“Episode 23”
Well, maybe it’s because the Countess’s heart is wavering?”
Anna finally thought she had come up with a sentence she could understand and proudly answered.
Yuliana, who was staring at Anna without any fear, responded.
“I know too. Hamster.”
Ignoring whether Anna was angry or not, Yuliana continued to brood over her thoughts.
“The heroine is coming in a month. She’ll appear at the Emerald Lake of the Hillchen family… But come to think of it, she usually appears out of nowhere in the backyard of the Count’s mansion, right? Oh, no…”
“Ack!”
“Whoa! Countess, you were already strange, but today you’re even stranger.”
“…I don’t know. I’ve entered the original story without a choice. Now I just have to steel my heart and hold my ground.”
“…?”
Filled with confusion, Anna began to whimper again, saying, “Our Countess is also strange,” and Yuliana threw a pillow in frustration. Although it didn’t hit Anna, she pretended to fall over, making a groaning sound.
“Ouch! You’ll kill me with your maid accusations!”
“Hey! Do you want to say that again?!”
Yuliana, unable to rush forward, just grunted and turned the blanket over. The spirited Yuliana soon fell into regret.
“Of all things, the maid who took the bribe is such a fake hamster. Real hamsters are cute.”
Whether she said it or not, the plot of the novel was moving forward.
One month later, the real female protagonist of the novel appears at the Emerald Lake of the Hillchen mansion. In the original work, she receives praise from all the characters. It was a work with the essence of “the threads of destiny” and “heroine worship”.
“I can’t just sit and watch that.”
Yuliana glared.
With the male lead’s flirting going a bit too far, the time had come for ‘that’ Yulmucha Ohbon, who had died early in the story, to start working properly.
Whether they liked it or not, it was unavoidable.
—
“…No matter what I try to do, my HP is low.”
“Huh?”
Upon hearing her husband’s curious remark, Yuliana glanced down at her. Lost in her own thoughts, she absentmindedly murmured something.
While Yuliana was simply lamenting her own situation, Evan perceived that she was seriously contemplating something.
So, without pressing for her response, a silence settled between them, expanding in the space they occupied, enveloped by the mellifluous music from the palace orchestra, as if defying the silence.
During this time, Yuliana listened to the music with a dry heart.
Perhaps it was due to her recent illness. Her body felt drained of energy and her limbs felt heavy. Moreover, the Empress Mama had sent invitations to congratulate the Countess’s recovery, precisely timed with the upcoming court ball.
So, as soon as she got out of bed, Yuliana had to unconsciously go through the motions of buying new dresses and jewelry to match, after stacking up a pile of dresses. And after fitting into those mountainous dresses, she had to take time to cast defensive spells around the Emerald Lake to prevent the imminent appearance of the heroine. So, there was no avoiding her body feeling even more exhausted.
“Sigh. Becoming someone who stealthily casts defensive spells at night, like a thief… Even the Countess isn’t all that. No, maybe it’s because I’m just an extra who dies early in the story…”
Yuliana hung on her husband’s arm, thinking sadly.
“Becoming someone who casts defensive spells around her own lake in case some other woman pops up? There’s no one else but me for such a job, right? In my past life, I died in a drunk driving accident, and in this life, even though I’m wide awake, I ended up in the Countess’s position…”
With a melancholy air, she responded gloomily to her husband.
“It’s nothing, really. I’m just a little tired. Maybe it’s because I haven’t attended a ball in a long time. It’s, how should I put it, refreshing.”
“Just smile and nod, and then go back.”
“Do you really think I look happy just by saying that?”
“Me?”
Evan chuckled softly.
The formal wear suited him very well. Perhaps that’s why. Today, his eyes, which usually shone with a melancholic blue depending on the angle of the light, seemed to sparkle even more like a brilliant blue sea.
Blushing at her husband’s firm jawline, Yuliana glanced away. Indeed, it was a typically masculine and charmingly clumsy reaction from him, which had shaken her heart in two months.
Yuliana made an effort to answer.
“To be honest, I think I like it when I’m feeling weak and whiny. Besides, I’ve always liked being in bed.”
“To tell the truth, I’d rather have you in my bed than yours.”
“Well, um…”
Surprised, Yuliana cleared her throat as if trying to appear nonchalant after hearing such a casual joke.
Then she tried to change the subject, speaking with a newfound voice.
“Let’s go meet the Empress Mama! Since she invited us personally.”
“Alright. But we’ll have to wait.”
As Evan said, around the petite Empress Mama, various nobles gathered. It seemed amusing to see nobles who had previously ridiculed the powerless empress, now trailing behind her with apprehension.
Yuliana narrowed her eyes, gauging the situation.
“Hmm. It seems that the Empress Mama has clearly demonstrated her skills at this competition.”
“After that incident, the relationship between the Empress and the Emperor became unusually close. Even the old man Lucien Bue Arniac, who was so cautious about appearances, eventually turned out to be just a man.”
“Ah, but why didn’t the Emperor cherish the Empress Mama before?”
Yuliana couldn’t help but express her thoughts.
No matter how much she thought about it, Buwa was cunning. Even though she had stepped down from the original novel, she still liked the unfortunate stammering Empress from the original story.
Evan, murmuring to his wife who seemed to be pondering like Buwa, responded in a calm tone.
“In my opinion, he did cherish her in his own way.”
“What? Cherish her? You know, the nobles dared to ridicule the Empress Mama, and it was even talked about in the newspapers. They talked about her pitiful household situation. You’re not unaware of that, are you?”
In response to Yuliana’s puzzled question, Evan answered with a measured tone.
“The Empress Mama is very wise, but her relatives are different. Her relatives, how should I put it, are very materialistic and short-sighted. If the Empress Mama had been protected from the beginning, wouldn’t her relatives have stepped forward to urge her downfall? Believing in the Emperor’s meager affection and stirring up the politics. Sometimes in the palace, the Emperor’s affection is considered proportional to power, but in the end, the Emperor’s affection is different from power. And Lucien Bue Arniac is a man who strictly separates power and affection.”
“Hmm. You speak like an ardent follower of His Majesty. It seems you understand his thoughts very well.”
At Yuliana’s straightforward remark, Evan chuckled.
“Didn’t you know? Lucien Bue Arniac is my academy classmate.”
“….?”
Yuliana blinked her large bronze-colored eyes.
And unable to contain her curiosity, she leaned in a bit closer to Evan’s ear. Talking about the Emperor was not something she could do openly.
“But, the nobles don’t attend the academy, do they?”
“Lucien Bue Arniac isn’t a noble.”
“….Really?”
Yuliana looked at Evan with wide eyes.
And with a joyful smile, as if enjoying her surprise, Evan chuckled.
“The stories about that guy aren’t very interesting, but it’s fun talking to you.”
“Wait a minute!”
“Why?”
With an innocent glint in her eyes, Yuliana held out her fan to ward off Evan, who was approaching.
“Don’t come too close to me.”
“But if we’re going to talk about secrets, I have to whisper. I didn’t mean anything else.”
‘Lies!’
Yuliana flicked her fan swiftly, revealing her face. Skillfully hiding her face behind the fan, she sniffed.
“You have saliva on your lips and you’re lying.”
“It hurts my heart when my only wife doesn’t believe me.”
“Evan, I’ll whisper, so you keep an appropriate distance.”
“Why?”
“…Why, because…”
Because I’m too nervous…?
It was the right thing to say, but it was so right that it hurt her pride.
Yuliana quickly tried to change the subject, whether Evan was puzzled or not.
“It’s not so bad for me to whisper, is it? Right?”
“Instead, you have to do it often.”
Evan reached out his hand as if making a promise.
Yuliana hesitantly reached out her hand in response. In an instant, he led her to the center of the ballroom.
“By any chance, do you have the stamina to dance?”
Evan asked with a grin. Yuliana was both impressed by her bold husband’s actions and nervous about her racing heart.
A faint warmth mixed with the noticeable sparkle in Yuliana’s bronze-colored eyes.
“I’m twice as sturdy as you. Worried I might collapse?”
Yuliana held his hand firmly.
And so, they began their second dance of a lifetime in the midst of young lovers’ escapades.
As Yuliana danced, a blue rose, a gift from Evan Hillen, adorned her bosom.
Meanwhile, nobles who secretly observed the two whispered to each other.
“Look at that. Is it true that Lady Yuliana O’Brian has regained her senses?”
“But she’s ‘that’ Lady.”
“We don’t know. People can change after a fall.”
Someone muttered, but after that, there was no more snide remarks or complaints.
Before the awkward silence settled among the nobles, one astute individual brought up a different topic.
“By the way, that tournament was truly remarkable. We knew the Duchess was a famous magician, but who knew she would participate in such an interesting way?”
“Although she fell, it was quite a splendid scene. And about the blue rose the Duchess pinned, wasn’t it previously…?”
“Oh. Didn’t Her Majesty the Queen Mother win the tournament? She bestowed the blue rose upon the Duchess instead of presenting it to Her Majesty.”
“That was quite remarkable too! Her Majesty the Queen Mother exuded such dignity.”
“But she still stuttered, didn’t she?”
A young noble, dressed awkwardly in a black tailcoat like a black crow, added while stuffing cake into his mouth.
As the flow of conversation was disrupted, another young noble stared pointedly at the cake on the young man’s plate and said:
“That’s not a problem anymore. The important thing is that it was a very splendid scene. By the way, Young Lord Eunsik, there’s some delicious cake on that table over there. Would you like to go and see?”
“Oh, alright!”
Responding to that, Young Lord Eunsik put down the piece of cake he was eating and went to explore the desserts. Behind him, the nobles openly whispered.
“That Young Lord Eunsik is always the same. Lord Burnett must be quite troubled.”
“That’s right. He’s so oblivious. Tsk, tsk…”
“Oh, did you hear the news? Lady Annebury has apparently strayed from her fiancé!”
“Oh. The one who was in a hurry to get married. She’s quite something.”
The story once again shifted its focus to someone else. Rumors swept through the ballroom, engulfing the lips of everyone who attended the event, indiscriminately. However, like all rumors, they were somewhat exaggerated and devoid of much meaning.
—
Around the time when the Hillen Duke and Duchess were dancing, Empress Elerina was darting around, trying to escape the nobles trailing behind her.
Feeling annoyed by their persistent attempts to engage her in conversation, despite knowing that she stuttered, Elerina couldn’t help but feel a bit angry. If she could, she would have liked to cut off her tongue that stuttered so embarrassingly, not even knowing where she lived.
Or perhaps, “Do they know and still persist?” she wondered. Finally, Elerina gathered her resolve.
As she raised her trembling hand to swiftly open her fan, intending to mimic the cool demeanor of a lady of the court, she was about to speak when suddenly—
“Your Majesty.”
“M-Majesty!”
Elerina’s cheeks flushed as she forgot her prepared words upon the sudden appearance of the Emperor.
The Emperor, who had said he might not attend the palace ball due to working late the previous night, had come personally.
