Unpleasant sounds emanated from the old woman’s black gap.

On the day of the Emperor’s birthday celebration.

The carriage carrying Cedric and me finally entered the Imperial Palace.

Up until that moment, I had been having a conversation with Cedric, but I signaled him to stop talking for a moment.

“Just a moment, Cedric…”

Cedric looked slightly hurt, but there was no choice but to ignore him.

My attention was stolen by the splendid view of the Imperial Palace.
The vast garden covered in the dim evening darkness was brightly illuminated by the light flowing near the statue. Elegant music resonated from various places.

As the carriage finally stopped in front of the banquet hall, Cedric stepped out first.

“Continue the story, Rebecca. After mentioning the Monterre mansion in the 3rd district, what else did Adrian say?”

Standing next to the carriage door, Cedric extended his hand, urging me again.

“Cedric… Why bother with this all the way here?”

Giving him a rebuke, I turned my head towards the imperial banquet hall, pretending not to know Cedric’s expression of frustration, even as he held my hand and smirked.

“Adrian talks too much nonsense. Why on earth did you meet him?”

Since mentioning our visit to the Gift Exchange Center yesterday, Cedric had been grumbling incessantly.

“I told you. Minna called me.”

“That friend Minna… I used to think well of her…”

I feigned ignorance of Cedric’s pinching expression and hurriedly turned my head towards the royal banquet hall.

Cedric seemed subtly displeased, but he didn’t let go of my hand.

As we entered the banquet hall holding each other’s hands, the dazzling interior once again captivated my eyes.

Hundreds of large and small chandeliers and the brilliant lights emanating from them.

The vast banquet hall, colored in various shades of brilliance, sparkled gorgeously.

Nobles, splendidly dressed, chatted with each other throughout the wide hall, and in the center, a giant fountain spewed champagne.

“It might seem too extravagant, so maybe you shouldn’t have done it,” Cedric mumbled, looking at the champagne fountain.

Of course, it was probably said out of affection, but with Letitz Emperor being who he was, someone who loved extravagance as much as making decisions without a second thought, there was no such thing as reconsideration.

“Hahaha! Would you like to see the cutting-edge magnifying glass I invented this time?”

Discovering Letitz Emperor already boasting in the center of the banquet hall, I burst into laughter.

‘Emperor Letitz, just like in the original work.’

I looked around the banquet hall again, driven by a shallow curiosity about whether I could meet characters I hadn’t seen yet.

But unfortunately, the first to catch my eye in my field of vision was…

Bold Duke, who glared at me as if to kill me from a distance.

‘He still seems half-asleep. I should have erased his memory at that time.’

With Cedric’s permission, I won’t forget to not erase his memory next time.

I turned my head with a heavy heart.

Next in line was Camilla.

She stood by her husband, Count Dmitri, and engaged in conversation with other nobles.

‘Have they become close again during this time?’

However, seeing Count Dmitri subtly rejecting Camilla’s outstretched hand, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
‘That couple seems to be playing the role of the charming Window Couple until their divorce.’

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head towards another direction.

Then, in the distance, I saw Adrian standing at the corner.

He seemed not to notice me yet, quietly sipping champagne.

Beside Adrian was a man who looked exactly like him.

He appeared to be the eldest son of the Monterre family that I had only heard about.

Although it was nice to see Adrian again, I turned my gaze away once more.

It was to find the person I actually wanted to see most after Cedric.

‘She must have come here for sure, but I can’t just leave without taking a look.’

The protagonist of the original work, Robellia.

It was during my search for her that she appeared, bustling around.

“Haha, by the way, Lord Jenkinson! I heard you made quite a profit from last week’s gift investment?”

Unfortunately, before I noticed Robellia, her husband Henry caught my attention.

With a boyish laughter, he chatted with the nobles gathered around him.

‘That guy is more cunning than Camilla.’

It was at that moment when I was squinting my eyes.

“Huh…?”

Without realizing, Cedric quietly asked me about the muttered words.

“Did you find someone you know?”

“Oh, no.”

I nonchalantly shook my head and looked back at her.

A beautiful blonde woman stood near the champagne fountain, next to Henry.

It was Robellia Bart.

She was undoubtedly beautiful in person, but her lifeless appearance was like a doll that had lost its vitality.

‘No wonder. According to the original, Robellia would probably be suffering after finding out about the affair between Camilla and Henry.’

Beside Robellia, with her empty glassy eyes, Henry, the villain behind all this, was comfortably laughing.

‘It feels like I’ve known someone like him in a past life.’

Smirking, I turned my head again.

The fountain in the center of the banquet hall was still spouting brilliant golden champagne.

Even after seeing it several times, it was truly a beautiful sight.

‘I’ll probably remember this scene for the rest of my life…’

As is often the case when witnessing rare scenes, that’s what I thought.

And unfortunately, my intuition proved to be exactly right.

Just a few hours later.

The fountain, which had shone brightly, was now stained a bloody red due to the death of a person.