Royal concubines.

The Lafion Imperial Family has one surprising event happening each day.

Was the concubine issue also decided before the national wedding?

Prince Tessler, that bastard.

But what if Prince Tessler didn’t know about it either? How would the situation unfold then?

The whole way to the reception room for tea time with the noble ladies, I felt my shoulders weighed down by tension.

This is a completely unexpected scenario.

I hadn’t thought about the concubine issue at all……

If Rinel had planned to take concubines, shouldn’t he have given me a hint last night?

There was plenty of time for him to talk about the concubine issue in bed.

Even if he’s the emperor who can do whatever he wants, taking concubines right after marriage.

And not just one, but several?

No matter how inadequate the empress from another country who just had a national wedding may seem.

This was too sudden and somewhat strange.

But the information that Sharon heard from the servant she’s close with couldn’t be false.

Last evening, that servant who works in the chief priest’s secretariat at the temple said he directly heard the chief priest and some nobles discussing the timing of the emperor’s wedding with the concubines.

So it probably isn’t wrong information.

“Ah, then perhaps because of that……”

Was that why Grand Duke Martins requested an audience with both Rinel and me at the same time?

To discuss the matter of taking concubines?

Did Grand Duke Martins know about it in advance?

No, that can’t be.

If he knew in advance, he would have given me a hint when we met in the audience chamber yesterday.

It’s highly likely that the Grand Duke only heard the news this morning.

The rulers of all countries take numerous concubines and mistresses.

As just a proxy empress, I have neither the grounds nor the right to oppose that matter.

But it’s certainly not common to eagerly take concubines just days after the national wedding.

Something felt not quite right.

I briefly stopped my steps towards the reception room and turned my head towards the main palace building visible through the long arched window.

“Maybe it’s not to discuss……”

It’s probably to inform.

Perhaps Rinel accepted Grand Duke Martins’ request for an audience and even called me to his office just to convey an already decided matter?

Complicated emotions with no clear form tugged at my nerves.

Though I didn’t want to admit it, I was feeling quite hurt by Emperor Rinel right now.

Maybe even beyond hurt, I was feeling jealous…….

No, pull yourself together.

I consciously slowed my increasingly rapid steps and took a deep breath.

If the emperor has decided so, I must follow.

Feeling hurt is meaningless and will only make him dislike me.

My original task was to quietly get divorced when Princess Resilia arrives at this imperial palace.

Don’t forget your duty.

“Your Majesty the Empress? It’s here.”

Lost in thought as I walked, I turned my head at Sharon’s voice.

When I came to my senses, I realized I had passed by the reception room door alone.

“Ah, right.”

I elegantly backstepped to align myself with the reception room door.

Sharon was too busy making a shocked expression to stop me from backstepping.

I wanted to meet Rinel first, before meeting those noble ladies inside the reception room.

But the emperor’s morning hours… would be filled with meetings with ministers and piled up work to handle, while my morning hours… had to be spent laughing and chatting in a place mixed with ladies who would become his concubines.

I prayed that my hand holding the teacup wouldn’t end up over someone’s dress.

That I wouldn’t unconsciously lower my gaze and shrink before them.

I offered that short prayer in my heart.

“They’re in there together, right? The candidates to become His Majesty’s concubines.”

I glared at the elaborate floral carving on the reception room doorknob as I asked Sharon.

“Yes, that is so.”

Sharon carefully replied.

Just then, the nightingale-like laughter of the noble ladies leaked through the crack in the reception room door.

The noble ladies who heard the news that the emperor was taking concubines just days after getting married.

It must be amusing.

It must be exciting.

Inside, there wouldn’t be a single lady who would feel uncomfortable around the empress from the Kingdom of Shateonil, which is treated like a vassal state by the Lafion Empire.

Among them, there must certainly be ladies who even coveted the position of empress.

Though the empress’s palace is my residence, it seemed I was the only one tense in this place right now.

I straightened my drooping shoulders.

I collected myself, imagining all the tension flying away into the air with the breath I was now exhaling.

I said to Sharon as I straightened my back:

“Open it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Sharon went into the reception room ahead of me and called out to the noble ladies:

“Her Majesty the Empress enters!”

As I entered the reception room, sunlight streaming through the large windows shone directly on my face.

The noisy chatter abruptly ceased and all eyes turned to me.

I slowly walked towards where the noble ladies were standing, making eye contact with each of them one by one.

As I expected, the ladies who met my eyes did not immediately lower their gaze.

They stared back defiantly as if challenging me, only reluctantly lowering their eyes slightly when I got closer.

Their small faces all wore nasty expressions that made me want to punch them.

But I don’t hit women.

I unclenched my fist that had been tightening.

No matter how much they glared at me, they were in a position where they had to bow and greet me right now anyway.

I stopped walking about five steps away from the noble ladies.

A distance neither too close nor too far.

But close enough to clearly see their contemptuous gazes.

If they thought I would give an awkward smile first, they were mistaken.

I responded to the silence the ladies had deliberately created with silence of my own.

I slightly moved my eyebrows to show that I found this atmosphere quite unpleasant.

At that, the ladies’ smiles gradually faded.

As time passed, they began to glance at each other.

Ah, it seems they made a group promise not to greet me until I opened my mouth first with a flustered expression?

If it was that childish a game, I could participate as much as they wanted.

I kept my lips tightly shut and looked down at them with my chin held high.

The ladies increasingly uncomfortable under my gaze, unlike at first, started to avoid my eyes one by one.

A few of them still did not avoid my gaze and enjoyed my stare with smiles on their lips.

Ah, I see.

There must be concubine candidates among them.

“Your, Your Majesty the Empress!”

Amidst the silence of all, the lady closest to me, unable to bear the pressure, greeted first.

“It is an honor to meet you.”

“Is it really an honor… to be able to see up close the faces of such polite noble ladies of the Lafion Empire? Who are you from which family?”

I asked, sweeping my gaze over the ladies before turning back to the lady who had greeted first.

“I am Ellie Josephine of the Count Josephine family……”

Starting with Lady Ellie, the ladies next to her continued greetings in turn.

Some of them came forward and half-knelt before me, paying their respects politely.

I deliberately repeated each name and family, as if committing them to memory, with a calm expression.

At my behavior, most of the noble ladies changed their attitude, outwardly bowing their heads to me and pretending to be sweet.

I also made eye contact with the four ladies who had intruded into my bedroom yesterday, claiming to have become my maids.

The most confident of them among them abruptly stepped forward.

“I am Melanie of the Duke Hetzros family.”

“Ah, Lady Melanie.”

It seems she was fired as my maid and immediately became a concubine candidate?

Lady Melanie’s attitude was even more confident than yesterday.

As I received the ladies’ greetings, my eyes met with the lady who became the last in turn.

That lady’s gaze towards me was much colder than the other ladies’.

She didn’t even bend her knee, just slightly bowing her head as she greeted.

“I am Catherine of the Duke Calios family. I have truly been looking forward to meeting you, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Her voice carried a sense of hostility towards me.

Lady Catherine seemed to want to show through her expression and tone that she was superior to me, the empress.

“I’m not sure if I’ve met Lady Catherine’s expectations. Shall we all sit down and talk?”

At my response, a briefly arrogant smile flashed across Lady Catherine’s face.

It was such an unpleasant smile that made me want to slap her back.

As I sat down in a chair first, the ladies followed one by one.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty the Empress. Have you heard the news that there will be concubines for His Majesty among us?”

Lady Catherine asked, slowly fanning herself with an expensive fan decorated with gold.

“……I heard on the way here.”

I replied in as calm a tone as possible.

“You must be very upset? His Majesty seems a bit hasty too. Taking concubines so soon after welcoming an empress……”

Lady Melanie’s head popped forward, pretending to comfort me with a sad expression, but her eyes were smiling.

I just slightly raised and lowered the corners of my mouth without particularly responding to her false comfort.

“Oh right, Lady Catherine. I knew you had a proud and noble personality, but I was even more surprised by this.”

Lady Melanie now casually addressed Lady Catherine.

“What do you mean by that?”

Lady Catherine glanced sideways at Lady Melanie with an expression as if looking at an inferior, and asked.

“It’s not something to bring up in front of Her Majesty the Empress, but……”

Lady Melanie raised the subject, looking at me as if asking permission to speak.

If it’s about Lady Catherine but she’s checking my reaction, it must be content that would be awkward for me to know?

The ladies had already begun to look back and forth between Lady Melanie, Lady Catherine, and me with curious eyes.

“Speak freely, Lady Melanie.”

I was also curious what she was going to say that made Lady Melanie put on such a pleased expression and even act like she was building suspense.

“Seeing that the proud Lady Catherine accepted this matter, she must still… Ah, Lady Catherine here was originally His Majesty the Emperor’s……”

Lady Melanie inflated everyone’s curiosity and then trailed off at the crucial moment.

I turned my gaze to Lady Catherine.

She seemed to already know what Lady Melanie was going to bring up.

However, despite her exaggeratedly troubled expression, she didn’t actively try to stop Lady Melanie who was posturing as if about to reveal something.

If it were truly a secret she didn’t want revealed, she would have twisted Lady Melanie’s mouth to stop her, but it doesn’t seem to be that far.

As I continued to watch Lady Catherine, she raised her voice towards Lady Melanie, feeling my gaze.

“Lady Melanie, it’s not polite in front of Her Majesty the Empress!”

You raising your voice in front of me isn’t polite either, is it?

I unknowingly gripped the teacup I was raising more tightly. The black tea in the cup sloshed.

“I don’t mind, so please continue.”

I shrugged my shoulders and said to Lady Melanie, pretending to be nonchalant.

I’m not sure if I seemed as nonchalant as I intended, but Lady Melanie nodded.

“Yes, His Majesty the Emperor and Lady Catherine were……”

Lady Melanie stretched her head forward to check Lady Catherine’s complexion as she continued speaking.

“They were engaged.”

A short gasp escaped between my lips as I was just about to take a sip from the teacup.

“……Ah!”

I was startled by the hot black tea.

And even more startled by the unexpected story.