Chapter 92
“It’s not like that, Your Highness!”
One lady-in-waiting who couldn’t stand it stepped forward. The lady-in-waiting who had thrown the first stone turned to her with an offended face.
“What do you mean, it’s not like that? You heard it too when His Highness got scolded by Her Majesty the Empress!”
“Is that true?”
At Ephinia’s trembling voice, the ladies-in-waiting exchanged glances. Their expressions alone were answer enough. She felt displeased, but she didn’t know how to take this.
He hadn’t said it directly to her… and it had only been thoughtless talk before the marriage.
‘Why did I ask him to marry me?’
It was true she had felt some fondness toward Kasselard, but she hadn’t said it because she thought he would actually move like this. She had blurted it out thinking that if he refused her request, she would be able to put distance in her heart.
Ephinia’s chest turned cold at the thought that she might have made a huge mistake, but the ceremony had already been done, and she was his wife.
‘N-No. Don’t think like that. His Highness said he loves me…’
He was the one who had gone through with the marriage even at the risk of incurring His Majesty the Emperor’s anger. It had all been to grant Ephinia’s unreasonable demand.
“So? It seems you’re quite upset that someone like me, with black hair and eyes that aren’t blue, became the Crown Princess.”
Ephinia, whom they had expected would cry like she had at the ball that day, was unexpectedly composed. It wasn’t that she wasn’t hurt, but she also wasn’t so weak that she would waver in front of someone who wanted to see her crumble.
“That girl seems to be deeply heartbroken over my marriage, so let her rest from her work. Take her to the head maid, report truthfully what she did, and have her receive her punishment.”
There was a lady-in-waiting who had stepped forward and raised her voice, though Ephinia didn’t know if it was for her sake. When Ephinia picked that girl and said this, the face of the lady-in-waiting who had started the trouble went pale.
“B-Baroness…! It’s not like I did something wrong! There’s no need to go that far…”
“You don’t even know the imperial etiquette. …Go and confirm what punishment she receives, then come back and tell me.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The first lady-in-waiting gave a careful bow and grabbed the other. The other stared at Ephinia with a flustered face. She clicked her tongue and glared at Ephinia, but Ephinia stayed calm.
There was no guarantee that Helena Caneze was the only person like that in the world. People who suddenly butt in and pour malice on you even when you’ve done nothing can exist.
But she didn’t want to be shaken by that.
“Take her away. It’s not a face I want to keep looking at.”
“L-Let go of me!”
A few ladies-in-waiting who had been watching the situation hurried over and dragged her out. Ephinia looked at herself in the mirror with an expressionless face. She was still beautiful, and she didn’t look like someone who had been wounded.
For now, she thought, that was enough.
* * *
‘Those insolent bastards!! How dare they make me wait like this…!’
Jeremiah ground his teeth, fury rising to the top of his head. On the surface, they had come to secure a political marriage for peace between the two nations, but in truth, they had come to request military support.
More precisely, without even needing an army, they had come to bring Karnan’s Crown Prince, Kasselard de Rutinerus, back to their own country and make him fight.
If Ibella was an S-Class Guide, and her match rate with him was high, then that bastard would do anything to obtain her.
So using Kasselard to stop the massive rift that had opened in their homeland was their objective this time.
While coming to ask for help, they couldn’t exactly protest however they pleased.
‘Our sincerest apologies, Your Imperial Highness! Something happened at the North Gate, and we were trying to guard it before the delegation passed through, but… you appeared earlier than scheduled… so as we hurried to fix the gate, it took time!’
It was a ridiculous lie. The gate wasn’t open all day, and if they had intended to repair it, they could have done maintenance when there was no need to open and close it.
What reason was there to close the gate after confirming that a foreign delegation was approaching?
‘This is clearly the Karnan Empire deliberately trying to humiliate me!’
Jeremiah also knew well about the deep-rooted grudges between the Karnan and Nabel Empires. He had heard about it from people around him.
In his view, it was nothing more than the kind of accident that could commonly happen between a man and a woman, but Karnan seemed excessively obsessed with it.
‘Petty and reckless beyond measure. In matters between nations, you shouldn’t keep such a small thing in mind. The Emperor of this country has no qualities of an Emperor!’
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