles at me, I feel like the beef steak I ate in the morning is turning in my stomach.
“Yes. Nice to meet you too. I’ve never heard of such an outstanding beauty among the women of Figuera.”
As I’m suspiciously scanning Lady Helena from head to toe with the dignified expression of a Grand Duchess that I practiced all night…
“Oh my. I’m also a woman of Figuera. Do I now appear to the Grand Duchess as just an ugly middle-aged woman?”
The Empress Dowager, who appeared leading her court ladies on both sides like a flock of geese, approached me.
With porcelain-like taut skin unbelievable for a middle-aged woman, as if pearl powder had been sprinkled, not only her face but from her neck to the top of her dress shone white.
As if wearing a large crown on top of her radiant golden hair wasn’t enough, she had a gold-colored dress that flared out like a bell, embroidered with brilliant patterns in gold thread, and even a veil draped over it, her appearance dazzling as if a huge lump of gold was rolling over.
“I pay my respects to the First Moon of the Empire. It is an infinite honor to be permitted to see such a dazzling beauty up close even in broad daylight.”
Pfft. The Emperor, who had been staring at me, let out a small laugh and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.
Although he covered his laughing mouth, his blue eyes that hadn’t left me intensely since earlier continued to laugh as if watching an amusing play.
Since he’s certain that I’m Solas, does he find it funny that I’m pretending to be a noblewoman in front of the Empress Dowager?
As I straightened my bowed back, I saw the Empress Dowager frowning and glaring fiercely at the Emperor.
“I’m the one who’s so happy that the Grand Duchess accepted my invitation. Adelia must have felt exactly like this when she saw the Duchess.”
As our eyes met, the Empress Dowager stepped forward, tightly grasped both my hands, and gave a sweet smile, but made transparent teardrops glisten halfway up her crystal-colored eyes.
I thought Justin had a point in ridiculing me. Having grown up seeing a mother with such remarkable acting skills.
“Adelia was my friend and like a sister to me before she was my sister-in-law. The Grand Duchess, as Adelia’s daughter-in-law, is practically my daughter-in-law too. I’d like you to think of me as your mother-in-law, no, your mother, depend on me, and visit often.”
Is shamelessness a family trait?
There is no noble in the Empire who doesn’t know that it was none other than the Empress Dowager who, not content with being jealous of my mother-in-law since her maiden days, ultimately took the lead in staging an accident to kill her along with my father-in-law.
“How strange. Although it’s the first time seeing you up close… Why does it feel so familiar? Is it because we’re family after all?”
A shudder ran through me at the Empress Dowager’s gaze licking over me.
I don’t think it would feel this eerie even if a huge monster was licking me all over with its tongue.
“Perhaps all the people of the Empire are children longing for Your Majesty’s love and attention.”
Untangling the Empress Dowager’s fingers one by one from my arm that they had coiled around like a snake, I turned my body towards the cute little ladies.
And I personally demonstrated to the Empress Dowager how the host of a tea party should act.
“Oh, Lady Davano. The blue roses adorning your hair today look exceptionally large and pretty compared to the last tea party. It’s admirable to see you improving by the day.”
Although I didn’t have time for separate Grand Duchess lessons due to being busy with this and that after getting married, I felt the value of receiving a crash course from the head maid last night.
“Ah… Yes. Thank you, Your Highness the Duchess.”
Lady Davano must have been surprised by my compliment as she even stuttered.
I took a step forward to the lady who would receive my next compliment.
“Your flowers are exceptionally abundant and luscious, young lady. It’s as if you picked all the flowers in the garden for this display, showing great sincerity. I can see your family has a very outstanding young lady of ‘keen perception’.”
The head maid said adding a compliment about having ‘keen perception’ would add dignity to my words, and I was glad to find a situation to make good use of it.
“I am Susanna, the eldest daughter of Marquis Helio. Thank… thank you for the compliment.”
How grateful must she be that her face turned red and she clenched her fists tightly? Indeed, you can never go wrong with compliments.
It’s a pity the head maid, who had been increasingly worried I would be disregarded by the young ladies of the capital, couldn’t see this.
I approached Helena, who was conversing with other ladies behind Lady Susanna.
Popo and Airy had confirmed that Helena was a divine sculpture tainted by darkness.
The original plan was to just confirm it, but since we’ve met, I’d like to have a separate conversation with her. The problem is that damned Emperor sticking right next to Helena. How do I separate the two?
“Lady Helena’s decorations are half flowers, half ribbons. The harmony of soft pink and deep green is absolutely superb. I was too afraid bees would swarm, so I didn’t even dare attempt flower decorations and gave up.”
I shook my voluminous hair loosely braided with red diamond chains, showing a regretful expression.
The long strawberry blonde hair receiving sunlight pouring through the tall windows sparkled in harmony with the blood-red gems.
Although I did think the hairstyle my maids did for me was prettier than the flower basket hairstyles of the ladies…
“In the North, a single flower is more expensive than a whole cake, so rather than putting flower decorations in my hair, I’d rather just buy and eat several cakes. But thanks to all of you, I’ve been enlightened about the fashion trends of the capital, so next time I should make up my mind and come with a basket full of flowers on top of my head too.”
I gave a big nod to the ladies and even put up both thumbs.
I was taught that appropriate humility, compliments to others, and expressions of gratitude are the qualities a hostess of the North must possess.
“Pfft.”
The Emperor laughed.
The Emperor chuckled, hunching his shoulders and grabbing his stomach to hold in his laughter, his body twitching, but in the end he burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha. Hahahaha.”
He even had teardrops hanging from the corners of his eyes as he giggled, looking like a madman. No, this bastard is a real madman.
“I would love to be invited to the party where the Grand Duchess will carry out the learning of the flower basket. Haha. No, if I’m the one inviting, would I get to see it? I really want to see it so badly, hahaha.”
He must have felt my eyebrows twitching too, as the Emperor glanced at me and continued to mumble on, but couldn’t take his sticky gaze off me.
“Haha. It’s been far too long since I laughed like this without a care. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
I’m the one whose appetite is spoiled. The one whose feelings seemed hurt was the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager’s voice cracked and turned as she urged the court ladies to bring the refreshments, losing her dignity.
“Anita! Ayla! Pia! Kendra! How long are you going to keep the guests waiting?”
The court ladies, pale enough to seem like they hadn’t received a handful of sunlight, turned ashen and began to busily serve tea and refreshments to each seat.
Ignoring even Empress Dowager Sophia’s sharp glare, the unwelcome Emperor sat his heavy bottom right next to me, casually seating his partner Lady Helena in any random seat.
And as the maids set down tea and chocolate-coated finger foods in front of me, he slyly pushed something towards me and smiled brightly.
“A small token of gratitude for making me laugh.”
The sleek silver knife, about the length of a palm, looked at a glance like a letter opener for envelopes, but I recognized at once what it was.
It was a magical tool the Emperor always carried when there was no attendant to taste for poison first, or when he went out of the palace with me incognito.
This silver magical tool not only detected all poisons that existed in the world, but also neutralized them on the spot, and I remember it saving the Emperor’s life more than ten times.
“Stir the tea with that.”
As the Emperor spoke, the Empress Dowager glared at her son as if to kill him and let out a long sigh.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
With a not-at-all grateful expression, I picked up the Emperor’s gift, put it in the teacup in front of me, and stirred vigorously.
The silver knife wobbled slightly, creating small bubbles.
Is she thoughtless? Or is she bold?
How could the Empress Dowager think of poisoning me in broad daylight in front of so many people?
Yet this is a place I’m attending in my capacity as the hostess of the North. With countless eyes watching.
I had been told endlessly not to even drink a sip of water served in the Empress Dowager’s palace anyway. But in the off chance something happened to me, how was she planning to take responsibility for the aftermath?
Unless she intends to kill all the guests invited here to eliminate witnesses.
As if his purpose for visiting was to give me the ‘gift’, Justin heavily lifted his bottom and returned to his residence, looking back at me numerous times with a gaze dripping with lingering attachment.
The Empress Dowager, her excitement dampened for one reason or another, left her seat right after the Emperor, using a headache as an excuse.
She even took Justin’s lookalike with her, so my plan to meet Helena separately also fell through.
Meaningless conversations continued after the Empress Dowager left her seat. I gave pointless responses while naturally seeking a chance to leave.
As the maids refilled empty teacups several times and ladies with full bladders began to get up saying they would touch up their makeup…
I, who hadn’t even touched the tea, also got up from my seat with the excuse of touching up my makeup.
An attendant of the Empress Dowager’s palace guided us to the lounge in the front. My two maids and two Angelus knights followed close behind me, vigilantly surveying the surroundings.
I instructed the maids and knights to wait outside and diligently examined the inside of the lounge.
The lounge had a long sofa to briefly stretch one’s back and lie down, a tea table, a dressing table, and a long mirror. There was a small inner room with a bed and an attached bathroom. No particular hazards were detected.
There wasn’t much time. We had to hurry to rescue Cassandra, avoiding the black magic barrier surrounding the Swan Palace.
[Airy. Popo.]As I opened my handbag, sprites the size of fingernails popped out.
Although we couldn’t obtain the blueprint of the Swan Palace, we had in our hands the map of the magical barriers Cassandra had discovered during the 6 years she was trapped in the Northern cave.
[Popo. Where might Cassandra be located?]Popo returned to its original size and emitted light from its tiny eyes, causing the black magic barrier covering the entire Imperial Palace to appear in the air in a red glow.
Airy erased everything with wind except the shape of the Swan Palace.
[Yuriella! Here, here!]Airy pointed to the very top of the Swan Palace. The red light signaling the black magic barrier was particularly dense only there.
“It was a tower, not underground?”
Usually secret prisons are underground. The Empress Dowager seemed to have unusually built a secret prison in the dome-shaped tower at the very top of the palace.
As I opened the window and stepped onto the terrace, Airy circled around me, flapping two pairs of transparent wings and creating wind.
The wind enveloping me, absorbing and scattering light according to Airy’s will, hid me to appear as just a gust of breeze.
Popo warped the palace’s exterior walls made of solid stone as if they were clay, helping Airy and I reach the window of the domed tower without touching the black magic barrier.
The dark mage, with more torn and bruised parts than uninjured ones from torture, was there.
“Cassandra. Cassandra.”
Cassandra, her limbs tied to a chair, barely lifted her swollen eyes that wouldn’t open properly.
Cleverly noticing me hidden in the wind, Cassandra curved her bleeding lips and smiled at me.
“Your Highness the Duchess…”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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