Chapter 53

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 53

Chapter Title: The Grand Imperial Banquet

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The imperial family held a grand banquet once a month, attended by all direct descendants of the imperial line.

At present, the direct imperial family consisted solely of the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Aside from them, only their spouses.

‘So, it’s the perfect setup for a four-way face-off between the Emperor and Empress, and me and Arpad.’

When I heard the news, Arpad asked me,

“Are you going to attend?”

“Of course. If I skip out, it’ll look like I’ve lost already.”

Arpad let out a smirk and said,

“There are still plenty of Mother’s belongings left. When the Empress moved into the Empress’s Palace, Grandmother flew into a rage and dragged every one of Mother’s personal items out of there.”

I’d heard about this before.

“It must have been brutally fierce, even just from the stories.”

“Quite a few socialites got chased out or buried back then.”

“And that’s when the Grand Duchess went into seclusion, splitting high society into eastern and western factions.”

In that sense, showing up to the grand banquet decked out in the late Empress’s glamorous relics could prove highly effective.

‘Turning the Empress’s stomach inside out is the bare minimum...’

Truth be told, since Arpad had already riled her up excessively not long ago, it might not even be necessary.

But on second thought, when it came to provoking the enemy, bigger and bolder was always better.

‘Plus, it’ll serve as a kind of signal.’

To none other than the tenacious Grand Duchess Martine of Axion, who had desperately guarded her daughter’s belongings.

A short while back, I had conveyed “my intentions” to the Grand Duchess through Lady Solenu.

‘This could be the perfect performance to back it all up.’

And the result was...

‘Isn’t this... a bit much?’

It was so dazzlingly extravagant that anyone might mistake it for coronation attire.

Startled by it, the attendant waiting at the banquet hall entrance froze solid at the sight of me.

“......”

There was no need for an announcement, but at the very least, a greeting and a bow were in order.

Yet here he was, stiffening up like he’d glimpsed something unspeakable. Wasn’t that a little over the top?

I was just starting to feel a twinge of annoyance when Arpad stepped forward first.

“No reason for your eyeballs to be glued there. Should I pry them out so some air can circulate through your skull and snap you back to reality?”

“Eek!”

...Couldn’t you dial it back a notch?

Arpad admitted it to himself.

Lately, one particular task had started feeling downright pleasant and enjoyable.

Dressing up his recently abducted wife.

‘She’s got the beauty to pull it off.’

Aesthetic tastes were aesthetic tastes, whether one carried dragon blood or not.

Making a stunning woman even more beautiful was simply pure delight.

Under the pretext of using his mother’s relics for a grand performance, he had dressed Hilia exactly as he pleased.

He was more than satisfied to confidently take the hand of his resplendently attired wife and escort her.

‘The knights trailing behind as guards, or Ludwig crawling on all fours back at the Grand Duke’s estate—they could never.’

This was something only he could do.

And that fact filled him with an oddly profound sense of pride.

Thus, Arpad held her hand in full display as they made their way from the Crown Prince’s Palace to the main palace for the banquet.

The entire process had become part of his newfound hobby.

‘Dressed to my tastes, so of course I have to show her off.’

He’d never admit it aloud, but Arpad was indulging in some serious arm candy boasting.

Yet at the banquet hall entrance, something grated on his nerves.

The attendants on duty there completely lost their wits at the sight of Hilia entering on his arm.

They stood there with dazed, dreamy expressions, forgetting their duties entirely.

He’d seen plenty of people along the way with their gazes stolen similarly.

But this was the first time facing them head-on.

For a fleeting moment, a surge of impulse hit him so fiercely he wondered if it was the onset of mania.

‘Should I actually gouge them out?’

The sight of their vacant, entranced eyes fixed on Hilia was utterly infuriating.

He wasn’t deranged enough to act on the thought outright, so he settled for a measured warning.

“No reason for your eyeballs to be glued there. Should I pry them out so some air can circulate through your skull and snap you back to reality?”

Horrified gasps rippled from all directions, and Hilia stared at him in shock.

He could guess exactly what she was thinking.

‘Is he really slipping into mania?’

Arpad’s hunch was spot on.

The attendants trembled as they apologized with all their might.

“S-sorry, Your Highness!”

“It was our mistake...!”

“Please forgive us...!”

As Arpad fixed them with a piercing stare, Hilia tugged at him with her slender arm.

She whispered softly, like the flutter of butterfly wings.

“Cut the nonsense and let’s go inside already!”

“It’s not nonsense...”

Even so, her feeble yet desperate pull felt rather nice.

Her tiny, delicate wing-like whisper did too.

So Arpad obediently let himself be led along.

The moment the doors shut behind them, he could’ve sworn he heard sighs of relief from the attendants. No illusion there.

Stepping into the banquet hall, Hilia—and even Arpad—felt a slight jolt of surprise.

Someone was already seated inside.

A middle-aged woman with black hair, clad in a gorgeous, heavy dress of deep purple.

Her inscrutable black eyes were particularly striking.

She tilted her head slightly to the left and spoke first in a husky voice.

“You’re late, Arpad.”

‘The Empress is already here?’

For such banquets, it was customary for those of lower status to arrive first and wait.

Naturally, the Crown Prince and his wife were expected to precede the Emperor and Empress.

But the Empress arriving ahead was surprising enough—her words carried a sharp edge besides.

‘She got here first and now she’s claiming we’re late?’

An utterly absurd nitpick.

The Empress approached slowly, extending her hand toward Arpad.

My eyes met Arpad’s.

We grasped her intent immediately.

‘Demanding he escort her, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world?’

In the absence of the Emperor, a son escorting his mother was perfectly proper.

‘But not with the daughter-in-law right here!’

Especially when she’d deliberately entered first to force the issue.

A venomous displeasure welled up inside me.

This single act dismissed me entirely.

‘Beyond refusing to acknowledge me as Crown Princess, she’s treating me like I don’t exist at all!’

It was mockery of my lack of official recognition as Crown Princess, doubled with outright insult.

And at the same time...

The Empress wiggled her fingers and smiled softly.

“My hand is getting sore.”

This was payback for the scene Arpad had caused at the Empress’s party just days ago, at my request.

With the Emperor absent, the Crown Prince escorting the Empress was simple common sense.

Refusing would be an etiquette violation unthinkable in polite society.

Even for a family banquet, an imperial grand banquet counted as official business.

Everything that happened here was destined to become grist for the rumor mill.

The Empress was forcing Arpad’s hand right now.

‘To set me aside and escort her instead.’

Should it happen, the gossip would spread far and wide.

Embellished several times over, no doubt.

‘Something like... Arpad publicly ditching me on an official occasion, twisted to the hilt.’

The Empress’s and Evangeline’s cronies would spread it with gleeful abandon.

‘I’d become the laughingstock.’

Having Arpad snub the Empress carried its own risks too.

‘Defying imperial etiquette would stir up trouble on its own.’

Either way, her forced dilemma was infuriating.

‘Even grabbing a meal in the palace turns into a circus!’

And as a matter of course, I had no intention of waiting around for Arpad’s decision.

‘I carve my own path!’

The Empress’s outstretched hand was an attack on Arpad, but it targeted my precarious position even more.

If she landed the first blow, hitting back was only natural!

I flashed a brilliant smile and released Arpad’s hand.

“!”

I caught his red eyes widening in surprise.

I winked at him with one eye, then stepped forward with a radiant smile.