“Tell me everything, from the beginning.”
“M-My Lady…”
As the maid recounted the entire incident from start to finish, Kiyen clenched the folds of her gown so tightly that the fabric wrinkled beneath her fingers.
Good heavens… She slapped a member of the imperial family.
The Empress drew a slow, steady breath, forcing down the fury and panic threatening to overwhelm her.
“Take the child to the adjoining room and have her treated first.”
What she truly wanted was to strip the girl bare, spank her senseless, and demand if she had any idea what she had done.
But this was the Imperial Palace. There were too many eyes watching.
More importantly, now of all times—when she was devoting every ounce of her strength to making Voltaire the Crown Prince—the last thing she needed was discord within her own family.
Besides…
She had no substitute for Mintia.
Mintia was the only person who could act as her proxy in high society.
Only after Mintia was escorted next door for treatment and disappeared from sight did Kiyen gradually regain her composure.
She struggled to maintain the calm dignity expected of an empress before the assembled maids.
“You. Go to the Marquis's estate immediately and inform my father of everything. Above all else, we must not provoke His Majesty today.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
One maid bowed deeply before practically fleeing the suffocating atmosphere.
No sooner had she left than footsteps sounded outside.
“Your Majesty, Princess Eonel has arrived.”
Kiyen frowned.
The relationship between stepmother and stepdaughter had never been a pleasant one.
Eonel, now in her thirties, and Kiyen, nearing forty, were famous throughout the palace for being bitter rivals.
It wasn't as though Kiyen had never tried.
Like the clever, saintly stepmothers in novels, she had once attempted to treat the stepdaughter who rejected her with kindness and generosity.
Unfortunately, Eonel had survived the battlefield that was noble society just as long as she had.
She was more than capable of returning every smile with one just as sharp.
Above all, their ages hardly suited a mother and daughter. They looked far more like two acquaintances with a modest age difference, and people often forgot they were related at all.
Had Kiyen continued forcing the role of affectionate stepmother, she would have only become known as the strange woman who constantly meddled in the affairs of her fully grown stepchildren.
Fortunately, she had abandoned that approach before it damaged her reputation.
Thanks to that, she had managed to preserve the refined image she'd cultivated since her days as the Marquis's daughter.
In any case, she quickly straightened her appearance, took her seat, and smoothed away every trace of emotion.
“Come in, Princess.”
Around lunchtime, while Eonel was eating, news arrived from the Imperial Palace.
“And Melly? Was she really beaten so badly she was coughing up blood, just as Father said?”
“W-Well... actually... they said Her Highness didn't even blink. The moment she was slapped, she struck Miss Mintia back on the spot and even grabbed and twisted her ear until Miss Mintia burst into tears. Her Highness is... um... perfectly fine now.”
If anyone's going to collapse tonight, it'll probably be Lady Mintia of House Cherry.
The maid wisely kept that last thought to herself.
The corners of Eonel's lips slowly curled upward.
Then she burst into laughter.
“Ahahahaha! Hahahahaha!”
“Y-Your Highness?”
“Ah... that's my niece, all right.”
Still giggling, Eonel wiped away tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
“If someone hits you and you just sit there taking it, you're no imperial. Well done. Whether it's kindness or hatred, you repay everything in full. Leave the aftermath to your aunt.”
After declaring so, Eonel dressed in magnificent court attire and headed for the Empress's palace.
On her way there, she happened to encounter one of the Emperor's attendants.
He had been carrying an imperial decree.
After hearing its contents, Eonel decided she would personally deliver that delightful piece of news directly into the Empress's face.
She sent the attendant back and continued alone.
Escorted to a reception room, Eonel waited leisurely.
Only after she had finished about a quarter of the fruit tea the maids served did the Empress finally arrive.
“My apologies for making you wait, Duchess.”
Deliberately, Kiyen addressed her not by her rank as Princess, but by her title as Duchess.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't wrong.
After all, Eonel herself had chosen to forgo marriage, accept the title of Duchess in her own right, and leave the palace.
Receiving the greeting, Eonel smiled brightly.
“I haven't waited long, Your Majesty.”
She, too, avoided calling the Empress Mother even as a mere formality.
“What brings you to the palace today?”
Although she already knew perfectly well, Kiyen feigned ignorance.
“As always, I came to pay my respects to Father. Since I was here, I thought I'd visit Your Majesty as well. Does a daughter really need a special reason to visit her father's home?”
As if I'd come here just to see you.
The smile in Eonel's eyes curved like a crescent moon.
The air between them crackled as though sparks might erupt at any moment.
“I see. Since you're already here, do visit Melly before you leave. Though we aren't related by blood, I cannot help but pity the poor child as her grandmother. As you've surely heard, today's events must have hurt her deeply. I'm certain she's waiting desperately for someone to take her side.”
“I intended to see her regardless. Her parents are gone, and now even her grandmother is gone. In this vast imperial family, the only blood relatives she has left are her grandfather and her aunt. If I, her own aunt, don't look after her, who will?”
As she spoke, Eonel very deliberately excluded Prince Voltaire from Amelia's list of family.
The Empress's expression began to stiffen.
Judging the moment perfect, Eonel suddenly spoke as if only just remembering.
“Oh, that's right. On my way here, Father's attendant was carrying an imperial decree. I brought the message instead.”
“An imperial decree?”
A chill ran down Kiyen's spine.
Amelia had always been the Emperor's greatest weakness.
Just what command had he issued because of her?
She swallowed nervously.
“It's nothing major. Lady Mintia is simply forbidden from entering the Imperial Palace until she officially debuts in society.”
Eonel smiled pleasantly.
“Considering she struck a member of the imperial family, I'd say His Majesty was remarkably merciful. Then again, she's still young and doesn't know any better.”
She tilted her head innocently.
“I'd heard rumors that Your Majesty often invited her here for conversation and personally educated her, so I assumed she was unusually mature for her age. But I suppose... a child is still a child.”
The hidden barb landed perfectly.
So this is the etiquette you taught her? Slapping people without warning?
Kiyen's composure crumbled under the effortless blow.
Without giving her time to recover, Eonel continued.
“What a pity. You won't be able to see the niece you cherish so dearly anymore. Everyone says she's the only one who keeps Your Majesty company.”
She spoke with such convincing sympathy that anyone unaware of their hostility would have believed her sincere.
Kiyen, however, heard every ounce of mockery.
Her smile began to crack.
“If Your Majesty ever feels lonely, I'll visit often and keep you company instead. Please invite this daughter of yours whenever you wish... Mother.”
At last, the word Mother left Eonel's lips.
The final thread of Kiyen's self-control snapped.
“Well,” the Empress replied with a gentle smile that barely concealed her trembling lips, “it must be you who feels lonely, living alone in such a large estate after leaving the palace. Come visit often and chat with this mother. The palace is always lively with young Voltaire and Melly here. Though perhaps you wouldn't know... once you have children, time passes astonishingly fast.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Eonel nodded pleasantly.
“I certainly shall. Although... I still haven't greeted Father yet.”
A crafty smile appeared on Kiyen's face.
Has she finally lost her temper? Will she storm out in wounded pride?
She was wrong.
Eonel remained comfortably seated.
“I'll speak with Father personally and persuade him to ease his anger toward Your Majesty's beloved niece, so please don't worry too much.”
She smiled sweetly.
“After all... perhaps Father ignores what others say, but he always listens to me.”
That single sentence crushed what little pride Kiyen still possessed.
Yet painful as it was...
The offer was tempting.
Mintia was indispensable.
No place shaped noble opinion better than the salons of high society.
Not the grand galas, but the countless small tea gatherings.
Those intimate gatherings were where allies were quietly made.
Unfortunately, an empress was far too important to attend such insignificant occasions herself.
For generations, imperial princesses had fulfilled that role on behalf of the Empress.
But Kiyen had no daughter.
So she had chosen Mintia instead.
People often believed politics was driven by dukes, marquises, and counts who attended imperial councils and advised the Emperor.
But more often than not...
The true hands moving those powerful men belonged to their wives.
The duchesses.
The marchionesses.
The countesses.
The information exchanged over afternoon tea quietly influenced husbands and sons alike, steering the empire without those men ever realizing it.
She couldn't afford to lose that network.
For a moment, her pride warred against her ambition.
She bit her lower lip hard enough to hurt.
Across from her, Eonel merely smiled.
“So?”
At last, Kiyen made her decision.
I cannot ruin everything over a moment's pride.
Voltaire will become Emperor.
When that day comes... I will repay today's humiliation in full.
Suppressing the tremor in her voice, she asked,
“What... is it that you want?”
For the first time, Eonel smiled without any pretense.
“Give Amelia the Lavender Palace in the eastern quarter.”
“The... Lavender Palace?”
Kiyen stared blankly.
Surely she had misheard.
The Lavender Palace.
The magnificent eastern palace surrounded by its famous lavender gardens.
One of the few grand palaces closest to the Emperor's residence.
Second only to the Empress's own palace in size.
For generations, it had housed every Crown Prince.
The Empress's face twisted.
If Voltaire became Crown Prince yet moved somewhere else without explanation, everyone would question why.
Yet if she refused...
She would appear cruel and heartless toward her orphaned step-granddaughter.
Trapped between two impossible choices, Kiyen finally nodded with immense reluctance.
I'll simply move Voltaire into the Crystal Palace.
There's no flower garden there—only a stone garden of rocks and gravel.
We can claim he developed a pollen allergy.
Then no one will question why Amelia received Lavender Palace.
The calculation was complete.
“Very well,” the Empress said with a strained smile.
“Melly isn't just any child. She is His Majesty's most precious concern. If she stays close to him, I'm sure it will make him very happy.”
The words tasted like swallowing back blood.
“Then I'll be on my way to see Father, Mother.”
Eonel rose elegantly.
“Oh, one last thing.”
“You'd best have your niece leave the palace immediately before Father happens to see her.”
“I've gone to all this trouble persuading him. It would be unfortunate if everything were ruined because she wandered into his sight.”
Even as she departed...
Eonel did not forget to twist the knife one final time before leaving the Empress behind.
