Marquis Hoffman, who had been approaching with a welcoming face, caught sight of Sienna and quickly bowed his head with a look of realization.
“I pay my respects to Her Highness the Princess. I see you two have come together.”
Sienna responded to his greeting with a simple nod. Only then did she become conscious of how her appearance with Declan might look to others, and instead of exchanging further pleasantries, she abruptly turned away.
The Marquis, who had been cautiously observing the situation, carefully approached Declan.
“Still so cold, I see.”
He whispered to Declan in a disapproving voice. Declan stepped forward without answering. The Marquis matched his pace with Declan’s and gestured toward Sienna’s back as she walked ahead.
“I hear the Lady is also staying at the Grand Duke’s residence? What exactly are you planning to do?”
His tone was notably concerned. Recently, the Grand Duke and the Princess had been constant subjects of gossip. Excessive public interest always tends to flow in unexpected directions.
But the person at the center of the controversy remained indifferent.
“The Lady was on her way to the Duke’s residence when she injured her ankle and is temporarily staying in Monferrato territory. The distance was awkward for returning to either the Duke’s residence or the capital, so she came to the Grand Duke’s residence, which was closest at the time.”
“Even so, what about the Princess? I heard you personally requested her presence.”
When the Marquis asked with a face full of skepticism, Declan merely tilted his head once without giving a proper answer. This made the Marquis narrow his eyes further.
The scandal that began at the previous banquet was thought to have ended as a one-time incident, but after the Princess’s marriage plans fell through, the embers that hadn’t fully extinguished reignited.
Officially, it was known that the Emperor had entrusted the Princess to the Grand Duke out of trust, but most people didn’t believe it.
The fact that the Emperor and the Grand Duke were at odds had already spread unofficially, and quite a few people had witnessed with their own eyes the unusual atmosphere between the Princess and the Grand Duke. The aftermath of the last banquet had already spread far and wide, making it difficult to cover up with pleasant rumors.
Judging by the Princess’s just-displayed coldness, that didn’t seem to be the case either.
If not that, could this possibly be a one-sided relationship?
The Marquis’s gaze toward Declan suddenly became sympathetic.
‘So even this man has hurdles he can’t overcome.’
If that was the case, it seemed inappropriate to keep pressing the matter. The Marquis shrugged his shoulders and skillfully changed the subject.
“Then, have you heard anything about why the Duke returned to the Imperial Palace?”
“I heard he lost something.”
“Must have been quite important. Important enough for him to personally return to the Imperial Palace.”
The Marquis muttered indifferently while casually surveying the surroundings. He could see nobles arriving one by one, exchanging greetings.
His gaze landed on one of them, and the Marquis unconsciously clicked his tongue.
“That one over there looks like he wants to devour you whole.”
As the Marquis whispered, Declan’s gaze turned in the direction he indicated.
In the distance, Duke Lowell could be seen conversing with nobles. As soon as his eyes met Declan’s, the Duke’s face subtly crumpled.
After staring at him with an expressionless face for a moment, Declan soon gave him a polite smile and nodded slightly. Then, instead of approaching to greet him, he simply walked past. The Marquis also gave a faint snort and withdrew his gaze from the Duke without lingering.
The Duke’s eyes, following the two as they walked away, were filled with explosive anger.
The Duke’s sharp gaze, which had been fixed on Declan, turned toward a man standing slightly apart from the entrance. A subtle exchange of glances lingered between the two men.
When the Duke made a small gesture with his eyes, the man immediately began to move.
Meanwhile, Marquis Hoffman continued to scan the surroundings as if looking for someone even after passing the Duke. Finally, after confirming that neither the First Princess nor the Empress were visible anywhere, the Marquis’s eyes sparkled with renewed interest.
He leaned slightly toward Declan and whispered.
“By the way, this hunting festival feels unsettling in many ways. The First Princess is one thing, but even the Empress is absent.”
“The Empress?”
Declan also showed a puzzled reaction. Sienna, who was walking ahead, subtly slowed her pace, but the Marquis didn’t notice such nuances and continued.
“I don’t know the exact details, but I hear only His Majesty the Emperor has arrived from the Imperial Palace. Look. Even if you look around now, neither of them is anywhere to be seen.”
Declan belatedly looked toward where the nobles were gathered.
“From what I’ve heard, there seems to have been some kind of argument between Her Majesty the Empress and the First Princess.”
The Marquis said with a face full of interest.
Marquis Hoffman was a renowned gossip. He knew everything from the latest topics circulating among the socialite ladies to the disreputable private lives of the noble gentlemen who frequented the Imperial Palace with solemn faces.
It wasn’t exactly a commendable hobby, but he wasn’t the type to chase or spread unfounded rumors either.
“I don’t know what it is, but doesn’t it seem clear that there’s a rift within the Imperial family?”
Having had little interest in the recent scandals surrounding the Grand Duke, the Marquis was quite excited about this new piece of gossip.
Sienna, who was walking ahead, wasn’t much different.
As she pretended not to listen to the Marquis’s words, she recalled the rather peculiar atmosphere between the Empress and Marianne.
She remembered Marianne’s confident attitude despite having harmed the Empress’s lady-in-waiting, and the Empress silently letting it pass despite likely having noticed the situation.
And in her previous life as well. She vividly recalled how Marianne, who didn’t want to leave the Imperial family, showed an abnormal attachment to her nephew Leopold and dominated the Imperial social scene.
A faint sneer appeared on Sienna’s previously expressionless face.
Perhaps Joseph had been falling apart early on. Having made the mistake of tampering with his father’s will and being preoccupied with protecting his own power, he had ignored the conflicts brewing around him, making it difficult for even himself to survive intact.
Where would the end of the self-inflicted destruction lead?
Sienna’s gaze returned to the Sendelk Mountains, shrouded in layers of fog.
For Marianne, who had lived a lifetime of disgrace as an illegitimate child, her current position, achieved through her brother’s ascension to the throne, would be most precious.
Her attachment to Leopold must also stem from a desire not to stray from the center of power, but in reality, she too was no exception to the position of eventually having to change her family name to follow her husband.
Joseph adored Marianne, but he must have feared that neglecting the Empress would undermine his son’s authority in the future.
Since he himself was frequently attacked over issues of legitimacy, it was natural that he wanted to pave a smooth road for his son. But if he were to empower the Empress, he would worry that it might give foreign powers influence in the Empire.
His desire to pass unblemished power to his son was ultimately the result of projecting onto his son his own experiences as the heir, and his excessive neglect of the Empress’s home country was influenced by having grown up witnessing the rise and fall of Ricata.
So to Sienna’s eyes, Joseph seemed excessively trapped in the shadow of the former Emperor. While appearing to take his father as a lesson in what not to do, he subtly failed to escape his father’s ghost.
That’s probably why he couldn’t act properly. It was obvious that rather than passively allowing the conflict between the two women to continue, it would have been better to actively establish the Empress’s authority and give Marianne separate assurances.
Lost in thought, as Sienna entered the villa, the nobles who had already arrived began to glance at her one by one. Sharp gazes and whispers could be heard here and there.
Sienna passed by them with an indifferent face.
Let them talk all they want. Soon, a new fish will appear on the cutting board.
****
Dahlia, who had taken motion sickness medicine upon arriving at the villa and had gone to bed early, couldn’t easily get up even after waking because her head was still throbbing. While groaning and holding her forehead for a long time, she turned to her side.
In her dimming consciousness, she faintly heard what sounded like a drawer closing. Normally, she would have ignored such a sound while half-asleep, but having suffered from terrible motion sickness throughout the journey, Dahlia had ordered the maids not to enter her bedroom as soon as they arrived at the villa.
It was a measure she had taken to ensure proper rest without being disturbed by people moving around, and as soon as she recalled this fact, the drowsiness that had been washing over her instantly vanished.
Dahlia’s eyes flew open.
After freezing for a moment, she slowly rose and lit a candle.
Cautiously opening the bedroom door about a hand’s width, she immediately saw the back of a man standing in front of the dresser. The moment she registered this, Dahlia’s body froze completely.
