Seated inside the carriage heading to the imperial palace, Lina called out to the Duke with a trembling voice.
“Duke…”
Bellige, as if sensing Lina’s unease, gently took her hand with a slow gesture.
“Probably, you’ll undergo a magic verification with everyone watching.”
“Everyone…?”
“Some imperial mages and a few high-ranking officials. But it’s just a formal procedure; they probably already know you have magical abilities.”
“Then why undergo magical verification?”
“To confirm how much magical power you possess. However, if it falls within the normal range, you should be able to return to the mansion without any issues.”
Upon his words, Lina quietly exhaled.
‘Within the normal range.’
She didn’t exactly know the criteria, but hearing Bellige’s words gave her some relief.
After all, her magical power was likely within the normal range or even below.
“But what if my magical power exceeds the normal category at that moment?”
His grip on Lina’s hand tightened as he looked closely at her face.
“…It might get a bit complicated at that point.”
As Lina opened her mouth to inquire further from Bellige, a knight who had come to escort them opened the carriage door.
“We’ve arrived.”
With a clatter, the sound accompanying the knight, who had come to pick them up, the door opened.
“Here…”
As Lina, escorted by Bellige, stepped out of the carriage, she saw a transparent building with glass walls.
“It’s the Crystal Palace. The gathering place for the mages of the imperial palace.”
The Crystal Palace of the Legnator Imperial Family. Even those not from the empire had probably heard of it at least once.
A transparent glass prison.
Everyone called it a splendid prison where the empire’s mages were confined.
“It really looks like a greenhouse.”
Observing the Crystal Palace in silence, Lina moved her feet upon the knight’s guiding voice.
Following the knight down a long corridor, they walked for a while.
Suddenly, behind an ivory-colored pillar, a familiar voice could be heard.
“Bellige.”
Waiting for the two in front of the Crystal Palace was none other than Crown Prince Alex. He gestured to the knight leading the way.
“From here, I’ll guide you.”
After a brief nod of respect from the knight who had walked away from the three, Alex looked at the Duke with a gaze containing a hint of disappointment.
“It’s disappointing. To hide such a thing from me.”
“…I apologize. But there was no choice.”
Alex was somewhat annoyed that Bellige hadn’t disclosed such an important matter, but at the same time, he understood.
After all, he was also a member of the imperial family. Bellige would probably know best how the imperial family had treated mages so far.
“But why is Her Highness here…?”
“Just checking if you know. During the magical verification that will take place now, Empress herself will attend instead of the Emperor.”
As Bellige listened to those words, his forehead furrowed.
“Taking advantage of the Emperor’s collapse, the one who summoned you both here is the Empress.”
It had been five years since the Emperor collapsed. In the absence of a designated Crown Prince, the Empress began to consolidate power as she pleased when the Emperor fell, abusing his authority according to her taste.
Forcing Lina and the Duke into the palace was also done under the Empress’s order, masquerading as an order from the Emperor.
“There shouldn’t be any unpleasant manipulation or the like.”
“Don’t worry, they’ll just watch.”
The engagement of Duke Fermannes’s fiancee having magical power was a double-edged sword for the Empress. It could be used to manipulate the Duke through Lina or lead to the emergence of a new faction siding with the Crown Prince due to Lina’s power.
“But more importantly.”
He shifted his gaze from the Duke to Lina.
“I have some good news for now.”
Alex flashed a meaningful smile.
“Today, I received confirmation from the temple.”
“When you say confirmation…”
“The Archbishop of the temple decided to officiate my wedding. Ariana is still at the temple.”
Lina’s eyes widened at the words of the Crown Prince.
The Archbishop personally officiating the wedding. So far, the Archbishop had only set foot in the imperial palace on three occasions.
The first, the Emperor’s coronation.
The second, the Emperor’s funeral.
The third, the wedding of the Emperor or the Crown Prince.
Mostly, the Archbishop had only attended significant events related to the Emperor, the future Emperor, or the Crown Prince. For the Archbishop to attend the Crown Prince’s wedding…
Implicitly, it declared the temple’s support for the Crown Prince as the future Emperor.
“So, that’s why Ariana didn’t appear at the party.”
He recalled feeling puzzled when Ariana, whom he expected to attend the party, did not show up.
“She must have gone to meet the Archbishop during that time.”
Their plan was to take advantage of the loosened surveillance by the Empress.
“So, regardless of the outcome, don’t worry too much. I’ll stand by both of you.”
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
_____
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