“You are already too late, Duchess Rudo.”

“Too late?”

“The key figures to assist the Empress have already been decided. If you had come to me a little earlier with your request, I would have gladly appointed you as the Empress’s aide. What a ‘pity’ it has turned out to be.”

Duchess Rudo naturally assumed she was the first to approach him.

After all, the role of an aide was typically decided slowly, after the Empress had been formally enthroned and given a few days to settle into her position.

When a crack appeared in the carefully laid plans she had built like delicate blocks, Duchess Rudo was considerably flustered but managed to maintain a composed facade.

“For matters to progress this quickly is surprising. It’s truly regrettable that I cannot assist Her Majesty the Empress by her side, but I feel reassured knowing someone far more capable than I must have been appointed.”

“You are humble. But you are somewhat correct. After much deliberation, I selected an exceptional talent.”

Parnes had anticipated that Duchess Rudo would eventually come to him about this matter.

He respected her as his aunt, but he had no intention of allowing her to extend her influence over the imperial court indefinitely.

Duchess Rudo was someone who desired to rise above her middling position of power.

Though she was of royal blood from the Ram Kingdom, being from a collateral line meant she had little chance of achieving anything greater.

Thus, she swallowed her pride and married a merchant-turned-noble from the Renel Empire.

Her primary aim was likely to establish connections with the Renel imperial family, but there was another reason as well.

She had once loved the late Emperor, Parnes’s father, and aspired to become Empress.

Her dream, thwarted by Parnes’s mother, was something she sought to pass on to her child, but she repeatedly failed to conceive.

Unbeknownst to others, she brought a pretty young girl from a rural convent, named her Isabella, and raised her as her own.

And she believed Parnes was entirely unaware of all this.

The reason Parnes had left her alone until now was that she knew when to step back and how to maintain certain boundaries.

But now that Kasallin had ascended as Empress, things were different.

In Parnes’s judgment, Duchess Rudo was a harmful influence on Kasallin.

Not because of any personal flaws, but because her ambition and drive would undoubtedly unsettle Kasallin’s heart.

So he had taken measures early on.

For Kasallin, to ensure she could be surrounded by good people and live a peaceful life.

“Your Majesty, may I ask who the new aide is?”

“Someone you know well, Duchess. A truly exceptional talent, resembling someone you might recognize.”

Parnes murmured this while glancing at Duke Ludwig, who stood at one side of the room.

Duke Ludwig let out a heavy, worried sigh.

“Your Majesty the Empress, the new aide has arrived.”

Lady Dawson announced from outside.

Kasallin gracefully spread her skirts and sat naturally in the seat of honor, granting permission to enter.

The door opened.

Upon seeing the face of the aide with whom she would now share her fate, whether she liked it or not, Kasallin could not help but be astonished.

It was the very man who had helped her when she was forced to become Shallen’s mistress, the one who had carried out a covert mission in the Kan Kingdom.

He had the quintessential bearing of an aristocratic knight, likely Duke Ludwig’s grandson, she presumed.

“I formally greet Your Majesty the Empress. My name is Nigel Ludwig, and from today, I will serve as Your Majesty’s aide and personal guard knight. I will devote myself wholeheartedly!”

“Your name is Nigel Ludwig, then. You’re the one who helped me back then, aren’t you?”

“Indeed! At that time, I was on a secret mission and couldn’t properly introduce myself. It is an honor to meet you again like this!”

Despite his tall stature and mature appearance, there was a surprising hint of youthfulness in his voice.

Yet there was no trace of playfulness; he was earnest, and every word carried the sincerity of someone determined to give their all.

His movements were disciplined, his expression visibly tense.

Yet even amidst that, his eyes shone with the lofty pride of “I am privileged to serve such a person.”

Perhaps Duke Ludwig had looked like this when he was first appointed as Parnes’s aide.

Kasallin had learned before her marriage that imperial etiquette dictated the Emperor and Empress remain seated when receiving guests.

But with him standing before her, Kasallin couldn’t help but rise.

“Yes, you are the colleague who will work with me from now on, Sir Nigel Ludwig. I look forward to working with you.”

“It is the honor of my family!”

When she offered a handshake first, Nigel wiped his sweat-soaked hand on his trousers and bowed respectfully.

He seemed far more nervous than she had expected, perhaps having just graduated from knight school.

She had heard that exceptionally talented cadets from knight school were sometimes secretly summoned to the imperial palace to carry out covert missions.

She wondered how often he interacted with Duke Ludwig, what his siblings did, or how frequently he met with His Majesty the Emperor.

But before that, Kasallin couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Based on Loren Logia’s words, she had been certain Duchess Rudo would become her aide.

“Come, sit and have some tea.”

“I am deeply honored! Then, if I may be so bold…”

Nigel walked over stiffly, sat upright with his hands on his knees, and maintained a formal posture.

He seemed incredulous at the fact of having tea with the Empress.

It would likely take some time before he could be as at ease with her as Parnes and Duke Ludwig were.

“Are you Duke Ludwig’s grandson?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“I have an elder sister and two younger brothers and two younger sisters. My sister is set to inherit the family, so she is learning estate management under our father. I recently graduated from the Imperial Knight School.”

“You were the top graduate, weren’t you?”

At that, Nigel’s eyes widened as if they might pop out.

“H-how did you know that?”

Kasallin nearly burst into laughter but sipped her tea, striving to maintain a dignified air.

When they met in the Kan Kingdom, she hadn’t noticed due to the chaos, but he had an unexpectedly innocent side.

He seemed honest and diligent, and, like Duke Ludwig, appeared to be quite sharp.

Kasallin couldn’t help but feel grateful to Parnes for sending her such an aide.

“I may not be old, but I have an eye for people. You must have been quite popular with the female students at knight school, right?”

“N-no, not at all. I devoted myself to my studies to serve the imperial family.”

When she teased him half-jokingly to lighten the mood, Nigel blushed and stammered.

He must have been truly popular.

Kasallin smiled, thinking his presence might soon become a hot topic among the maids.

“Where to, my lady?”

After her audience with Parnes, as Duchess Rudo descended the stairs, her attendant Rikter bowed and asked.

Until moments before meeting Parnes, her eyes had sparkled with hope or confidence for a new beginning, but now they were dulled with boredom.

“There are no other appointments. Let’s return to the mansion.”

Climbing into the carriage, Duchess Rudo glanced briefly at the elegant Empress’s Palace beyond the lush forest, then lowered the window curtain.

As if intending to nap on the way to the mansion, she closed her eyes and gently fanned herself with one hand.

The cool breeze brought back memories of that day.

It was a spring day, much like today, with clear skies and warm sunlight.

“If you are to be the Empress of a nation, you must maintain the dignity befitting your station. How can you engage in the filthy gardening of commoners?”

Parnes’s mother, Dowager Empress Margarita, had struggled for a time after her astonishingly lofty marriage.

She turned the Empress’s Palace garden into a vegetable patch and spent her days tending to it.

Her delicate hands and face, smeared with dirt, could not have looked more unbecoming.

She truly was a woman unfit for the imperial court.

But looking back now, perhaps she had been too harshly judged.

Perhaps that was her desperate attempt to adapt to the palace in her own way.

“If you keep acting so pathetically, you might as well give it all up. For the sake of someone like me, who has lived fiercely to claim the Empress’s seat you now occupy.”

“…I’m sorry. I’ll try to improve.”

After that day, the Dowager Empress changed completely.

The rustic but vibrant vegetable garden was transformed into a splendid rose garden, and she traded her trowel and seed bags for books.

On the surface, for a merchant’s daughter, she seemed to perform the role of Empress quite well.

But unbeknownst to others, her spirit was quietly rotting away.

Then, when “that incident” erupted, everything crumbled like a sandcastle.

“My lady, we have arrived.”

Awakening from faded memories, Duchess Rudo snapped her fan shut and stepped out of the carriage.

She handed her shawl and hat to the maids who greeted her and entered the house without a word.

“Where is Isabella?”

“Since returning yesterday, the young lady has stayed in her room. She doesn’t respond even when called for meals.”

“I’ll go up myself.”

Reaching Isabella’s bedroom door, Duchess Rudo knocked twice and, without waiting for a response, flung the door open.

Isabella, who had been sitting blankly by the fireplace, lost in deep thought, stood upon seeing her mother.

“Mother, you’re back?”

“You haven’t eaten. What are you doing?”

“Oh… I’ve just been thinking about things. I’m fine. I’m not hungry.”

“You’ve been acting strange since the engagement banquet. Something’s definitely going on. Tell your mother everything.”

Isabella hesitated for a moment, then led Duchess Rudo inside and sat her down.

With an expression of hesitation mixed with strange excitement, she slowly began to speak.

“Mother, you once told me to find a way, any way, to become Empress.”

“Yes, I did. But why?”

Isabella replied with a shy smile.

“I will fulfill your wish. His Majesty King Shallen Riche has promised to help me make it happen.”