Bolton let out a sigh of relief and turned his gaze towards the garden where Rukna was. Who’s staring at me right now?

Startled, Rukna quickly turned around, but Bolton’s gaze didn’t leave her.

“Matian, look at that priestess.”

“…What about that priestess?”

“She has platinum blonde hair. The same hair color as that fool. Is she the priestess from the temple that we saw during the ceremony?”

As Bolton tried to lift his eye patch to take a closer look, Matian stopped him.

“Bolton, are you taking your eyes off me for someone else while I’m your partner?”

“Wh-what’s with you? Are you jealous? Do you really like me?”

Bolton had come to accept love between men after meeting Rukna, but Matian was a bit scary.

No matter how much he liked beauties, Matian was not someone he could handle.

The two entered the banquet hall while bickering.

Sighs from women could be heard simultaneously from here and there upon seeing Matian.

They wanted to stomp on the feet of that perfect man’s partner with their heels, but unfortunately, his partner’s feet seemed thicker than a bear’s, so ordinary heels wouldn’t even faze him.

Matian approached the emperor as he was.

“Welcome, hero of the empire.”

The emperor clicked his tongue after glancing at Bolton. He had even adopted an imperial princess wanting to obtain that man’s seed.

He never imagined that Matian would be someone who would cling to another man. And not even a pretty one at that…

‘His build is as huge as a mountain and he’s hairy. He looks more like a pirate than a nobleman.’

The emperor frowned at Bolton as if he was looking at something horrible.

The gods must have taken away Matian Wiegratz’s discernment in exchange for giving him everything else.

He had tried to push Princess Tolia somehow, but it was obvious that it wouldn’t work at all.

“Eternal glory to the Sun of the Empire.”

In the midst of all this, Matian gave a picturesque salute. Sigh. A sigh escaped involuntarily. The more he looked at him, the more of a waste of talent he seemed.

“Haha, it’s been a while, Duke Wiegratz. By the way, you brought a very interesting partner. Tolia was very disappointed.”

The emperor stroked his bushy beard and glanced at Princess Tolia. She tightly grasped the hem of her dress and smiled as elegantly as possible.

“As Your Majesty said. I wanted to be escorted by Duke Wiegratz at the first banquet I attended after coming of age.”

“I apologize.”

Matian ended the conversation with a simple apology without any brief excuses.

The princess watched the emperor’s expression. The gaze of her stepfather was cold.

I can’t lose my usefulness. I don’t want to go back to that shabby rural territory.

Spending the rest of my life looking after crude maids? It was absurd after how much effort I put in to get out of that horrible place.

‘If you had chosen me, everyone would have been happy!’

The princess looked at Matian desperately.

Did I ask for your love? Did I ask you to let me enjoy wealth and glory? I just told you to choose me.

If you tie the knot with me, you’ll become a member of the imperial family, so it wouldn’t be a bad choice for you either.

Then, the empress who adopted her would also have to pay less attention to the emperor, so she would become more lenient to the maids, and the emperor would also be able to strengthen the imperial power by bringing in the hero’s bloodline as his son-in-law.

The shaken public sentiment would also settle down, and the nobles who rebelled against the imperial family would back down, so what could be better than this?

The princess, trapped in her selfish calculations without considering Matian’s intentions, resented him.

It seemed like all the turmoil caused by the Red Eagle that shook the imperial power and made the public sentiment gloomy was due to Matian Wiegratz’s wrong choice.

It was all because he chose that hairy man instead of her.

“…Princess. Princess Tolia!”

When the empress’s sharp voice was heard, the princess came to her senses with a start.

Matian Wiegratz had already stepped down from the platform with the bear-like man. He even escorted the man named Bolton.

He boldly crossed the hall despite the nobles whispering upon seeing that.

Did that mean that being ridiculed like this was better than holding her hand? If only his appearance was ugly, she wouldn’t have any lingering feelings!

“Are you just going to sit still, Princess?”

The empress said in a voice suppressing her anger and stared at her.

“O-of course not, Mother.”

The princess swallowed hard and put on a pitiful smile.

She deliberately called her mother instead of Your Majesty to remind herself of her position.

The princess followed Matian down from the platform. Her mind was blank.

Meanwhile, the young ladies who used to take her side were also watching the situation and whispering something among themselves.

‘The young lady of Count Taran is getting excited talking about Duke Wiegratz. The young lady of Viscount Cordner isn’t making eye contact with me.’

She had set things up here and there to make them keep each other in check in order to become the queen bee of high society, but the aftereffect was coming back to her in the worst form possible.

They would also know their usefulness. The usefulness of having to captivate Matian.

‘If Mela Chamber, Matian’s cousin, had attended, I could have used her to squeeze in between them.’

Then, Young Lady Giselle Golden caught her eye.

She was busy peeking at the food table with a small handbag hanging from her wrist.

She wasn’t mingling with other ladies and was ignoring all the men, only showing interest in the food.

Her brother, Perta Golden, was guarding her.

He was sticking close to his younger sister like a snail shell, feeling burdened by the approach of other women.

At that moment, someone let out an exclamation of admiration.

“They say the empire’s healthy beauty lies in Matian and the sickly beauty lies in Perta!”

It was half a joke, but the expression was spot on. Although he was said to have regained his health, a delicate charm that seemed like he would be blown away by the wind emanated from him.

‘That’s it.’

They say a chicken is better than no bird at all. The princess walked towards the Golden siblings.

The nobles who secretly hoped that the princess would cling to Matian and create a pathetic scene were openly disappointed.

“It’s been a while, Young Lady Golden.”

The princess looked at Giselle while stealing glances at Perta.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Princess.”

Giselle hid the handbag she had been hanging on her wrist behind her back and bent her knees.

Perta, who was guarding her from behind, took the handbag and followed his younger sister’s lead, paying his respects a beat later.

“The young lady seems to be hungry.”

“Yes. I skipped meals out of nervousness as it’s been a while since I attended a banquet.”

Perta, who heard those words from behind, tilted his head.

“Giselle, didn’t you eat three scones before coming here?”

“Oh my, hoho. When did I do that?”

Giselle poked Perta’s side. He let out a gasp and staggered, then corrected his words, saying, “Come to think of it, I was the one who ate them.”

Although his stomach was too slim for a man who had eaten three scones before coming.

As the topic of conversation leaned towards their daily life, the princess took control of the conversation again.

“By the way, wasn’t there one more man in the Golden family? The one attending the military academy…”

What was his name again? Trying to recall gave her a headache.

“Ah, you’re talking about our youngest, Your Highness. That child has gone on a long journey.”

“A journey, I see.”

The princess narrowed her eyes.

It was ridiculous. It wouldn’t be a journey, but being driven out. The Golden family needed someone to obtain a diploma from the military academy in place of the sickly Perta, so they adopted that man.

So, it was the obvious act of selfish humans to get rid of the extra mouth that threatened the position of the head of the family as soon as the purpose was achieved.

‘And it could be my future reality too.’

It was unfortunate but fortunate. Because the man who had been occupying his attention was gone.

‘Come to think of it, the Golden style seems to be quick-witted unlike how they look. To the point of driving out the one they raised like a brother.’

The princess glanced at Perta while covering her nose with a fan.

Eek, Perta turned pale and hid behind Giselle. Even so, his head was peeking out.

Pretending to be innocent. The princess shifted her gaze back to Giselle.

“Who will the young lady have the first dance with?”

“My elder brother said he would be my partner.”

“Aha. Then may I ask the Golden style for the second dance?”

The alluring gaze turned towards Perta again. Despite his appearance, he was a man with the determination to drive out his adopted younger brother. Then he wouldn’t let go of the princess’s hand.

But Giselle intervened.

“I apologize, Your Highness. My elder brother has a chronic illness, so his legs get shaky after dancing one song.”

“Hmm?”

The princess’s eyes, which had been gentle, turned cold.

Not only did she interrupt without permission, but she also refused on his behalf? The princess bit her lip hard. She could feel people’s gazes gathering on the back of her head.

The princess decided to put down the Golden family’s arrogant nose and focused her eyes. They had become quite arrogant for a family that was once weak enough to have the position of the head taken away by an uncle.

“Oh my, then why is the young lady answering instead of the style? Did you smear honey inside your elder brother’s mouth?”

But unlike expectations, Giselle was not flustered.

“Oh, I wonder. Elder brother, did you smear honey in your mouth by any chance?”

Giselle blinked innocently and looked back at her elder brother.

It was hard to tell if she was using her head or if she was really stupid and taking the words at face value.

“N-no? I only drank water.”

“He says he drank water, not honey, Your Highness.”

Two pairs of pure eyes of the Golden siblings turned towards the princess. The too-clear gaze was close to madness in a way.

Are they playing around with me? As the princess lost her composure and frowned, Perta, who saw that expression, was surprised and started coughing.

Cough, cough, hack!

“Oh my, has your chronic illness worsened, elder brother? Will you be able to dance the first dance? Why did you drink water? You should have smeared honey in your mouth like Her Highness said to be healthy!”

Giselle wiped Perta’s mouth with a handkerchief and worried.

As people’s gazes gathered more and more, the princess held her forehead as if tired.

“…The style’s condition seems to have worsened. I need to rest in the powder room for a bit.”

The princess covered her reddened cheeks with a fan and exited.

Giselle stared at her back and muttered, “You did well, elder brother.”

“She used to ignore us, but as soon as our family rose, she’s trying to poke at elder brother.”

“That’s right.”

“She must have done that because elder brother is the next best catch after Young Lord Wiegratz. Tall, handsome, and with a good personality.”

As Giselle showered him with praise, Perta examined his younger sister’s face as if he had received a shock.

“…Wh-who are you?”

Perta, who had been focusing on magic studies recently, placed his hand on his younger sister’s forehead.

He couldn’t ignore the possibility that his younger sister might have been possessed and controlled after hearing the news that the Red Eagle’s leader was imprisoned in the imperial palace’s underground prison.

“What are you doing now, elder brother?”

“Tell me the name of the lizard you raised when you were 9 years old.”

“Elder brother.”

“Tell me quickly.”

“It’s Ssivellom.”

Giselle blinked her eyes and spoke with a particularly rough accent.

“…You are my younger sister indeed.”

“Now that the nonsense is over, shall we leave the banquet hall?”

“Why the banquet hall?”

“Because our Rukna must be hungry.”

Giselle gestured with her chin towards the handbag that Perta was holding for her.

Ah, that’s right. Perta nodded with reddened cheeks.

At that moment, Rukna was chewing a large grape in her mouth.

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to be here? People will gossip if you leave your seat.”

“Please keep your mouth shut when you speak, Priestess. It’s all dripping down your mouth.”

Matian wiped Rukna’s mouth with his gloved hand.