“You might become the queen if all goes well, Irena.”

“What? Queen? What do you mean by that?”

The Duke of Vermonte’s face was beaming brightly.

“King Oberon has sent an invitation.”

“An invitation? What kind of invitation?”

“To the royal ball held after the autumn festival.”

Throughout Oberon, large estate festivals are held in various places with a one to two-week difference.

The most splendid of these was the festival held in the capital where Oberon’s royal castle is located. Many people wished to visit the capital once to see the extraordinary sights.

Most people end up participating in festivals centered around the lord’s castle of the estate they belong to.

The festival dates were not fixed to specific days, partly because festivals were held even in regions like Lowen where autumn had no significance, and partly because some difference between regions was necessary to allow for visiting and exchanging with other lord’s castles’ events.

The difference between the earliest and latest festivals could be nearly a month.

“You mean I’ve been invited to the king’s birthday ball?”

For governing both inside and outside the country, it’s good to have major events scattered here and there.

But isn’t a birthday something that can’t be controlled by human power?

About a month after the end of the capital’s autumn festival was King Oberon’s birthday, and about a month and a half after that was the New Year’s ball.

From autumn, after holding major events tightly scheduled each month, they would welcome the new year.

“Vermonte doesn’t participate in the capital’s social circles, does it?”

That was the point Irena found strange.

It was tradition for the daughter of Vermonte not to enter the capital’s social circles.

They didn’t attend even the capital’s debutante or balls to that extent.

They don’t even go to the New Year’s ball where one goes before the king to pay respects and swear allegiance to welcome the new year.

This is because while Vermonte is within the framework of Oberon, it is not a subject that has sworn allegiance to the King of Oberon.

Notably, they don’t pay estate taxes to the king, among other things.

The Duke of Vermonte was indeed the reigning king of the north.

So it was all the more damaging to his pride that in his generation, he was threatened by a young upstart from Temnes due to a prolonged drought.

At Irena’s question, the Duke of Vermonte smiled so widely that his gold-inlaid molar was visible.

“That’s exactly what I mean. Do you know how long it’s been since King Oberon sent an invitation to Vermonte asking us to attend a ball?”

“How long has it been?”

“It’s the first time.”

He was visibly pleased. As it was historically unprecedented, its implications were clear.

“It says to please attend with the duchess and the young lady without fail.”

“Really?”

The Duke of Vermonte was quite favorable towards King Oberon.

Her father often praised the King of Oberon as an exceptional monarch, but Irena thought that even referring to her as ‘young lady’ in the invitation sent to the Duke of Vermonte was a small but not insignificant gesture from a formidable person.

“Heh heh. I might make the king my son-in-law. Hahaha!”

“It’s not certain yet, is it?”

“What do you mean? Do you think it’s common for the king to specify and command like this?”

That was indeed true. It was the way of nobles to speak in roundabout ways, hedging and circling to avoid later trouble or unsavory incidents.

But from what Irena saw written in the telegram she received from the Duke of Vermonte’s hand, even to her it seemed he had considerable interest in her to break tradition and extend such an unprecedented invitation.

‘Why would King Oberon choose me?’

She who had only ever lived in Vermonte and left the north for the first time under the pretext of Claude had no connection to King Oberon.

On the other hand, after seeing Kaian and Claude, her heart had been complicated, leading to other thoughts.

‘A political marriage isn’t necessarily all bad.’

Irena had lived in a perfect world.

Of course, it was her father, the Duke of Vermonte, who had laid that perfection all around her.

She was a very bright and happy young lady of the castle, and even the misfortune of losing her husband couldn’t cast a shadow over her.

Or so she had believed until now.

But in Kaian’s gaze towards Claude, she felt a lack for the first time in her life.

Something Irena had never had.

A husband’s heart, a husband’s affection.

Something between the passion and intensity that accompanies it.

For the first time, she thought that if she had the chance, she would like to have someone to share her heart with.

Even when she first married, when she welcomed that husband, she had only thought about marrying him and becoming a couple, never considering how they should live together.

To only now fumble for and barely realize the missing place long after the one she should have shared this with had departed.

Irena accepted this as the reason for her belated tears and heartache.

‘If father approves, it might be a good opportunity.’

When her heart was feeling empty and hollow, it could be a good thing that someone with whom fate might connect appeared as if on cue.

‘We can’t keep the succession relationship unstable forever.’

If Irena were to marry King Oberon, it might mean that Balmond, which had only one foot in the framework of the Kingdom of Oberon, could truly become part of the Kingdom of Oberon.

“His Majesty the King has finally recognized a person’s worth. Could there be a better bride in the entire kingdom than you?”

“Did you come all the way here to deliver this news?”

“They say they’ll give the invitation in person. And by the king himself!”

Even when the royal family sends telegrams, they attach a brilliant golden seal, so receiving a real invitation had a special meaning.

“I’ll arrange separate accommodations in the capital, so stay here until the royal ball.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The Duke of Vermonte made no effort to hide his satisfaction.

“We should prepare new jewels and dresses so you won’t be lacking in His Majesty’s eyes. Let’s stay in the capital with your father until we’re summoned to the palace soon.”

“I’ll do that.”

Irena nodded.

But somehow, unlike before she left for Lowen from Balmond Castle, words like ‘Wow, that’s great’ or ‘I’m looking forward to it’ didn’t come out in response to her father’s words.

[This is the timeline separator]

Hannah put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

“See? I told you I’d be right!”

“Yes, I admit defeat.”

As Claude acknowledged it, she laughed heartily.

The matter went back quite some time before Irena’s visit.

‘What if Kaian…’

‘The lord? Why the lord?’

‘What if he falls for Irena when he sees her?’

After worrying alone for a while, when she confided her concerns to Hannah, she immediately told Claude it was a ridiculous worry and was dumbfounded.

‘Hmm. Then shall we make a bet?’

‘What kind of bet?’

‘Whether the lord falls for Lady Irena when he sees her, or not. You think the lord will fall for Lady Irena when he sees her, right? I don’t think so.’

So they agreed that the loser would grant the winner’s wish.

In truth, since the losing side would be better for Claude’s happiness, she prayed every night for Hannah to win.

Even though she lost, she wasn’t entirely happy about it.

“Oh my. What wish should I make?”

“Tell me quickly. They say it’s better to get the beating over with quickly.”

“No way. I’m going to cherish it preciously while teasing you until you beg me to tell you my wish. Hahaha.”

Yes, I’m glad at least you’re happy, Hannah.

Claude laughed along with her while swallowing bitter water inside.

Until Irena came, Claude had been anxious, reflecting on herself as a transparent existence in front of her dazzling elder sister in Balmond.

After she visited Lowen Castle, as Hannah said, Kaian didn’t show particular interest in Irena or become indifferent to Claude, but.

That alone wasn’t enough.

Just because Kaian wasn’t attracted to Irena didn’t mean he was giving his heart to her.

She wanted to win his true heart.

I wish Kaian would like me.

She couldn’t ask that.

Somehow, she didn’t think he would readily say he liked her.

If asked why she thought so, she could only say it was a woman’s intuition.

Kaian had an unrestrained personality.

He had no hesitation or reluctance in expressing what he wanted.

Born noble, young and strong, the lord was someone who would never know frustration in his life.

It was the same in their marital relationship, so Claude couldn’t really refuse what Kaian ordered or push him away.

When Kaian wanted, she gave herself to him wearing nothing but the necklace he had gifted her.

He could manipulate Claude as he wished, but it seemed impossible to go against such a tightly held advantage.

Not once had he expressed his feelings, saying he liked her.

However, despite having no reason to restrain himself, she felt there was a reason why a man who spent so much money on maintaining her dignity didn’t do so.

Claude thought that the things Kaian did for her would have been provided equally if someone else had become his wife.

‘That doesn’t make me happy at all.’

Just one night, when her husband was away on a hunting trip, she clung to him passionately, delighted by his words to take care of herself. Such words made her feel like there was hope.

That she was getting closer to winning Kaian’s heart, which she desired.

Meanwhile, Claude sent a telegram to the Duke of Vermonte, trembling with another anxiety.

She was happy and glad that her elder sister came all the way to the far south to see her, but she didn’t want her to come with their uncle’s implicit intentions.

‘Please. Let me stay here like this.’

Although Kaian had cured her, if that had been possible because he spent money.

Why didn’t the Duke of Vermonte do the same?

Still, it seemed her late father had trusted his elder brother.

She knew he had left a will asking him to raise his daughter well and apologizing.

Claude hid her increasingly dejected feelings and said to Hannah.

“If you don’t tell me your wish quickly, I’ll pretend this never happened.”

“Tch. How can that be? Ah. What wish should I make? What should I say to boast about it for generations as a good wish?”

“It has to be something I can grant.”

The laughter of the young women exchanging frivolous talk could be heard clearly even through the bedroom door.

Kaian, standing outside the door listening to it, was pondering with a cold expression on the report he had just received.

Claude had been steadily sending telegrams to Balmond through her maid.

Kaian was receiving reports on all of them without exception through a person he had planted in the telegraph office.

[Irena departed. I am trying to win my husband’s heart. If you need anything, please tell me. I can do it well.]

The contents of what Claude had been sending to the Duke of Vermonte invariably pointed to one fact.

“So she came to play the role of a spy, not a duchess.”