Chapter 8

Dian's appearance made Duke Despoin furrow his brow, but he did not stop her. As Dian pushed through the crowd and stood before the Empress, the nobles' gazes became strange. Some of them covered their mouths with fans and whispered to each other.

"Look at her, relying on the Emperor's favor."

"Indeed. She doesn't realize how fragile that favor is, like a castle of sand. It's ridiculous to think beauty and love will last forever."

"How will Her Majesty the Empress react?"

"Who knows? She must be upset, having her first night taken by a concubine right after arriving."

"Well... Our Empress is beautiful, but... she seems a bit intimidating, doesn't she?"

"As a beautiful woman, Dian Poitiers is better."

The nobles were on no one's side. They just found the scene unbearably entertaining. Adel clicked her tongue inwardly at Dian, who was providing such an amusing spectacle. As the Empress and the Emperor's concubine stood facing each other, separated by a single step, the nobles' eyes sparkled. Even the orchestra, which had been playing music, quietly lowered their bows to observe the two. Dian took another step toward the Empress and slowly bent her knee in greeting.

"Hello, Your Majesty. I am Dian Poitiers."

She looked like a single lily. Adel slightly raised her head and smiled softly. Since everyone was watching her reaction, she carefully controlled her expression, even her eyebrows, and replied in a solemn voice.

"Pleased to meet you, Lady Poitiers."

"Did you enjoy the wedding and this banquet, which I prepared?"

It was a bold and sharp question. What would the Empress say about the banquet prepared by the Emperor's concubine? The nobles' eyes, filled with malice, turned to the Empress. However, the Empress did not respond. She just stared at Dian with a blank expression. Silence. People realized that silence could also be a response. A noblewoman, blinking her eyes, was startled by the sound of her own eyelashes clashing. The silence in the banquet hall was so profound that the sound of eyelashes could be heard. Then, the Empress suddenly smiled softly, which sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"You must have worked hard. Oh, don't be disappointed that you couldn't wear the dress I prepared for the banquet. I wanted to wear it, but it was much too small. I couldn't possibly fit into it."

Only then did the noblewomen realize the Empress was wearing a wedding dress. Dian clenched her teeth at the nobles' murmurs and said in a troubled tone.

"I prepared it according to the measurements sent from Gotrope... It seems the standards were different. I apologize for the inconvenience..."

At that moment,

"His Majesty the Emperor!"

The sudden announcement of the Emperor's arrival in the hall, where even the music had stopped, made the nobles turn their bodies in unison. There stood the Emperor, who had not shown his face until now, with a stern expression. The nobles stepped back to make a path for him, and Karl walked through them toward the throne. The Empress, as always, held the attention of the crowd. She was a woman who seemed to rule and dominate naturally, as if she wouldn't shed a drop of blood even if stabbed. On the other hand, Dian's tension eased at the sight of Karl. He was her savior, her only sun. The tears that welled up in her eyes were not intentional. As her delicate eyes collapsed, tears fell, and the Emperor frowned, stopping in front of her. He slowly looked back and forth between the Empress and Dian. Adel suddenly realized what he was thinking.

'Crying? Does he think I made her cry?!'

Just as she was about to let her frown deepen, the Emperor stepped in front of Dian, as if to protect her from the Empress. Lennox, hiding in the crowd, looked on with satisfaction, and the nobles' eyes widened and sparkled. Adel unconsciously curled one side of her lip into a smile.

"Your Majesty."

A delicate voice came from behind him.

'Well, this is new. Should I cry too?'

Instinctive anger and frustration surged through her peripheral nerves. From the wedding ceremony, the Emperor seemed determined to make the Empress a laughingstock. No one irritated Adel more than the Emperor, even more than Dian Poitiers.

"What are you doing?"

'That's what I want to ask.'

"I was just greeting her."

"What kind of greeting made her cry?"

In response to the Emperor's question, Adel suppressed her rising emotions and answered, but her voice naturally became sharper.

"I'm the one who's curious about why she's crying. She approached me and greeted me. If you're curious about why she greeted me, ask her."

At this, Karl turned to look at Dian. Her face was stained with fear and tears.

"I just... wanted to greet Her Majesty the Empress..."

The Emperor stared intently at Dian's face. It was a brief moment, but it felt like an eternity to Adel, who was watching. After a while, the Emperor turned his gaze to the Empress. If looks could kill, Adel would have suffocated to death. The two stared at each other, and the nobles, holding their breath, watched the sharp confrontation between the Emperor and Empress. The Emperor, like a predator eyeing its prey, slowly moved toward the Empress. His footsteps sounded unusually loud. Adel looked up at him as he approached. He stared down at her, then turned and sat in his seat. As the Emperor sat down, the orchestra, which had been waiting for a cue, began to play. The music started, and the nobles began to move, soon enveloping the banquet hall in a small commotion. The Emperor leaned back in his throne and raised the champagne glass offered by a servant. As he took a sip and formally looked around the hall, he casually said to the Empress, who had just taken her seat.

"Pay no attention to her."

Adel, who had been staring straight ahead, slowly turned her head at the sound of the Emperor's voice. The Emperor, looking at Dian, who was gazing at him with a pained expression from a corner of the hall, said.

"She is my lover. Pay no attention to her, I mean."

After finishing his words, the Emperor slowly turned to face the Empress. With a face devoid of any warmth, he added, as if driving the point home.

"I will also not pay attention to your lover. Understand?"

Adel's lips curled upward involuntarily. It was truly fortunate. When she was in a bad mood, laughter would burst out, a habit of hers.

"Could you also tell that to your lover? I've met her only twice, and both times she came to me. I don't really want to, you know."

The Emperor remained silent, taking a few sips of champagne, then turned his head without responding. Adel gave a dazzling smile to the nobles, who were watching her with great interest. The nobles murmured at the Empress's smile. At that moment, someone near Lionel whispered.

"Indeed, she doesn't lose her composure."

Lionel slowly nodded but thought to himself.

'Rather than not losing her composure, she's trying hard not to.'

The Empress was not showing the carefree and light smile she had when riding a horse but a weighty smile of a person in power. ＊ ＊ ＊ Adel returned to her palace at an appropriate time. Dismissing all the maids, she roughly took off her dress and threw it into a corner.

"Phew..."

She took a deep breath, but the boiling feeling in her chest did not subside. Her eyes, visible through her disheveled hair, were fierce. The tingling sensation running through her peripheral nerves made Adel clench her fists tightly. In the sealed, windless space, the Empress's black hair began to dance in the air like waves. The candles illuminating the dark room flickered, and the window rattled. The dress she couldn't wear, the subtle mockery.

"Dian Poitiers."

As the delicate and frail woman came to mind, Adel laughed and covered her eyes with her hand. After a long, eerie laugh, Adel got up and poured herself a drink. As the amber liquid filled the glass, she drank it in one gulp. It felt like she had swallowed fire, but compared to the lava-like turmoil in her chest, it was nothing.

"Fine. Let's say Dian Poitiers is like that."

What was more infuriating and incomprehensible was Karl Ulrich.

"If he loves her so much, he should have made Dian Poitiers the Empress. Why bring in a random person and do such a thing? Is he fantasizing about some tragic romance? A prince on a white horse saving a woman in distress? Is he a pervert?"

Adel muttered with a fierce expression. If she had a nanny, she would have vented her anger by talking. In the end, Adel drank two more glasses of the notorious Echmont moonshine, and the world began to spin. Despite this, she carefully removed the royal treasure, the golden crown, and placed it aside before taking off her shoes and crawling into bed. The beautiful ceiling spun around.

"What? You're going to recognize my lover too? Unbelievable. You're so fair. Love? Love, what is it?"

Adel's face was filled with genuine mockery. Love. What is love, really?

"Adelaide. Think. ...Think."

'For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.'

It was a saying she had always taken for granted because she had always had much.

'Always act as if you have everything. Even if the day comes when you have nothing in your hands, keep your head up and your eyes wide open. Wear your composure like a cloak. When you have nothing, don't be humble. People can sense it like a sixth sense.'

Adelaide, repeating her late father's words, opened her eyes fiercely. ＊ ＊ ＊ There is a saying that one "tests the waters" when entering a new group. Anyone entering a new group would naturally try to understand its culture and ecosystem. Adelaide had planned to do the same. Even as the princess of Gotrope, Echmont was a completely different world, so she intended to stay quiet for at least half a year to a year. But after yesterday, Adelaide abandoned that plan.

"Who is the current Chief Steward of the palace?"

"Excuse me?"

"Chief Steward. I heard it's referred to by that term."

"The position of Chief Steward is currently vacant."

"Vacant?"

"Yes."

"Even so, there must have been a deputy. ...Was Lady Dian Poitiers the deputy?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Then who was the Chief Steward before her?"

When the maids only exchanged glances without giving a proper answer, Adel smiled and leaned toward them.

"Do you think I'm asking about something I don't know?"

"Hanna Gix, Countess."

At the immediate answer, Adel nodded and said,

"Bring her here now. Tell her I wish to meet her formally."

The maids' faces turned pale at this. After all, it was Dian Poitiers, with the Emperor's backing, who had dismissed Hanna Gix. However, the Empress did not revoke her order, and they had no choice but to send someone to the Gix family. The Empress continued to give orders without hesitation, like a bull charging forward.

"Bring the Code of Palace Law. The latest edition."

＊ ＊ ＊

A little while later. Adel, while reading the Code of Palace Law, flipped through the Emperor's chronology. The chronology in the front of the code was filled with laws that had been revised or enacted at the time, and one person had revised and enacted so many laws that they occupied an entire page.

"Who is this person who had such a dogfight, anyway?"

The law concerning the management of the Echmont palace was called a "patchwork law" because the Emperor and Empress, who had a bad relationship in the past, repeatedly fought over the authority to manage the palace. For example, the Empress had the authority to make personnel appointments, but the Emperor had to approve dismissals. The Empress had the authority to approve matters related to palace residence. The items were so detailed that there was even a clause stating that the Emperor had the right to choose the wallpaper for the palace he resided in. The previous Empress, upon reading the relevant documents, had reportedly said, "Fights have their limits, what a nuisance!" and become angry. Given this situation, most of the authority was arranged to be held by the Empress, as successive Emperors delegated their internal palace approval rights to the Empress.

"The current Emperor has delegated his authority not to me, but to Dian Poitiers."

Adel muttered sarcastically, clicked her tongue, and flipped back to the page she was reading.

"At least the Empress's inherent authority is granted upon appointment, which is fortunate."

The Empress had countless responsibilities. It was practically impossible to handle everything alone, so successive Empresses appointed confidants as Chief Stewards to manage the palace efficiently. The Hanna Gix, whom Adel had summoned, was the Chief Steward appointed by the previous Empress. A little while later, a maid opened the door and announced a visitor. Adel naturally assumed it would be Hanna Gix, but the visitor was someone unexpected.