“Everyone. Don’t you find it strange?” I looked calmly left and right before continuing. “If it were truly a rule that children must always resemble their parents, then the field planted only with round peas should have only produced round peas.”
I swept the room with a relaxed gaze and kept going.
“But look—there were only a few pods with all round peas. Didn’t most of you find wrinkled peas or a mix of both?”
“Then are you saying that children resembling their parents is a lie?!”
“No, that’s not it at all.”
I waved a hand lightly.
“What I mean is that children can also resemble grandparents, or even ancestors from earlier generations. That’s what was written in the book I read in my dream.”
“What in the world…”
“Think about it. Even with dogs or horses, some offspring resemble the parents, but some don’t. You can get spotted puppies or dappled horses. Sometimes, a rare white-coated variation is born too, right?”
“Gasp…! Now that you mention it…”
A noble lady known for her love of gardening blurted out without meaning to. Everyone’s eyes shifted to her in an instant. Flushed from the sudden attention, she stammered as she began to speak.
“It’s nothing really… I had red flowers and white flowers I was growing, and the year after they withered, pink flowers bloomed…”
“Yes, exactly. That’s just what the book from my dream said. Red flowers and white flowers—pink resembles them both but isn’t quite either. Does it resemble the red flower, or the white one?”
The crowd was getting pulled deeper and deeper into my words.
“The angel who gave me the book told me: don’t be afraid if your child doesn’t resemble you. It might just be that they resemble a distant ancestor.”
A collective murmur of amazement rippled through the hall. All eyes turned toward one place. This was the moment that truly showed the brilliance of holding the ball in this hall rather than the imperial ballroom.
The first emperor who founded this country was known to have distinctly pink hair. This banquet hall, originally built to honor him, was now used as a conference hall for the elder nobles. Though all the usual furnishings had been cleared for the ball, the giant portraits of the founding emperor and his empress still hung on the wall.
And the hair color of the empress in that portrait—
“Then… the first empress’s hair color…”
“Isn’t it the same as Prince Zeta’s?”
“This can’t be!”
Chaos stirred among the crowd. I stepped forward on the stage, pretending not to notice. Even that small movement was enough to pull all eyes back to me.
“The angel who gave me the book in my dream said one more thing.”
“Oooh…”
The ballroom had practically turned into a place of testimony. I lowered my gaze and tried to look as solemn and sacred as possible.
“He told me to spread this truth far and wide—so that no one would suffer under false accusations ever again.”
I could feel the weight of every gaze turning toward the Empress. I, too, looked her way. Her expression was a complex storm of emotions.
Ever since giving birth to Prince Zeta, rumors had followed her like a shadow. That cursed label attached to her only son. Maybe it was the sorrow of carrying all of that alone… but tears welled in the eyes of the beautiful Empress.
The nobles who saw her slowly began to fall silent.
It’s easy to repeat what others say. And thrilling, too—because when it’s not about you, the fire on the other side of the river doesn’t burn. You don’t think about how much the person at the center suffers.
Were there nobles in this room who didn’t whisper something about the Empress? Excluding those like me who didn’t care much for society, every big name in the social circles had surely heard or spoken of the tale at least once.
But nearly no one had truly believed in her innocence. Over twenty years, the rumor had hardened into truth in people’s minds, and she had lived all that time unable to explain a lie.
“You could be lying about planting only round peas!”
Someone in the back shouted bravely. No doubt it one of those who had always spoken ill of the Empress. I had expected someone like that. Which was why I’d prepared more than one safety net.
“There’s no need to worry about that,” I replied coolly. “This all began with the command of a divine angel in my dream… So how could the Church be left out of it?”
“The Church?”
“Yes. Every step of this was verified by Father Gretas. If you don’t believe me, feel free to go and ask at the cathedral yourself.”
I lifted my dress and bowed politely with both hands. The noble who’d challenged me pressed his lips together tightly. He’d realized there was no gain in pushing further if it meant going against the Church. It would only backfire on him.
“I trust that those gathered here—people of wisdom and broad knowledge—understand what has been said. Otherwise, I suppose you’d have to believe… that peas can commit adultery.”
I widened my eyes dramatically and looked around at the crowd. A bit of humor, following a tense moment. It softened hearts. Made the speaker’s point easier to accept.
“That is all.”
With that, I turned to leave the stage. But then, a voice called out loudly from the front row.
“Lady Roha! One question, please!”
The speaker was an elderly man, wearing a large pendant around his neck—a high-quality item sold only by the Church, made of blessed silver and holy water. He appeared to be deeply devout.
“Yes, what is your question?”
“Praise be to the Lord for this beautiful miracle to aid the most noble woman in our nation. Might I ask… the name of the angel who appeared in your dream?”
He looked at me with eyes full of awe and sincerity. I couldn’t simply brush him off. But faced with the question, I avoided his gaze and mumbled vaguely.
“Well…”
“Even if it was just a dream, ones with such divine power always feel vividly real, don’t they!”
“Yes, indeed!” The old man nodded eagerly, clearly moved. I glanced at Sasha in a panic, and he gave me a sharp look—Say something, anything, his eyes urged.
If Sasha was making that face, it meant the old man was someone important.
So I made up a name on the spot.
“Well… the angel who showed me that book… their name was Mendelia.”
“Ooh! Mendelia! And what did they look like?”
At this point, I thought whatever happens, happens. He was a scientist, but also a holy man in a way. Maybe he really did become an angel after death. Why not?
I tried to recall what Mendel had looked like from my textbooks and gave the most detailed description I could. After all, dreams with divine powers are supposed to feel real—I couldn’t risk giving a sloppy answer and getting caught.
“He had piercing eyes and wore narrow-rimmed glasses. His gaze felt like it could see straight through you. His thin lips were set in a firm, solemn line.”
“And his hair?”
“His hair… well, his forehead was… a little more prominent on both sides…”
In other words, an M-shaped receding hairline—but that wasn’t exactly angelic, so I tiptoed around it.
Only after quite some time and detailed explanation was I finally able to step down from the stage.
As I descended, thunderous applause filled the hall.
The tragic prince—who should have been named crown prince long ago but was denied the title because of those baseless rumors since birth. The first grand ball after he had come of age. And suddenly, a miracle descended. It was like a perfect scene from a drama.
And the director of this drama? Me.
Everything had gone just as planned. Humming a little tune, I practically skipped over to Armin and Sasha.
“Armin! How did I do?”
The moment I saw his face, a smile broke across mine. We hadn’t yet made our relationship public, but before the ball began, I had blurted something in front of all those noble ladies, in a fit of temper:
“Since I’ll be your future duchess, I’ll forgive you this once for throwing water on me.”
Before I met him, all I wanted was to eat well, sleep well, and live peacefully in this messy world. But now, I find myself wanting to be someone better—someone he sees as good. Because I don’t know why he likes me. And I want him to keep liking me… for a long, long time.
“You were amazing. Turning the whole situation around with beans? Genius.”
Armin smiled warmly as he said it. Sasha, looking half-impressed and half-annoyed, gave a grudging nod.
“You. What’s the deal with the dream stuff?”
“I’ll tell you at home. For now, let’s just…”
Sasha nodded, understanding what I meant. My brother, too, couldn’t hide how proud he was.
“Vivi, do you know who that old man was?”
“Of course not. Who was he?”
“None other than Mikael Itaph, the genius painter.”
The name sounded familiar. I turned to Sasha in shock.
“That guy?”
“Yep. The one who’s in charge of almost all the cathedral’s sacred paintings and sculptures.”
“Oh my god…”
“I heard he’s been in a slump lately. Well, that’s probably over now.”
Sasha let out an incredulous laugh. Mikael Itaph had already left the ballroom, clutching his notes as if they were holy relics, consumed with renewed artistic inspiration.
