On this day, most of the nobles of the Diastara Empire head towards the imperial palace.

This is because the current emperor, who has great self-love, is hosting an imperial banquet to receive blessings for his birthday.

Unless one is on the brink of death, even if struggling to survive, one must get up from the sickbed and attend the banquet.

Otherwise, one would suffer for a long time by falling out of favor with the narrow-minded emperor.

‘Previously, Count Jeril didn’t attend due to the sudden death of his wife and funeral, incurring the emperor’s displeasure. Afterwards, he not only struggled to advance in politics but even had difficulty maintaining his position.’

The emperor was that narrow-minded. Not only that, one also had to prepare a gift.

But one couldn’t just give any gift.

One had to explain with all sorts of pretenses how expensive it was, how difficult it was to obtain, or how meaningful it was, in order to please the emperor.

For families with lower power, it was also an opportunity to gain the emperor’s favor.

Therefore, people competed to find more expensive and higher quality items for the emperor’s birthday banquet.

Add to that delicious food and splendid eye candy. In short, it could be called the pinnacle of luxury.

Of course, the Hardness family also attended the emperor’s birthday banquet every year.

‘Really nothing better to do, our great Emperor.’

Veronica clicked her tongue as she saw the carriages lining up to enter the imperial palace.

It was utterly disgusting to imagine the emperor grinning as he received expensive gifts that could fill the national treasury and more.

Well, her current situation wasn’t much different from these people.

Looking to the side, she saw her father Harry with a nervous expression.

Father had been racking his brains for months over the emperor’s gift.

Being a person far from luxury and pleasure, this kind of occasion must be quite burdensome. He competed with quality rather than quantity every year.

Appropriately balancing by preparing a rare gift while imbuing it with meaning.

Of course, whatever our sincerity, it wouldn’t matter at all to the emperor.

“Don’t worry, Father. You always carefully choose a gift for His Majesty. His Majesty will surely appreciate your intentions.”

It wasn’t just empty words. Whatever gift Father had prepared this time, even if he bought any item from a street vendor and offered it, the emperor would be pleased.

Because the greatest gift currently given to the emperor was her engagement to Cassian. Furthermore, he would be drooling while calculating the benefits to be gained from their marriage.

“I suppose so.”

Father, not noticing such things, smiled gratefully.

The emperor’s birthday banquet is held in the largest ballroom of the main palace.

Even inside the main palace, the procession of nobles heading to the ballroom continued. As most nobles attend, the number of participants was considerable.

Until a few years ago, many couldn’t enter the palace even after receiving invitations. But since the emperor doesn’t show consideration for circumstances, one had to attend somehow to show their face.

When and at what time to attend was also a matter of tact.

As accidents frequently occurred due to people trying to attend on the first day of the banquet to catch the emperor’s eye first, the imperial family eventually divided the invitations by date to separate the attendees.

Thanks to this, most can now attend without difficulty.

At the entrance of the ballroom, servants checked invitations and prepared the list of attendees.

Nobles whose identities were confirmed entered the ballroom in order. Veronica and Harry also filled out the list, waited their turn, and then went inside.

The first impression upon entering the ballroom was that it was a splendid space no matter how many times one saw it.

As if at the center of luxury and pleasure, the spacious area was overflowing with opulence.

In front of the inner staircase covered entirely in gold, another line had formed.

It was a crowd heading towards the emperor and empress seated side by side at the top of the stairs. The princes and princesses were also present on either side, but what stood out more than them were the various gifts.

In the end, the waiting continued even after entering the ballroom. After patiently waiting their turn, Harry and Veronica finally reached the front of the stairs.

“We are in the presence of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor.”

“Oh! Our Duke Hardness has come!”

Seeing the two, the emperor smiled from ear to ear, showing his delight.

The reason for deliberately referring to ‘our’ was obvious. The surroundings stirred at the emperor’s words.

Harry handed over the prepared birthday gift for the emperor to a servant. It was a pen and ink made from beautifully colored fur.

Along with the expensive fabric obtained for it, he added an explanation of why he prepared such a gift.

It was a moment that showed how much Father, who wasn’t good at this sort of thing, had agonized.

And as Veronica had expected, the emperor didn’t care at all about the prepared gift.

He was most pleased by the appearance of the two people themselves rather than the gift.

No matter what Harry said, the emperor reacted more exaggeratedly than usual and didn’t hide his snickering.

Watching this, Veronica almost inadvertently sneered. She skillfully composed her expression and straightened up, glancing slightly towards Cassian. He was standing somewhere in the middle on the emperor’s left side.

His expressionless face was looking down at the floor, not sparing a single glance in this direction.

But the emperor showed great interest in her side.

“Veronica.”

“May the glory and peace of the sun be with you. I, Veronica of House Hardness, greet you.”

“Haha, why such formalities between us? The last time I saw you was at the engagement ceremony. You seem to have become even more beautiful since then. Duke Harry must have high expectations for his daughter’s future.”

“She is still lacking in many ways.”

“Lacking? She will become a very beautiful woman! I hear rumors even in the imperial palace that the young lady of House Hardness has perfect manners. How blessed our fifth son is to have such a beautiful and good woman as his wife!”

Already treating them like a married couple even though they haven’t wed yet.

“Cassian, how does she look to you? Isn’t she too good for you as a wife?”

Since the emperor specifically mentioned him, Cassian reluctantly looked towards Veronica with a sigh.

Dressed in his uniform, he shone like at the engagement ceremony, but his face seen after half a year was still as cold as ever.

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

Even though it was a formal answer, the emperor laughed without restraint. Only the emperor was laughing.

Cassian’s brow furrowed slightly, and the crown prince, other princes, and even the empress refrained from speaking. Harry also felt troubled that his daughter had become the subject of gossip for no reason.

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

However, Veronica just found this situation amusing. She glanced briefly at Cassian’s side before lowering her head.

“I’m looking forward to today’s ball.”

After the audience ended, Harry was silent for a moment. Veronica observed him. It was understandable that Father’s complexion wasn’t good.

“I’m fine, Father. Don’t worry.”

“But…”

“I’m really fine.”

It’s not something that can be undone at this point.

The engagement was originally wanted by Veronica’s side, so the burden and pressure from it was hers to bear.

Moreover, this situation was exactly what Veronica herself had desired most.

“Miss Hardness.”

A woman who looked about Veronica’s age called out to her from afar. Harry gently pushed Veronica’s back.

“Your friends are calling. Go on.”

“…I’ll be back shortly.”

“Take your time chatting, Father will be fine.”

Veronica repeatedly said she would be right back to Harry who was smiling as he sent her off, then turned around.

As she approached, the woman suddenly linked arms with Veronica and acted very glad to see her.

“It’s been a while since you’ve shown your face. Aren’t you too busy these days?”

“…”

“How disappointing. Not even asking how I’ve been.”

When Veronica stared at her silently, the woman became a bit flustered and suddenly took something out and held it out. It was a letter. Veronica’s gaze fell on it.

“It’s an invitation to the salon you were always singing about wanting to enter, Miss Hardness. You know how precious this is, right? Only truly cultured people are allowed to attend, they don’t let just anyone in. I barely managed to get this by begging.”

But Veronica didn’t take the letter. Seeing this, the woman asked in confusion.

“You’re not going to take it?”

“No.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t need it. And Miss Are.”

Veronica took her gaze off the letter and stared at the woman, Miss Are.

“I have something to say too.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like you to stop bothering me from now on.”

Veronica carefully took in the surprised face.

“And stop pretending to be close when we’re not.”

The woman before her was one of the people Veronica once believed to be her friend.

She was the first person to approach Veronica after her naive social debut when she had trouble getting along with people, her first friend.

Veronica met others through her and formed a group. They shared interests and enjoyed hobbies together.

When her father was taken away and the mansion was under surveillance, Veronica first asked her for help.

But strangely, she couldn’t be reached, so Veronica secretly snuck out of the mansion to meet her once.

Seeing Veronica who had suddenly come to meet her, she showed a troubled expression but calmly calmed Veronica down and dismissed the people around.

Then when they were alone, she looked over Veronica’s disheveled state and frowned.

‘Miss Hardness. How could you act so recklessly? What would happen to my position if rumors spread that I’m close to House Hardness at a time like this? Isn’t this too much?’

‘I-I’m sorry. I was in such a hurry. Miss Are, please help me. This is all a false accusation! I can explain.’

‘What good does it do to tell me that, there’s nothing I can do to help. What did you expect from me when you came here in the first place?’

‘Ah, Miss Are.’

‘Haah− Miss Hardness. Please come to your senses. I’ve associated with you enough, don’t you think? People need to know their place. You didn’t actually think I hung out with you because I liked you, did you?’

‘…’

‘How can you be so oblivious. The reason I associated with you was because there was a family backing you up. It wasn’t a bad idea to form some connection with House Hardness. It’s probably the same for everyone else. Did you really not know how much everyone badmouths you behind your back?’

‘…’

‘Everyone was just humoring you. Now that even that great family of yours is gone, who would want to associate with a woman like you? So uncultured and greedy.’

As she said this, she coldly brushed off the hand grasping her. She warned Veronica never to come again before coldly going inside. That was the end.

Just in case, Veronica tried visiting again but she refused to meet her. Rather, she was chased away as if being cursed.

“I know you actually dislike me. Outwardly boasting of your friendship with me, while behind my back you picked at my flaws and put me down. Spreading rumors about me too. All while pretending not to know and staying by my side, giving me insincere comfort when I was upset. Because that way you could get something out of it.”

“M-Miss Hardness.”

“You said you got this for me, didn’t you?”

Veronica took the letter from her hand. Then she dropped it on the floor with a thud.

“But what should we do now.”

The letter crumpled at her feet.

“I don’t need it anymore.”