“Two.”

“Hey! How would I know that? No, even if I knew, why would I give it to you? The owner has returned! If Alejandro finds out that you’ve entered the butler’s room like this, there will be chaos!”

Johnny spoke in a panicked voice, trying to dissuade her.

“That’s why I’m saying I’ll take it and bring it back without him knowing? Before Alejandro arrives!”

Grace spoke as if she had no idea what he was talking about.

However.

“What do you mean by that. Grace Lancaster.”

Alejandro opened the door, his voice so cold it seemed to freeze even the breath.

In the neat office.

In front of the table where the black armor was spread out, Grace Lancaster’s face was pale as if she had seen a ghost.

Nerea reflexively glanced at Heather.

Frightened by the grim atmosphere, Heather quickly walked down the opposite side of the corridor with quick steps, and Alejandro entered the office with a chilly expression.

Nerea leaned against the wall and looked out the window in the corridor. The view of the garden was similar to the scenery from her room.

In the meantime, she heard Grace hurriedly speaking in a flustered voice.

“Alejandro, it’s not like that…”

“Then explain.”

The low voice instantly froze the atmosphere. Nerea felt like she could see the situation in the office she had her back turned to.

“Why you entered my office, why you were looking for the black armor.”

Alejandro spoke calmly, barely containing his anger, Johnny gave up mediating, and.

“This is my last courtesy. Speak straight.”

Grace Lancaster was breathing heavily, cornered by the situation.

After a brief silence, broken by sobbing breaths, Grace’s voice was heard.

“You said let’s go our separate ways. So I…”

“Who the hell told you to bring that to them in exchange for a knight’s title?”

The only thing Grace, who was fighting over the succession for the baron title, was lacking was a mere knight’s title.

It was obvious who could grant a knight’s title in exchange for bringing the black armor. Only four people in the imperial palace. The emperor, empress, crown prince, or…

“Someone from the imperial palace.”

The threatening force spilled over into the corridor. Nerea spoke towards the office.

“Alejandro.”

“…Yes.”

Alejandro’s voice softened, his breath much more subdued. Johnny sighed in relief as he looked at Grace.

But this made Grace feel even more devastated.

The man who had been pushing her like a wolf with a single low call turned into a gentle lamb.

If he had at least asked steadily without pushing, she could have honestly said that she was greedy and jealous.

That she thought she could receive a noble title without a knight’s title like him.

But when she realized that wasn’t the case, she was momentarily shaken.

However, the price for the wrong choice was harsh.

Alejandro Rosa, who had once lent his strength to her, was no longer there.

He was exactly as he had once said, that all of this would one day belong to his knight. In this place now, there was only the hero’s dog.

Her distorted heart grew sharp. Anger surged. The once hero, now rendered helpless alone, believed in that person so much, so why was he treating her so coldly? Beyond disappointment, she even felt betrayed.

“…Bastard.”

Grace ran out of the office, grinding out the word. On the way out, she hated the sight of the stupid face of Viscount Esteban leaning against the wall.

It was Johnny who stopped Grace as she headed to her office.

“Hey! If you leave like this, how are you going to face Alejandro?”

“Johnny Hamilton.”

“Huh, what?”

“Whose side are you on?”

It might be childish and foolish, but it couldn’t be helped. So Grace ended up saying something she shouldn’t have.

“Mine, or that hero who’s gone for a season!”

It was the moment Johnny’s face contorted.

“Our Viscount is not someone gone for a season!”

The absurd answer came from the end of the corridor. A small, young maid. The child’s face reddened as if she herself had been insulted, and she protested.

“He’s such a good person! They say he even saved the village I used to live in before!”

Bang-.

Leaving everything behind, Grace entered the deputy butler’s room alone and slumped against the door. The maid’s voice rang in her ears. Humiliation made her shudder.

If only the Viscount had tried to rise again sooner, she wouldn’t have taken this wrong path.

No, it would have been better if he had never reappeared, then she wouldn’t have had foolish thoughts or carelessly spoken about the hero.

Her thought process malfunctioned.

The target of her unfounded anger was not Alejandro, the maid, or Johnny. It was the Viscount who shattered her peaceful daily life.

Grace rose from her spot with a tear-stained face.

And with a trembling hand, she quickly wrote a letter. Her naive plan to take the black armor to the crown princess and return it right away was already ruined.

Having already lost, Grace now decided to truly go her separate way.

She couldn’t obtain the black armor, but a letter hoping that Rosa would be able to serve the imperial family at the royal festival immediately headed to the palace.

* * *

On a moonlit night. In the emperor’s office.

“Rosa at the festival?”

The emperor raised an eyebrow.

A look of surprise flickered across his stern face. It wasn’t just the emperor. The empress, who always looked at Brianna with awe, also had her eyes wide open.

The crown prince looked at Brianna with pride. Having gained the right to speak, Brianna reported with a bright smile.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I just received a letter from the deputy butler a moment ago. Now that I have this connection with Viscount Rosa, I intend to take this opportunity to properly teach etiquette to the Viscount who has yet to acquire noble mannerisms.”

The emperor let out a hearty laugh.

“I thought my crown princess was resourceful, but I didn’t know you had this much skill.”

Unlike his smiling mouth, the emperor’s eyes calmly looked at Brianna. His gaze assessing her abilities felt chillingly cold.

“But how did you know my intentions to do such an admirable thing without me expressing them?”

It meant how she knew when the emperor hadn’t even revealed his intentions. As expected, the empress’s eyes sharpened as if she understood.

Could she possibly have placed a spy in the solemn imperial palace? Inwardly scoffing, Brianna showed no sign of it.

Until she became the emperor’s most useful piece, her father advised her to prostrate herself completely, which Brianna perfectly understood in her first year at the palace.

So she looked at Claude with eyes full of love.

“Your Majesty. I told the princess about Viscount Rosa’s extravagance. It seems the princess spoke with the deputy butler separately after taking my words to heart.”

“The crown prince did?”

No matter how skillfully Claude acted, it seemed suspicious to the emperor’s eyes. Brianna extolled Claude with an innocent face.

“Wasn’t it you, Your Highness, who advised me on how to handle subordinates when I complained of a headache due to Lady Lancaster’s arrogant behavior?”

Only then did the emperor’s smile become amicable. The crown prince and princess’s conversation attributing credit to each other seemed quite pleasing to him.

Sighing in relief, Brianna nimbly checked that the empress’s expression was also fine. Then she swallowed a regretful sigh.

Grace Lancaster. She didn’t expect a response to come so quickly. Inciting that pathetic scoundrel Trevor Lancaster and attaching him by her side turned out to be a bit of a hasty decision.

Of course, that cowardly fool who was both stupid and timid only loitered near the guild and couldn’t do anything, so there was no way Grace would ever know that Brianna had a hand in it.

It was a bit disappointing not to obtain the black armor, but the letter pledging Rosa’s loyalty was an even greater gain.

She could easily pass off a fake black armor as the real thing. If rumors spread that it was obtained through Rosa at an underground auction, the nobles would all believe it.

More thrilling than obtaining the black armor was the fact that with the financial resources of Guild Rosa, the scale of the festival itself would change. Brianna narrowed her eyes, moistening her dry lips.

Crown Princess Brianna, receiving the loyalty of the prideful Rosa, unveils the greatest masquerade in history!

The faces of the nobles who would praise her under the perfect headline were vivid. If her father could perfectly secure the marquis title at the subsequent victory banquet, her position would become even more solid, and by the time she conceived an imperial heir…!

For a moment, a perfect fantasy unfolded before her eyes. It was a sparkling flowery path.

When she was four years old, entering the Esteban estate in winter. Her mother Helen solemnly vowed to make Brianna walk only on soft ground from then on.

In her childhood, she thought that soft ground meant the carpeted floors of the viscount’s residence. But now she knows.

These soft and cushy grounds that her mother made sure she never had sore feet on. The status of the family and the imperial family that always supported her every step. And a husband who loves her more than anyone.

A satisfied smile kept rising to her face, so Brianna cleared her throat with a ahem. That’s when it happened.

“The tributes and treasures that Guild Rosa will voluntarily offer in submission will once again demonstrate Your Majesty’s might. And that’s not all. With those tributes, we can make this 10th anniversary of the victory the greatest festival in history.”

Claude spoke fluently, uncharacteristic of his usual self.

The emperor stroked his chin, satisfied with his skillful packaging. Seeing his much more generous expression, Brianna knew this was the right moment.

The perfect timing to request holding the masquerade ball she was in charge of in the Diamond Hall, where the most important events of the imperial family were held.

“Your Majesty, I…”

“Therefore, I would like to make a proposal. How about we put the tournament at the forefront of this festival? Your Majesty.”

Claude’s confident voice drowned out Brianna’s. She was so shocked she almost choked for a moment.

Brianna hid her fluster and smiled. It was clearly Claude who established the rule that only those who went through the masquerade could participate in the tournament.

“But Your Highness, until now the qualification for tournament entry…”

“It’s the 10th anniversary festival of the victory, what do principles matter? The most important thing is to share the joy of victory with all the people.”

Brianna quickly scanned Claude’s face. His grinning face felt unfamiliar for the first time.

Meanwhile, the emperor narrowed his eyes and asked back.

“All the people, you say?”