“Your Majesty. I have a report to make.”

Hadel paused at the voice coming from the darkness.

With a splash, the lake’s water sloshed belatedly, creating a small disturbance.

Hadel, feeling the flow of the water for a moment, responded languidly.

“Speak.”

“Marquis Melliott seems to plan on staying quiet.”

“Hooo. What a surprise.”

Marquis Melliott was a man full of ambition.

He had assumed the Marquis would use this opportunity to make his daughter the Queen, but it appeared he was surprisingly careful.

“What a shame. I wanted to kill that ridiculous woman once and for all this time.”

A woman who, just when he had almost forgotten her, would appear in his quarters and infuriate him.

At first, he had been shocked at her silver hair and silver eyes.

But he couldn’t stand by and let her continue any longer.

“Then what about the Valkirinos?”

Duke Valkirino was another noble itching to strike because he couldn’t make his daughter into the Empress.

Nella Valkirino, who was rumoured to be vicious and spiteful, was an enemy he was expecting a commotion from.

“That… The Valkirinos decided to send someone.”

“And?”

“It’s not Nella Valkirino.”

For a moment, a tense calm fell onto the surface of the lake. Hadel, who had been soaking, slowly got out. The moonlight shone on his pale shoulders.

Drip.

The water dripped down his toned muscles.

“How interesting.”

With a strange smile, Hadel swept back his wet, black hair.

Droplets of water fell as he did so.

“Tell me more. That isn’t all the information you have, is it, Taimon?”

“Of course. But it’s unexpected.”

“Tell me. I don’t care what it is.”

“I heard they’re sending an adopted child who was put onto the Duke’s family register. But I think…”

Unlike usual, Taimon hesitated.

Because the words about to leave his mouth were ones that would draw the Emperor’s royal wrath.

If he finished this sentence, his mood would definitely become sour for the rest of the day.

The Emperor he served was someone whose temperament was always irritable. However, if enraged, his mood would drop to the floor.

Someone might even die.

“Why did you stop talking?”

Seeing Taimon hesitate, Hadel walked out of the water.

The lake rippled and purled, following his steps.

“…It seems to be someone related to the de Ach Viscounty.”

Hadel froze.

His footsteps stopped in their tracks.

His pink irises turned slowly towards Taimon’s hidden shadow.

Like that, there was silence for a long time.

And afterwards came a slightly cracked voice from Hadel’s open lips.

“Explain it properly.”

Hearing his dry but shaky voice, Taimon felt sweat dripping down his back.

The Emperor often caused incidents whenever he was emotionally unstable like this.

“I haven’t been able to find out much more so far. My apologies, Your Majesty.”

Hadel closed his eyes.

Whoosh. He felt the temperature drop with the blow of a cold breeze.

“Hahaha.”

Hadel, who had been still, suddenly laughed. His laughter rang, breaking through the lake’s fog.

“Kekek… Kehahahaha!”

Flinching, Taimon kept all of his senses sharp.

This was due to a previous incident where His Majesty the Emperor had suddenly flipped out, brandishing his sword.

“This is fun. How fun! Hahahahaha!”

Hiding his breath, Taimon put his hand on the hilt of his sword in preparation to draw his sword in an instant, just in case the Emperor erupted in fury.

Luckily, his fear came to pass.

After laughing crazily a few more times, Hadel silently put his emotions in order.

“Those snake-like Valkirinos. Should I just go tonight and kill them all? Hm? Should I do that, Taimon?”

“Your Majesty!”

“Hahaha, I’m only joking. Don’t look at me with such a serious expression.”

Taimon swallowed his spit. Although the Emperor brushed it off as a joke, his expression was filled with murderous intent.

A few years ago, Count Lucien’s family, who had drawn the Emperor’s royal wrath, was massacred in a single night.

If he hadn’t been able to find documents exposing the corruption of Count Lucien’s family and other nobles, the Imperial throne could have been endangered from the backlash.

With the evidence found, the Emperor threatened the nobility and succeeded in burying the massacre of the County.

“Let’s go in. I want to rest.”

Taimon, who was silently shadowing the Emperor, inwardly wished and wished again.

That someone who could restrain this monster would appear.

But there was no way that someone existed.

Taimon just desperately prayed for the monster to properly gather his wits.

* * *

Hadel, who couldn’t see, often enjoyed putting his chin on the windowsill to feel the cool wind.

Between the curtains swaying in the breeze, Hadel’s pink eyes which would move back and forth were quite beautiful.

That’s why I often played this prank in order to surprise Hadel.

Slowly tiptoeing towards him from behind as he was lost in thought…

“Ahaaa! Hadel!”

It was a prank of hugging him from behind.

Then, with a difficult expression, you would hug me back.

“Asha. Should I pretend to be shocked?”

“Huuuh? You mean you didn’t get surprised again?”

“Uh huh. Sorry. I’ll try to be surprised next time.”

“Tch, it’s fine. I’ll try harder next time!”

“Hahaha, you’re so cute.”

Hadel, who had grown taller in no time, would stroke my hair and smile calmly. Because that smile was so nice to see, I would hang onto his neck.

“Hadel, how do you always know when I’m coming?”

“That’s because the sound of your footsteps is so obvious.”

“The sound of my footsteps? But it might not be me.”

Hadel easily lifted me in his arms as I asked. Then, moving to the bed, he sat down and seated me on his lap.

“I know it all. I know everything about Asha.”

“Hey, no way. Are you saying you can tell if it’s me just from my footsteps?”

“Yep, of course. Asha’s footsteps are special to me.”

“But…”

Although I wanted to keep talking, I couldn’t. Because Hadel’s red lips sweetly swallowed me up.

“Asha, I love you. I’ll definitely be surprised next time.”

What happened next, again? Did you truly get surprised?

That was the end of the special memory I didn’t remember properly.

Yes. It was part of a memory from before you proposed to me.

* * *

The sunlight stung my eyes. At that moment, I realized.

Ah. I was sleeping just now.

I had dreamed of Hadel.

“Please wake up, Miss Serienne.”

Splash-!

“Kya! Th-that’s cold!”

My eyes shot open. My entire body was drenched, and water dripped through my hair.

“What are you doing?”

What kind of unexpected thing are you doing?

In front of my eyes was a woman close to the age of a grandmother with wrinkles decorating her face, holding an empty water pitcher and looking down at me expressionlessly.

“Miss Serienne. There’s not much time until the day you enter the palace. We need to start educating you right away, so please get up.”

“Wait… You could just wake me up, so why did you dump water on me?”

I was dumbfounded. Was this grandmother going senile? Or just crazy?

Why is she using water to wake up someone sleeping perfectly fine?

“I tried to call you with my words, but you didn’t wake up.”

This grandma was acting completely businesslike and spoke in a robotic voice.

She wasn’t even looking me in the eye in the first place.

Although she gave off a strange feeling, she had explained that I didn’t wake up when she used her words, so I couldn’t protest.

“Whew… But this is still too much. What time is it right now?”

“It is 6:07 AM. From now on, while you’re staying at the Valkirino residence, you must be up at 6 AM.

“…That early?”

“Those are the rules. Since breakfast is at 7, you need to hurry and prepare, starting now.”

Why are they so stern?

Even the Tremain County wasn’t this strict.

And the de Ach Duchy from my memories wasn’t this strict either!

Although I had a lot to say, they were all things I couldn’t let out of my mouth.

I quickly gave up and got out of the bed, shaking off the blankets.

“Okay. After a simple breakfast, you will take lessons on etiquette befitting a young noble lady. After lunchtime, you will have dance lessons, and during dinner, you will meet the Duke. Starting from next week, you will receive lessons for a week straight on the proper decorum to be the Queen. Do you have any questions?”

Dazedly, I could only blink my eyes.

What is all this?

Lessons on what?

* * *

“Excuse me, you can’t walk like that.”

“No, not like that. This way.”

“Please memorize the order of a nobles’ greeting from the beginning again.”

This senile old lady was really strict.

She was so strict that she wasn’t passing any of the noble etiquette and behavior that I already knew.

This much is enough. Just how perfect did she need it to be?!

“Ha… I’m tired, so tired.”

All I wanted to do was meet my husband.

It was right when I was thinking that this was just too much.

“It is time to eat dinner with the Duke.”

“Huh? Already?”

I haven’t prepared myself yet though!

But whether or not I was ready was not important to these people.

In a flurry, I fixed up my clothing and hair, and was guided to the courtyard in the center of the residence.

When I arrived, there was already a great feast prepared.

I didn’t know if they always ate like this, but today, the table was so fancily laden that my eyes were blinded.

I quickly rushed to the Duke and expressed my respect.

“Your Excellency Duke Valkirino. I’m Serienne.”

Lightly lifting my dress, I bowed my head slightly.

Slowly raising my head, I saw a middle-aged man with the same purple eyes as Nella staring at me.

The person I need to seek revenge on…!

With a sharp face, the Duke was a man whose purple hair was glossy as though he had slathered it with oil.

However, his eyes were like a predator’s.

He slowly looked me up and down from my head to my feet, making me feel exposed in front of his purple eyes.

“You look surprisingly similar to her. If Miss Ariana grew a little older, she would look like you.”

For a moment, I thought he knew ‘Ashella de Ach’, and my heart dropped.

Awkwardly laughing, I bowed once more.

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like the Duke recognized my face.

Well, since I spent all my time with Hadel when I was younger, I rarely attended public events.

“Once you dress up a humble thing, it’s not bad to look at.”

“Nella. Watch your mouth. This is the body that will become the Emperor’s woman in the future.”

“Pfft. Dad, this is a body that will be lucky if it doesn’t die at the Emperor’s hand, so whatever.”

I was unsure whether to speak during the conversation between the father and daughter. If only they were going to talk, then what was the point of calling me in the first place?

“Anyway, let’s eat. Sit.”

At the Duke’s hand signal, the maids pulled out a chair for me.

Although I was very hungry and there was a feast awaiting me, it was hard to bring a forkful to my mouth.

I couldn’t quench my thirst no matter how much water I drank.

And as I finally began to take a bite.

“Serienne.”

The Duke called me, causing the food to stop in front of my mouth once more.