STE 04

Chapter 04

No one was interested in the event Countess Troia had prepared.

At the Emperor’s gesture, the priest was practically dragged out of the hall, but even so, the topic that had swept through the banquet remained the center of attention.

Penelope could not regain the crowd’s attention.

For once, all the connections she had painstakingly cultivated by scattering enormous amounts of money were completely useless.

Grind.

Her delicate hand tightened around the fan as she ground her teeth.

She had gradually taken over the Empress’s vacant position and established herself as the queen of high society.

That was why she had thought that even if Tethys attended this birthday banquet, she would be able to officially put her in her place.

She had wanted to show everyone that the influence of Countess Penelope Troia would not be diminished simply because the doll-like Empress had returned.

‘An oracle? All of a sudden?’

Penelope’s flower-like face remained as calm as ever, but her heart was anything but.

The Emperor seemed unable to concentrate on her because the oracle had been announced at his birthday banquet, and this only made her more anxious.

She was afraid that, because of that ridiculous oracle, he might suddenly become interested in Tethys.

Fortunately, the two still did not appear to be making eye contact, and the atmosphere between them remained cold.

But relationships between men and women were dangerous precisely because one never knew when the flames might suddenly ignite.

“Your Majesty, it is time for the first dance.”

She had barely managed to use the time as an excuse to speak to him, but her heart was pounding nervously.

Penelope knew all too well the indifferent yet unpredictable side of Emperor Romain, who was reputed to be elegant and dignified.

If his mood had been ruined by the sudden oracle and he decided to retire without dancing, then the one who would be humiliated would not be the rude Emperor.

It would be the mistress who had been discarded the moment the legitimate wife returned.

“…Very well. Let us rise.”

Fortunately, Romain seemed to recognize the effort Penelope had put into organizing the banquet and personally overseeing the preparation and delivery of hundreds, even thousands, of invitations.

When his large hand was offered to her, Penelope smiled sweetly and placed her small hand upon it.

‘The first dance is mine.’

Normally, an Emperor would ask the Empress for the first dance.

But Penelope wanted to make it clear to Tethys that this was not an ordinary situation.

She wanted to see Tethys’s face twisted with misery.

Yet perhaps she was barely managing to control her expression, because Tethys merely stared blankly into the air.

Still, that arrogant-looking woman’s insides must be a complete mess, right?

What an annoying bitch.

Penelope gracefully dragged her heavy dress, which was studded with countless diamonds, onto the dance floor.

The performance of the Goldenbare Orchestra, which she had painstakingly hired, began.

Boom, cha-cha-cha. Boom, cha-cha-cha.

Penelope had even carefully selected a ballroom dance with a rhythm that would satisfy Romain’s demanding tastes while still being easy for her to dance to.

She had rehearsed with the Goldenbare Orchestra three times alone.

She knew her demands had been unusual, but perhaps because of that, their performance felt even more magnificent than that of any other orchestra she had hired before.

“You’ll come to me tonight, won’t you?”

As the Emperor and his mistress completed their first turn, young men and women began joining the dance floor from the next turn onward, holding hands and spinning gracefully around.

Taking advantage of the moment, Penelope asked in a seductive voice.

But Romain seemed so absorbed in his thoughts that he could neither concentrate on dancing with her nor even hear her question.

Annoyance surged through Penelope.

Grinding her teeth, she managed to add in a coy voice,

“The conditions in the provinces are still harsh. Her Majesty may have brought back some unfamiliar illness from afar without realizing it, Your Majesty.”

Only then did Romain look at her.

“Oh? Are you jealous?”

“Jealous?”

Penelope hurriedly replied as though the suggestion were absurd.

“I was merely worried about Your Majesty’s health! There are so many rumors that Her Majesty used to wander all over Armus at dawn, crying out. And the Agios region was also notorious for its frequent outbreaks of undetermined fever.”

Her hurried attempt to make excuses did not seem entirely unpleasant to him.

Romain liked things that were elegant and aristocratic, but there was a certain pleasure in watching a flattering woman become jealous.

His eyes briefly swept toward the seat where Tethys was sitting.

Unlike when he looked at Penelope, his gaze was cold.

“Tonight….”

Yet giving someone everything simply because they acted coy was not to his taste.

As the Emperor, no one had the authority to question whom he brought into his bedchamber.

Especially a greedy woman like this.

Give her one piece of candy, and next time she would make a fuss demanding two or three more—more than she could possibly eat.

Romain’s eyes narrowed for a moment before returning to normal.

“You must be tired from preparing the banquet. I will visit you sometime during the banquet.”

“Your Majesty…!”

There was still more she wanted to say, but the ballroom music ended at precisely the right moment.

And then—

“Duke Romaire has arrived!”

The tactless chamberlain’s announcement made even the attention focused on the Emperor and his mistress after their first dance disappear instantly.

“Duke Romaire?”

Even Romain no longer paid any attention to the woman who had just danced with him.

Everyone’s eyes turned toward the magnificent, enormous doors of the banquet hall, which opened smoothly and silently as though they had been perfectly oiled.

“Oh! He has come!”

“He is famous for never attending official events. What a surprise.”

The House of Romaire, one of the four founding families of the Empire, had declared independence from the Carnes Empire about forty years ago, along with the vast territories they had reclaimed through war.

As could be inferred from their name, their ancestors were the only ones among the four founding houses to originate not from the Carnes mainland but from the northern warrior tribes.

The territory once governed by the Duke of Romaire had therefore enjoyed a somewhat different culture from that of the Carnes Empire, making their eventual independence perhaps an inevitable course of events.

Yet even after becoming an independent duchy, they continued to serve Carnes as their sovereign according to an old agreement, taking pride in being the sword that protected the Empire.

A nation ruled by a remarkably close vassal.

Yet it was also a powerful country possessing territory comparable to that of the Empire, making it difficult to simply define their relationship as one between sovereign and subject.

And the ruler of that nation.

The current Duke of Romaire had no wife, and naturally, he was the most sought-after marriage prospect among the young ladies of the Empire.

That was why the people’s attention immediately shifted from the unremarkable and commonplace sight of the Emperor dancing his first dance with his mistress to the most popular bachelor of the moment.

Eventually, when Duke Romaire appeared beneath the bright lights of the banquet hall, one noblewoman murmured,

“He really is so imposing. The title of ‘the Empire’s guardian sword’ is certainly not an exaggeration.”

Just as she said, Duke Romaire was a formidable man whose tightly muscled body, broad shoulders, and towering height of nearly 190 centimeters were the first things that caught the eye.

But his face was every bit as impressive as his physique, making him an exceptionally handsome man.

His thick, midnight-black hair, tinged faintly with blue, was neatly swept back, revealing his dark eyebrows.

Beneath them, his deep eyes, resembling the depths of the sea, were quietly composed.

His appearance contrasted sharply with the elegant and polished men of the capital.

And precisely because of that, he was a genuine man who captured women’s attention even more strongly.

That was Duke Romaire.

“Every time I see him, he looks even more impressive. He’s rich, has such a wonderful physique, and he’s that handsome on top of it all.”

“What brought him here? I expected we might see an announcement that the Duchy of Romaire intended to become completely independent.”

After Romain ascended the throne, the attitude of the Duchy of Romaire had changed.

Those who knew there was a subtle power struggle between the Emperor and the Duke looked back and forth between the two men.

“Ah.”

The Duke seemed to realize only after fully entering the hall that he had arrived at rather unfortunate timing.

The gazes pouring toward him.

The music that had stopped.

The people still remaining on the dance floor…

“My apologies.”

He dipped his head slightly and stepped away from the path leading directly to the dance floor.

After a brief silence, the people who had just finished the first dance dispersed in perfect unison and came down from the floor.

The only people left on the dance floor were the Emperor and his mistress.

Perhaps because of the Duke’s appearance, Romain seemed somewhat displeased.

He soon escorted Penelope back toward the seat of honor.

But Tethys could not focus on Romain and Penelope as they returned.

‘He’s looking at me.’

The gaze fixed upon her was noticeably hotter than those of everyone else.

It was not difficult for Tethys to realize that the gaze belonged to Duke Romaire.

But she could not bring herself to raise her head and meet his eyes.

‘My brother’s closest friend….’

Eden Romaire.

Of all the problems Tethys had to face today, confronting him was the thing that frightened her the most.