Chapter 92 (2/2)
My father used to talk to me softly and gently, but this time his voice was so harsh that I felt I could not refuse his order. When I thanked the emperor gently, he smiled gently and said, “Can you come to me with that tiara?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
When I approached next to him carefully, he took out the tiara and put it on my head.
Then, moving it back and forth without caring about me, he said with a satisfied expression, “It looks good on you.”
“I’m honored to hear that, Your Majesty.”
“As I see it perfectly matched, I think it has found its owner. I’m satisfied. Hmm, why don’t you go to the banquet hall with her first? I’m going to join you after I talk with the marquis a little more.”
“Okay, Your Majesty.”
Getting out of the room with him, I walked down the hallway silently. When I was close to the banquet hall, someone came running to him from a distance. The man, who appeared to be his aide, came with a bunch of papers and said, gasping for breath, “Your Majesty, here you are. I’ve brought the papers you asked for. Princess Beatrice and Princess Moira, and … ”
“Wait a minute!”
Looking at me, he stopped the aide who was speaking quickly.
“Lady Monique, can you go in first? Let me follow you soon. ”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Thinking I shouldn’t hear their conversation, I nodded and entered the banquet hall first.
Given that he mentioned Princess Beatrice, it looked like he was talking with the aide about her.
‘Huh? If so, why did he mention Princess Moira? Does she have a secret?”
When I walked a few steps, there were several men stopping me violently.
They were Duke Jena and several other nobles. As if they were trying to scare me off, they were staring at me, with their back upright. I couldn’t look stupid in front of them.
“What’s wrong? Do you have anything to say to me?”
“Are you asking me what’s wrong? Don’t you really know, Lady Monique? ”
“No, I don’t,”
“You don’t know? As a mere marquis’s daughter, you don’t know it when you are wearing a tiara on your head now?”
When Duke Jena shouted at me, Lady Genoa and other ladies following her came running to me and stopped in front of me as if they protected me. However, Duke Jena said angrily, without caring about them at all, “Hmm… no matter how young you are, how come you are so childish?”
“Why are you gathered here?”
At that moment, Princess Moira appeared with the ladies of the noble factions including Lady Hamel and smiled brightly.
“Oh, it’s a pretty tiara, Lady Monique.”
“… ”
“I understand a tiara is only put on by a royal family woman, but I guess I’m mistaken.
In my kingdom, it is hard to even think that a non-royal family woman wears it. I think you are more generous in this empire.”
Although she said softly, her green eyes glowed coldly. I looked at the noble faction members around me. I sighed somehow.
‘This is why I didn’t want to receive it.’
Even though the emperor and the crown prince allowed me to wear it, I had no legitimate reason to justify it when they tried to interpret the imperial rule that only “a royal family member’ could wear it. If I could not defend my position properly, it was clear that I would have to wage a boring and unfavorable fight.
At that moment, someone stopped before Princess Moira who was undermining me with the support of the ladies of the noble factions. She was Lady Genoa with light brown hair.
“I’ve been watching you from the first day you arrived here. How rude you are to her!”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“First of all, I’m telling you this on my own. If you’re going to insult her like you did last time by using me, stop it now.”
The princess nodded as if she was dumbfounded, after looking at Lady Genoa full of anger.
“Even though you came here as one of the crown prince’s bride candidates, you went in and out of the crown prince’s palace without obtaining any understanding or approval of Lady Monique who’s going to be our empress. Don’t you think so?”
“So what?”