TSTRP 16

Chapter 16

The person standing beside Empress Nina glanced at us as we approached, then leaned toward the Empress and spoke into her ear.

“Your Majesty, it seems these young ladies have come to pay their respects to you.”

“Hmm? Who is it this time?”

Before I could step forward, Alice suddenly moved ahead of me. She lifted the hem of her dress and bowed her head.

“It is an honor to meet Your Majesty, the beautiful Empress. I am Alice Albre of House Albre.”

“Alice Albre? Did I invite someone by that name?”

The Empress tilted her head as she waved an ornate fan embroidered with elaborate lace. As she tilted her head, all the decorations in her hair swayed along with it.

“I receive so many invitations that sometimes I fail to remember everyone. I suppose I invited you because you are such a pretty young lady. Well, enjoy yourself while you are here and leave when you wish.”

At that moment, the woman beside the Empress interjected.

“Your Majesty, if she is from House Albre, then that is the family of the new secretary to His Highness the First Prince.”

The woman was dressed so extravagantly that I had not realized it at first, but she appeared to be one of the Empress’s maids. She looked Alice up and down before narrowing her eyes.

“But that is strange. Lady Alice Albre looks quite different from the secretary I know. Could it be that the secretary has ignored Her Majesty’s invitation and sent someone else in her place?”

There was a sharp thorn hidden in the maid’s words, especially in the way she emphasized the word ignored.

See? This is why she shouldn’t have rushed forward!

There was nothing particularly wrong with a companion stepping forward to greet the host before the person who had actually received the invitation. But to a maid who enjoyed finding fault with others, Alice had practically handed her an excuse.

The Imperial Palace was full of all kinds of rigid, old-fashioned people. We had to be careful.

Just as Alice’s face began to turn pale under the increasingly hostile atmosphere, I hurried forward.

“I am Solana Albre, who recently became His Highness the First Prince’s secretary. This is my younger cousin, and she accompanied me here.”

“Hmm? You’re a secretary, not a maid?”

The Empress asked in genuine confusion.

Even for an Empress, that was an overly blunt thing to say to a secretary serving a member of the Imperial Family. Several people nearby immediately cleared their throats awkwardly.

As amusement began to appear in the gazes of the nobles watching me, the Empress’s maid stepped in again. She seemed extremely skilled at controlling the atmosphere in the palace.

“Perhaps Lady Albre has not yet been with the palace long enough to pay attention to her attire, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, I see. I failed to take that into consideration.”

“Secretary Albre, please take this seat today.”

The seat the maid indicated was three or four places away from the Empress. Under normal circumstances, it was already an unusually close position for an ordinary secretary, even if she had been invited.

I could have simply sat down and let the matter pass.

But I found myself feeling a little spiteful.

The Empress had admitted her mistake, but since she had publicly remarked that my clothing was indistinguishable from that of a maid, rumors would undoubtedly spread throughout the palace. And on top of the already unfavorable public opinion surrounding me, I would become the subject of further ridicule.

I can’t just let this go, can I?

At the same time, I couldn’t exactly say anything that would make an enemy of the Empress.

As I remained standing instead of taking my seat, both the Empress and her maid gradually began to show their displeasure.

Their expressions seemed to say, Surely she isn’t going to take offense over such a trivial mistake made by Her Majesty?

I spread out the skirt of my dress, making sure they could see every bit of it.

“Your Majesty, do you dislike my dress?”

“What do you mean by that?”

The Empress frowned and asked coldly.

“I specially acquired this dress so that I could meet Your Majesty today.”

“You deliberately wore such an outfit to meet me?”

The nobles around us covered their mouths, nervously watching the Empress’s reaction. The Empress’s maid glared at me with such a fierce expression that she looked ready to have me thrown out immediately.

Ignoring their gazes, I said as innocently as I could,

“Since I look so plain, perhaps that is why Your Majesty has taken an interest in me.”

“What?”

“If I had worn a splendid dress like everyone else, Your Majesty would not have paid any attention to me, would you?”

The Empress stared at me without saying anything.

Then, a moment later, a loud laugh rang through the garden.

“Ha ha ha!”

As though they were extras in a comedy show, the surrounding nobles immediately began laughing along with her.

“Hm. Now that I look at you again, you don’t seem so shabby after all.”

“Thank you for viewing my rudeness so favorably, Your Majesty.”

“Among all those extravagant dresses, a simple one does stand out instead…”

At that moment, a spark appeared in the Empress’s eyes.

“Perhaps something pleasant may come of you after all. Chief Maid, I think a simple dress would be best for the debutante ball this time.”

It was the moment the Empress, who was constantly competing with the Empress Consort over who could wear the more extravagant dress adorned with the most expensive jewels, discovered the modern fashion philosophy of simple is best.

“I was uncomfortable about holding the debutante ball at the Rose Palace, but now I feel much better.”

The Empress had once been captivated by the beauty of the Rose Palace and asked the Emperor to give the vacant palace to her. However, although the Emperor doted on her, he had coldly rejected her request, contrary to his usual attitude.

And now, the Empress Consort, who was hosting this year’s debutante ball, had deliberately chosen the Rose Palace as the venue.

The Empress seemed to believe that holding the debutante ball there was the Empress Consort’s way of mocking her.

Now that she had found a way to respond to the Empress Consort, her mood had improved considerably.

“Secretary Albre, don’t just stand there. Come sit beside me!”

One of the nobles sitting beside the Empress vacated her seat, and my position was immediately upgraded from three or four seats away from the Empress to right beside her.

As I moved to my new seat, Alice, who had been left standing alone, hurried forward.

Just because I had been given the seat beside the Empress didn’t mean Alice would receive the same treatment.

“Your Majesty, I am Alice Albre, and I live together with Secretary Albre. Although I was not invited, I am so delighted to have the honor of meeting Your Majesty at this magnificent gathering that I hardly know what to do with myself.”

“Hmm? Ah, that’s right. You said you came with your cousin.”

“Since Your Majesty is my idol, I couldn’t possibly come empty-handed, so I prepared a small gift.”

The small box Alice had been holding was passed through the hands of the maids around us until it reached the Empress.

When the Empress opened it, there was a small bottle of perfume inside.

When did she even prepare that?

Alice had produced a gift from somewhere without mentioning it to me once and handed it over to the maid.

It was probably a bribe prepared either by Alice, who dreamed of improving her social standing, or by my uncle, who wanted to get on the Empress’s good side.

After falling out with Viscount Montrache because of me, he was probably feeling desperate. There was no way he would let an opportunity like this pass him by.

“It is a perfume made from yohimbe wood that my father, Viscount Albre, specially brought in from the south.”

Every ship my uncle had invested in until then had failed to return from the sea, as though they had all been cursed. But not long ago, one ship had finally returned.

It had still operated at a loss, though.

Considering that he had squandered the considerable fortune our family had originally possessed after being swindled, he clearly had no talent for business.

I suppose I have to give him credit for one thing: his persistence.

No matter how many times he failed, his willingness to keep trying was certainly impressive.

“I was told it is good to spray it in the bedroom, so I brought it for Your Majesty. I heard that you have difficulty sleeping comfortably, so I hoped it might help you sleep peacefully.”

“Oh, thank you. How thoughtful of you. Chief Maid, please show Lady Albre to a seat.”

The Empress accepted Alice’s gift, but she did not specify where Alice should sit.

In other words, she didn’t care where Alice sat.

Alice shot me a resentful glance before heading toward a place where she would not attract attention.

Once everyone had taken their seats, the tea party officially began.

The colorful assortment of refreshments laid out on the table immediately caught my eye. There was a tiered cake that the Empress’s chef must have decorated with all their heart and soul, tarts piled high with berries and nuts, and adorable animal-shaped pastries that looked almost too cute to eat.

I thought this world simply didn’t have many snacks. Turns out they’ve just been keeping all of them inside the Imperial Palace.

For a moment, I felt the unfairness of the class system keenly. Then I turned my head and looked out at the scenery of the Empress’s garden.

There were two particularly unusual things about the garden.

One was the abundance of purple decorations, the Empress’s favorite color.

The other was the sheer number of statues.

Even around the pavilion where everyone was gathered, I could already see numerous sculptures.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, the Empress beside me spoke with a satisfied expression.

“They are statues given to me by the artists I sponsor.”

It made sense that an Empress with an interest in fashion and the arts would sponsor artists.

Among the sculptures, I pointed to an angel statue that particularly stood out. It seemed to have been here longer than the others.

“Is that baby angel statue one of them as well?”

“That one…”

The Empress gazed at the angel statue.

She paused for a moment, then smiled warmly in a way that was unlike her.

“Do you know what baby angel statues signify in the Imperial Palace?”

“I’ve seen them quite often, actually, but I never knew what they meant. I’ve always been curious.”

Aside from the places where the Emperor himself stayed, most of the palaces had baby angel statues.

I even remembered seeing one in the First Prince’s bedroom.

It had been such an adorable little angel that it seemed completely at odds with the personality of the First Prince.

“Baby angel statues are made as a prayer for the birth of a child. They say that the angel statue made for that purpose will continue protecting the child throughout the years as they grow. I personally commissioned that one when I was pregnant with Clara.”

Clara was the first child of Empress Nina—the Imperial Princess Clara.

“Since our princess grew up healthy, I suppose the angel statue really did work, don’t you think?”

Unlike the modern world, this was a time when the death of a child was not considered unusual.

Children dying young was so common that losing a sibling during childhood was hardly even worthy of a tragic story. For all one’s children to grow up healthy was therefore a remarkable blessing.

“That is thanks to Your Majesty’s love for the princess.”

I left the Empress laughing behind me and quietly reminisced about my own childhood.

There had been a baby angel statue at the Albre estate as well.

It was only a vague memory, but I remembered playing with a baby angel statue shaped much like that one when I was little.

Then the angel statue I used to play with as a child…

My parents had placed it there to pray for my happiness.

If I’d known, I would have taken better care of it.

Like my parents, the baby angel statue had now disappeared, and I had no idea where it was.

Knowing that I could never find it again left a bitter taste in my mouth.