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Chapter 3
The woman said and wore a new style that was the same as Vainas’ own clothing.
There was only one woman in the kingdom who could wear purple at the banquet with such decorations.
The wife of Vainas, Queen of the Dirhan Kingdom, and the one the maid of honor, Larisa, should serve.
It was Arnoah Sarrien de Dirhan.
“Did she?”
In the ears of Vainas, who was tilting his head, shaking his beautiful dark blond hair, his mistress Larisa whispered with her red-painted lips.
“Oh, Your Highness asked you to hold a glass of wine and wait for it. He’s going to dance with me for the first time.”
Vainas slowly lowered his gaze and looked at the two glasses in Arnoah’s hand and the transparent wine in them.
One belonged to himself and the other to Larisa.
Her queen, who was standing in the middle of the banquet hall with two glasses like a maid, was seen by everyone and felt ashamed.
His eyes shone satisfactorily as he looked at Arnoah.
“Oh… yes, I forgot.”
When Vainas answered as if it was a minor matter, Arnoah frowned at the moment.
“I didn’t expect you to wait with two glasses like a sitting mat. What a frustratingly inflexible woman.”
Larisa burst into laughter when Vainas spouted such a trivial thing.
Neither Vainas nor Larisa in his arms approached Arnoah for the glass of wine.
Arnoah still could not rest her arms with glasses in both hands.
Curios and sympathetic eyes around her were burning.
“But what do I do?”
Vainas was in a state of no hurry. He saw the tray of his servant next to him that had red liquor and ice.
He picked up two glasses and handed one to Larisa.
“After the dance break…”
He peeked at Arnoah and said coldly.
Larisa said, smirking at Arnoah.
“What a shame. Don’t you know yet, Her Majesty? Vai… His Majesty hates drinking lukewarm drinks in the summer since childhood.”
Larisa, who was the lover of Vainas before Arnoah came to Dirhan, spoke proudly of their relationship.
The daughter of Dirhan’s ambitious Count Estea, she was the first lover and mistress of Vainas. Shortly after Arnoah and Vainas married, he made Larisa the chief maid of honor.
It was a justification to keep his lover close.
Larisa’s dare to call his name in the middle was probably not a mistake, but a demonstration of the fact that the two were close in private.
“Just drink what’s in there. I think it’s the prize you’ve been waiting for.”
Arnoah’s lips trembled slightly, and at the same time, Larisa covered her mouth with her hands, making a mouth shape of ‘Oh my!’
Vainas grinned as he pulled Larisa’s waist closer.
The nobles of the banquet hall each gulped their dry saliva and watched the King and his wife talk.
What did the King say? Did he command the Queen to drink and clean up the leftover wine mixed with his and her mistress’ saliva?
It was an eye-catching sight for spectators, which was sad but interesting at the same time.
She had forgotten for a moment to please the King, but his behavior toward the Queen went too far.
From holding a banquet with the government to celebrate the anniversary, it seemed insufficient to force the Queen to be invited and blatantly ignored.
“…it’s all right.”
Arnoah breathed deeply and handed the glass to the servant next to him. Her eyes met Vainas for a moment.
Unlike Vainas, who slightly raised the corners of his mouth, Arnoah’s face was stiff.
“I’m not feeling well, so I’ll go in and rest.”
“That’s too bad. Larisa wanted to enjoy our happy day with you.”
In line with Vainas’ words, Larisa looked sad.
“Why don’t you stay longer, Your Majesty? It’s okay for me and the queen to stay here.”
However, unlike her facial expressions and words, she was heading to the top seat of the banquet hall, which should only be allowed to the Queen.
Before Arnoah left, Larisa sat with her hips attached to the seat as if it were only natural.
And Arnoah’s utensils, which were placed in front of her, were removed from the side.
The golden chair right next to the King’s chair was Larisa’s.
It was decorated with her favorite female green cloth.
The cloth was embroidered with Larisa’s initials.
In fact, it was her who used the chair more often than the Queen.
It was an incredible thing. It would not be strange if Arnoah pulled Larisa out of the palace right now.
However, Arnoah remained silent as always.
As always, she greeted quietly, hiding all her anger. Then she opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
Thud, thud.
Arnoah’s footsteps rang in the empty hallway.
Her expression was calm, but her forehead which had just been frowning was not straightened.
“Oh, you idiot.”
Arnoah spouted softly.
Vainas would have seen her frown.
Perhaps he filled his petty pride with this unpleasant face.
“What a stupid marriage this is.” She said it again. There was no one to listen to in the hallway anyway.
It has been known since the first day of marriage, two years ago, that Vainas is a fool.
From the moment the maids left the wedding room, Vainas got out of bed and visited Larisa.
“It’s not much different when you took off my great position. High, medium, and low.”
His personality was also revealed the next morning when he made up a story and threw it to his friends as gossip.
Nevertheless, Arnoah waited as he was mentally immature, he might have grown up too late.
The idea was that if that happened, they could have continued to live a common political marriage where they were indifferent to each other and had good manners.
However, the situation had not improved. On the contrary, it only got worse.
‘I’ll leave the royal household to Larisa as before. If you need money, tell her where you are and get approval.’
This was what Vainas had said during their second meeting after their marriage.
“Your etiquette from the Empire is different from that of Dirhan. Countess Estea knows this field, so learn from her.”
A month after their marriage, Vainas gave Arnoah an unwelcome greeting with etiquette.
Countess Estea was the mother of Larisa.
She carried out her new job with great pleasure.
The Queen’s teacher, what an honor.
It seemed to have been a fun hobby for a middle-aged woman who was bored.
Especially in the situation where her daughter coveted the position of queen.
‘I am wondering how great it is to be a dame, and you can’t even remember all the 100 people finely?’
She used all sorts of means to break the pride of her empire. There were cases of corporal punishment that could only be used on children.
She often set up her daughter instead of Arnoah where she was supposed to be.
‘Learn from Larisa. His Majesty likes her because she’s so good at it.’
Half a year later, Vainas pushed Arnoah hard and knocked her down in public.
‘You stepped on the skirt and Larisa’s reeling! What would you have done if she fell?’
It happened in front of dozens of nobles.
Arnoah was not so shocked.
This is because it was not such a bad life compared to the cold treatment she received from her older brother, Emperor Luciano.
“Sigh…”
Arnoah, who was walking in the hallway, sighed deeply.
‘I didn’t do anything bad, but why do all the powerful people hate me?’
She recalled Luciano, the Emperor and her half-brother.
He hated her from the moment she was born.
It may be due to her originally sensitive personality, but the main reason seemed to be her maternal lineage, which was stronger than his.
Arnoah is the daughter of Empress Anastasia, who once served as the matriarch of Duke Rickel and stayed on her mother’s side.
Though trying to live discreetly, Luciano captured the throne as soon as her mother died and locked her in a small tower in the Palace.
Look, this is my Palace and my Empire.
On her first day at the tower, he dragged Arnoah roughly to the top of the tower and pushed her to the end of the wall while holding her arm. Half of Arnoah’s body hung in the air.
‘As the master of the continent, I own your life. Don’t forget that, Arnoah.’
The wall, which was similar to Arnoah but seemed more devastated for some reason, flashed violently.
“Don’t be so mean. No, don’t even look at the throne. Remember today when you think like that. Remember yourself that has no power, you’ll fall when I let go of your arm.”
For a short time, the ever-so-weak Emperor said, “Vainas has come to live coolly that he can’t even keep up with his own toes.”
He spewed on with her body hanging from the tower.
He married Arnoah to King Dirhan as soon as she was eighteen.
It was not because of the expectation that he would make his sister happy.
It was just a reward for a dog that didn’t get on his nerves and listened well. In fact, the first King of Dirhan was a servant of the Empire.
Thanks to this, Vainas had a large dowry and received control of other nearby areas.
He wanted to build his pride in front of the small countries.
‘But I did feel hopeful until the beginning of the marriage.’
Arnoah, who was lost in reminiscence, sighed again.
Although she suffered some humiliation, she was relatively free in the Dirhan kingdom.
Wasn’t her meal better than the one she had at the tower?
‘If you’re going to cheat, you’re going to be burned. He has a face I see every other day anyway, and it’s a small insult for me.’
I’ve been married for about a year, thinking…
“What do you think? Do I look good?”
On that day, Larisa raised her chin in front of Arnoah and boasted of her new tiara. Arnoah felt like murdering her for the first time.
The finely crafted black diamond, embedded in a coffin, was a relic of Empress Anastasia.
The jewel was so precious that it was known to the society that the Empress received it as a gift from the Emperor, Arnoah’s father, when she was young.
It was part of Arnoah’s dowry.
Was it around that time that I started imagining drinking with Vainas, who was building cynicism while holding Larisa’s hand? It was fear that came after anger.
It was because Count Estea, Larisa’s father, who was determined that his daughter might become Queen, attempted to assassinate Arnoah several times since that day.
Poisoning her food, items suddenly flying in, and sprinkling something onto the window up to her bedroom, Arnoah barely saved her life every time.
Vainas, who had no reason to come to her bedroom, was aware of this but did not take any action.
Oh, I see.
Now, it is all just a routine.
Vainas was horribly tormented by Arnoah, and the Count sought her life once or twice a month.
“I can’t do this anymore.”
After finishing the hallway, she opened her bedroom door with a low murmur.
Flung.
The cold and heavy door closed behind her back.
“Phew…”
Arnoah sighed deeply and looked up. It was such a tiring day.
Now she put the firewood in the fireplace and plopped to sleep on the big, fluffy bed…
“…huh?”
Her deep blue eyes slowly grew when she looked at her bed.
“What’s that……?”
She spat out a few words between her trembling lips.
On the bed, something big was huddling.
Snoozing in her bed with a low snoring breath was none other than that.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.”
It was a leopard as white as snow.