Chapter 93

* * *

Edwin, who had stayed by my side the entire time, stepped away briefly when the Minister of Military Affairs came to see him.

That said, everyone was avoiding me like I carried the plague, so I wasn’t particularly worried anyway…

“It’s been a long time, Elicia. You must’ve had a hard time marrying into distant Lombard. Are you managing well?”

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s care, I’ve always been at peace.”

I ran straight into the final boss, the emperor himself, right from the start.

The steward summoned me, saying His Majesty was looking for me, and of all times Edwin wasn’t there. He must’ve been waiting for this moment. With no way out, I was brought up onto the dais.

The rule about wearing masks didn’t apply in front of the emperor.

I could feel everyone’s eyes boring into my face.

“You feel distant somehow. Didn’t you used to call me Uncle and treat me comfortably?”

“I’m married now, Your Majesty. How could I treat the embodiment of the empire as casually as before. I’m simply grateful for your continued care.”

I answered politely for now.

To be honest, Emperor Vittorio the Fourth wasn’t a good ruler.

Incompetent and lazy. Narrow minded and shortsighted. He left the state and its people in the hands of a few close aides and devoted himself entirely to hunting and pleasure, a textbook wastrel.

Still, even someone like him was better than Elicia had been, so public opinion leaned toward relief that Vittorio had taken the throne.

‘He’s still the emperor. Bending first is safer in moments like this.’

This was different from dealing with nobles.

Back then my status had given me room to recover from mistakes. This time it didn’t.

I suppressed my tension and bent my knee respectfully.

“Ho ho, you’ve grown quite mature after marriage. If you were wearing a mask, I might’ve thought you were an assassin pretending to be my niece to kill me.”

“…I’m deeply honored.”

“Enough with the bowing. Stand up. Be comfortable like before. Comfortable.”

The emperor looked genuinely unaccustomed to this.

I’d only responded according to proper etiquette, yet he called it maturity. Just how low had his expectations of me been.

‘This might actually be easy.’

The tension that had been tightening around me vanished without a trace.

Even if he doubted my identity, marriage was a major life event. It was the perfect excuse to explain any change in me.

The emperor, still staring at me with dazed eyes as if seeing things, continued.

“Rosalind, what do you think?”

“It must be the cold northern air. I never imagined my sister’s fiery temperament would become this calm.”

“…”

“I’m troubled because the canary I raise has gotten quite aggressive lately. Do you think sending it north for a while would help? What do you think, Sister?”

So this was Princess Rosalind.

An angelic face paired with a honey sweet smile. But she spoke with a blade in her mouth, and the look in her eyes toward me dripped with mockery.

Really, rumors couldn’t be trusted.

But dealing with someone who needles you behind a smile was easy enough.

“That’s not a bad idea. If you send it to Lombard, I’ll take good care of it.”

“…What?”

“That said, canaries, huh. Sounds like you’ve been holding onto what happened at the Founding Festival when we were young.”

You just smile along.

So I added gently, still smiling.

“I heard you go around saying you forgave me long ago at every gathering, so I thought that was true.”

I hadn’t come to the Capital just to loaf around.

Thanks to Edwin, who loved explaining things, I learned a lot about the imperial family and the southern nobles, but that alone wasn’t enough.

Just as expected, the moment I arrived in the Capital, an overwhelming number of invitations poured in day after day.

It felt like nearly every noble staying in the Capital had sent one.

Maybe because it was my return to society after so long, they’d put real thought into their letters.

They wrote at length about past connections with Elicia, and those without any ties explained why they wanted to become close.

I memorized every single letter.

With my excellent memory, it was as easy as sipping soup while lying down.

“I’m truly sorry about what happened at the Founding Festival when we were young, Rosalind. I was immature back then.”

“Oh, no… I really forgot all about it. I was just joking earlier.”

“Really? That’s a relief. I’m glad you said that.”

Even as I said it, my hands and feet were curling in embarrassment.

‘Acting nice when it doesn’t suit me at all…’

But if I wanted to shed the label of a former problem child and rebuild my image, there was no other choice.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t become the real Elicia. To smooth over the change in personality, this was the best option.

Make them believe marriage had matured me.

In any case, Rosalind had just lost a card she’d been using to her advantage.

If she brought it up again after claiming she’d long forgiven me, others would find it strange.

‘When I get home, will my cramped hands and feet relax? They better.’

Smiling as brightly as I could, as if I were truly happy about our reconciliation, I stepped closer to Rosalind.

The moment I took both her hands in mine…

“What are you doing?!”

Smack, a sharp sound echoed through the hall.

For some reason, a startled Rosalind roughly shoved me away.

The whispers of nobles who’d been pretending not to look grew louder.

“Oh my, what happened?”

“It looked like Lady Rosalind pushed Lady Elicia.”

“No way.”

I staggered back after losing my balance, while irritation was plainly written across Rosalind’s face.

The atmosphere took a strange turn.

Seeing the emperor’s brow crease, Rosalind quickly fixed her expression. It was already too late.

“Oh right, Sister. Envoys from the Marcen Royal Family have arrived. It’s been so long, you must be happy to see them, right?”

“…”

“They’re coming this way. Why don’t you at least greet them?”

I nodded calmly.

I already knew the envoy’s name. Marquis Gray, the closest aide to the King of Marcen and Elicia’s maternal uncle.

He was also one of the people who’d sent me an invitation. Perhaps because he wasn’t originally a diplomat, his command of the imperial language seemed poor.

So I greeted him in Marcene, out of consideration.

“Hello, Uncle. It’s been a long time.”

“E-Elicia…”

“Are Their Majesties well? I married into the distant north and couldn’t send word for so long. Please give my regards to His Majesty the King on my behalf.”

It wasn’t difficult.

I’d mastered five languages at a young age.

To become a bureaucrat despite my low status, surpassing noble youths whose positions were guaranteed, I had to prove myself with overwhelming ability.

After entering practical service, I became fluent in conversation through constant interaction with people from many regions.

‘Elicia should naturally know at least this much. Her mother was a Marcen princess. Not knowing her maternal language makes no sense.’

No matter how dumb someone was, this should’ve been basic.

I’d thought it would be natural to say she couldn’t read well, but for some reason Marquis Gray’s eyes, nose, and mouth all widened in shock.

The problem was that Rosalind’s expression wasn’t much different.

Neither was the emperor’s.

“…?”

Did everyone eat something strange.

I hadn’t eaten much since entering the hall, just a few sips of a drink because I’d slept poorly. I’d been thinking that was fortunate.

Then suddenly, Marquis Gray’s eyes reddened.

“Lady Elicia, you can speak Marcene?”

“Marquis?”

“H-How could this be… I thought after your mother’s early passing, you had let go of all affection for Marcen…”

Ah.

Elicia had been far dumber than I’d imagined.

‘Why didn’t Ed tell me something this important?!’

He usually told me every trivial, useless detail. Why skip over the crucial fact that she couldn’t speak her maternal language!

We’d definitely talked about Marcen too!

I cursed the completely innocent Edwin in my heart while darting my eyes around.

But the Marcene had already left my mouth, and there was no taking it back. I hurriedly searched for an excuse.

“E-Ed taught me. He’s kind and a good teacher.”

“Ed… you mean the Duke of Lombard? You’re already on nickname terms with your husband? My goodness, this old man has so much he wants to ask you, Lady Elicia!”

Whenever I heard people say northerners were stiff and cold, I’d always snort in disbelief.

The north was full of people too. How different could they really be from southerners.

But today, after meeting a Marcen native from the southernmost edge of the continent, I understood.

Compared to southerners who teared up over the smallest thing, northerners really were stiff and cold.

Unsure how to react, I awkwardly pulled out my handkerchief.

Fortunately, someone stepped in.