The two who finished dancing smiled at each other, then stood side by side again and bowed. Applause rang out as people crowded around them.

A noblewoman approached Litania and Orbis with graceful steps. She greeted Litania politely.

Litania smiled warmly at her. It was a signal that she could speak.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Marchioness. I deeply regret not knowing of your beauty and grace until now.”

It was an embarrassingly flattering remark. How do other people manage their expressions when hearing such words? Litania bit the inside of her mouth, trying to maintain her smile.

“I am Irena Holkinson. May I have the honor of conversing with you?”

Holkinson was a family of border counts in the west. Though they didn’t often appear in the capital, the fact that Litania, unfamiliar with noble society, remembered their name meant they had considerable wealth and military influence in their region.

‘When I was a princess, no one approached me, but now that I’m a marchioness, I’m showered with attention.’

Is this the effect of the divine dragon Orbis? Litania felt slightly bitter, but smiled kindly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Countess Holkinson. I’m glad to talk with you.”

“Oh my.”

As Litania readily returned the greeting, other confident noblewomen and gentlemen rushed in, busy exchanging greetings. Litania felt dizzy from the sudden influx of people.

‘Shall I help you, Litania?’

‘No, it’s alright. This is supposedly part of a noblewoman’s duties.’

As Litania gently rubbed Orbis’s palm to decline his offer, he softly held her hand, preventing others from approaching too closely while allowing her to freely converse with them.

“What kind of place is the Aeternitas estate?”

“There are so many rumors, you see.”

“They say lightning strikes and ice rain falls, but surely such absurd rumors can’t be true.”

“But it’s so tightly hidden, there’s no way to know. It’s a place where humans are forbidden to enter.”

“Not anymore. The Marchioness is there, and they say thirty knights and servants sent by His Majesty have entered as well.”

It was obvious where their interests lay.

In truth, since the divine dragon was a being that protected the imperial family, it was difficult for nobles to utilize his power. But the Marchioness was different. Since Litania was human, they could build a relationship with her and use her influence.

Litania knew that nobles weren’t naive enough to approach her with pure goodwill at their first meeting. But that didn’t mean everyone was trying to take advantage of her.

Above all, Litania also had a desire to quell the false rumors about the dragon castle.

‘My husband is so kind and gentle, why are there so many vicious rumors!’

Litania also engaged in conversation to suppress the uncomfortable rumors about Orbis and the dragon castle, and as the dialogue deepened, she found herself talking about holding a banquet at the dragon castle and inviting the nobles next time.

“His Highness Prince Vapor has arrived.”

“Her Highness Princess Herna has arrived.”

As the atmosphere warmed up, one by one, uncomfortable names began to appear. They always knew how to ruin the mood.

“His Highness the Crown Prince has arrived!”

Enter Snow, the publicly acknowledged pervert.

‘I don’t know why he’s called a pervert when he hasn’t done anything particularly strange.’

Snow especially disliked the Crown Prince. Although it was actually Herna who tended to pick unfavorable fights with Litania, Snow always spewed disrespectful words at the Crown Prince.

‘Why? Is it because they’re both men? Is this that same-sex hatred?’

Litania narrowed her eyes, looking up at the Crown Prince on the central staircase, wondering if she could detect the perversion in him that she had failed to notice before.

“On behalf of His Majesty, I extend gratitude to all of you gathered here today. The Spring Ball…”

Even if he was rotten, as the Crown Prince, he looked quite impressive giving a speech as the Emperor’s proxy. The Crown Prince paused briefly when his eyes met Litania’s during his speech.

‘Huh?’

He lowered the arm he had raised, and quickly concluded his words.

“…That is all. I hope everyone enjoys the banquet.”

The Crown Prince, having descended the stairs, walked in the opposite direction from Litania. Naturally, most of the crowd that had gathered around Litania followed the Crown Prince.

Her head was spinning from dealing with so many people. If she had to categorize herself as introverted or extroverted, she was definitely introverted.

These kinds of events are exhausting.

Litania was about to mutter that to herself and say she was going back to her room.

“You look good. How much makeup did you pile on?”

Prince Vapor approached.

Last year she was at least a despised princess, but now she was properly a marchioness, yet his choice of words was truly cheap.

‘What should I do? Should I not engage?’

Litania’s eyes met those of Princess Herna, who was watching her from a distance behind Prince Vapor.

She had expected Herna to pick a fight first, but unexpectedly, when their eyes met, Herna quickly looked away.

She didn’t seem interested in starting trouble.

‘Then maybe it’s okay.’

Litania let go of Orbis’s hand and smiled at him.

“Orbis, would you like to go in first? I’ll greet my siblings briefly and then come.”

“I will stay by your side.”

“Mm, no.”

While it was important for the marquis couple to appear close, people would also pay attention to how she interacted with her siblings, the other imperial descendants, since she was the topic of conversation.

If Orbis remained, even if he didn’t say a word, it would easily give the impression that she was hiding behind the divine dragon.

Although on the surface it was a union between a divine dragon and a princess, in reality it was closer to a one-sided elevation in status for Litania.

Whatever actions she took, the positives would be overshadowed by Orbis’s status, and the negatives would be attributed to her lowly birth.

‘I can greet them naturally on my own without Orbis present. Just showing that should quell some of the unnecessary speculation about me.’

There wasn’t really anything to talk about with Vapor anyway, so the conversation would end after exchanging a few formal greetings. Thinking this, Litania sent Orbis away and approached Vapor.

“It seems Prince Vapor has been well.”

“Why the sudden formality?”

I’d prefer to speak casually too, you brat.

…Thinking this, Litania inwardly sighed.

“When we were children of the imperial family it was one thing, but now that I’m married and a proper marchioness, I should use formal speech. Isn’t that the proper etiquette?”

You don’t know proper etiquette and have wasted your years, speaking so casually to a proper marchioness.

…That was the implied meaning.

Vapor seemed to belatedly realize the hidden meaning, frowning deeply before quickly glancing around to confirm others were far away, then stepping closer to whisper in a slightly lower voice.

“Father’s health isn’t what it used to be. It seems he’ll soon abdicate to our elder brother and retire to a resort.”

“…”

Judging by the Crown Prince acting as the Emperor’s proxy, she had guessed his health wasn’t very good, but she didn’t know it was serious enough to seriously consider abdication.

Based on the Crown Prince’s age, the Emperor should only be a little over 50 years old.

‘Well, in the old days, the average life expectancy was 40 years.’

This place had better hygiene concepts than the average early modern period she knew, and magic existed, so people seemed to live longer than that.

“Should I go visit him?”

“Huh? He probably won’t see you. I haven’t seen him since winter either.”

“…Then why are you telling me this so deliberately?”

The Crown Prince is already appearing in public as the Emperor’s proxy. It means the Emperor’s health condition isn’t a secret.

“When our elder brother ascends the throne, it’ll be over soon, so I wanted to let you know that.”

Over? What’s over?

Does he mean he’ll kick me out of the family register?

‘Then I’ll just be a marchioness of commoner origin. I’m not scared at all!’

As Litania shrugged her shoulders, Vapor seemed a bit surprised and made the strange comment, “Looks like you can endure it,” before walking away.

Litania followed the head servant’s guidance towards the special room where Orbis was staying.

The vast imperial palace had a 5-story structure, and the head servant turned at the 3rd floor, leading Litania to the eastern corridor.

“This way, please.”

“Yes… oh?”

The corridor seemed oddly short, and after a few steps, the ceiling disappeared. Looking up, she saw it was open all the way to the 5th floor. The doors that had been lined up at regular intervals vanished, replaced by a tall, sturdy wall like a fortress with just one large door visible.

It was a strange structure.

“The Marquis and Marchioness will be staying in this special room.”

It looks more like an isolation room than a special room.

Litania thought to herself.

“Thank you, head servant.”

As Litania expressed her gratitude, the head servant silently opened the door to the special room. Orbis should be inside, but it was surprising that he opened the door without knocking. Litania entered first.

‘Huh?’

She had expected the special room provided for the divine dragon to be quite spacious. But this was beyond her expectations.

‘…A greenhouse?’