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Across the colorful, wide hallway is a terrace for refreshments.
There will be beautifully arranged refreshment tables and Noctis royalty.
Entry, the crown prince.
Prince Omen, and Eurea, the Queen.
“Their Highnesses the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess have arrived.”
“Oh, please let them in.”
A crisp voice greeted us.
“Denver, it’s been a long time.”
“Greetings, Queen, how have you been?”
“My goodness, my dear, it’s good to see you all grown up.”
The Queen smiled a happy smile, like someone who was really happy to see us.
None of them believe that smile is real.
The effort is palpable.
“How are you, too, Grand Duchess? I was very worried about you that day because you didn’t look well.”
“I was just a little dizzy. Thank you for your concern.”
That was the end of their brief exchange.
As I walked inside, I saw the crown prince’s face.
His face has changed a lot since the banquet.
His eyes have dark circles, and he’s lost some weight.
“Greetings, Little Sun of the empire.”
“Please address me comfortably. Have a seat.”
His hand that guides me to my seat is skinny.
[Short-lived]
I wonder why.
Then I remembered the old woman’s words.
I remembered the sad look on the Grand Duke’s face at the dinner table.
“I don’t see Omen.”
“He’s still so uncaring. I wonder how time was not able to change that?”
Her watery hair fluttered with her movements.
I wonder if Prince Omen is not coming.
Is this a ploy to catch me off guard?
Or is he the kind of person who doesn’t want to be seen in public?
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Grand Duchess. The crown prince is not a good listener.”
“I’m fine, so don’t worry.”
It’s a seemingly harmonious scene.
The blunt Denver and the sweetly smiling Entry.
The Queen looks at them like a loving mother, even though they don’t share blood.
“You have a sweet tooth, so I’ve prepared a fruit tea, but I’m not sure if it will suit you.”
At the Queen’s gesture, a maid comes over and pours the tea.
I watch her carefully with my silver-gray eyes, but I don’t see much.
“Of course, but I don’t know if His Highness will enjoy the sweetness.”
He’s always enjoyed bitter black tea.
I glance over at the Grand Duke, whose face remains expressionless.
“You’re right, my sons have very different tastes than I do.”
“That’s to be expected, since it’s impossible for us to have the same taste.”
The Grand Duke, who had remained silent the entire time, spoke up.
Unlike the affectionate queen, he spoke sharply to the Queen.
“Denver, you’ve grown up, but you’re no different than when you were a child.”
As if such a remark couldn’t possibly make a dent to her, the Queen bursts into laughter.
The way she covered the corners of her mouth with her fan was almost graceful.
“To show your wife this…”
Really…….
Her red eyes were narrowed.
I feel like I’m walking on a thin rope.
Tuk
A tightrope I’m about to fall off if I let my guard down.
“If you don’t mind, I’d like you to stay for dinner. Is that okay, Grand Duchess?”
She asks, ignoring the tight-lipped Grand Duke.
“I would be honored, if it would not be a disturbance to Your Majesty.”
“Of course not, it feels good to have you here.”
The rest of our conversation was, to say the least, uneventful.
Favorite foods, what I do when I’m relaxing.
What kind of desserts we like, if we like to drink.
Not a single suspicious topic came up.
“I’ve been wondering about something the whole time, may I ask?”
The Queen asked me, smiling languidly.
“I heard you married our Denver because you were in love with him. What did you like about him?”
“…….”
There was a moment of silence.
I shouldn’t have done that.
She asked playfully, like a petulant child, but…
‘I know who you are.’
Her underlying meaning.
In a subtle war of words, silence means defeat.
I spoke up quickly, before she could get interested.
“His Excellency is a warm-hearted man.”
He spared my life even though he knew House Bevenia was involved in treason.
Even if it was to exploit my abilities.
“And he is a kind man who cares about others.”
He’s caring that he’d go out of his way to make sure I didn’t have to share his bed.
I shrugged at the Grand Duke, who glanced at me.
‘I’m not lying, you know?’
The corners of his mouth turn up.
“Your Majesty is very curious about everything.”
“Oh, Denver. Of course a mother would be curious.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince should be welcoming a Crown Princess, and you should mind your own business.”
The Grand Duke cut her off before she could ask more troubling questions.
The reason for not welcoming a crown princess is simple.
‘To avoid raising a force to support the crown prince.’
Entry says nothing, only a bitter smile.
“How stubborn Your Majesty is. I’ve tried to talk to his lordship, but each time he refuses, saying he’s too busy attending to his affairs.”
I have a lot of worries..
The crown prince’s face, which he had maintained with a small smile the entire time, twisted.
“I don’t think this is the place to talk about it.”
Uncomfortable seat, uncomfortable conversation, uncomfortable nerves.
Without even tasting the sweetness of the fruit tea, I asked the old lady what I had asked her to do before.
‘What do you see in the Queen?’
I asked her to reveal the identity of the god she worships.
[Hmph…….]
The old woman lets out a low moan and begins to examine her.
And then the moment,
The Queen’s face contorted into a grimace.
It was so quick that the others didn’t even notice.
“Queen, what’s wrong?”
I asked, deliberately not wanting to interrupt her work.
“The tea smells bitter.”
“…….”
“Make the tea again.”
The Queen makes an unnecessary excuse and resumes her usual leisurely pace.
“Forget the tea, the prince isn’t coming anyway, so why don’t we go for a meal?”
The Grand Duke stops the maid from serving the tea to avoid prolonging their uncomfortable seating.
“Hmph, I guess I’m the only one who wants to prolong this time.”
Foxy person.
I smiled at her stare, as if she was asking me to agree with her.
“He’s probably all over the place.”
It’s not easy for me to look at her pretentious face.
It wasn’t long before the old lady whispered to me in a light breeze.
[It’s a snake].
‘A snake?’
[He’s so picky about such a trivial subject].
Yes, somehow.
When I saw Omen, I kept thinking of a snake.
His one red eye felt so disgusting.
‘Why is he being picky, is it dangerous?’
[Such foul things are inherently dangerous, even if they are not to me.]
I was relieved to hear her giggling voice.
[Still, don’t let your guard down, little one. It’s not like you don’t know how to use your powers, is it?]
I know.
The old lady is a powerful god.
And the bowl that holds her is unstable.
“Shall we go eat then?”
The Queen smiled brightly and pushed herself up from her seat first.
I followed suit and spoke quietly to Leah.
“How are the bells?”
“M, madam……. The bell is strange.”
“Why? What’s going on.”
“It keeps trying to move on its own. I, I’ve been holding it tightly…….”
Ha, of course.
The snake was reacting to a disturbing foreign force.
“I’ll drop my knife in the middle of the meal. Can you put it on the end of my chair under the pretense of serving me?”
“Yes, yes, Madam, I’ll do that.”
I gently patted Leah’s shoulder as she whimpered in fear.
We said nothing as we walked through the vast hall.
The Grand Duke glanced down at me.
“Are you all right?”
And I simply nodded.
There was no part of the palace that wasn’t opulent.
Even the dining room we were now in.
“Please have a seat, we have many of the foods you mentioned as your favorite.”
“Thank you. This looks delicious.”
A marble table was set with sumptuous, fatty foods.
Wine, fruit, and all the trimmings were plentiful, and only then did we begin to eat.
We passed the time with small talk,
I dropped my knife, as I had promised Leah.
Tsang—!
A metallic sound echoed through the large hall.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Leah, can you get me a new one?”
“Yes, Madam.”
Nonchalantly. Naturally.
She smiles at me, and I give her the benefit of the doubt.
Leah walks slowly over, carrying a new knife from the kitchen.
“Your Ladyship is indeed a dainty lady, indeed, the one and only princess of the Duke of Bevenia.”
Ha, who is she kidding?
The one who tried to kill me for fear of revealing that she was the one who helped House Bevenia.
“You flatter me too much. I’m flattered that Your Highness would praise me so highly.”
“It’s unfortunate that your family did something unholy, but I’m glad the princess wasn’t caught in the middle of it, and I’m sure Denver is very grateful.”
I laughed as I watched the queen flip people inside out,
The bell makes a tinkling sound, small enough to be heard only by me, and is hidden behind the hem of my dress.
Between the chair and the dress, the bell jingles.
“Hmm?”
The Queen’s eyebrows lift once.
‘I must act nonchalant. Not avert my eyes, not hunch my shoulders.’
Her red eyes lock with mine.
“Grand Duchess……”
The Queen’s voice, sunken low, calls my name,
“If I had known this was going to be such fun, I wouldn’t have missed it.”
A frivolous, loud voice opens the dining room door and enters.
“Brother, I haven’t seen you since the banquet, how have you been?”
A snake slithers into the dining room,
Intruding into the dining room.