“I’m glad you’ve found your place, Etricia.”

I raised my gaze from my shoes at the sudden change of topic. The Emperor wore an unusually gentle expression.

“Thanks to you, I’ll have enough face to share a drink with Count Vuel when we meet again.”

Though I’m worried about my one son. A bitter smile was added. His imposing aura, which had seemed so solid, softened gently due to his slightly narrowed eyes.

But I felt an eerie sense of déjà vu instead. I had experienced something similar to this before. As my father’s illness worsened, he would speak weakly in a state of delirium. Saying he was worried about me being left alone.

So I suddenly became suspicious. Could there be something wrong with the Emperor’s health?

The moment even a rumor about the Emperor’s health circulates, the tides of politics would change. It would only be a matter of time before those with the same goals joined forces. To prevent that, he would surely try to conceal any illness, even if he had one.

The Emperor smiled at me as I stared at him blankly. His eye wrinkles, which seemed to be etched with joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, creased delicately.

The Emperor looked far too healthy to doubt based on just a sense of déjà vu.

I glanced at the Emperor and forced a smile.

Like treasures of memories disappearing one by one, I didn’t want to lose the adults who had been kind to me, including my father.

“You must stay healthy until we meet again, Your Majesty.”

Thus, hoping that the chilling sense of déjà vu was just my imagination, I ended the private audience in a peaceful atmosphere.

Why is the imperial palace so vast? Of course it’s vast, it’s the imperial palace after all.

I opened my fan and fanned myself gently with my eyes slightly raised.

After finishing my private audience with the Emperor, I was about to leave following a knight’s guidance when I became lost in the imperial palace thanks to the knight who ran off saying he urgently needed to use the restroom.

I had planned to file for divorce and then go pick up Lilien when her pastry class ended, but the knight still hadn’t returned even after a long time had passed.

As I was sighing deeply and folding my fan, I suddenly heard voices echoing in the wide-open corridor. Looking around, I saw knights passing by in the distance.

“The knights who returned from this subjugation campaign received medals and performance bonuses.”

“I heard. Damn, if that’s the case, I should have gone. Remember when I was dispatched to the friendly country’s monster appearance area for several years?”

“Don’t say crazy things. That was only possible because they were low-level monsters. Besides, you were lucky to return because Duke Mifidian went on the expedition.”

My ears perked up at the mention of Edmond, and I stuck close to the corner. The knights’ voices became a bit clearer.

“Tsk, I know. Honestly, who would have thought they’d survive? At the time, the knights who voluntarily participated in the subjugation were a ragtag bunch of minor nobles, ordinary knights struggling with living expenses, and those who weren’t the eldest sons and couldn’t inherit titles, all risking their lives for advancement.”

“Hey, someone might hear. You know we’re under the Duke’s command even though we’re imperial knights.”

“Tch, those subjugation guys are unnecessarily close-knit. Remember? During the last mobile training, when the 3rd Division’s vice-commander badmouthed Tail from the subjugation unit for being a commoner and got a gauntlet thrown at him.”

A familiar name came up. Tail. Rail’s twin brother. I see, so he wasn’t just Edmond’s subordinate, but someone who had participated in the subjugation campaign.

While I was momentarily lost in thought, the knights’ conversation continued.

“I remember, they all came rushing out and fought until blood was spilled, right? Kuk, especially you, your face was swollen like you’d been stung by bees.”

“Damn those subjugation guys! Honestly, it’s nothing special! The Jeder Forest subjugation was only possible because of Lebron. In actual combat, anyone could do that much if they just had Lebron!”

“Come on, you?”

“I told you at the tavern about my heroic exploits when I was dispatched and almost became a living legend.”

“Ah, you did become a topic of conversation for drawing the holy symbol while clutching Lebron tightly with both hands out of fear.”

“Ah, you really!”

Soon, the sound of the two knights’ bickering conversation drew closer to the corner.

Monsters, huh. Honestly, as the only daughter of Count Vuel who owned a Lebron mining operation, combat seemed like a story from a distant land.

Imagining how horrific and intense those battlefields must be sends chills down my spine.

But with the defenses of the magic towers, the tactics of the imperial family, and the history of the temples.

Thanks to this systematic development of civilization, except for the Jeder Forest disaster where high-level monster hordes devoured villages, they have been successfully suppressed.

Even the era of chaos that arrived when the saint disappeared and battles became difficult was resolved with the appearance of Lebron.

That’s why monsters were treated as mere calamities or natural disasters, and there were quite a few people like me who had never actually experienced them.

Of course, I know the theory. It’s just that it feels unfamiliar. Essential subjects like history, doctrine, philosophy, humanities, administration and economics, and other mandatory imperial birth tests like mana and holy power verification exams…

Anyway, I had completed the curriculum through home education without attending the academy. This was the first time I was hearing such detailed internal affairs of the knightly order so closely related to monsters.

“Oh right, speaking of which, I saw your fiancée was mesmerized by Duke Mifidian at the banquet. Will you be alright? Tsk tsk, if you break off the engagement again, even the matchmakers won’t help you because it’ll tarnish their reputation.”

“Shut up! I really don’t understand. Ah, yes, I admit his skills. But he’s not handsome enough to be mesmerizing, is he?”

‘What did I just hear?’

I, who had been listening to Edmond’s story with a pleased smile like a parent hearing praise for their child, felt my lips twitch.

Then, feeling annoyed, I stood crookedly and glared at the corridor where the knights were.

If Edmond isn’t handsome, what are the men of the empire? Is it a fish market or something?

“When women gather, that’s all they talk about in harmony. I don’t understand. He looks like a gisaeng’s brother.”

Gisaeng’s brother. Saying he looks like a gisaeng’s brother is actually admitting he’s handsome. The fellow knight also laughed, finding it amusing, and said:

“But you’d be happy if someone said you look exactly like him, wouldn’t you?”

“Kuk, I, I what. Honestly, my face is better!”

“Please lower your voice. Someone might hear-”

At that moment, I appeared in front of them as they came around the corner, with my fan half-covering my face. The knight who had been listening to his companion’s badmouthing with some semblance of normal thinking stopped in surprise.

He assessed my attire with a glance and stepped back politely to greet me. His face showed an unpleasant expression.

“Excuse us, my lady. I hope we didn’t startle you.”

“No, it’s my fault for suddenly appearing.”

“No, it’s our fault for startling such a delicate lady who might be surprised even by chirping.”

The knight’s attitude was impeccably excellent. There was no need for him to introduce himself because this was meant to be a brief encounter that would end with this small collision.

However, compared to him…

I turned my gaze and made eye contact with the frivolous knight who had been blabbering beside him, and smiled with my eyes.

The knight stared at me blankly with a flushed face, and only after his companion jabbed him in the side did he quickly bow his head.

“Ah, we were noisy, weren’t we? I apologize-”

“It’s alright.”

Because I’m about to be rude now.

I stared directly at the face of the knight who had disparaged Edmond’s appearance and said:

“Do you know something, Sir Knight?”

“Ahem, what is it?”

The knight glanced at me nervously with a blushing face. His eyes gleamed with quite a bit of expectation.

I tapped the end of my lips with my fan and smiled with my eyes.

“Even insects have a head, thorax, and abdomen.”

“Pardon?”

Why can’t you understand even when someone kindly explains it to you.

“I’m saying that not everything that’s attached is the same.”

After a moment, the knight’s dull eyes became fiercely intense.

“What… did you just say?”

His voice also boiled angrily. Soon, he muttered that this was the first time he had been insulted like this, and gritted his teeth while turning red and blue.

“Hey, that’s enough.”

His fellow knight grabbed his wrist with a troubled face, but the fight had already been ignited.

I met the knight’s fiercely distorted face and eyes and smiled brightly.

“They say even the king can be criticized where he’s not present, but it was very reckless of you to badmouth Duke Mifidian in this wide corridor. It’s against the knightly code, so you’d better be careful in the future. For your own dignity’s sake.”

I heard the sound of teeth grinding. The knight glared at me while continuously exhaling trembling breaths through his nose. As I had felt since they were discussing performance bonuses, he seemed to have considerable inferiority complex. Or maybe he was just stupid.

“You seem to know quite a lot, my lady. Chivalry, you say. All women attack using a knight’s virtues when it’s disadvantageous to them. I suppose you’re an ardent supporter of Duke Mifidian as well.”

I gently closed my eyes at the knight’s provocation, which seemed to ask if that’s why I was upset.

“Of course, Duke Mifidian is called a hero by the public, after all.”

“Ha, you speak so carelessly about things that could be misunderstood. I should rather give you some advice. Be careful with your frivolous remarks, they could put your spouse in a difficult position, do you understand?”

The knight raised his chin and smirked. A disdainful attitude. An arrogant tone as if he was in a superior position.

I raised one eyebrow while lifting the corner of my mouth crookedly.

“Ah. I hadn’t thought of that. Thank you for your concern. But I’m about to file for divorce. So I’ll be perfectly without a husband, won’t I?”

“Divorce? Ha, divorce…”

It was the moment when the knight, mistakenly thinking he had found a chance to attack, was about to turn his head with a scornful snort.

He froze his expression as if he had seen a grim reaper and stared at me again. His mouth slowly opened as he scrutinized my appearance.

“Could it be…”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Scandal and running away from home, declaration of divorce. Besides that, my mother-in-law’s tyranny, Devon’s infidelity and tax evasion, manipulation of the will – all of which had turned me into an icon of misfortune and pity.

However, I have deep connections with the Mifidian Duke’s residence and will inherit the Lebron mine and businesses once the verdict is reached.

When Devon became the target of criticism as the defendant in the trial, my image became unspeakably tragic due to people who take pleasure in others’ misfortunes.

So much so that the fervent support letters from noble ladies and young ladies tripled.