The Empress Mother-in-Law's Blessing
“She’s here!”
“Lady Alence! Oh my!”
The noble ladies at the ball momentarily broke into a flurry of whispers, but the instant her gaze swept across the room, conversations fell silent as if someone had doused them with ice water.
Everyone was watching her with the awe usually reserved for legends.
Even Lady Lariel Maechert, who had seemed to expect this, tightened her brows in tension.
The Empire’s most powerful Chancellor of Palace Affairs strolled toward her with measured steps, stopping just before Arinell.
Arinell had to crane her neck to look up at the plump noblewoman who stood a full inch taller than her own small frame.
“……”
Wait, what in the world is this?!
Lady Alence parted her red lips with elegant poise and spoke in a voice dripping with refinement.
“Arinell Maila.”
The fact that she had uttered the name of a simple country bumpkin like Arinell sent several young ladies gasping in surprise.
It was obvious what Lady Lariel’s expression looked like without even seeing it.
“Very talented, are you not, my lady?”
“One day, when you need to learn something outside of school, you must remember to call on me.”
Arinell’s mind flashed back to what Aunt Pietra had once said to her.
The plump, round-faced Aunt Pietra in her plain knit dress… and the even more stylish Lady Alence, who wore velvet and was envied by everyone around them…
The faces of the two women began to overlap in her thoughts.
“……”
Aunt Pietra reached out with her emerald-ringed hand and gently lifted Arinell’s trembling little palm.
The room filled with the sound of the young ladies catching their breaths again.
Adam’s explanation came back to her.
“The Chancellor of Palace Affairs, that is Lady Alence, can tell a lady’s talent just from her posture and eyes. If she chooses you…”
“……”
“It is a given that you will become the flower of society. Simply being selected by Lady Alence will bring you enormous attention.”
Her expression was completely unreadable.
Arinell felt utterly bewildered.
Aunt Pietra, who had taught her how to make red sugar beet sherbet with such clumsy hands, was now the Empire’s Chancellor of Palace Affairs?
Unbelievable.
Lady Alence kept hold of Arinell’s hand with graceful poise and gazed down at her.
“It seems tonight’s party has been worth attending after all.”
The murmurs swelled louder with every word.
“Did she pick her for the selection?”
“No way! I’ve never seen her face before.”
“It’s Arinell Maila, daughter of the Great Spiritist, and the one His Highness the Crown Prince has chosen as his fiancée.”
“But she’s from the countryside. Mom says she grew up farming like a commoner.”
“She probably still has the dirty hands she used to wash the panties and catch the worms. Why…!”
They can all hear me…
The chatter only grew louder because Lady Alence, the legendary figure of high society, had chosen Arinell.
The noble ladies and their mothers, all dressed up specially for tonight, wore expressions that were far from gentle.
A noblewoman approached them with hurried steps, clearly flustered.
“Lady Alence.”
The woman’s bright red hair and face resembling Lady Lariel’s told Arinell this must be the Duchess Maechert.
With a forced smile plastered across her face, she spoke to Lady Alence.
“It is an honor to have you attend our Lariel’s birthday party.”
Lady Alence lowered Arinell’s hand and turned her gaze toward the Duchess Maechert.
The duchess’s brows were drawn tight, but her mouth curved upward in a strained smile.
“Aren’t you going to greet her?”
“My lady Lariel Maechert, at your service. I have always admired you…”
Lady Lariel delivered her greeting in a practiced, clear voice and offered a graceful curtsy to Lady Alence.
Then, with a smile still lingering on her lips, she gave Arinell a sharp, cool glance.
Her eyes seemed to say: Don’t linger beside her. Get out of here right now.
But Lady Alence placed a hand on Arinell’s shoulder.
The duchess’s brows twitched violently.
“Yes. Congratulations, Lady Lariel Maechert. If you continue to cultivate proper character…”
Was she imagining things, or did the Chancellor’s voice feel unusually cold?
“……you will surely become a wonderful lady.”
After Lady Alence finished speaking, a few seconds of silence stretched between them.
The duchess looked at her with desperate eyes, hoping for more words.
Lady Lariel stood frozen in awkwardness.
But Lady Alence turned her gaze away from them both and looked at Arinell instead.
Her once-frozen expression toward the duchess now radiated warmth as she studied Arinell.
“Then, Miss Maila, will you come with me?”
The entire atmosphere of the ball froze solid at Lady Alence’s words.
Arinell looked up at the noblewoman and nodded. Before taking her first step, she surveyed the room once more.
The other ladies and young women stared at her with undisguised shock on their faces, and the young men did the same.
Most noticeably, the Duchess Maechert’s brows were furrowed in visible bewilderment, and Lady Lariel glared at her while biting her lip.
They had clearly expected Lady Alence’s interest to land squarely on Lariel.
Yet here a country bumpkin had somehow stolen that attention, leaving them thoroughly bewildered.
Arinell followed Lady Alence as they walked through the hall.
“Some people call society a flower garden…”
Her voice, now familiar as Aunt Pietra’s, dropped to a low murmur beside her.
“……but I call it a battlefield. To survive there, you need total armor.”
Arinell gave a slight nod in understanding.
Her meaning was clear, even if it was only a vague hint.
As they left the ball together, dozens of the Maechert family’s servants bowed deeply toward them.
Even as they boarded the carriage, countless eyes still followed them.
Arinell felt the weight of the intense attention pressing down on her chest.
The carriage door closed and they set off, and she let out a small sigh of relief.
She turned to Lady Alence, who was watching her from across the seat, and spoke with a mix of complaint and surprise.
“How did this even happen, Aunt…… I mean, my lady? You startled me so much!”
One second, two seconds, three seconds—Lady Alence’s nose scrunched slightly as she looked back at Arinell.
Arinell wondered if she had done something wrong.
“Arinell, I really wanted to see you.”
Aunt Pietra reached out and pulled Arinell into a tight embrace.
Every time she hugged her, the blush that usually bloomed on the older woman’s cheeks grew noticeably redder.
“Hihihihi! You’ve gotten even cuter!”
Lady Alence’s expression, utterly unlike the strict image of the Empire’s Chancellor of Palace Affairs, was full of delight.
She gently stroked Arinell’s meticulously groomed hair, which the maids had worked so hard on.
Soon, soft kisses followed along the rounded forehead and plump cheeks.
Uwaaaah, I’m suffocating!
Just as I remembered! It really is Aunt Pietra!
***
Arinell peeked at herself in the mirror, still blushing from the way Aunt Pietra had fussed over her cheeks.
When Adam learned that she had been chosen by Aunt Pietra—or rather, by Lady Alence—he looked like he was about to jump for joy.
“The late Marquis must be overjoyed when he hears this, young miss.”
When he also learned that she had grown up with the neighbors from Galnem, his face showed genuine surprise.
“I never imagined such a turn of events.”
Details about which nobles in Galnem had helped Emperor Parmes were secret, so even as a high-ranking official, Adam had no way of knowing.
“But now no one will be able to question that you are His Highness the Crown Prince’s fiancée. You will receive an imperial education… every noble daughter in the Empire will be envious of you.”
“But that means there were people who objected?”
“……Well, there are so many nobles plotting against the Crown Prince that it couldn’t be helped.”
Arinell remembered the venomous look the Duchess Maechert had given her.
“Of course, His Majesty simply tore up any such letters without reading them.”
“……”
Even as she thought about the tyrannical king who discarded petitions without mercy, she realized that nothing would stop him from taking her as his daughter-in-law.
……Am I really going to marry Britain?
No way.
Come to think of it, no way.
“Actually, today something wonderful happened. Shall I go tell His Majesty about it tomorrow?”
“You already went three days ago. Every time I tried to get up, you’d complain about coughing or stomachaches, dragging things out until you finally slipped out like you were running away…”
Arinell shook her head at Adam’s suggestion.
“Anyway, I have something important to do tomorrow. I’ll head up now.”
“Oh dear, His Majesty will be disappointed.”
Adam gave a playful smile and muttered to himself.
Tomorrow was definitely out of the question. She had an important appointment to keep.
With a smile still on her lips, Arinell changed into her fresh clothes with the maids’ help.
Her body felt lighter than ever as she climbed onto the bed and lay down, staring at the pitch-black window.
The same yellow moon that had once shone over Galnem now bathed her room in soft light.
***
CLANG—
From the underground prison came the groans of traitors, and a man used one of the bloodied iron bars as a pillow while polishing it.
A black shadow streaked past the open window in an instant, and a single envelope dropped onto the desk.
He tore the letter open in a single rough motion with his thick hands.
And read the crisp message written on it.
THE RED WITCH HAS CONTACTED THE CHILD
His eyebrows lifted slightly, and a wrinkle formed between them.
His thick lips moved with a metallic clatter.
“How dare you make your move before this lord.”