Chapter 58

* * *

Ujis was in a very pleasant mood for the first time in a long while.

"To think that the one who made me happy was none other than Lady Squire. Life is full of surprises."

The somewhat early dinner ended, and Terese left the palace.

Keeping an unmarried noble lady until evening was a burden even for Ujis, who acted like a tyrant.

The dinner was a reward, but any time beyond that was only allowed for lovers.

Ujis was not a romantic person, and loving the daughter of a family he despised would be impossible.

However, it was a fact that Terese had made him happy today.

Jeffrey, who was handing the emperor his coat, smiled and said,

"It seems you found today's meeting satisfying, Your Majesty."

"Her manners haven't improved. They were still as difficult to bear as ever, constantly irritating me to the point where I almost strangled her."

"Yet you still liked her."

"Yes. Seeing her in person, I could clearly see it. Her manners are the same, but a lot has changed."

Ujis deliberately opened the door silently in the reception room to greet the lady.

Noble ladies like Terese often make big mistakes when given such special treatment, feeling overly confident.

So he had intended to induce a mistake, but the moment he opened the door and saw Terese's clean face, he knew his plan had failed.

"At first, I thought she was someone else."

Terese is beautiful, but her appearance was so unremarkable that he hadn't really noticed it until now.

But today was different.

Her moist, silver-gray eyes were like transparent glass, and looking at them seemed to suppress even chronic anxiety.

Jeffrey also deeply agreed with the emperor as he recalled Terese.

"When I escorted her to the Sun Palace, I also felt that she had changed a lot."

He told the emperor about how Terese had immediately recognized the location upon arriving at the Sun Palace.

"Is that so?"

Ujis chuckled and poured himself a drink from a crystal glass.

Feeling good, he chose a rich and smooth wine instead of his usual strong drink.

He didn't want anything to dampen his mood.

Jeffrey, helping him change, asked casually,

"Wasn't she a demon contractor?"

They had suspected that Terese's sudden abnormal abilities might have come from a contract with a demon.

Ujis shook his head.

"Not at all."

The direct royal family had a special ability.

They could recognize non-human entities.

Those with weaker royal blood could only faintly sense malevolent energy, but the emperor could see their true nature clearly.

"The foggy feeling I get when I see Ilya Bernstein and Clyde Willow was different. Instead, everything was clear, but I just lacked the insight to understand her true nature."

Ujis took a sip of wine and frowned.

He recalled how Terese, who had acted so foolishly, had suddenly exuded a star-like, mesmerizing gaze and spoke to him with an overwhelming presence.

He had been momentarily overwhelmed by the aura she emitted.

"It was an uncomfortably friendly feeling."

When he told her to take a servant, Terese was clearly angry.

She despised, feared, resented, and was disappointed in him.

Yet she emitted a gentle aura that enveloped him.

What was that aura?

"I don't know what kind of variable Lady Terese will be in the future. Tell Gordon to keep a close eye on her."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And."

Ujis put down his glass and smiled mischievously.

"Send a generous gift to the lady who pleased me today."

* * *

The next day.

"Ah, Miss. You should come outside...!"

To get to school from the duke's mansion, we had to prepare early in the morning.

Feeling unwell from the medication given by my doctor due to the aftereffects of the previous day, I felt a strange sense of unease from the maid's fuss and went downstairs.

"......What is all this?"

In the early morning, a long procession of palace-uniformed knights and handsome male courtiers was entering the duke's mansion.

The open carriages, as numerous as the people, were filled with all sorts of precious items, drawing a crowd of onlookers outside the mansion.

It required mobilizing all the servants to organize the items.

Raoul approached me with a clearly perplexed expression.

"All of this was sent by His Majesty the Emperor."

The gifts were all extremely precious.

"Goodness, how could he send such exquisite silk embroidery?"

"What about this golden angel statue!"

Even the retainers of the duke's family, who usually wouldn't bat an eye at anything, were all wide-eyed.

Ding!

[The seat 'Ropan Poisoned Lady' has donated 10,000 coins.]

[To send gifts the morning after spending more than half a day with a lady is quite meaningful.]

Everyone, including Raoul, looked at me.

"What exactly happened at the Sun Palace yesterday? Could you have received a proposal?"

"No, absolutely not."

I firmly denied it.

People looked even more puzzled.

I understood. The situation could only be interpreted as the emperor falling for me and launching a gift campaign.

Raoul left the decision on how to handle the emperor's gifts entirely to me.

"You can return them or use them all yourself. I'll take responsibility."

"...Yes. For now, could Father manage all of this? I'll think about how to handle it."

"Sure."

As I sighed with a pained expression, Raoul clicked his tongue and said,

"Whether it's true or not, the rumor that you might become empress is hard to avoid."

Ah. I don't want to go to school.