How the Abandoned Queen Made That Man Kneel - Chapter 16
“His Majesty the King intends to prevent Miss Katharine from entering the ballroom entrance.”
Why would he go to such lengths?
It couldn’t be explained simply by his dislike of her meeting the Parnes Emperor.
Lost in complex thoughts, she walked for a while along the path where lavender, still moist from last night’s rain, was in full bloom.
As a large shadow approached from the opposite direction, it turned out to be Parnes walking towards her, accompanied by his aides and attendants.
Judging by their hurried pace, they seemed to be rushing to the palace to prepare for the ball.
Katharine quietly stepped aside to avoid inconveniencing him as he passed.
She thought he would pass by without even a glance, but after a short distance, he gradually slowed his pace and turned his head towards her.
“Why are you alone in a place like this?”
“…I was just getting some fresh air. It’s nothing.”
“Who goes for a walk with such a gloomy face?”
Katharine was startled and gently touched her own face.
She thought she had answered with her usual expressionless face, but how did he always seem to see right through her feelings?
“I just have some concerns. Please don’t mind me and continue on your way.”
“They say one is free to be delusional, but you’re going beyond that. It’s not that I mind, it’s that it’s bothersome.”
“Pardon?”
“How dare a young lady stand in my path with a face that looks about to cry? It makes me uncomfortable. Take responsibility.”
“Responsibility? How…?”
Parnes stared at her as she blinked in confusion.
Her voice devoid of strength, her unstable wavering eyes, her thin wrist that looked like it would snap if gripped tightly with one hand.
The child who always walked with a dignified and proud posture, why were her shoulders so hunched today?
Unconsciously scrutinizing Katharine’s appearance, Parnes slowly crossed his arms without even realizing what he was thinking.
“I heard that young ladies have much to prepare even for a simple outing. With the ball right around the corner, why are you still in a maid’s outfit?”
“I have personal circumstances that make it difficult for me to attend the ball.”
Parnes remained silent for a while, looking down at Katharine, whose demeanor was clearly different from usual, and then abruptly started walking, telling her to follow.
She couldn’t dare refuse when the Emperor told her to follow.
.
.
.
The place he led her to was some kind of dressing room.
Parnes gave instructions to the attendant who had been following. Then that attendant went to the maids and whispered something incomprehensible while pointing at Katharine.
The maids nodded in understanding while glancing at Katharine with curious eyes.
“Miss Katharine. Would you please come this way? We will attend to you.”
The maids, who had clearly been holding men’s uniforms just moments ago, brought women’s shoes, perfumes, and jewelry boxes from somewhere and bowed deeply to Katharine.
As if she were some highly noble and esteemed being.
Katharine looked up at Parnes with a puzzled expression, unable to understand the situation surrounding her.
“Don’t just stand there with wide eyes. Follow the maids. They will prepare everything you need.”
“Why are you doing all this for me…?”
“I don’t know what happened to you today, but at least know this one thing.”
He turned his head abruptly, ignoring Katharine’s question, and spoke as if snapping at her.
“If you appear before me with that expression one more time, I won’t let it slide then.”
[This is the timeline separator]A tightly woven pearl necklace wrapped around her slender neck. The deep blue sapphires decorating the shoulder line of the dress made Katharine’s skin shine with an even more mysterious hue.
Truly, Parnes must have had the ability to read people’s minds.
Katharine, awkwardly looking at her reflection in the carriage window, thought she should go and thank him soon, as she carefully climbed the stairs to the banquet hall.
The Third Palace, grandly decorated as a single ballroom, was filled with the mixture of brilliant lights and lively dance music.
As she was about to naturally pass through the entrance after showing the prepared invitation to the doorkeeper, suddenly the guards blocked her way.
Katharine skillfully hid her bewilderment and asked politely.
“Is there a problem?”
“I’m sorry, but ladies cannot enter without a guardian or companion.”
“I am a maid of Queen Rose. I think that should be sufficient.”
“No. She is not our companion.”
A familiar voice pierced through the stuffy night air, sounding muffled.
Turning her head, there was Shalen escorting Rose, who was brightly adorned in a yellow dress, coming up the stairs.
Shalen fixed his gaze on Katharine for a moment as if time had stopped, then looked her over quizzically, as if wanting to ask how this had happened.
His expression seemed to say, ‘I should have taken all measures to prevent her from even setting foot in the social gathering, so where on earth did that dress come from?’
This must have been what Rogia had tipped her off about.
“You’re really being childish until the end. Why are you doing this to me?”
“Did you come alone?”
Shalen spoke, completely ignoring Katharine’s question as if trampling on it.
It wasn’t as if he was genuinely curious, but rather with a nuance of subtly probing something.
“As you can see.”
“A lady at this late hour without a gentleman’s escort.”
“Unfortunately, it seems there are no gentlemen in this country to escort me, at least.”
Shalen looked around the surroundings, which were completely dark, with a somewhat suspicious gaze.
Then, realizing that Katharine had indeed come here alone, he returned to his characteristic contemptuous expression.
“Well… I suppose so.”
“What do you mean by ‘I suppose so’? What are you implying?”
“Just talking to myself. Don’t mind it.”
At this moment, a guard anxiously showed his pocket watch and informed, “We must close the ballroom doors soon.”
“Katharine. Your effort is commendable, but give up for today and return to your quarters. Come, Your Majesty. Let us enter.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Shalen gently wrapped his arm around Rose’s shoulder as if to show off, and leisurely walked past Katharine towards the inside.
Rose’s voice, giggling for some reason, and Shalen’s footsteps gradually faded away.
The guard cast a pitying look at Katharine, who was left alone, and closed the ballroom doors.
It was then.
“What kind of inflexibility is it to turn someone away just for lacking a companion?”
A man with an overwhelming presence, easily recognizable even in the darkness, slowly walked from the far end of the corridor.
Simultaneously, Shalen’s feet, about to enter the ballroom, stopped abruptly as if bound by an invisible snare.
Parnes gestured with his chin towards the guard.
“You there, why are you standing there like a fool?”
“Y-yes?”
Parnes carefully took Katharine’s hand, as if it were a fragile piece of glass, belying his sturdy arms, and gently placed it on his own arm.
Then he said to the soldiers:
“This is the lady I will escort tonight. Is any further explanation necessary?”
[This is the timeline separator]The sweet court music played by the orchestra gently filled the Grand Hall, and to its melody, guests gathered in small groups, igniting the heat of socializing.
Young ladies just over twenty who had just entered the marriage market.
From experienced noblewomen scanning for suitable son-in-law candidates with hawk-like eyes, to gentlemen dropping insincere flattery in hopes of somehow connecting with the imperial family.
Amidst all the renowned royalty and nobility of the Western Continent gathered in one place.
“His Imperial Majesty Emperor Parnes and Miss Katharine Roberfon are arriving!”
The guests filling the Grand Hall were startled, focusing their attention on the entrance, wondering why a woman’s name was being announced together with the Emperor’s.
Especially the young ladies who had been cheerfully laughing and chatting while waiting for the Emperor to appear were unable to contain their shock, saying it was absurd.
And for good reason, as Katharine was now walking into the ballroom escorted by none other than Parnes himself.
‘I never imagined the situation would unfold like this.’
Everyone looked at Katharine with surprised and confused expressions.
It was beyond words that the Emperor, who had never kept a woman by his side to the point where even monks would be amazed, despite being of marriageable age and far from finding a bride, had appeared alongside a woman.
Meanwhile, Shalen, still standing rooted at the entrance of the banquet hall, followed the retreating figures of Katharine and Parnes entering side by side with an incredulous gaze.
He couldn’t understand at all why someone as important as the Emperor of a great nation would volunteer to escort a mere maid.
But what made him even more uncomfortable was Katharine’s hand naturally placed on Parnes’s arm.
The closeness between the two, with barely enough space for a thin thread to pass through, made Shalen even more uneasy.
On the other hand, Parnes slowly led Katharine to the center of the hall, then bowed with a perfectly gentlemanly attitude without a hint of awkwardness.
Then he requested with utmost courtesy:
“Would you honor me with a dance tonight?”
It would be no exaggeration to call the ballroom a flower garden, with so many beautiful young ladies trying to catch the Emperor’s eye.
When Parnes bypassed all of them to ask Katharine for the first dance.
The people around believed without a doubt that this would be the pinnacle moment of this year’s social season.
“My goodness, His Majesty asked for a dance first.”
“I can’t believe it.”
Questioning glances and curious gazes mixed together and flew towards Katharine.
Katharine hesitated for a moment, then gently placed her slightly trembling hand on his palm, signaling her consent.
At that moment, what Shalen witnessed was the strange emotion that arose on Katharine’s face.
Katharine’s appearance as she carefully took Parnes’s hand, looking very flustered and reluctant but not entirely displeased, was enough to shock Shalen.
‘What is that face? She never showed me such an expression even once.’
Shalen could only watch helplessly as Katharine turned her back on him without a trace of lingering affection, trembling with humiliation and shame.
Katharine, led to the center of the ballroom with one hand held by Parnes, doubted if she was even standing properly right now.
The people dancing on the stage made a fuss and moved to the edges.
She could clearly feel the gazes filled with various emotions – curiosity, envy, jealousy, and admiration – piercing her skin like arrows.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Parnes asked for permission, which was nothing more than a formality, and slightly pressed his body against Katharine.
Regrettably, it was because the court orchestra had stopped the dance tune they were playing and started to play a more classical and romantic piece.
‘How do I dance again?’
Her mind, which had been complexly tangled due to Shalen until just a moment ago, began to empty like a blank sheet of paper.
Was it because his dizzyingly rich fragrance wafted strongly from so close?
Katharine, who had been in and out of social parties since childhood to the point of nausea, momentarily faltered in confusion. Parnes lightly patted her back as if soothing a startled child.
“It’s alright. You just need to lean on me.”
When he said that, it felt as if the burdensome gazes of the people around and the noisy chatter had all disappeared like magic.
Katharine followed along with his light movements.
There was no conversation exchanged.
Only the hands of the two, clasped in opposite directions, were burning hot as if touched by fire.
*
Save yourself from story hunger — the novel below will blow your mind!
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
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