Chapter 96 - North Korean rabbit

Episode 96

About a week after the banquet.

Arpad and I were sitting on pins and needles.

No. A sidelong glance revealed that even in this situation, Arpad wore a perfectly serene expression. It seemed I was the only one on pins and needles.

This was because Grand Duchess Axion was standing and personally brewing tea.

The ladies-in-waiting beside us shifted uncomfortably, stepping forward.

"Your Grace, Grand Duchess. Please allow me to..."

"That's right, Grandaunt. Please leave it to me."

"No. I am, after all, the Head Lady-in-Waiting. I should do it."

The teapot looked far too heavy for the elderly woman to lift herself.

Yet, with a stubborn, unyielding attitude, the Grand Duchess was personally brewing the tea and pouring it for Arpad and me.

"......"

"......"

It was uncomfortable to be served by someone of my grandparents' generation.

'The Confucianist inside me... is trying to leap to its feet!'

With superhuman patience, I resisted the urge to snatch the tea whisk from the Grand Duchess's hand.

Perhaps, if it were just me, Arpad, and our close attendants, I might have done so.

But not now.

"My heavens, for Her Grace the Grand Duchess to personally brew tea..."

"It's not just for show; she is truly assisting Her Highness the Crown Princess."

Astonishment flickered across the faces of the noble ladies attending the audience.

They already seemed surprised enough that I had appeared at the audience alongside Arpad.

'They say the Crown Prince dotes on her terribly, and it's true!'

Such reactions.

And now, with the addition of the impeccable service from my temporary Head Lady-in-Waiting, the Grand Duchess, my status had practically pierced the heavens.

It was a stark contrast in many ways to the Empress's Palace, which had become almost deserted since the confinement order.

The honored guests (as they themselves put it) invited to my first audience had the further honor of receiving tea personally brewed by a Grand Duchess.

Of course, the Grand Duchess did not personally pour and carry the teacups for everyone.

She did that only for Arpad and me.

The tea she brewed was carried to the audience attendees by the ladies-in-waiting.

Even that alone created an atmosphere of awe.

Everyone repeated their praises and flattery of me until their mouths ran dry.

"To have the honor of seeing Your Highness in person like this is an infinite glory."

"And to see His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Grace the Grand Duchess together as well. I am truly fortunate."

"This must all be because His Highness the Crown Prince cherishes Your Highness so dearly."

"Is that all? I heard His Majesty the Emperor told you to call him 'Abamama'?"

"That's right. I heard it directly myself."

Everyone was rubbing their hands together as if shooing away flies.

"Now that Your Highness is overseeing the internal affairs, the Imperial Palace will shine even more brilliantly."

"Indeed. To be honest, the social scene in the capital has been rather subdued until now, hasn't it?"

The sheer audacity of these people, who had been fawning over the Empress and Evangeline—the queens of that very subdued sphere until now—was remarkable.

It seemed shameless, but for me, it was not unwelcome.

Because this current audience was the signal flare for me to formally seize control of the social sphere.

* * *

Fortunately, the first audience ended successfully.

Immediately afterward, Arpad, who was heading to the Crown Prince's Palace to attend to his duties, encountered an unexpected face.

It was his maternal grandmother.

"Might you spare a moment, Your Highness the Crown Prince?"

"...Very well."

Though it was puzzling why she would seek a separate conversation after they had just seen each other at the audience, Arpad dismissed the others and spoke with his grandmother in a corner of the garden.

Thinking about it, this was the first time he had spoken with his maternal grandmother alone.

'She didn't visit much even when Mother was alive.'

He had no memory of being doted on by his grandmother even as a young child.

Because of that, the conversation between grandmother and grandson was exceedingly stiff.

"No matter how I think of it, I am the only one who can say this, which is why I followed you out, Your Highness."

"There is no need to draw out your words."

A statement meaning, 'I'm busy, so let's make it quick.'

Grand Duchess Axion looked at her grandson with a cold expression.

It was a situation where, had Hilia seen it, she would have clapped her hands, saying their expressions were exactly alike. Though the two were unaware of it.

"It seems Her Highness the Crown Princess has inherited most of the late Empress's treasures."

Arpad's brow furrowed.

Surely, she wasn't going to make an issue of that?

"It is only natural for a daughter-in-law to inherit her mother-in-law's jewels."

His voice involuntarily took on a thorny edge.

Grand Duchess Axion was not trying to criticize that.

"You did well. They passed into good hands."

"...?"

It was fortunate the Grand Duchess wasn't making an issue of it, but he wondered if this was something worth calling him aside to discuss.

The words that followed struck Arpad like a blow to the back of his head.

"However, I noticed there are hardly any new jewels or accessories to be seen."

"...!"

Arpad thought, *Oh no.*

Of course, Hilia already held the budgetary authority of the Crown Prince's Palace. Having even obtained the Platinum Key, there was no way she lacked funds.

She had sufficiently acquired the necessary accessories and dresses.

But.

'I haven't given her any gifts myself!'

It was a shocking realization, like a bolt of lightning.

'Wait, now that I think of it... did I... ever give her a betrothal gift?'

Of course not.

No, rather, it was Arpad who had received a jewel.

Agrippina's Tear.

Though it was actually an advance payment for a commission, in Arpad's mind, it had already transformed into a betrothal gift.

Due to the marriage of abduction, they hadn't even held a proper wedding ceremony.

The only thing that could be considered properly held was the banquet at Artanus Hall.

In the end, he had given his wife nothing proper—not a proposal, not a wedding, not even a banquet.

Arpad's expression began to grow serious.

* * *

The Kemel Atelier was, as ever today, bursting at the seams with people.

Melissa Kemel looked with a satisfied expression at the shop bustling with customers and the employees moving busily.

'It's already been ten days since the banquet ended. Since the Crown Princess has said nothing all this time, she must be letting it pass.'

If she had intended to crush them, she would have done so already.

'Well, we were just powerless and did as we were told.'

Therefore, the Crown Princess's hatred and enmity would be directed solely at Evangeline.

While Melissa was feeling relieved, her daughter whispered beside her.

"The effect of giving that substantial bribe must be showing, I suppose."

Melissa stiffened her expression and silenced her daughter.

"Never say such a thing. If it leaks out and reaches the Crown Princess's ears, we could truly fall out of favor."

After discussing a few more matters, the mother and daughter began attending to customers.

That's when it happened. The front of the already bustling Kemel Atelier became unusually noisy. Wondering what was going on, Melissa Kemel went out herself and was astonished.

A golden carriage drawn by six white horses had stopped in front of the Kemel Atelier.

Seeing the crest engraved upon it, Melissa's eyes couldn't help but widen.

A crest depicting a blue sea serpent impaled on a spear.

Because it was the crest of a great noble house, one she recognized.

'The Ducal House of Müzen!'

There were only three families in the Empire who held a ducal title.

The commonality among each ducal house was that they were families who had once ruled a nation before submitting to the Empire.

Originally there were four, but the ducal house of the west had its line severed, and the collateral Marquisate of Solenu acted in its stead, though its status did not match that of a ducal house.

Three remained. One of them was the Ducal House of Delphin, rooted in the east.

And then, Teslan of the north and Müzen of the south.

The Delphin house had been under the imperial influence since the time of the previous Duke.

Moreover, with their heir, Hilia, marrying into the imperial family, they were effectively incorporated into the imperial house.

The two families of the north and south maintained their independence to the end.

Because of this, they also possessed extraordinary autonomy and command over their own separate military forces.

Holding semi-autonomy, members of these two families came to the imperial capital only on special occasions.

When the family head changed, when the Emperor changed, or when a marriage was decided, and so on.

"Wait, that crest... isn't it that of the southern Ducal House of Müzen?"

"Y-yes, it is!"

"I've never heard news of the Müzen ducal house coming up?"

"Oh my, oh my!"

Amidst the exclamations of shock and admiration from all around, a handsome young man alighted first from the carriage.

A youth with strikingly fiery red hair and deep blue eyes that contrasted sharply.

He extended his hand into the carriage.

"Here, Mother."

"Very well, Aaron."

The noblewoman had distinctive deep purple hair. Her eye color was the same blue as the young man beside her, making it easy to see they were related by blood.

The dress she wore was purple, adorned with lace like waves.

Their identities could be easily guessed.

"Wait, I've heard of him. Young Duke Aaron Müzen, said to be the strongest knight in the south!"

"Ah, the one who won the tournament at fourteen?"

"Then that noblewoman is... the Duchess of Müzen?"

There were eyes watching from afar as the splendid mother and son entered the Kemel Atelier amidst tremendous buzz.

The green eyes of a woman, who had rented a nearby second-floor terrace and was hiding her face with a fan, glittered with triumph.

'Yes, you've come!'

Evangeline had been waiting, knowing of the arrival of the Müzen ducal mother and son.