Mercedes’ eyes, who had gained a little weight and recently became more enthusiastic, were clear, and thanks to her maids’ hard work all day, she was more beautiful than anyone else in this banquet hall.

“Your Majesty the Empress Dowager. I’m a bit late. I was preoccupied with escorting my partner.”

“…Yes, Your Majesty.”

Carlos smiled and stood beside Mercedes.

As the Empress Dowager and the Emperor began to converse, the shocked nobles finally regained their senses one by one.

“I offer my greetings.”

Mercedes said in a clear voice, stepping forward and bowing her knee.

The nobles, sensing that this moment was surely the beginning of a great storm, tried desperately to take it all in. It seemed this social season would be quite entertaining.

“May glory and eternal blessings reach the Moon of the Room Empire, the Mother of the Highest, the Empress Dowager. As you know, I am Mercedes. I am truly humbled that Your Highness has invited someone as insignificant as me.”

Mercedes’ etiquette was perfect. So much so that it felt exotic in the free atmosphere of Room.

Those who observed her began to whisper again.

“Is she really a murderer…?”

“She’s a perfect noble.”

“Impossible. How could someone so delicate kill a man?”

She looked like a woman fit to stand beside the Emperor in his uniform.

No, she even looked noble. To the point where curiosity about Mercedes bloomed in the hearts of those watching.

“Y…es. Welcome.”

The Empress Dowager gripped the edge of her chair tightly and forced a smile.

‘That bastard…!’

And that red dress. It was clear that Carlos had prepared it to spite the Empress Dowager.

That girl probably just wore the dress Carlos had given her.

Thinking about it, she was indeed stupid.

Perfect etiquette is not proof of intelligence. Even a fool can be taught etiquette if trained harshly from childhood.

So, it’s good to have confirmed that the girl is actually stupid. Even though it’s good…

‘You dare ruin my banquet?’

Anger boiled over. The Empress Dowager, herself, should have been the one to display the greatest presence at this banquet. Moreover, everyone was so surprised by Mercedes’ red dress that they missed the timing to gossip.

Not content with taking her son’s place, now he even humiliates her. She wanted to strangle that insolent bastard right then and there.

At that moment, the Empress Dowager’s and Carlos’ eyes met.

Unlike the Empress Dowager, who was forcibly holding back her anger, Carlos calmly hid his emotions and smiled gently.

“Today’s banquet is splendid as always. Especially the central ice sculpture is impressive. To carve such a large piece from ice that’s difficult to obtain… As expected, the ideas of Your Highness the Empress Dowager, who possesses the empire’s finest aesthetic sense, are exceptional.”

It sounded like praise on the surface, but in fact, it contained a rebuke for extravagantly using precious ice for such a banquet.

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Majesty. If you ever have an occasion to host a banquet, I would be glad to assist. Although Your Majesty prefers simplicity, wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy something lavish occasionally?”

The Empress Dowager retorted. It meant that the Emperor was a miserly one who couldn’t even maintain dignity, let alone have aesthetic sense.

The two exchanged a few more knife-edged words while smiling. Simultaneously, the nobles involuntarily shrank back. As the exchange continued, the atmosphere became even more intense.

“Um, Your Highness the Empress Dowager!”

At that moment, it was Mercedes who stepped forward to change the atmosphere.

She smiled with an innocent face.

It was a smile she had practiced for days. No matter how hard she tried, her face, which had always worn only a stiff expressionless mask, couldn’t manage a bigger smile.

This much was already a great improvement, and Carlos had reassured her that a slight smile was enough since she needed to appear nervous anyway, which was fortunate.

If it weren’t for him, she might have wanted to tear her mouth apart by now.

“…Yes. What is it?”

The Empress Dowager answered Mercedes, not hiding her displeasure. Mercedes asked in a voice that seemed strangely vivacious:

“Your villa, Your Highness! I heard it’s very beautiful with a view of the sea. Could you tell me about it? I want to learn so much from Your Highness the Empress Dowager.”

It was a tone markedly different from Mercedes’ usual manner. Even Carlos, who had been watching her practice, was inwardly surprised.

She seemed a bit immature. A woman with dazzling beauty but an empty head, excited by all the nobles’ gazes and trying somehow to strike up a conversation with the Empress Dowager…

In fact, some of the nobles who had thought her ‘noble’ immediately retracted their thoughts upon hearing her question, fainting in shock.

She really did captivate Carlos with just her beauty. Such thoughts filled the banquet hall.

“The villa, you say.”

Indeed, the Empress Dowager’s villa. It was a truly poor choice of topic.

The Empress Dowager raised one eyebrow.

Wasn’t it the place she had left in anger? That’s why everyone avoided mentioning the villa, yet she brought it up directly…

The Empress Dowager’s wariness decreased even further. It seemed it would be no trouble at all to manipulate this girl and hurt Carlos.

Various vile schemes flashed through the Empress Dowager’s mind. Schemes to make Carlos look foolish.

After all, once royalty becomes ridiculous, it’s over. The nobles’ loyalty disappears, leaving only mockery, and imperial authority weakens.

“You’d be better off asking Carlos about why I had to go stay at the villa.”

The Empress Dowager answered in a nonchalant voice, as if bestowing mercy on a foolish woman.

“Pardon?”

“Isn’t that right, Carlos?”

The Empress Dowager asked, smiling and pretending to be affectionate.

Mercedes looked back and forth between Carlos and the Empress Dowager with wide eyes.

“Oh, is that so? Then Your Majesty can tell me! Although I wanted to hear it directly from Your Highness the Empress Dowager!”

It was truly a lively tone. Seeing Mercedes, who even lacked tact, the Empress Dowager smiled with just one corner of her mouth raised.

“Carlos. It seems you’ve only taught half the etiquette. I heard she was once a crown princess… Well, I suppose that’s why she committed such… acts.”

Although she had taken a hit because of the red dress, she could still embarrass Carlos.

The Empress Dowager spoke with a thrilling feeling.

The woman beside you is a stupid murderer, she meant.

“My apologies, Your Highness the Empress Dowager.”

Carlos’ face crumpled slightly as he gripped Mercedes’ shoulder tightly.

“I hope you won’t take it to heart. Today is a joyous day, after all.”

After they had each landed a blow in this friendly manner, Carlos withdrew with Mercedes.

The tension that had filled the banquet hall seemed to ease a little, and soon, as dance music began to play, it regained its original atmosphere.

However, people’s gazes were fixed on Mercedes. Previously, they would have been tensely focused on the Empress Dowager, but now they found their eyes drawn to Mercedes without realizing it.

Her etiquette had been perfect, but her overly innocent behavior when addressing the Empress Dowager was peculiar.

Moreover, she was incredibly beautiful.

Meanwhile, uncomfortable with the constant stares, Mercedes gulped down her champagne.

Although she had come willingly, she still couldn’t calm down in crowded places.

“You seem to have done a lot of research, Mercedes.”

Carlos handed her another glass of champagne and took her empty one.

“You told me to, Your Majesty. To put the utmost effort into appearance and etiquette, while simultaneously preparing immature lines to appear careless to people. It felt like doing homework.”

Mercedes spoke while deliberately turning her back to the nobles and looking out the window.

“This time too, did I get the right answer?”

“More than right.”

Carlos was thoroughly enjoying himself. Mercedes, on the other hand, was on the verge of having her gloves soaked with cold sweat flowing from her hands.

“Why did we have to do this? Was the dress alone not enough to reveal that I’m a foolish woman?”

“That’s right. It’s because your etiquette is too perfect. Since we can’t do anything about what’s already ingrained… Rather, if we add an immature aspect, both the etiquette and the dress will seem like I prepared them. Then the Empress Dowager will look down on you even more. As a country bumpkin who knows nothing and can be moved by a single word.”

“You’re right.”

“Yes, you just need to pretend to listen well to the Empress Dowager while nonchalantly dominating the social circle.”

“It will be difficult. But… I’ll be able to learn a lot. Well then, I must go meet the person who leads the largest trading company in the East. That’s my goal for today.”

Mercedes replied with eyes full of ambition.

“Haha!”

At the same time, Carlos burst into hearty laughter.

“Are you really the same Mercedes who didn’t eat or sleep the entire carriage ride here?”

“…If you’re mocking me, I won’t answer.”

“No, I’m just surprised. Well, it’s already been a month and a half since you came to Room.”

Mercedes closed her mouth.

‘Has that much time already passed?’

The time when she wanted to die in the carriage somehow felt like a distant past.

But strangely, Cromwell was still vivid. The times of abuse kept coming back, choking her.

That’s why Mercedes threw herself into studying even more.

Studying soothed her listlessness and brought hope for revenge.

“Mercedes. Do you know what dresses in the Eastern style of the Empire look like?”

“Ah, yes. I learned from my teacher.”

“Good. The person in a dark green Eastern-style dress with dark brown hair is her. The second daughter of Viscount Ford, Nadia. Go talk to her. I’ll leave you some space.”

“What? Your Majesty-”

“To learn, you must know how to leave the nest.”

Carlos winked and strode away on his long legs.

Nest?

‘Me, you?’

Did Carlos think Mercedes considered him a nest?

True, for a month, she had received a lot of help from him, like providing teachers, and had learned many things. But a nest…

‘He speaks as if I feel safe in his embrace.’

On her life.

That had never, not once, happened.

Rather, she had been spending her time thinking she had grasped her last chance while standing on the edge of a cliff.