Chapter 48

Are You Listening to Me? (3)

It was a small voice, but due to its unusual impact, it landed perfectly and resonated clearly in the ears of those standing nearby. However, Legina, her sanity barely hanging on, was glaring at the Emperor, unaware of what she had just blurted out. No, she hadn’t begged the Emperor for love, hadn’t asked him to hold a grand birthday banquet, and hadn’t requested him to uphold her dignity with nonsense about ‘love’ or anything like that, so what was this rude and nonsensical talk about now?

Just quickly deal with those traitors and leave. Theore is a bit of a concern, but it will be fine if I just increase his training intensity. He’s not stupid.

If he were stupid, she would have considered pushing him until he improved, but fortunately, her brother wasn’t stupid. Legina realized through Theore that one needed to be smart to be an effective troublemaker. She intended to act like a completely unbridled troublemaker after today, so if she couldn’t find evidence of the rebellion, she would simply pretend to be mad, charge in, behead Slyveig, and then disappear without a trace.

Meanwhile, Emperor Larousse was somewhat flustered. He knew his relationship with his daughter had soured, but he never imagined that a mere greeting would elicit such a reaction from the nobles. He believed it was a belated rebellion, and that if he gave her time to think alone, she would return to her former kind and gentle self. Later, when she brought him that awful medicinal tea, he believed things were proceeding as he intended. But then, at Theore’s birthday banquet, an incident occurred. How long had she been taking sword lessons to block an assassin barehanded?! That fact was shocking enough, but an even greater incident followed.

[“Your Majesty has no daughter.”]

The shock he received from seeing Legina, speaking in a calm, indifferent voice devoid of emotion, telling him he had no daughter, was incomparable to facing that assassin. Would the situation have been better if it had ended there? After clashing once more over the annulment with Slyveig, anger began to manifest in his once indifferent daughter’s eyes.

[“Your Majesty, this frustrating, foolish, pathetic Emperor. How many times did I tell you to be moderate?”] [“Derain. Do you want your head cut off because you’re bored?”] [“Instead of cutting this old man’s head off, why don’t you go to Her Highness Legina and at least pretend to appease her? You’ll lose a perfectly fine child, you know? Though it seems you’ve already lost her.”]

Derain sighed, looking at him trying to summon Legina instead of acting himself, and muttered that the grave he was digging now was only for himself. Derain was the physician who had cared for him since childhood, one of the few honest elders still by his side. So he had somewhat accepted his advice and prepared his greeting, but… The nobles were whispering, foreign envoys were curious about his schemes, and his son was staring wide-eyed, unable to hide his astonishment, like someone witnessing something impossible.

Would it be fortunate if it ended there? His daughter was angry. No, she was furious. The Imperial Princess, who would never do anything to lower her dignity, had now even hurled insults at the Emperor. He felt as if he could hear Derain clucking his tongue in exasperation, thinking how pathetic he was.

“…It seems His Majesty is fatigued from his increased workload.”

She spoke with a smile, but her gritted teeth meant it couldn’t possibly look like a smile. The nobles involuntarily nodded at Legina, who openly disregarded the Emperor and continued speaking. Indeed, no one in their right mind would say such things. She must be incredibly tired and clearly mistook it for Theore’s birthday. What a pity for our Imperial Princess Legina.

Conversations that would infuriate the Emperor were exchanged.

“May you all have an enjoyable time before you leave.”

Legina raised her hand, and taking that as a signal, the musicians began to play their instruments.

“Your Highness.”

“Sir Aaron.”

The first dance, signaling the start of today’s banquet, belonged to Legina. Aaron, in his black uniform with the deep purple cufflinks Legina had gifted him, his curly golden hair neatly combed and styled, was incredibly handsome. A faint smile graced Legina’s face, which had been deeply creased until now. To the accompaniment of a moderate tempo, Legina, one hand on the hem of her dress and the other on Aaron’s shoulder, began to move gracefully to his lead.

The nobles, who had been trying to pretend not to notice the Emperor’s earlier remarks, turned their heads and watched the two’s beautiful dance, their eyes sparkling as if admiring a captivating work of art.

“You are still beautiful today, my lord.”

“Thank you for always complimenting me.”

“But my lord. Is something troubling you?”

“Is it obvious?”

“Your face right now. It resembles His Majesty’s face over there.”

“It was quite obvious, then.”

The conversation about the Emperor of an entire nation was unrestrained. Legina had many grievances against the Emperor, but wasn’t Aaron a loyal Vestein? She thought Aaron’s condition was definitely unusual.

“Can you spare me some time after the dance?”

“I would rather ask that of you.”

“Really?”

Could it be that he, too, had realized Legina’s plan? Since she had said he wasn’t good at acting, perhaps his expression had frozen from tension. Indeed, today Legina would confess, and if he accepted as previously agreed, they would formally begin ‘dating,’ which could be burdensome… Legina found her own reasons for Aaron’s troubled face and nodded.

But even when Sir Aaron is troubled, his face is beautiful…

They say a beauty’s frown is also beautiful, but his face, darkened by worry, seemed to shine. As she sorted her thoughts, the music ended. The two bowed lightly to each other and retreated from the center of the hall, and the main banquet began.

“You must be bored without Lady Gretta.”

“Not really.”

“Want to dance with me?”

“No.”

“Just in case you don’t know, if you even go near alcohol, be prepared. I don’t want to see your sword dance as part of my birthday celebration.”

“I’m not going! What’s with this ‘sword dance’ talk from before?! I’m not doing that!”

Legina, who had lightly threatened Theore, sitting in his seat with a bored expression, ignored the Emperor, who was looking at her with a pitiful expression, and descended from the dais. Since it was her own birthday, she had to receive congratulations from various people, but she didn’t want to receive greetings next to the Emperor, who wore such an expression. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason. She intended to attract as much attention as possible to herself, and then make a seemingly secret confession on a discreet yet not-so-discreet terrace.

She met several young ladies and noblewomen, famous for being gossips in high society, received their congratulations, and exchanged light conversation. Meanwhile, confirming that people’s gazes were fixed on her, Legina slowly began to move towards the pre-arranged location.

“Congratulations on turning sixteen, Your Highness.”

If Annetta, with her beautiful silver hair and pink eyes, had not appeared before her, she could have happily and excitedly gone to the terrace, where everything had been prepared for today.

“Thank you, my lady. I have urgent business, so…”

“I hope you will accept this.”

“…It is the tradition of Ellias to deliver gifts through the assigned attendant. You’re not unaware of that, are you, my lady?”

Legina asked sharply, looking at the small box Annetta politely offered with both hands. She had lost an important witness in the recent crow incident, which made her momentarily forget to act and respond sensitively, but Annetta showed no reaction to Legina’s response and simply smiled.

“I know, but I wanted to deliver it personally.”

She could feel people’s gazes on them. Pushing it away here would have been one option, but today’s highlight was the ‘confession.’ The Emperor had already caused a big scene, so she couldn’t distract people’s attention again. Legina forced a smile, pulling up the corners of her lips, and accepted the box Annetta offered.

Right now, the reason for the annulment was widely believed to be Legina’s infatuation with Aaron, leveraging Aaron’s beauty, but the initial rumor was that the young Duke of Slyveig had another woman. Legina, hearing the whispers of nobles who remembered that earlier rumor, opened the box and felt her heart momentarily sink.

It was a necklace. A necklace with the exact same design as the one Legina had staked everything on just before her regression. The only difference was that the previous necklace had a blood-red gem, while this one had a pink gem.

“It’s a necklace I personally designed to sincerely congratulate Your Highness on your birthday.”

“…Personally?”

“Yes, I thought you might have already received many precious gifts…”

“…Thank you, my lady.”

Something strange squirmed within Legina. It was a different feeling from the sticky, unpleasant sensation she had felt towards Annetta and Hermann until now. It was like getting a little closer to the answer of a riddle whose question she didn’t even know? Legina closed the lid of the necklace box and looked at Annetta. She was a young lady whose flushed cheeks, seemingly from shyness, looked very cute. Who would suspect that a traitor’s sorceress lurked within that innocent facade? Was it a coincidence that such a sorceress had gifted a necklace with the exact same design as the First Emperor’s relic? A voice from deep within her heart replied that it was absolutely no coincidence.

“The design is unusual. Does it have some meaning?”

“No, it has no particular meaning, Your Highness. I just made it, and it turned out beautiful.”

“A design with no meaning… For something with no meaning, it looks very special.”

“You saying that is such a relief to me.”

There was definitely something. Legina, convinced, called a passing attendant and ordered him to take the gift box to her room.

“I’ve certainly received your gift. But my lady, I don’t see the young Duke of Slyveig. Is something wrong?”

“Ah, he’s a little indisposed. I am attending on his behalf, though inadequately.”

Legina witnessed Annetta’s smile twist at that moment. It was an incredibly cold and cruel smile.

– Mochinuna.