Chapter 5.2
Rosena finished preparing to enter the Imperial Palace early in the morning. Today was the day she would meet the Empress Dowager. She had also prepared a gift for Empress Dowager Tiella Agzent, who was known for her refined aesthetic sense.
Yesterday, Rosena had a crash course with Ted. She learned simple etiquette to follow when entering the Imperial Palace and what actions the Empress Dowager disliked. It was said that simply avoiding actions that the other person disliked would earn you half the points.
“Then have a safe trip, Your Grace. My Lady.”
“Don’t worry too much. I remember everything Ted told me.”
“Yes. Hearing you say that puts my mind at ease.”
Ted smiled warmly and bowed his head. Soon, the carriage departed.
She was riding in the carriage with Cassian. They ended up sharing a carriage because their commuting times overlapped.
The carriage, heading to the Imperial Palace passed the capital square, ran smoothly as it used the noble-exclusive road.
Rosena, wearing a dress much more heavily decorated than usual, took a deep breath due to the discomfort. She had sacrificed comfort for formality.
“Phew, I’m nervous. I never thought the day would come when I’d meet the Empress Dowager in my life.”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“You’re saying that because you’re used to it, Cassian, aren’t you?”
He could say such things because he could meet His Majesty the Emperor without difficulty. Low-ranking nobles rarely even saw the shadow of the imperial family.
“Is that why you barely touched your breakfast this morning?”
“…How did you know that?”
“It would be strange not to.”
Rosena, who usually cleared her plate, enjoying the chef’s cooking immensely, left half of it today.
She seemed not to have noticed the chef watching from afar with a worried expression.
On a side note, it was said that the chef, always touched by Rosena’s enthusiastic reactions to his cooking, in contrast to Cassian’s unenthusiastic reaction, dedicated himself to improving his cooking skills every day.
For the record, Sion was the informant, and Sion was very pleased with this positive effect.
Cassian, still observing Rosena’s tense expression, finally spoke.
“I was also nervous when I first met a member of the imperial family.”
“You were, Cassian?”
“Yes. The first imperial family member I met was His Majesty, the former Emperor.”
“Not His Majesty the Emperor?”
She naturally assumed he would have met the Emperor first. Usually, the successor of a family would serve the Crown Prince, so they were encouraged to build friendships from an early age. This was to form strong bonds.
It was also a long-standing practice in the Agzent Imperial Family. Especially for a family like Baltinart, it was common for a successor to be assigned a playmate as soon as they could walk and talk.
“…When I met the former Emperor before entering the academy, I was so nervous I couldn’t even speak properly.”
“You, Cassian, were nervous?”
“I was, back then.”
Cassian looked as if he were reminiscing, then clicked his tongue as if annoyed by a memory.
“The royal family is nothing special.”
She’d noticed before, but Cassian never hesitated to speak ill of the royal family. Watching him awkwardly try to comfort her by talking more than usual, Rosena found it oddly endearing.
“Okay, I’ll try to relax. Thank you.”
“But don’t relax too much, that would be difficult.”
The gates of the imperial palace opened, and the carriage passed through.
No one could enter the private residential areas of the imperial family by carriage. The areas were distinguishable by the roads. From the roads where the imperial family resided, the edges were decorated with a gold border.
“Your Grace, Grand Duchess Baltinart?”
Rosena, carefully carrying the gift for the Empress Dowager and heading to her palace, turned her head when a clear voice called out. There stood a pink-haired woman in a simple yet sparkling dress.
“Who are you?”
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Isabelle Senicia. Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager, requested I escort you.”
“I see.”
“Yes, I will guide you from here.”
Isabelle Senicia, who had greeted her gracefully with proper etiquette, began to politely guide the way.
Rosena was inwardly surprised by Isabelle’s self-introduction. The Senicia ducal family was so famous for its power in the Agzent Empire that no one would be unaware of them.
‘So the Duke Senicia is the Empress Dowager’s person.’
Rosena regretted for the first time her complete lack of interest in political affairs. She regretted not having familiarized herself with the power structure, at least roughly, if she had known a day like this would come.
Of course, as the daughter of a baron, Rosena naturally had no reason to be interested, as she would not be directly involved with the imperial family.
“Her Majesty, the Empress Dowager, is waiting in the garden.”
“Thank you for the guidance.”
“Not at all. It is my duty, of course. I consider it a great honor.”
Isabelle, who never raised her head and kept her gaze lowered, began walking again at a pace that was neither too slow nor too fast.
‘I can’t see her eyes.’
Rosena, whose habit was to use her power when dealing with unfamiliar people, felt frustrated. Her power was useless if she couldn’t see their eyes. Isabelle never made eye contact.
Moreover, her facial expressions didn’t change much.
“This way.”
They say you can partially tell a person’s nature by where they live. Rosena thought that was very true. She hadn’t fully grasped it from just hearing about it, but the moment she entered the Empress Dowager’s palace, she felt it firsthand.
Rosena quickly understood what kind of woman Tiella Agzent was from the quiet surroundings and the overwhelmingly grand atmosphere of the palace. It perfectly matched Ted’s description that she disliked noise and always tried to maintain her dignity.
Upon entering the garden, she saw Tiella Agzent waiting in the distance.
Rosena took a deep breath and slowly approached her.
“Your Majesty, Empress Dowager, Grand Duchess Baltinart has arrived.”
“Yes. I see.”
As Isabelle announced Rosena’s arrival, Tiella stood up straight and turned her head. Rosena, as Ted had taught her, greeted with proper etiquette for an imperial family member.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Your Majesty. I am Rosena Baltinart.”
“Welcome, Grand Duchess. Please have a seat here. I told them to guide you to the garden because the weather is nice. I hope the journey wasn’t uncomfortable?”
“It’s my first time in the palace, and the journey here was very comfortable. Thank you for your consideration, Your Majesty.”
Rosena placed the gift she was holding on the table. Tiella motioned to Isabelle.
“You didn’t need to prepare such a thing.”
“How could I come empty-handed to our first meeting, Your Majesty?”
“Then I shall gratefully accept it.”
Isabelld took the gift on behalf of the Empress Dowager and left.
“The tea aroma is wonderful. It came from the distant Eastern Continent, and I prepared it because I heard the Grand Duchess was coming. They call it Lotiyan Tea in the imperial language.”
“Thank you.”
Rosena carefully drank the tea, holding the teacup with both hands. The rich tea aroma was sweet, but a bitter taste was felt the moment it entered her mouth.
“An intriguing flavor, isn’t it?”
“It truly is.”
“That’s why I like it. It took me a long time to truly realize that what appears on the surface isn’t everything, and this tea seems to embody that meaning.”
Rosena thought this tea was fitting for someone like the Empress Dowager, whose life was likely marked by fierce power struggles beneath a graceful exterior.
Swallowing the tea once more, Rosena raised her head and met Tiella Agzent’s gaze. She quickly lowered her eyes, but Tiella smiled, saying it was alright.
“Drink comfortably, Grand Duchess. I wish to get along well with you.”
“…With me, Your Majesty?”
“If our intentions align, isn’t it fine to stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone?”
Rosena’s grip on the teacup tightened. Tiella Agzent had called her here today in an attempt to win her over.
The deep, navy-blue eyes of the Empress Dowager shone with intellect and watched Rosena closely.
Rosena realized as her gaze met Tiella’s navy-blue eyes. If Tiella Agzent had been born a man instead of a woman, wouldn’t she have been a great person, even considered a ruler of the Agzent Empire?
The unfortunate truth was that even if she gained power, the difference in position between the Baltinart family and Tiella was too great for them to coexist.
“Thank you for looking favorably upon me, Your Majesty. The Baltinart family will always strive to maintain a friendly relationship with the imperial family.”
“You say the same thing as the former Grand Duchess Baltinart.”
“…Pardon?”
Rosena asked in bewilderment as the former Grand Duchess Baltinart was mentioned by the Empress Dowager. Did the Empress Dowager also have a connection with the former Grand Duchess Baltinart?
“She was an old friend of mine. It suddenly came to mind hearing those words here today, words I heard long ago.”
“…Is that so.”
“It’s a tragic matter.”
The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes. A shadow fell across her beautiful brows, and she looked up at the sky for a moment. The wind gently rustled through her purple hair. The Empress Dowager, who had been gracefully tracing the rim of her teacup, finally spoke after a long time.
A low voice, tinged with sadness, drifted through the air to Rosena’s ears.
“How deeply I mourned losing a friend back then, for such an absurd reason as the coachman’s negligence.”
At that moment, Rosena’s eyes widened. Realizing the meaning immediately, her hands beneath the table twitched and gripped her skirt. When their gazes met, the Empress Dowager’s lips spoke of sadness, but her true feelings differed.
“The Baltinart Grand Ducal family is not on good terms with the Empress Dowager’s side, my lady.”
There was something she had heard during her crash course with Ted. She had naturally assumed that since the Grand Ducal family supported the Emperor’s faction, they were naturally at odds with the Empress Dowager’s faction.
This was because the Empress Dowager had a history of attempting to place the Second Prince on the throne instead of the current Emperor, and failing.
Currently, the Empress Dowager of the Agzent Empire was not the Emperor’s birth mother. The Emperor’s birth mother had died early from poisoning, and Tiella Agzent was from a distant branch of the imperial family, the second wife of the former Emperor.
Tiella Agzent let out a small laugh and shook her head.
“Forgive me, I became sentimental reminiscing about old times.”
“Not at all, Your Majesty. I was simply surprised to learn you were close to the former Grand Duchess.”
“Is that so? Did the Grand Duke not say anything?”
Tiella Agzent’s eyes sparkled. It could have been dismissed as a question born of mere curiosity, but her question was intended to gauge the depth of Rosena and Cassian’s current relationship.
Rosena felt cold sweat trickling down her back. Could she have deliberately brought up the former Grand Duchess Baltinart’s matter just to ask this? The Empress Dowager was a hard woman to read.
“No, he didn’t mention anything in particular.”
“Is that so? I feel a little disappointed. It seems I’ve fallen out of favor with the Grand Duke.”
“How could that be, Your Majesty?”
Rosena was puzzled. If Tiella Agzent was a friend of the former Grand Duchess, it would mean she was close to the Baltinart family, so why had their relationship become so estranged that it was now described as bad?
Moreover, what the Empress Dowager had said just a moment ago kept bothering her.
“How deeply I mourned losing a friend back then, for such an absurd reason as the coachman’s negligence.”
Rosena opened her mouth, her voice trembling.
“Rather, I should be the one to apologize. Thinking about your lost friend must have saddened you.”
“It’s alright. Sometimes when the memories come back like this, it even feels pleasant.”
“But… I can’t believe it was due to the coachman’s negligence. Were there any other reasons discussed?”
Tiella Agzent replied.
“The imperial investigation concluded it was indeed due to the coachman’s negligence.”
Rosena stopped breathing for a moment.
“I truly couldn’t believe it, so I even confirmed it myself.”
Rosena walked out of the Empress Dowager’s palace, unsure how she managed to move.
“Please return safely, Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”
Led by Isabelle Senicia to the palace entrance, Rosena suddenly came to her senses.
“Ah, thank you, Lady Senicia.”
“Not at all.”
Just as Isabelle respectfully bowed with both hands folded neatly in front, Rosena turned to leave.
“Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”
“What is it?”
“I have a request.”
A request? Rosena subtly furrowed her brow as Isabelle, whom she had just met, suddenly approached her with a request. She wondered if the Empress Dowager had instructed her to approach with an ulterior motive. Isabelle bowed her head and said,
“Please, I hope you will give me the opportunity to be with Your Grace the Grand Duchess.”
“…With me?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
This meant that Isabelle, not as the Empress Dowager’s attendant but as Isabelle Senicia of the Senicia Duchy, wanted to speak with Rosena privately. Rosena hesitated for a moment. She pondered whether a private meeting with someone from the Empress Dowager’s side was the right choice. Isabelle did not straighten her bowed back until Rosena spoke.
‘My head hurts.’
Rosena reluctantly nodded.
“I will contact you soon. I can’t give you a definite answer, but I’ll consider it.”
“Thank you, Your Grace the Grand Duchess. Please return safely.”
Only then did Isabelle straighten her back and disappear into the Empress Dowager’s palace.
Rosena narrowed her eyes.
‘…So it wasn’t under the Empress Dowager’s orders?’
Given that Isabelle made the request when Rosena was leaving, rather than when she arrived, it occurred to Rosena that Isabelle might have been careful not to let the Empress Dowager overhear.
Whichever it was, she couldn’t be sure.
Rosena looked at the spot where Isabelle had disappeared, then turned to return to where her carriage was waiting.
Thump.
“Ah…!”
“Oh. I’m sorry, my lady. Are you alright?”
“…Yes, I’m fine.”
She bumped into a man coming from the opposite direction. The man, who had caught Rosena’s swaying arm to help her regain her balance, gazed at her with a worried look.
“I apologize. I didn’t see you.”
…Was he implying she was too short to be seen?
Rosena unconsciously raised her eyebrows fiercely. The man, who smiled gently, had silver hair and navy blue eyes.
“My apologies. It seems you’ve misunderstood. I didn’t mean anything by it other than that I was walking while thinking about something else and didn’t see you, my lady.”
“Ah, yes.”
A cold reply escaped her lips. The man smiled gently and said,
“I offer my apologies. My name is Caron. And you, my lady?”
“Rosena Baltinart.”
“Ah.”
Caron’s navy blue eyes sparkled.
“You are the Grand Duchess Baltinart. I have been very rude. I would like to sincerely apologize for my discourtesy to such a high-ranking person.”
What was this man up to? He hadn’t even revealed his family name, which made him suspicious.
Rosena smiled gently and put up a strong front.
“No, it’s alright. Now if you’ll excuse me.”
Passing by the man named Caron, Rosena quickly headed towards the Baltinart family carriage in the distance and swiftly got in.
“Haa. This is really so comfortable.”
As soon as the carriage door closed, she slumped down. She immediately took off her shoes and put her legs on the opposite seat, massaging her calves.
The Empress Dowager’s palace was quite large, so she had to walk longer than expected. Her unaccustomed feet were swollen from the prolonged pressure. Just then, the carriage suddenly stopped somewhere.
“Huh?”
She couldn’t have arrived at the mansion already, nor could they have left the Imperial Palace. As she opened her eyes wide, the carriage door suddenly opened. Rosena, who was massaging her calves, looked towards the door in surprise.
“Gasp, Ca-Cassian?”
“I told the coachman to stop by after your schedule was over so we could return together.”
Rosena hurriedly put down her exposed legs and was about to quickly put on her shoes. Cassian, who had blocked the coachman’s view of the carriage’s interior, closed the door and sat down.
“Do your legs hurt?”
“…Ah, a little. The Empress Dowager’s palace was bigger than I thought, so I walked for a long time.”
“Give them to me.”
Cassian extended his hand. Rosena tilted her head. What did he want? Rosena stared blankly at Cassian, then grabbed a cushion next to her and handed it to him.
There was nothing else in the carriage she could pick up with her hands besides a cushion. Cassian, who had suddenly received a black cushion, chuckled in disbelief.
“Not this, your legs.”
“…Huh? Why my legs…?”
“You just said they hurt, didn’t you?”
“And so?”
As she tried to pull her legs back, moving as far away from Cassian as possible, Cassian, who had been quietly watching her, reached out and grabbed Rosena’s leg. She gasped and tried to pull her leg away, but Cassian’s hand, holding her ankle, lightly tightened.
“Stay still.”
“……”
“If you don’t loosen them properly, you’ll suffer. Make sure to loosen them properly when we arrive at the mansion.”
“Ah… I can do it myself.”
Cassian paid no attention and skillfully moved his hands along her calves. When she looked at him in surprise at his surprisingly skilled touch, he explained,
“Muscles often get knotted when practicing swordsmanship.”
“……”
“And I’ve already been kicked by this leg many times at night. I’ve even moved it aside.”
What?
Rosena’s eyes widened. Had she kicked Cassian in her sleep? Rosena, who had no idea whether she slept peacefully or violently, opened her mouth in shock.
According to Cassian, Rosena tossed and turned in bed when she was asleep. Rosena’s face turned beet red, and she flinched, trying to pull her foot away. Cassian silently took her other leg and asked,
“Did the meeting with the Empress Dowager go well?”
“Ah…”
Something she had momentarily forgotten came to mind. As Rosena’s expression stiffened, Cassian tilted his head.
“Did something happen?”
“…Umm. I’ll tell you later, when things are more certain.”
She couldn’t just tell him about an important matter related to Cassian’s parents simply because she suspected something. Also, if Cassian asked how she knew, Rosena would have no choice but to spill everything about the ‘Divine Clan.’
But pretending not to know…
‘How can I tell this to Cassian?’
She worried whether she should be the one to say that the carriage accident of the former Grand Duke and Duchess Baltinart might have been caused by something other than poor carriage maintenance.
Especially when the official conclusion from the imperial investigation was…
‘The imperial family manipulated the investigation results.’
Someone among the imperial family had fabricated the cause of the accident of the former Grand Duke and Duchess Baltinart. And the Empress Dowager knew all about it.
It meant it might not have been a simple accidental death. If she spoke too hastily, things could have gotten out of hand. Moreover, she might unnecessarily trigger Cassian’s painful memories.
“Yes, then please tell me later.”
“Oh! And today, Lady Isabelle Senicia asked to speak with me privately.”
Cassian’s moving hand stopped for a moment.
“…Is that so?”
“Yes. I’m worried because I feel uncomfortable about getting involved with the Empress Dowager’s people. After all, I am publicly the Grand Duchess Baltinart.”
“……”
“But that lady, isn’t she the one who was mentioned for marriage with Cassian? Hmm, why would she want to meet me? What do you think, Cassian?”
Isabelle Senicia and Cassian Baltinart were both famous figures at the academy.
So, Rosena naturally heard news about them. Especially love and marriage, aren’t they the biggest interests regardless of status, whether noble or commoner?
“Just do as you wish, Rosena.”
“Yes, I was going to do that anyway.”
Rosena smiled sweetly.
