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Chapter 67.
Having just been released from a month-long disciplinary order, Merina smiled when she spotted the Crown Prince in the distance on her way to visit her sister.
Since she wasn’t attending a party being held at the Imperial Palace, she took advantage of the loophole that allowed her to enter the palace grounds.
“Your Highness!”
She waved and called out loudly, but the man gave no response and quickly disappeared from sight.
“How could he just leave when Merina’s right here?”
When Merina pouted, the knight escorting her tried to soothe her.
“His Highness must be busy, my lady. Please don’t be too upset.”
“I suppose that must be it. He couldn’t have just ignored me on purpose.”
When Merina’s mood brightened and she smiled radiantly, the knight’s cheeks flushed red.
Upon arriving at the Empress’s Palace, Merina gave him a sweet smile, her eyes curling charmingly.
“Thank you for escorting me, Sir.”
“It was my honor.”
As the knight bowed and turned to leave, Merina’s expression fell. She had thought that by smiling so prettily, he might ask her out on a date.
Letters of admiration still arrived at Count Ikel’s estate by the handful, but compared to the beginning of the social season, the number had clearly dwindled.
Among them, only a few were from men of decent quality.
And the most shocking blow — the news that Young Lord Sharon and Young Lord Gerden, who once swore they’d give their lives for her, were now engaged!
“How could they go and meet those kinds of women, after me?”
No matter how she replayed it in her mind, it was absolutely impossible.
Even worse — neither man had so much as apologized to her!
“Just wait. Once I’m allowed back into the parties, both of them will regret it.”
They probably just hadn’t seen her for too long and forgotten how charming she was.
Even if she couldn’t fully convince herself, it was the only rationalization that kept her from exploding in anger.
“Welcome, Merina. You’ve grown thin and pale since I last saw you.”
“I suppose it’s because I’ve been reading so much lately.”
The Empress’s face brightened at the sight of her much younger sister.
The sisters sat together in the sunlit rear garden of the Empress’s Palace.
“Sister, I’m so bored. I can’t even go to parties anymore. What’s the point of this?”
“Merina, have you already forgotten why you were banned from attending parties?”
At her sister’s whining, the Empress chuckled softly and poured the tea.
But Merina, desperate to return to social life, pleaded earnestly.
“Sister, I really want to meet people again. I want to wear a beautiful dress and attend gatherings. Couldn’t you host a party for me?”
“Merina, people will look at that unfavorably.”
“But Sister, you’re the Empress! Why should you care what people think? You’re the second most powerful person in the Empire, right after His Majesty!”
At her sister’s childish words, the Empress sighed and pressed her forehead.
Merina hadn’t exactly been trouble-free in the past — she’d had minor clashes with other young ladies, but since society favored her, the incidents were always quickly covered up.
Whenever matters threatened to escalate, the Empress herself had intervened to smooth things over.
But this time was different.
It wasn’t just the Marquis of Reviang — even the Duke of Rishiansius and the Archmage of the Tower were involved!
The Emperor had made it clear: this would be the last time he helped. From now on, he would protect the Empress, but not her foolish younger sister.
“Sister, I really want to hold a party. The social season may be over, but many nobles are still in the capital. Please?”
“Merina, have you forgotten the punishment His Majesty decreed for you? You cannot.”
“But couldn’t you ask His Majesty for a favor? Or just give the order yourself? Can’t you do that?”
“Merina, being Empress doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want.”
Merina folded her arms and pouted.
“What? I thought being Empress meant you could do anything.”
Normally, the Empress found that expression cute, but her sister’s thoughtless words finally made her lose patience.
“If that’s what you think, then you should’ve secured Duke Rishiansius while you had the chance! If you’d become his wife, none of this would’ve happened!”
Startled — she had never seen her sister angry before — Merina flinched.
“Duke Rishiansius is the greatest duke in the Empire. And he’s a Sword Master — even His Majesty must treat him with caution.”
“A Sword Master?”
“Yes. The only Sword Master on the entire continent. If a man like that unleashed his fury, the Imperial Palace could crumble in an instant!”
It wasn’t the first time Merina had caused trouble, and the Empress knew she had no excuse left.
She recalled bowing her head in person, begging them to forgive her sister’s insolence just once more.
Their father, Count Ikel, had been forced to give up part of the family fortune, and only with the Emperor’s mediation had they barely appeased the Duke, the Marquis of Reviang, and the Archmage.
“If you’d set your sights on such a man from the start instead of chasing after frivolous ones, I wouldn’t have had to endure such humiliation!”
The Emperor already had a grown heir and had firmly resolved to pass the throne to his son.
When that happened, the Empress’s own position would grow unstable — so she had done her best to remain quiet and avoid drawing the Crown Prince’s ire.
At the same time, she had been trying to secure the best possible marriage for her younger sister while she still could.
Duke Rishiansius had been one of the most promising prospects — but he had shown no interest in Merina. In fact, he had clearly disliked her.
“Lina, why on earth did you say something like that — spreading rumors that Duke Rishiansius had feelings for you? That was where everything went wrong.”
“Well, at the time, I thought it was only natural he’d fall for me…”
“What?”
The exasperated Empress gulped down her now-cold tea.
“But Sister, no man has ever resisted me before! Even His Highness the Crown Prince is kind to me.”
The Empress fell silent — she couldn’t deny that she herself had once turned a blind eye to her sister’s flirtations with the Crown Prince. Ever since Merina had started spending time with him, he’d seemed to regard the Empress with less hostility.
“In that case, why didn’t you use your charm to win over the Duke completely?”
“I tried! But that woman—Rosia Reviang—interfered!”
Clenching her fists, Merina’s eyes burned with fury.
“Whenever she’s around, everything falls apart! Even the Archmage, who should have been mine, was stolen away by her!”
“Merina, Lady Reviang met the Archmage first.”
Though the Empress herself disliked Rosia for putting her and her sister in a difficult position, she still corrected Merina’s false claim.
“If it weren’t for that woman, that handsome man would have been mine.”
“Lina, you may be popular, but you can’t know that for sure.”
“No, Sister — if he had met me first, he would have fallen for me. Duke Rishiansius too — given more time, he would have been mine. Everything went wrong because of that wicked woman!”
Merina’s resentment toward Rosia only grew fiercer.
“Haa…”
The Empress leaned back in her chair, pressing her temple as a headache set in.
Lady Rosia Reviang was known throughout society for her impeccable reputation.
Her etiquette and grace were beyond reproach — even the Countess Marni, one of her closest friends, attested to it.
Another confidante, the Countess of Kett, had admitted that Rosia didn’t particularly like Merina, but she agreed Rosia was patient and refined.
“To slander the daughter of the Marquis of Reviang — and without any fault of her own, and more than once at that…”
At this point, Rosia seemed almost saintly for not having filed a formal complaint.
Knowing her sister’s willful nature, the Empress couldn’t take Merina’s side blindly anymore.
“Merina, I understand your frustration, but please stay quiet this year. I’ll speak to His Majesty about letting you rejoin the social season next spring.”
As Merina stared off into the distance, she suddenly declared,
“I’m going to enter the Crown Princess selection.”
“…What?”
The Empress frowned, certain she’d misheard.
“By Imperial law, there’s nothing stopping me from becoming Crown Princess, right? You may have married His Majesty, but His Highness the Crown Prince isn’t related to us by blood.”
“Merina.”
“You don’t trust me, but I’ve trained myself well enough to be a noble lady worthy of the position.”
“Even so, Merina, you must not do this. Absolutely not. Do you understand?”
“I’ve already decided to enter. Instead of trying to stop me, you should support me.”
Merina truly believed she’d come up with a brilliant idea.
If anyone questioned why she was no longer receiving love letters, she could claim she was focusing on the Crown Princess selection — and if she managed to get closer to the Crown Prince through it?
Then she could finally put that irritating Rosia Reviang in her place.
There was no way she could give up now.
