Chapter 32
III.
It was a spectacle.
A young widow, stripped of her title, bold enough to ride through the capital with the Grand Duke’s knights around her.
Rumors had started swirling about a month after the Viscount lost his life.
Word had spread that knights from the Grand Duke’s household had begun coming and going from the Derise estate.
People said they came and went several times a day. Stories flew that the young widow was shamelessly chasing men.
There was disappointment too, that the Grand Duke’s knights were stooping to fool around with a widow.
But then accountants and lawyers from the Grand Duke’s household joined the knights, and eyes began to fix on Evina’s estate.
The tide turned completely when nobles and merchant houses, owed money by the late Viscount Derise, started receiving demand letters stamped with the Grand Duke’s seal.
Now the rumors said the young widow wasn’t rolling around with the Grand Duke’s knights. She was rolling around with the Grand Duke himself.
After that, the hard stares and mockery aimed at Evina disappeared without a trace.
No one in the Empire dared question or laugh at anything Xenobius did. Not even the Emperor.
Entering the Imperial Palace was just as absurd.
Evina, with no title, had worried a little. Whether she would even be let in as Viscount Derise’s widow.
She passed through the palace gates with ridiculous ease.
“Lady Evina Siollier, summoned by His Majesty the Emperor.”
All by the grace of the Grand Duke’s knights guarding the front and rear of her carriage.
The carriage rolled through without a hitch, and now, absurd as it was, she was riding along the Imperial Way. A road she had never dared set foot on as a mere viscountess.
She bypassed the long line of carriages and rode down a road meant only for the imperial family, the Grand Duke, and a select few granted the Emperor’s permission, and arrived at the Imperial Palace.
Escorted by the knight commander, she stepped out and drew the stares of every noble gathered near the palace.
“That woman…”
“Isn’t that the knight commander?”
“Heh.”
“Then the interest His Grace showed at the New Year’s gathering…”
“Shh.”
Ignoring the murmurs, Evina lowered her veil and walked slowly forward, the knight commander still at her side.
It was a presence Viscount Derise could never have commanded.
When she entered the banquet hall, the chatter of nobles gathered in small groups stopped cold.
A heavy silence settled.
She walked through the quiet and the curious stares and stood in a corner, suitably remote.
She could feel countless gazes piercing through her veil.
Mockery. Anger. Curiosity. A widow who had lost her husband not even half a year ago, already attending a banquet after catching the eye of the Grand Duke himself. She felt all of it.
Evina straightened her shoulders.
She had never lived a single day with confidence, but she knew, deep in her bones, there was no need to shrink anymore.
The hall filled with nobles, and soon the Emperor’s master of ceremonies appeared.
“The illuminating sun of the Empire! His Majesty Emperor Albrecht Theo Impetraz and Her Majesty Empress Elinore Lossa Impetraz!”
The Emperor and Empress entered.
“It is a joy to see you all again on such an occasion after the New Year’s gathering. I thank you for coming to celebrate the glorious return of the Empire’s sword, Grand Duke Xenobius Impetraz, and the monster subjugation force. Please, enjoy the Grand Duke’s victory and the Empire’s safety.”
As the Emperor’s words ended, thunderous applause broke out.
Then Xenobius and the subjugation force appeared at the end of the corridor. Every noble in the hall began clapping with fervor.
The hall rumbled with each step Xenobius and his knights took.
It was a sight both overwhelming and commanding.
The Grand Duke’s banner flew high and bold, even here, inside the Imperial Palace.
Step by step, they drew closer, until finally they entered the banquet hall.
“Long live the Imperial House of Impetraz!”
“Long live!”
“Long live His Grace the Grand Duke!”
“Long live!”
Amid the grand sound of trombones, everyone raised their voices in cheers.
Evina clapped halfheartedly and watched the scene with indifference.
“…!”
Her eyes met Xenobius’s for a brief moment as he passed by her. The man wore a slanted smile at the corner of his lips.
Striding forward, Xenobius stopped beneath the dais.
“Halt.”
At his low voice, the applause subsided.
“All hands, halt!”
“Halt!”
Thud. Thud.
Silence fell with the final strike of the knights’ boots against the marble floor.
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