Realizing that her not-so-close elder sister had arranged this situation, Talia could no longer stay still.

In the end, she fled from the banquet hall.

“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll have to talk later.”

It wasn’t a lie. She felt sick thinking about laughing and chattering in something Rahelica had touched.

Brushing aside even the hand her husband extended, Talia went to the garden behind the palace where the banquet was held. Unlike the one in front, this garden could only be used by the royal family, so she could avoid being seen by others.

Catching her breath among the yew trees trimmed to human taste, Talia thought she would like to grab her elder sister’s hair if she could.

Unlike the indifferent Iris, Rahelica sometimes mocked people like this. She would bestow favors as if doing a good deed, knowing that she was disliked. It was to make those who hated her feel like vile humans.

Unlike Iris, who no longer bothered her, Talia couldn’t stand Rahelica’s attitude.

Some would say that Rahelica might have truly meant well for her. But Talia knew that wasn’t true.

Rahelica just wanted to show that she was superior.

“Did you think I was sincere?”

As it had been from long ago, now just a distant memory.

“You’re so naive.”

Crunch. It sounded like broken glass art being stepped on. Talia shrugged her shoulders, exposed by the low-cut dress. Though it was a summer night and shouldn’t be too cold, the passing breeze felt chilly.

It was then that she heard a rustling sound behind her.

Realizing someone was watching her, Talia hurriedly turned around.

She saw wavy blonde hair just like her own. The violet eyes, of which there were only two pairs in the imperial palace, were also the same.

“Are you alright?”

When her full sister, who was no different from the cause of this situation, approached her asking that, Talia could no longer remain composed.

Glaring at her elder sister who was furrowing her brow pretending to be sincerely worried, she said:

“…Why did you come here?”

Though it was a low voice, the hostility in it was clear enough that Rahelica stopped in her tracks. She opened the fan she was holding. The fan decorated with rubies and black opals covered her mouth.

“Still as fierce as a wildcat?”

It was quite a refined statement. Talia sneered.

“If you don’t want to get bitten, get lost.”

“Is that how you speak to your elder sister?”

“I’ll rephrase. Get lost without saying disgusting things.”

Then Talia wiped around her chin where cold sweat had formed. Rahelica, still covering her mouth with the fan, watched her actions and asked:

“Shall I call for Count Amaren?”

Amaren was her husband’s name. Leshit Amaren. The second prince of Tesendot who married her and received an imperial title.

And it was a well-known fact among those who should know that things were not good between him and her.

Talia did not respond to her sister who was practically mocking her openly. She straightened her back and adjusted her clothes. Since Rahelica didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving, she was planning to go somewhere else herself.

It was then that Rahelica spoke again.

“Helena was worried about how you were doing. Shouldn’t you at least look presentable for her sake?”

Something hot welled up inside her at the sight of her mentioning their younger sister without batting an eye.

If she knew the tears that child shed on her wedding day, Rahelica shouldn’t have said such things.

Talia sneered at her sister who seemed to know nothing of propriety.

“Look at yourself before worrying about me. Helena would be most ashamed of your behavior.”

“…”

“Should the rumors spread beyond the palace walls that even at twenty-six, you can’t leave your mother’s embrace like a six-year-old?”

Then Talia passed by Rahelica, who was frozen as if shocked by her words. She saw her sister’s expression turn pale, but felt no guilt. After all, even that expression was likely not genuine.

As it had been from long ago.

Rahelica glared at the back of her ungrateful sister as she passed by and disappeared.

Indignation welled up inside her. How dare you. After all I’ve been through because of you, if I don’t do this, where will all that anger go… As she bit her lip and thought, Rahelica realized that it was her own choice to cater to her parents’ whims.

So, they could do this. From Talia and Helena’s perspective, it was something they never asked for, so they could dare say such things to her.

Nevertheless, having learned only twisted things, Rahelica couldn’t contain her anger.

She threw the fan she was holding to the ground and stomped on it violently. The thin ivory ribs broke and the silk was soiled.

The anger only subsided after she had reduced the fan Orien had given her some time ago to a miserable state.

Looking down at the mangled fan, Rahelica took deep breaths. She started to wipe her flushed face but stopped. Her face was covered in makeup.

If she rubbed it off carelessly and had to reapply, it would arouse Iris’s suspicion. Especially after meeting Talia.

Recalling her mother with her slight need for control, Rahelica lowered her hand. With a face that was neither crying nor laughing, she groaned. She felt tired to death.

It was then that she saw someone approaching from ahead.

The man with dark brown hair was someone she knew. Realizing that Rebernen had sent a knight, Rahelica quickly kicked the broken fan aside and straightened her posture.

Fixing her expression, she lifted the corners of her mouth as she watched the knight approach her.

“Your Highness.”

“Serven.”

And Rahelica raised her hand to place it on the arm he would offer.

However, Serven approached not her side but elsewhere and bent down. He picked up the broken fan and wrapped it in his handkerchief.

“It’s not good to leave evidence.”

The knight said as he put the handkerchief-wrapped fan inside his coat. Ironically, his tone sounded genuinely concerned. Rahelica sneered.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What did I leave behind?”

Serven, one of the emperor’s loyal knights, said nothing more to her. He approached her again and extended his arm.

Rahelica placed her hand on it without scolding the knight who dared to keep the princess’s hand waiting in the air.

“His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you.”

“Why is he looking for me again?”

“…Saying such things is also not good.”

“You’re strange. I’ve been keeping my mouth shut all this time, so what words did you hear?”

The knight, finally realizing he had been played again, closed his mouth.

Rahelica narrowed her eyes and glanced at the knight walking in step with her. She noticed his face, which was handsome in a neat way though not flashy.

Instead of blocking his daughter’s marriage, Rebernen would choose young, handsome knights to keep by his side and then send them to her. They were knights who were pure and tight-lipped, so even if the foolish princess played around a few times, things could be wrapped up without much trouble.

Serven was one she saw often among them. Rahelica had pretended to like him because she was disgusted with how frequently people changed. Only then did Rebernen stop choosing men to warm his daughter’s bed.

Partly out of a slight sense of guilt for twisting his fate, and partly because she had grown accustomed to seeing his face often, Rahelica sometimes treated Serven comfortably, but she didn’t trust him.

The quiet and solemn-looking knight had gone to Rebernen of his own accord. No matter how much of a tyrant Rebernen was, he wouldn’t make someone who wasn’t voluntary his close knight.

So, no matter how upright and proper Serven Adel might appear, it didn’t change the fact that he was a man who had offered himself directly to the emperor.

Though she was no different, Rahelica felt spiteful when she saw the seemingly noble knight, unlike herself who was called all sorts of things as the foolish and extravagant princess. She felt, what’s so different about you and me that you look so honorable while I get all kinds of remarks even from my sister?

In any case, Serven was in a position to bear the full brunt of her spite. Rahelica tossed words at the knight leading her to the banquet hall.

“You, won’t you propose to me?”

Despite the sudden question, the knight answered with a face that still looked knightly:

“If that is what you wish, I will do so.”

His calm face showed no sign of bewilderment. Since she had said it wanting to scare him, Rahelica quickly lost interest.

She tried to open her fan to cover her mouth, but realized there was nothing in her hand.

It bothered her that it wasn’t there even though she had broken it herself. Frowning, Rahelica said:

“Forget it. How dare someone as lowly as you propose to me. You’d lose your head for that.”

While the Adel family was well-known, it was far from sufficient to marry into the royal family. Even if Rebernen hadn’t blocked her marriage, it would have caused an uproar as a marriage between nobility and commoners.

When she was young, she had tried to leave the palace even in such a way. Since every marriage proposal was cut off by Rebernen’s hand, she had dreamed of being cast out by causing a scandal that couldn’t be covered up.

To do that, the son of an ordinary family wouldn’t do, so she had chosen her target at a meeting. There happened to be an illegitimate son of the Sigrasal royal family.

But that boy was young, timid, and even despised her. Rahelica remembered the disgust clear in his golden eyes.

It’s good you didn’t take my hand. Rahelica recalled the man who had blatantly overcome the limitations of his birth and even married the one he wanted. The boy who had coldly let go of her hand that day became a grand duke a few years later.

She didn’t care that he had killed all his relatives to reach that position. She also suffered from the urge to kill her relatives.

When the doors of the banquet hall they had finally reached opened, bright light poured out.

Unlike the complete night outside, the light making the interior look like day made Rahelica stumble slightly, and the knight caught her arm. Rebernen’s voice was heard.

“Rahel, my daughter. You’ve come.”

Blinking a few times to adjust to the light, Rahelica realized that Iris with a cold expression was standing in front of her father. Her mother, with her beautiful brow furrowed, looked quite displeased.

What a swamp of a life. Sighing inwardly without realizing it, Rahelica approached them. With each step, it felt like sinking into mud.

But there was only one thing she could do. She smiled as brightly as she wanted to collapse.

“Your Majesty, you called for me?”