Chapter 5 Part 2

 

“Anything that comes to mind… … I’ll tell you.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of piecing it together. Miss, please don’t feel pressured and just say whatever comes to mind!”

Olga clenched her fists firmly. Seeing her determination to understand Irina’s words no matter what, Irina smiled slightly because she found her cute.

But even that was only for a moment, and soon Irina took a deep breath and put on a serious expression.

What should she start with? What was the most important thing? What should she say first to better convey the situation?

Irina, who had been thinking for a while and licking her lips, finally made up her mind.

“His Majesty … . He wants to make me his Empress.”

“What?!”

Olga asked back in surprise at the words Irina had thrown out without explaining the situation. She was so surprised that her eyes became round like candies, as if they were about to roll down.

Seeing that, Irina slightly regretted her action, wondering if she had made the point too simply.

“You’re surprised, right? Me too … … I can’t believe it.”

“Really? His Majesty the Emperor…? But isn’t that a good thing?”

Olga rolled her big eyes back and forth, and then tilted her head. At her reaction, Irina gave a bitter smile.

In fact, what she said wasn’t wrong. In general, it would have been a good thing to become an Empress.

But that was only in general cases.

“I don’t want to become Empress.”

“Why?”

“To be precise… it would be more accurate to say I don’t want to be the wife of His Majesty.”

Actually, she hadn’t given much thought to the Empress position. She had no desire to become one, nor did she have any aversion to it. She had just thought of it as someone else’s business.

But one thing was certain: she definitely did not want to be the wife of Emperor Knezh. She did not want to be the wife of such a selfish and vicious man.

If she were to marry him, she would be constantly nervous and anxious, as if she was walking on a thin sheet of ice on a lake.

“…Why? Why don’t you want to marry His Majesty?”

“The rumor that almost wiped out our family. You know about it, right?”

“Of course! How could I forget that! Who on earth spread such ridiculous rumours! Just let me catch them! I’ll make sure they pay the price…”

“The one who spread that rumor is none other than His Majesty Emperor Knezh.”

“Pardon?”

Olga, who had been growling like an angry Yorkshire Terrier¹, stopped dead at Irina’s words. She was still holding her tightly clenched fists in the air.

“It was planned from the beginning. To make me his wife… … He used my family as a hostage to drive me into a corner.”

“How could he do that! What a terrible person…!”

Olga’s small fists trembled. She looked as if she could, she would storm into the Imperial Palace and punch Emperor Knezh at any moment. Seeing that, Irina burst out laughing, even though she knew it was not a situation to laugh.

“Is it time to laugh now?! You’re laughing without a care in the world!”

As expected, Olga’s sharp nagging followed. Irina quickly bit her lower lip to suppress the smile spreading across her face.

“Then what can we do? If it’s an imperial order, there’s no way to avoid it.”

Olga asked with an expression full of concern. At her question, Irina’s expression also quickly darkened.

“Could it be… that today’s banquet is also related to that? What would you do if he publicly announce that he will make you Empress in front of all the nobles?”

As Olga voiced the anxiety she had been thinking about the whole time, Irina lowered her head helplessly. Then, after taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth.

“There is… one way, Olga.”

“Could it be…”

“Yes…”

“No, Miss! That’s too…”

Olga screamed. Irina wasn’t at ease either.

It was an answer she had finally come up with after racking her brains for several days, but she wasn’t sure if it was the right answer. However, since there was no other way, Irina had to stick with her answer.

“You know there’s no other choice.”

At Irina’s calm voice, Olga’s face became tearful. Irina quietly looked at Olga. Olga, reflected in Irina’s green eyes, seemed to sink.

Irina stretched out her arms to Olga.

“Will you hug me?”

“Of course, Miss.”

Leaning on Olga, who hugged her with all her might, Irina swallowed the tears that were welling up. For a while, the two comforted each other by leaning on each other’s body heat without any conversation.

 

* * *

 

A beautiful orchestral music of the 12 quartets rang out. This place, filled with impeccable performances, was the imperial banquet hall.

Irina entered the banquet hall with dry eyes. Inside the banquet hall, a large number of nobles were already gathered in small groups and chatting.

“…”

However, they became quiet at the signal of Irina’s arrival. Instead, they had a silent conversation with their eyes. It was clear that they were focusing on Irina, who was, in a way, the main character of this banquet.

Irina secretly sighed at the unwanted attention.

Irina naturally moved to a corner of the banquet hall where people could not see her as much as possible. However, the gazes following Irina were not easily withdrawn. Some people even began to secretly move places, following Irina.

“It’s been a while, Lady Irina. You remember, right? I’m Olivia Bartolison. You know Marquis Bartolison, right?”

Before long, some even started talking to Irina directly.

The first to do so was none other than the daughter of the Marquis Bartolisan. She was a woman famous for making many noble young men’s hearts flutter with her beautiful appearance.

Of course, her fame wasn’t just about her beauty. She was rumored to go to great lengths to catch the eye of Emperor Knezh.

There were even rumors that she sent servants to the gypsy village outside the castle to ask for secret ways to win a man’s heart. Although it was unknown whether the rumor was true or not, it was true that Lady Olivia desired Emperor Knezh’s love that much.

“This is Evelyn Ias. The young lady of the Count Ias. And this is Lydia Olson. The young lady of the Viscount Olson.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, Lady Irina.”

Olivia Bartolison introduced the two young ladies on either side of her. The two greeted her as if they had been waiting.

The three of them were quite famous in social circles. It was no exaggeration to say that most of the rumors spreading in social circles came through the mouths of these three people.

Knowing this fact, Irina couldn’t help but be wary of the three. Therefore, she only felt uncomfortable with the three young ladies showing such great interest in her.

Irina paid attention to showing respect while being careful not to reveal her feelings as much as possible.

“Thank you for greeting me first.”

As a daughter of a Baron, Irina’s rank was lower than the three women. Therefore, it wouldn’t be good for her to be criticized by them.

“I heard you went through a lot this time. It must have been a lot of heartache.”

“Ah… yes, that’s right…”

Knowing what Lady Olivia was referring to as ‘through a lot’, Irina felt uncomfortable, as if something was stuck in her throat.

She was referring to the incident that almost put her father and family in trouble. Irina didn’t intend to disparage Lady Olivia, but she didn’t feel good because Lady Olivia’s expression held curiosity and interest rather than concern.

“I heard His Majesty took care of it. Not only did he put the false rumors to rest, but he also held a grand banquet to restore Baron Lehman’s honor. He’s such a thoughtful person. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“Of course. He’s a very thoughtful person.”

As soon as Lady Olivia finished speaking, Lady Evelyn and Lady Lydia chimed in. Then, Lady Olivia, as if she was proud of praising Emperor Knezh as her job, held her head high and shrugged her shoulders.

Irina, who knew the whole incident, was speechless.

As expected, Emperor Knezh had created a favorable image of himself to others. The people who were deceived by this were ridiculous, but at the same time, she could understand them.

Who would have thought that the Emperor himself would intentionally spread such absurd rumors to destroy a family? And not many people would believe it even if they knew that the reason for trying to destroy the family was simply because of one woman.

Even after that, the three women surrounded Irina and exchanged meaningless stories among themselves. They occasionally spoke to Irina and included her in the conversation, but Irina couldn’t help but feel that it was more to show off their friendship to other nobles than to worry about Irina who was standing alone.

As proof of this, even when Irina spoke, Lady Olivia didn’t even look at her but instead looked around to see how much the other nobles were paying attention to them.

She was tired. The banquet hadn’t even begun, but Irina already only wanted to leave this place and return back to Baron Lehman estate.

It was about the time when she was so tired that there was nothing she could do. The pleasant music stopped abruptly, and the banquet hall was enveloped in quiet silence.

“Your Majesty the Emperor!”