People were momentarily mesmerized as they watched the beautiful woman who matched the handsome emperor so perfectly take her place.

The two of them entered with smiles, thanked the countess for the invitation, delivered the emperor’s greetings, and even danced the first dance.

Everything flowed smoothly up to this point. Though all eyes were fixed on the woman, no one dared approach her with the emperor by her side, and no one could gossip about her.

“I think you can leave me alone now.”

“Call me if you need me. I’ll be close by.”

“Yes.”

The two spoke briefly, and Carlos strode out vigorously, intending to uncover the ulterior motives of the nobles present and turn things upside down.

Left alone, Mercedes picked up a glass of champagne and began walking around the banquet hall.

Her gait was endlessly elegant. As she was contemplating which battlefield to dive into, someone suddenly struck up a conversation with her.

“Hello? Mer… what was it? Anyway, nice to meet you!”

The voice sounded hostile, cutting off her name despite claiming to be happy to see her. Mercedes looked straight ahead.

“Hello. And who might you be?”

Then she smiled.

The young lady, who was called “you” for the first time in her life, frowned slightly before quickly composing herself.

“Ah. You don’t know us, of course. It’s understandable since you came from a foreign country. That… underground prison? There’s no nobility registry in such places, right?”

Mercedes laughed charmingly as if she found the remark amusing and brightly replied.

“Oh, that’s right. There was no such thing in the underground prison. Instead, the inmates shared tips on how to kill people and get away with it. If only I had learned that earlier. Maybe I could have avoided the trial.”

She spoke as if making a very cheerful joke.

“Uh, pardon?”

It was a rather crude joke for a young lady who had only been raised in luxury.

The young lady who had boldly picked a fight stammered in confusion.

“Oh. You weren’t joking about the underground prison? I thought I’d try a similar joke… Was it too much? I’m sorry. Being from a foreign country, I’m not familiar with the atmosphere of the room.”

Mercedes implied, ‘I tried my best to match your joke, but why are you surprised?’ while putting on an extremely apologetic face.

“A joke… Right.”

Directly stating, ‘You’re talking about the underground prison for real. You’re an ill-mannered criminal!’ would be tantamount to revealing one’s weakness and losing this verbal sparring match.

“Hmm. I was joking too, but… Miss Mercedes, your jokes are quite extreme. Haha. I guess this is why innate qualities are important. Miss Mercedes… You have the temperament to go to such places.”

“Oh my! You know my name. I thought you didn’t. I’m delighted. Then may I also have the pleasure of knowing your name? I didn’t catch who you were!”

The flustered opponent accidentally spoke Mercedes’ name. Mercedes didn’t miss the opportunity to attack.

It was an attack using her fame in high society, implying ‘You do know me after all? But I don’t know you.’

It was natural for Mercedes not to know the people here, but it was unthinkable for the other party not to know Mercedes.

She was the person who had just entered with the emperor and shared the first dance, currently the most famous person in high society.

That’s why the other party initially tried to dismiss her by cutting off her name.

But in her confusion, she voluntarily revealed that she knew Mercedes’ name.

As expected.

Realizing she had taken a hit, the young lady’s face contorted in a way that failed to hide her emotions.

“…I am Cynthia from the Everett Viscount family.”

Lady Everett finally had to introduce herself. She was biting her lips so hard that it seemed like they would bleed at any moment.

Mercedes, still wearing a bright smile, added the attribute of ‘not easily trifled with’ to her ‘clueless and innocent-sounding consort of the emperor’ persona and continued speaking.

“Oh, Lady Everett! It’s a pleasure to meet you. I guess we’ll be seeing each other often. Now that the season has started.”

“…Hmm. I wonder about that. Isn’t His Majesty too busy to accompany you all the time? Then, it would be difficult for you to find a partner throughout the season…”

Lady Everett seemed to have a temperament that hated losing.

Even after taking a hit, she deliberately remarked, ‘What’s wrong with monopolizing the busy emperor? You have no connections in high society and can’t even find a partner, yet you claim you’ll attend often?’

Mercedes brought her hand to her mouth and laughed, hoho. It was an incredibly affectionate-looking laugh.

“Ah. Of course, His Majesty is very busy. Even today, I told him it was okay, but he insisted on being my partner… I feel terribly sorry too. So next time, if he’s really busy, I heard he’ll assign me a trustworthy knight.”

Mercedes replied, ‘I’m not that shameless. I already refused, but the emperor insisted on accompanying me. As for lacking connections, the emperor is taking care of me, so you don’t need to worry about my partner.’

“…I see.”

“It’s so kind of you to consider His Majesty’s heavy duties. I’m truly grateful. I’m also trying my best to take care of him by his side.”

After that, Mercedes indirectly stated, ‘You are nothing, and I am the one who will take care of the emperor.’

At this point, Lady Everett ran out of things to say.

She tried a few more times but to no avail, and whenever she said something slightly bad, Mercedes would apologize profusely, leaving her with nothing to criticize.

“I… I need to go. My friend is calling me over there. Have a good evening, Miss Mercedes.”

“Oh. I see. What a pity. Let’s make sure to meet again. Lady Everett!”

The young girl walked away, defeated, abandoning Mercedes who was even holding her hand and smiling as if she were truly delighted. It was the retreating figure of a defeated soldier.

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ heart, having overcome that lady’s provocation more easily than expected, began to swell with a strange excitement.

From now on, more confrontations would pour in, and the number of people in line was dizzying, but she gained confidence.

As expected, as soon as Lady Everett left, a group of other young ladies came as if they had been waiting.

Some of them were filled with jealousy, admiring the emperor, while others sighed at her ignoble past and offered old-fashioned advice.

Things like ‘Wouldn’t it be wise to be careful with your behavior?’

“I suppose my status is indeed lowly. In fact, if things were as they should be, I wouldn’t even be allowed to converse with you. Sigh… I’m truly a bad person.”

To them, she responded with genuine sadness, thanking them for their advice.

It was a level of self-deprecation that surprised those who had expected her to be ‘shaking with anger.’

“…Pardon? I didn’t mean to go that far…”

One can point out lowliness in a roundabout way.

But it was something that shouldn’t be done openly. In the language of the nobles, it was ‘vulgar provocation and bullying.’

“Lady Everett. I sincerely appreciate your concern. I should also be careful not to burden His Majesty. Will you help me do well in the future? I need your advice.”

Mercedes pleaded with a face that looked endlessly pitiful. It was a moment when people’s hearts became uneasy.

“Miss Mercedes, you are truly honest. I think there was a misunderstanding. We didn’t intend to slander you.”

Then the woman in the center stepped forward and spoke kindly.

“Status is nothing in the face of love. Since His Majesty has chosen you, Miss Mercedes, you can remain by his side as long as he desires. In that place where love resides.”

In that place where love resides, she said.

It didn’t mean the position of the empress. Usually, the position of the empress was described as the place of the moon where love and glory reside.

In other words, this young lady was currently implying to Mercedes, ‘You can never be more than a concubine anyway.’

Mercedes quietly looked at the other party.

The young lady with hair like ebony and blue eyes was wearing a neat dress and had accessorized with glamorous jewelry.

And she was more beautiful than anyone else Mercedes had seen in this banquet hall today.

‘…I know who she is.’

Although Carlos, Mrs. Fisher, and sometimes even Leopold took the time to explain about the people in high society, actually seeing them was very different from hearing about them. Because the descriptions contained biases.

In fact, Mercedes hadn’t been able to distinguish any of the people they had described to her in advance upon arriving today.

But she could recognize this person.

Julia Bennett. The eldest granddaughter of the old Count Bennett, who could be considered the head of the elder nobles, and the woman all the elders were pushing as a candidate for empress. A beautiful woman of noble status.

She was the exact opposite of Mercedes.

“I’m so happy to hear you cheering me on. It’s a pleasure to meet you. May I boldly ask your name?”

Mercedes smiled as she observed Julia. An extremely pure beauty who acted like an angel but was said to have a firm grasp on all sorts of rumors in high society.

She always spoke kindly with an angelic face, but when you came to your senses, everyone followed Julia’s opinion.

Mrs. Fisher had even provided an example to explain.

Some time ago, Julia had kindly said to a young lady whose dress was somewhat plain, “Oh dear, it seems you weren’t able to prepare your dress well. I’ll lend you my hair ornament and handkerchief, so use them.”

That was all. Julia never directly said anything bad.

However, her entourage and the people attending that banquet somehow started insulting that young lady’s plain dress as a symbol of poverty and vulgarity, while praising Julia’s kind heart.

She would throw out the bait, and people would gossip, biting onto the words of the beautiful flower of high society. Gossip and backbiting were always enjoyable, after all.

Quite a few young ladies had been humiliated in that way.

That’s why young ladies, especially those who had just made their debut and were receiving even a little attention, admired Julia, who led the trends and center of high society, but also feared her.

They also feared the ‘central clique’ gathered around Julia like loyal knights.

‘Indeed… She’s making it clear that she’s here to harass me.’

The eyes of the girls who had flocked around Julia were shining very fiercely.

But to Mercedes, those lights weren’t dazzling at all. She had received countless greater gazes of contempt. This level was cute.