Chapter 48

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 48

Chapter Title: Rescuing Lady Solenu

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What I had set out to do was simple.

If only Arpad—who seemed to have left any shred of shame back in his mother's womb—hadn't gotten in the way.

I just wanted to quietly spirit away Lady Solenu, who was being humiliated by a thoroughly displeased Evangeline, without drawing any eyes.

And in a corner of the maze, I came upon the very scene I'd been waiting for.

"Oh my. What brings Lady Solenu all the way out here?"

"Ah, have you finally decided to repent for your family's sins and come beg forgiveness?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Lady Ruth."

Lady Solenu answered with utter calm.

"I merely came to this party after receiving an invitation, now that I'm in the capital after so long."

"Oh, how brazen. Does anyone here not know how rudely your parents behaved toward Her Imperial Majesty the Empress?"

The western regions were home to great houses with traditions older than the empire itself.

And among them, at the forefront, stood House Solenu, the marquisate.

Naturally, their only daughter, Isephin Solenu, deserved a warm welcome upon her long-awaited return to the capital's high society.

But the reality couldn't have been more hostile to her, and the reason was simple.

'It's because the Empress and House Solenu have fallen out.'

To be more precise, the Empress and the Axion Grand Duchess had clashed.

And House Solenu was the Grand Duchess's maternal family.

'Over ten years ago, during the conflict between the Grand Duchess and the Empress, the entire west banded together against Her Majesty.'

The result? A complete schism between the capital's high society and the west's.

Central nobles' daughters and sons no longer participated in western social events.

And those from the west couldn't make their debuts in the capital.

To any observer, it looked like a victory for the Empress, who dominated central high society.

But the west was filled with ancient, noble houses of such deep history that the situation was more nuanced.

One could even say the entire west refused to acknowledge the Empress.

The Emperor rarely intervened in high society matters.

Especially not when the two sides were in such a delicate position from his perspective.

The Axion Grand Duchess was the Emperor's aunt by marriage, mother of the late Empress, and thus his mother-in-law as well.

The current Empress Isabel had been a lady-in-waiting to the late Empress Roxelin—and before that, to the Axion Grand Duchess.

The Grand Duchess refused to accept the Empress's authority.

And that rift had led to the current great divide in high society.

'For Lady Solenu to appear in central high society amid all this is certainly unprecedented.'

So at first, Evangeline had tried to gently coax her.

She must have thought that convincing Lady Solenu could force western high society to recognize and submit to the Empress.

Especially with Artanus Hall's banquet looming.

'Attending Artanus Hall's banquet means exile from high society—but only central high society.'

The western scene had been operating separately for nearly a decade.

It was predictable that I'd try to win them over.

So Evangeline had made her own attempt to sway Lady Solenu.

And failed miserably.

Despite every enticement, Lady Solenu had stepped on a landmine with her calm voice.

"But isn't it true that Her Majesty the Empress was once a lady-in-waiting who served my great-aunt?"

"……!"

In truth, Empress Isabel had indeed been the late Empress's lady-in-waiting, and before that, the Grand Duchess's.

She had merely stated facts.

But to Evangeline, the Empress's daughter, it was as insulting as a slap to the face.

The result?

Splash—!

"Oh dear, what a slip-up. My hand just slid."

Evangeline flung the tea she was holding right at Lady Solenu.

It was shaling petal tea, the sort favored by noble ladies.

Lady Solenu's dress was a pale yellow, making the purple stain glaringly obvious.

No one knew better than I the look in Evangeline's eyes when she despised and mocked someone.

And its true meaning.

She was probably thinking something like this.

'A mere character from a book, of all things!'

Evangeline clearly didn't see people as people.

Just text from the book she'd read.

Or perhaps flimsy puppets.

That's why she could look down with such unbridled contempt, use them without hesitation, discard them, and kill them.

Her final death flashed through my mind once more.

The rage from that memory chilled my head to the point of aching.

'To you, this world isn't real right now. Just some idle tale from a boring book.'

That's why she'd toyed with and ruined everything on a whim, without a second thought.

But I lived in this world.

Even with memories of my past life on Earth, I'd been born and raised here.

And up to now, I'd lived among the people of this world, rubbing elbows with them.

There were those who liked me, those who hated me—but no one who acted or thought like Evangeline, the possessor.

That, and only that, I absolutely could not forgive.

'We are living beings!'

I wanted to shove those words in Evangeline's face someday.

No matter what.

At that moment, I sent Arpad packing.

I needed to extract Lady Solenu without anyone noticing.

Arpad was already infamous as a mad crown prince, so I figured a bit of eccentricity would just be par for the course.

And he played his role to perfection.

His mere appearance seized every gaze around.

Evangeline's included, naturally.

"O-older brother?"

Her muttering it while blushing made my mood sour a bit.

Evangeline ignored Lady Solenu entirely and rushed toward Arpad.

Her sycophants followed suit, of course.

Thanks to that, I could slip Lady Solenu away unnoticed.

Even drape her with the towel and cloak I'd prepared.

There was one thing that exceeded my expectations, though.

Arpad had no sense of shame or embarrassment.

This was a prime chance to irk the Empress, whom he despised.

And for some reason, he'd gotten his hackles up again, feeling like I was just using him for real this time.

The result was this disaster.

"My baby squirrel nestled in my heart! Where have you scampered off to? How far have those tiny paws carried you? Hurry back to my heart—your home—or I'll die of longing!"

...I still hadn't fully grasped just how insane this man was.

'Has the madness already set in, and everyone just thinks that's his normal?'

Lady Solenu, frozen beside me, spoke up.

"Sh-shouldn't you... go to him? He's calling for you so desperately..."

I clutched my throbbing head and shook it.

"No. We retreat like this. Quietly."

"But..."

Where she pointed, Arpad was dramatically searching for that damned baby squirrel like he was on stage!

"...!"

My face burned.

To think that lunatic was my legal husband. Had I made a colossal mistake?

His state had been off lately, even more than usual.

With those thoughts, I successfully led Lady Solenu out of the Empress Palace gardens.

Without a single soul spotting us.

"Ah, my baby squirrel! Not even a single pink tuft of fluff in sight!"

Escaping Arpad's voice—which was clearly mocking me—was... absolutely not the reason.

Our getaway had been easy only because someone had steadfastly held everyone's attention.

I hated to admit it.

I'd just had a brief out-of-body experience where reason and common sense flew far away.

But I succeeded in my goal: secretly extracting Lady Solenu and bringing her to the Crown Prince Palace.

I dried her tea-soaked hair and lent her fresh clothes to replace the stain-ruined dress.

Finally, with Lady Solenu looking pristine, we could exchange proper greetings.

"Better late than never—we can finally make introductions."

"The daughter of House Solenu greets Your Highness the Crown Princess."

Isephin Solenu observed every etiquette with impeccable grace.

It was a sight I rarely saw from central nobles, leaving me quietly impressed.

She looked up at me with calm yet sharp, intelligent eyes.

"But why did you rescue me, Your Highness?"