Episode 10

Melbrid had slightly lighter purple eyes than Lian and honey-golden hair.

The boy, with his fair skin and rosy cheeks, was truly endearing, especially because, unlike his brother, he had a good personality.

“I heard my brother has caused some trouble for you, Your Majesty. Please be generous and forgive him.”

It was amusing and cute that a twelve-year-old was speaking on behalf of his twenty-five-year-old brother.

Since I couldn’t deny that Lian was indeed troublesome, I nodded with a smile.

Melbrid was about to speak again when Lothania interrupted.

“Don’t bother the Empress, especially since you weren’t even invited. Why are you here?”

“This might be my only chance to see Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

Melbrid answered with a bright smile, leaving Lothania momentarily speechless.

It was Melbrid’s fault; such a face was against the rules.

Lothania, finding herself at a loss for words, huffed and entered the banquet hall.

I couldn’t help but laugh as Melbrid and Henry trailed behind her.

The adults had their own serious issues, but the children were simply delightful to watch.

When I looked up, three distinctly un-cute adults were glaring daggers at each other.

They seemed to want to approach me but were unwilling to get closer to one another, so they stayed rooted to their spots.

What a ridiculous sight.

Clicking my tongue, I slowly walked into the banquet hall.

I took a seat at a nearby table, and a maid brought a drink to me while casting furtive glances at Vitren.

Blushing, the maid couldn’t take her eyes off Vitren, and I noticed most of the other maids in the hall were also staring at him.

“Do you know the Duke of Kidmillan?”

“I, I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

The maid was startled and quickly lowered her head, so I reassured her and asked again.

“Everyone seems to be looking at the Duke of Kidmillan. You can answer freely.”

“He’s someone we rarely see in the palace. And… he’s quite handsome…”

The maid blushed even more as she made this strange comment.

While it was true that Vitren was seldom seen in the palace compared to Lian, who attended state meetings, and Aiden, the captain of the palace guard, calling him handsome was puzzling. That unruly eagle?

It was hard to believe, but the expressions of the maids were uniformly entranced.

In disbelief, I asked the maid again.

“Is the Duke of Kidmillan popular?”

Despite glancing nervously at me, the maid shyly nodded.

“Why?”

“Because you’re handsome.”

“But isn’t the Duke of Zernia even more handsome?”

“Of course, but the Duke of Zernia is so unrealistically good-looking…”

“Then what about the Duke of Tilender? He’s quite attractive too.”

“But he’s too fierce…”

I still couldn’t accept the fact that Vitren was popular, but the maid’s reasons were all too valid.

The maid shyly added that Vitren had a neat yet strangely alluring charm.

Thinking to myself how absurd that was, I looked at Vitren, who met my gaze and started walking towards me.

This was the first time he had approached me.

Whether it was because of his sturdy build or his upright posture, he looked rather impressive as he walked.

For a degenerate eagle, that is.

Vitren, bowing his head neatly, signaled to the chamberlain. Tito, who had been holding onto Vitren’s gift in advance, placed it in front of me.

It was a chessboard and pieces carved from crystal.

“Congratulations, Your Majesty.”

“Though I appreciate the sentiment, Duke Vitren, I doubt a fancy chessboard will make a dull game any more interesting.”

“I will strive to be a worthy opponent.”

Vitren, always serious, seemed especially earnest today.

When was he so confident that I would have no choice but to pick him over avoiding snakes and dogs? And now, he was talking about effort?

I just stared at him, wondering what he was up to. Vitren glanced at Lian and Aiden before speaking again.

“I came to apologize for my rudeness that day, but it seems those two have already arrived. I suppose I must be serious as well.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re saying, Duke.”

Vitren chuckled softly, knelt on one knee, and lowered himself. He took my hand and gently kissed the back of it.

“You will understand in due time.”

Leaving behind another cryptic remark, he returned to his original position.

Just as Lian, who had been glaring at Vitren like a stone statue, was about to move, Melbrid, who had been playing with Roktania and Henry, called out to his brother for some reason.

I couldn’t hear what was being said, but Lian’s demeanor while talking to his younger brother was different from what I had expected.

Wasn’t he known to be a fool who believed the world revolved around Melbrid? For someone like that, he seemed rather detached.

I turned to Tito, who was standing behind me, and asked, “Didn’t you say the Duke of Zernia’s brothers get along very well?”

Tito glanced at Lian and Melbrid, then tilted his head. “Yes, that’s correct.”

“Is that what ‘getting along very well’ looks like?”

“The Duke of Zernia listens and responds to him, doesn’t he? When he deals with anyone other than the young Duke Melbrid, it’s usually with indifference or disdain.”

I had always thought Lian was just eccentric, but now it seemed he was downright dysfunctional.

His declaration of wanting to marry me must have been genuine.

He was actually treating me exceptionally well.

After finishing his conversation with Melbrid, Lian walked over to me. With the sunlight streaming through the window behind him, he looked like an angel from a painting, especially since he was even smiling.

No, no. An angel with a twisted personality? What a blasphemous thought.

As he approached, Lian signaled to Tito.

It meant to show me the gift he had brought, and Tito, along with other attendants, struggled to carry a large, veiled object towards me.

“In celebration of Your Majesty’s birthday, I have prepared a gift.”

Lian said proudly, removing the veil himself.

A bust of Lian Zernia, made entirely of gold, appeared before my eyes.

“I was told that gifts should be expensive and beautiful, so I prepared this.”

I stared in disbelief at the golden likeness of Lian, then looked up at the real Lian and asked

“Duke Lian, what exactly is wrong with you?”

At my serious question, the angel with a twisted personality tilted his head.

Probably giving someone a gift for the first time in his life, Lian responded even more earnestly.

“I do not do anything wrong, Your Majesty.”

“That can’t be true.”

“You are mistaken.”

Lian’s confident reply left me at a loss for words.

I lowered my gaze back to his golden bust. It was, as he said, expensive and beautiful.

Feeling exhausted, I thanked him, and Lian, looking satisfied, returned to his place.

Next was Aiden.

He had been standing in a corner, leaning nonchalantly, but now he approached me.

The black wolf seemed to be approaching after discovering its prey.

I had asked for a hunting dog, but it seemed like he was coming to hunt me instead.

The maids standing nearby hesitated and stepped back, while Tito approached with a tense expression, holding a long sword.

It was a sword prepared by Aiden as a birthday gift for me.

“Your Majesty.”

“Duke Aiden. Is this sword your gift?”

“This is the sword used by the first patriarch when he fought for Barbados I.”

“I see. It must be a precious item.”

And terribly unfitting as a birthday gift.

Since I was too bewildered to think straight, I just gave a perfunctory reply, and Aiden drew the sword himself, showing the gleaming blade.

Even to someone like me who knew nothing about weapons, it was clear that this sword had seen quite a bit of blood.

“The reason for giving a sword is to imply that it should be drawn and used.”

Because of this twenty-year-old birthday gift, I would have to learn swordsmanship, something I never imagined for myself.

These beasts clearly didn’t understand the concept of birthday gifts.

I intended to praise him adequately and then put it away, but Aiden, after sheathing the sword, approached me and bowed.

I looked at him, wondering what he was doing, and Aiden slowly lowered himself.

He lowered his body until his eyes were level with mine, then he gave a dangerous smile and said,

“For Your Majesty, I will draw it once.”

His tone was exceedingly magnanimous, but I couldn’t understand what he meant.

He told me to draw it, yet now he said he would draw it for me.

As I tilted my head in confusion, Aiden’s dangerous smile deepened.

After that statement, he returned to his place without any hesitation.

His back looked oddly pleased, almost as if I could see a wagging tail.

As I watched Aiden’s retreating figure, I turned my head at the sound of someone exhaling beside me.

Tito, who had been holding his breath for a long time, let out a deep breath and looked at me.

“Your Majesty, did Duke Tilender just say he would be your sword?”

His eyes were wide open, as if he had heard something unbelievable.