Chapter 13: 13
“Dorothy.”
“Cyrus-sama? Is something the matter?”
In the brief moment before Daisy and Belinda arrived, Cyrus spoke to Dorothy.
The gazes within the room gathered on the two of them as soon as people noticed.
“Um… thank you.”
“For what, exactly?”
“For not declaring the divorce immediately here, and for saying you wanted to talk first.”
The two of them were almost certainly going to divorce.
Even so, Dorothy had said she wanted to talk one last time beforehand.
To Cyrus, that sounded like the faintest hint of hope that perhaps there was still a path where divorce could be avoided.
“Before I began working at the palace, we promised that we would talk once.”
“What? …That’s all?”
“Yes. That is all. Since we made a promise, I thought I should keep it.”
Dorothy’s reason was completely different from what Cyrus had imagined.
Because they had promised.
That was the only reason.
“Dorothy, I—”
Just as Cyrus was about to say something, the door opened again, and Daisy and Belinda were brought into the room by guards.
Daisy looked anxious at first, but the moment she spotted her brother, her face brightened instantly.
That expression alone was enough to ignite Cyrus’s anger.
Without saying a word, he stepped up to Daisy and struck her across the cheek.
“That hurts! Brother!!”
“Be silent!! I told you, didn’t I, that we were refusing Princess Belinda’s request!”
“B-But, Brother, she’s a princess, you know? And our family carries the blood of Lind’s royal house, don’t we?”
“That has nothing to do with it. In the first place, even the Lind princess back then was practically cast off and married into our family. That’s exactly why there has been no relationship between our house and the Lind royal family ever since.”
“But isn’t it important that we have royal blood?”
“You seem fixated on royal blood, but the Lind Kingdom is nothing more than one of the vassal states of the Barba Empire, and its history is shallow. There are noble houses within the Empire with far older bloodlines. Our own house is older than Lind’s royal family.”
The only thing Lind Kingdom could be credited for was being the homeland of Empress Aurelia.
However, Aurelia’s ducal house no longer existed, and her father was now living quietly in the Barba Empire, training the next generation.
Lind Kingdom had no value.
Anyone who studied even a little would understand that, yet this sister of his did not.
Moreover, Daisy always complained that she was weak and frail whenever anything happened.
Yet even after being slapped, she did not collapse and instead glared back at him firmly.
Just where, exactly, was this supposedly weak and delicate sister?
“That’s enough, Count Miller.”
“Y-Yes! I apologize, Your Majesty.”
Had Eugene not intervened, Cyrus might have disgraced himself even further.
“…Your Majesty? Your Majesty?”
“Lower your head. You stand before His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress.”
At those words, Daisy finally realized that the man looking at her with visible disdain was Emperor Eugene.
She hurriedly bowed, but beside her, Belinda gazed at the Emperor with rapture.
“…It seems that in Lind, even basic manners were not taught. Aurelia, your bow when we first met was flawless.”
“My father taught me. He strictly impressed upon me that respect is necessary no matter which country or person one meets.”
“I see. Truly, I’m glad it was you.”
“My, Eugene-sama…”
Hearing the exchange between the imperial couple, Belinda glared at Aurelia.
That woman must have fed His Majesty nothing but malicious lies.
Thinking that, Belinda fixed Aurelia with hatred-filled eyes.
Then she turned to Eugene and smiled sweetly.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Belinda, Princess of the Lind Kingdom.”
“Belinda!”
As Belinda began introducing herself without permission, Freddy cried out her name in panic, his face pale.
Belinda, irritated at hearing Freddy’s voice enter her awareness, scowled.
“…Oh, you’re here, Freddy.”
“I came to retrieve you. Please stop disgracing yourself any further.”
“Disgrace? What disgrace? In the first place, I was the one meant to marry into this country. We’re simply returning things to how they should be. I become Empress, and you reclaim your fiancée. What about that is disgraceful?”
“All of it! You were the one who cried and said you were afraid to marry into the Barba Empire, and that’s why you married me!”
“Because I was told it would be as the ninth wife. I thought I would be bullied. If I had known I could become Empress, I would never have objected.”
“…This is pointless. The premise itself is wrong.”
The role of the woman sent from Lind Kingdom had only ever been that of the ninth wife.
It was only because Aurelia was exceptional and loved by Eugene that she was chosen as Empress.
Had Belinda married instead, Eugene would not have spared her a glance.
“You are incapable. Of capturing His Majesty’s heart, or of standing beside him as Empress of the Barba Empire.”
If she was unreliable even standing beside Freddy the diplomat, how could she possibly stand beside an emperor ruling a vast empire?
“Well, you won’t know unless you try. Your Majesty, please keep me by your side.”
“And what exactly could you do by my side?”
“I am acquainted with the royalty of many nations. I currently travel among countries as part of diplomatic missions as well. Above all, all of Lind Kingdom’s mineral resources would become the Empire’s.”
Mineral resources on the level of Lind Kingdom could be found anywhere within the Empire.
Unaware of that, Belinda tried to present it as a lucrative deal.
Moreover, merely accompanying her husband on his duties yet calling herself a diplomat made her, in Eugene’s eyes, nothing more than a trivial woman trying to twist everything to suit herself.
“For someone like you to even think of standing beside me is presumptuous. Lind diplomat, it seems this woman truly has done nothing but bring shame, just as you said. Take her back at once, and never allow her to set foot in the Empire again.”
“…To think His Majesty would say such a thing. Ah, I see. This must be Aurelia’s doing.”
Still smiling ingratiatingly at Eugene, Belinda spoke Aurelia’s name without honorifics.
“Enough of this. You dare address my wife so casually. I chose Aurelia precisely because she is Aurelia. The only reason your punishment stopped at exile was because there was merit in Lind sending Aurelia to me. Be grateful for that.”
People like her existed everywhere.
Those with absolute confidence in themselves, and who blamed everything unpleasant on others, would always twist any words spoken to them into something convenient.
No matter what anyone said, they would insist they were not at fault.
“This is unpleasant. Send her back to her country before she causes further trouble.”
Knowing that reasoning with Belinda was futile, Eugene said this while looking at Freddy instead.
The moment Freddy reached out to Belinda’s arm to take her away, she struck his cheek without hesitation.
The sharp sound echoed through the room.
“Don’t touch me. How pitiful you are, Your Majesty. You’ve been deceived by that woman. I was deceived as well. That woman boasted to me about how capable this man, her former fiancé, was at his work. And so, for my country’s sake, I tearfully married him. Meanwhile, she slyly seduced Your Majesty…! The true villain is Aurelia!”
At Belinda’s words disparaging Aurelia, Eugene judged it would be quicker to simply cut her down and reached for his sword.
What stopped him was Aurelia’s calm voice.
“Be silent, Princess Belinda. If you are to call yourself both a princess and a diplomat, then at least understand your country’s position. You are now placing the Lind Kingdom itself in danger. With a single order from His Majesty, Lind Kingdom could be destroyed. Do you not understand that? And furthermore, it was you who stole my fiancé. Have you forgotten even that? What a remarkably convenient mind you have.”
Back in Lind Kingdom, when Aurelia was still a duke’s daughter, not a single person ever spoke back to Princess Belinda.
If things did not go her way, the princess immediately resorted to harassment, leaving the girls of the same generation at a loss over how to handle her.
But now, their positions were different.
Between the Empress of the Barba Empire and a princess of Lind Kingdom, the Empress held overwhelmingly higher status.
“You are not someone who should be permitted to speak directly with His Majesty in this manner. In fact, sending someone like you here already signals that Lind Kingdom has no intention of conducting diplomacy in earnest. Sending a person with no knowledge or manners is tantamount to a declaration of war against the Barba Empire. Is that your intention?”
Aurelia’s gaze shifted past Belinda and fixed on Freddy, her expression severe.
There was no trace of nostalgia, nor of lingering affection for the former fiancé she had been forcibly separated from.
Only a cold, appraising stare.
“Diplomat of Lind Kingdom, as His Majesty has said, I strongly recommend that you take Princess Belinda back to your homeland at once. …Lind Kingdom should learn that it holds no value to our Barba Empire.”
Without even speaking Freddy’s name, Aurelia declared her homeland worthless.
She was unmistakably the Empress of the Barba Empire, acting for its sake, and ready to destroy even her country of birth if it stood in the way.
“I sincerely apologize, Your Majesty the Empress. I will return Belinda to our country immediately.”
“Why are you bowing to Aurelia? She was your fiancée, wasn’t she? How disgraceful.”
Belinda snapped immediately at Freddy, who bowed without hesitation.
“Leave at once while Aurelia is still being lenient. And never set foot in the Empire again. If you do so much as step inside, Lind Kingdom will be destroyed. Understood?”
“Yes.”
It was Freddy who answered, nodding at Eugene’s words, even as the Emperor’s hand still rested on his sword.
“Freddy!”
“Belinda, did you not hear the words of His Imperial Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress? You and Lind Kingdom have no value.”
“…Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I am not joking. I mean it.”
“Then why is Aurelia standing beside His Majesty?”
“Because of Her Majesty’s personal charm. Something you lack. If asked which I would choose, you or Her Majesty the Empress, I would answer without hesitation that it would be Her Majesty. Unfortunately, my wife in reality is you.”
The cheek Belinda had struck would surely swell before long.
After returning home and reporting everything to the king, Freddy had no idea what awaited him.
But staying here any longer would only make matters worse.
“Let’s go.”
Hearing Freddy speak with firm resolve, unlike his usual self, Belinda suddenly felt uneasy.
For the first time, Freddy, who had always obeyed her, was not yielding.
That realization stirred her anxiety.
“…Very well.”
Reluctantly following Freddy out of the room, Belinda was watched to the very end by Aurelia, whose gaze remained stern and unyielding.