Yu-an quickly masked her expression, worried that someone might have seen her reaction.

She hurriedly returned to Clad’s side, checking to see if her encounter with Regina had caused any commotion.

“Quite a fine pair.”

“Right? Aren’t they a well-matched couple?” replied Crown Prince Bolonico eagerly.

Emperor Igor, his hands greasy from chicken, stroked his beard and chuckled, revealing his yellowed teeth. He nodded and guzzled down the wine like it was cheap liquor.

Indeed.

His nephew, Clad, hiding his rotting half-face, was a tall and handsome man, looking like a sculpture.

And the small woman by his side was as beautiful as a watercolor painting by a famous artist.

A pleasing couple indeed.

“Pelliesse, Pelliesse…” Emperor Igor muttered, lost in thought.

Crown Prince Bolonico peered at his father’s face, as if trying to unravel his thoughts.

There was something about Pelliesse.

A secret, surely hidden within Pelliesse.

Bolonico tried to gauge the Emperor’s mood for any clue, but to no avail.

The Emperor’s blue eyes briefly glimmered with excitement, but as always, he seemed closer to a drunken lout than a keen ruler.

“It did taste quite good,” the Emperor responded hoarsely.

Bolonico briefly showed his irritation, but quickly resumed his doll-like smile.

“Then enjoy it to your heart’s content.”

There was plenty of time.

Even if he didn’t get the reaction he wanted, the spectacle was entertaining enough.

The party, more suited for hunters, was free-spirited and rough, and quite lively despite lacking music and dancing.

As Emperor Igor’s entourage gradually disappeared into their guest rooms in drunkenness, Igor himself declared he needed to “empty his stomach”—a euphemism for visiting the restroom. Yu-an was shocked to hear him announce this so loudly before leaving the hall.

She kept catching her uncle’s gaze.

The suffocating atmosphere, along with the piercing stares of her aunt and cousins, was unbearable. Aunt, sitting fiercely next to her uncle, and the lined-up cousins, what about them?

Frederick, as usual, didn’t acknowledge her, and Regina seemed quite satisfied with her recent verbal assault on Yu-an, sipping non-alcoholic drinks with a charming smile.

Yu-an had no reason to endure their mistreatment any longer but thought it best to avoid them altogether.

Especially with the Emperor present.

Even Clad, the master of the manor, was sitting quietly. If Yu-an caused a scene, it would be a disaster.

Stressed to the point of developing a headache, Yu-an decided it was best to feign drunkenness and retire to her room, like the other nobles.

The butler assured her that it was appropriate to leave, as the welcome party was technically over.

With the Emperor and even Clad temporarily away from their seats, her uncle might slip next to her under the pretense of sharing a drink.

She had already confronted Regina, and dealing with the foolish Frederick would just be annoying.

The subtle glances from the Emperor throughout the party.

Crown Prince Bolonico’s suspiciously grinning face.

Clad, who had not uttered a word and sat like a doll.

Avoiding her uncle’s insistent gaze, dizzy with the day’s events, Yu-an had no choice but to leave.

She laughed wearily at the butler’s offer to call a carriage and stepped into the familiar hallway leading to the main building, finally feeling alive again.

It had been a day of too much: the Emperor, the Prince, high nobles… Fortunately, her uncle, Count Pelliesse, hadn’t found an easy opportunity to approach her.
Just as Yu-an thought she only needed to endure one more day by Clad’s side…

Suddenly, in the darkened corridor, a giant hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her in.

Startled to the point of breathlessness, Yu-an looked up to see a pair of piercing blue eyes bearing down on her.

“Where are you going, smelling so delicious?”

It was Emperor Igor Yufryse.

In the dim corridor, far from the chaos, Yu-an found herself trapped in his snare, unable to utter a word under his flickering gaze.

“Your Majesty?”

“Hm?”

“Why, why are you doing this?”

Yu-an knew Igor was a tyrant, even without witnessing today’s events. His oppression had affected many, and even the Pelliesse family, once neutral, was forced to court his son Bolonico, as her uncle had bitterly recounted.

But this, this was…

“I, I am Clad’s…”

“Dare you discuss ownership with the Emperor?”

Emperor Igor’s power was overwhelming.

His body seemed five times the size of Yu-an’s, not flabby like her uncle’s but solid and brimming with strength.

His large, hairy hand roughly groped Yu-an’s waist.

His reddened nose rubbed against her neck.

His hot breath poured down, stinging her nose with the smell of alcohol.

Yu-an held her breath and scanned the empty corridor.

“You don’t like it here?”

‘Should I scream that I don’t?’

Recalling news articles of those beheaded for displeasing Emperor Igor, Yu-an shuddered and nodded.

“I don’t, I don’t like it…”

“I find it beautiful here. My dark and massive trophy. A grotesque ornament and…”