Chapter 3 Part 3

“…It’s an invitation from the Imperial Family.”

Seeing the royal seal on the envelope, Irina had already guessed, but Olga’s hesitant reply made her feel as though she couldn’t breathe. 

An invitation from the Imperial Family that had come out of the blue? It must have been related to Emperor Knezh. Otherwise, there was no other reason she would receive an invitation from the Imperial Family so suddenly.

The moment she thought of Emperor Knezh, Irina sighed involuntarily. But even that was short-lived, and when she saw Olga’s worried expression, she forced a smile.

Having observed everything so far, she knew that Olga would be shaking in fear about the Imperial Family, so she couldn’t add to her worries.

“Give it to me. I’ll read what the invitation is about.”

Irina pretended like nothing was wrong, but in fact her stomach felt like it was twisting. She had to make an effort to not show it.

Olga cautiously handed over the invitation. Irina took it and carefully opened the envelope, hoping that Olga would ignore her slightly shaking hands.

After the first line, scribbled in a hurry, a series of cliched pleasantries followed. Irina almost scoffed.

It was because someone led her family to nearly fall apart, and now he was wishing for good fortune? She found it absurd and couldn’t help but feel anger rising.

She skimmed through the unnecessary pleasantries and skipped to the main point.
 

“….”

The message of the invitation was simple. She was required to attend the imperial banquet. 

The tone of the words, heavy with pressure, made Irina let out a wry laugh. Emperor Knezh was relentlessly arrogant who knew no bounds.

“Miss, what kind of invitation is it?”

“They want me to attend the imperial banquet.”

“Suddenly? What kind of banquet is the royal family hosting?”

“…They’re going to clear our family’s unjust accusations and offer comfort.”

“Really? That’s a relief. I thought they were calling you to torment you again. They’ve summoned you to the imperial palace these past few days, and asked you to prove the rumors true… ….Ah, speaking of it, how was that situation resolved?”

Olga, who had been scowling excitedly, suddenly realized something and tilted her head innocently. It seemed that the rumor that Irina could make gold hadn’t spread here yet.

She had expected that the rumor would spread overnight across noble families and the entire empire, but it hadn’t. That was a relief. She didn’t know about anyone else, but her parents and Olga would be puzzled and want to know what had happened.

That would inevitably lead to discussing Rumpel, something Irina didn’t want to do. While Rumpel had never asked her to keep their contract a secret, she didn’t want to talk about what had happened between them.

Thus, Irina felt relieved that the rumor about her making gold hadn’t spread. However, she also wondered if Emperor Knezh had ordered to stop the rumor.

“Just… We talked.”

“Oh, I see! His Majesty must have deliberately summoned you to the Imperial Palace to protect your honor!”

“Huh?”

“Since you couldn’t prove publicly that you can make gold, so he summoned you to the Imperial Palace, right? That’s the only way to protect your honor. Oh, I didn’t even know that. I had been secretly resenting His Majesty for asking you to do such ridiculous things.”

“……”

Seeing Olga happily babbling on, Irina couldn’t say a word. She wanted to tell her that it wasn’t like that, or rather, that it was just a way to trap her. But that would only make Olga worry.

“I misunderstood His Majesty. Because… the rumors aren’t good, ……people say he’s so cruel.”

Olga lowered her voice, wondering if anyone would listen. Then she raised her voice again and spoke cheerfully.

“But he’s a man of great depth! To hold a banquet just to clear up the misunderstanding of our family!”

“Olga, it’s not like that.”

“Huh? What do you mean it’s not like that?”

“It’s not as simple as you think… No, it’s not.”

Irina couldn’t hold back from interrupting Olga’s praise of Emperor Knezh, but when she tried to correct her, the words wouldn’t come out. 

If she told the truth, Olga would start worrying, and to ease her worries, Irina would have to talk about Rumpel, her mysterious helper, which she was hesitant to do. 

She didn’t even know much about Rumpel herself, so she didn’t feel it was right to tell anyone about him. She thought it would be better to keep quiet about it.

“Why did you stop talking? Now I’m really curious.”

“Sorry, Olga. I was just tired, and some silly things slipped out. It’s not important.”

“Really?”

“Yes. By the way, I haven’t had my morning tea yet. Could you please make it for me?”

“Oh my! I’m so forgetful! Sorry, I got distracted by the invitation from the Imperial Family. I’ll prepare it right away!”

“Thanks, Olga.”

Changing the subject to morning tea worked, and Olga happily agreed. 

Olga left the room in the same hurried manner she had entered. Only after she was gone and Irina was alone, she finally let out the long sigh she had been holding back.

After re-reading the invitation, Irina’s face hardened. 

Who was the one who had framed her family in the first place, and who had brought their prestige to fall to the ground? How did he dare say such things?

The hand holding the invitation was shaking with barely contained rage. Irina crumpled the invitation with all her might and threw it to the floor.

Naturally, that wouldn’t relieve her anger. Irina clenched her teeth.

“…I will make sure to pay you back.” 

The humiliation she had suffered, and the fear and anxiety her family had felt.