Chapter 6 (Part 8)

He had been an indifferent husband all this time, and now he was saying they should spend more time together.  

The words made her feel both happy and sad.  

‘Yes. Don’t read too much into it.’  

Trying to ignore the Duke’s words, Therese focused on the music. She was already bad at dancing, and if she ended up stepping on the Duke’s foot, it would be a disaster.  

Then the Duke spoke coldly.  

To Therese, who was avoiding his gaze and staring only at the tips of her shoes.  

“In the Richard family, we do not lower our heads.”  

When Jeremy had seen Therese standing at the entrance earlier, he had been at a loss for words.  

‘Beautiful.’  

Though he had read so many books since childhood, he couldn’t think of a better word to describe her.  

Her blue eyes, gazing back at him, made his heart race wildly, then slow to a steady beat. He was swept up in an uncontrollable storm of emotions, like a sudden summer shower.  

Barely managing to rein in his turbulent feelings, he danced with Therese, but his dissatisfaction continued to grow.  

She wouldn’t even lift her head to look at him.  

He had heard endless praise for himself at the ball tonight.  

From everyone except Therese.  

It wasn’t that she disliked him, but rather that the ballroom made her uncomfortable, which was understandable.  

Tonight’s Imperial Ball had reportedly invited only 300 people from the nobility. In other words, only the most prominent nobles of the Empire were present. Jeremy, born and raised in this environment, was used to it, but not everyone would be.  

‘Still, how can she be so timid?’  

Watching Therese’s hunched shoulders, Jeremy stopped dancing.  

Ending a dance before the music finished was rare.  

Following the Duke’s lead, others also stopped dancing, and even the musicians ceased playing.  

“……What?”  

Surprised, Therese looked up at him, and Jeremy removed the signet ring engraved with the Richard family crest from his pinky finger.  

“You are a member of the Richard family.”  

So hold your head high.  

Jeremy added silent encouragement with his gaze and then slid the ring onto Therese’s index finger.  

The nobles who witnessed this couldn’t hide their admiration.  

“My goodness! How romantic!”  

“The Duke must truly cherish his wife.”  

“So the rumors weren’t true at all.”  

Even though all the nobles’ eyes were on her, Therese couldn’t even register it.  

The signet ring engraved with the family crest was something only the head of the family could wear. Giving it to someone symbolized the highest form of respect.  

“……Why?”  

“Because you are the lady of the Richard family, and it is only fitting that you wear it.”  

When Jeremy Richard snapped his thumb and index finger, the musicians resumed playing. As if nothing had happened, everyone continued dancing.  

But Therese still couldn’t gather her thoughts. From the moment she reluctantly attended the ball, her head had been spinning, and now, because of Duke Richard, it felt like it was about to explode.  

‘……The Richard family crest.’  

The gold ring, worn over her glove, was set with an elongated oval onyx engraved with the family’s symbol: a unicorn.  

Duke Richard didn’t treat her with hostility like her mother-in-law did, but he hadn’t shown her much affection either.  

‘Why is he doing this?’  

Therese felt suffocated, as if her chest were tight, unable to understand the Duke’s inscrutable actions.  

Though she was consumed by negative emotions, she couldn’t take her eyes off the signet ring.  

‘If he’s just mocking me…….’  

When Therese raised her head, her blue eyes landed on the Duke’s prominent Adam’s apple. Her gaze traveled along his sharp jawline, past his red lips, and to his deep eyes, where they met his.  

Jeremy, who had been smiling faintly, spoke.  

“Have I offended you again?”  

“Please refrain from drawing so much attention next time.”  

She tried to respond as formally as possible, but her voice kept cracking.  

“I’ll try, Madame.”  

Jeremy tilted his head slightly, but he wasn’t sorry at all.  

There was a reason he had given her the signet ring.  

In his eyes, Therese was the most beautiful woman in the ballroom tonight, but the noblewomen adorned with jewels wouldn’t think so.  

Jeremy Richard knew all too well how shallow the nobles were.  

He himself valued noble honor and dignity above all else.  

‘A Duchess from a merchant family, dressed so modestly.’  

It was a perfect condition for the nobles to look down on her.  

As he became aware of this, Jeremy could sense how disrespectful their gazes toward Therese were.  

‘How dare they.’  

Outraged by their unexpected rudeness, Jeremy had impulsively acted as he did.  

But after the small commotion, the atmosphere around them clearly shifted. The respectful gazes directed at Therese finally put him at ease.  

‘No one can look down on a member of the Richard family.’  

Feeling proud, Jeremy’s eyes curved into a long smile, even though Therese still wouldn’t look at him.  

It was then.  

Bam-ba-ra-ra-bam~!

The doors to the Emperor’s chamber, connected to the ballroom, opened, and dozens of attendants emerged, blowing trumpets.  

Emperor Morciani always enjoyed dramatic entrances, and today was no exception.  

Everyone stopped dancing and placed their hands on their chests, bowing toward the open door.  

As they turned toward the door, Therese swallowed dryly, feeling an inexplicable sense of foreboding.  

The Duke, leaning slightly toward her, gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and whispered softly.  

“Madame, there is nothing to fear.”  

“…….”  

Strangely, his single remark helped ease her tension a little.  

***

The ballroom, filled with extravagantly dressed nobles, was surrounded by guards from both the Emperor’s personal knight order and the Duke’s Second Knight Order.  

“Aren’t you grateful I’m here with you?”  

Georges Dupont, dressed in a white suit matching the theme of the ball, boasted while fiddling with the new sword at his waist.  

“I heard this wasn’t voluntary but rather an order from His Grace.”  

Thomas, who had been sharply surveying the entrance to the ballroom, replied indifferently.  

“By the way, how about a drink after this?”  

Georges sighed deeply, as if something was weighing on his mind.

Thomas’s thick eyebrows furrowed slightly at his usually carefree colleague’s serious tone.

“Is something wrong?”

“What would be wrong…….”

Judging by the way Georges tapped the floor with the tip of his polished boots, something was definitely wrong.  

Having grown up as neighbors and attended the academy together, Thomas knew that Georges, despite his sociable appearance, wasn’t always as carefree as he seemed.  

“I’ll make time after we finish here.”

Thomas, keeping his eyes on the front, gave a short reply, and Georges’s face brightened immediately.  

“The weather is unusually nice today, don’t you think?”

“……Have you lost your mind with age?”

Thomas, baffled by Georges’s sudden mood swings, muttered to himself quietly.  

***

Though connected, the two spaces were vastly different.  

If the ballroom resembled Mount Alpi, then the Emperor’s chamber evoked the image of the sun.  

The thick, tall pillars standing on the golden floor were also gilded. The moment one stepped inside, the brightness was almost blinding.  

The light reflected from the 20 windows facing the garden and the 20 mirrors opposite them only amplified the effect.  

“The Sun of the Empire, Emperor Morciani, has arrived~!”  

Following the attendant’s announcement, Felipe Morciani appeared, dragging a cloak adorned with golden feathers.  

Today, the Emperor wore a crown set with large diamonds and a high-collared red jacket over a white cravat adorned with rubies. The jacket’s shoulders and sleeves were embroidered with the imperial family’s symbol, the phoenix, in gold thread.  

At the Emperor’s entrance, everyone bowed deeply, their foreheads nearly touching the ground. The Emperor, seated in a high position, observed them for a while before speaking.  

“Raise your heads.”  

When Therese raised her head at the Emperor’s command, she confirmed that the suspicious man she had met at the bazaar was indeed the Emperor.  

‘Surely, he’s not looking at me?’  

Feeling as though the Emperor’s mysterious gray eyes had met hers, Therese quickly turned her head away. Watching this, Felipe smirked faintly.  

The Emperor adjusted his black gloves and gave a signal to an attendant.  

“Today’s ball is to honor Duke Richard’s service in defending the Empire with his life on the frontier.”  

At the attendant’s explanation, the Emperor nodded and gestured toward Duke Richard.  

“Duke, come forward.”  

At the Emperor’s call, Duke Richard glanced back at Therese once before stepping forward.  

‘Why do I feel so uneasy?’  

Therese, watching the fluttering red cloak, nervously fiddled with the ring he had given her.  

When Duke Richard knelt before the Emperor, Felipe Morciani, who had been scanning the room, finally opened his mouth.  

“I, as the representative of the Caspian Empire, commend your service. Bring forth the gift.”  

An attendant brought a long box, opened it, and displayed its contents.  

“……No, that’s—”  

The nobles, upon seeing the item, began to murmur loudly, and even Jeremy couldn’t hide his unease.  

“……”  

“It is a sword made from the tail of a monster. May you continue to serve as my loyal blade.”  

“I deeply thank you for this honor,  Your Majesty.”  

Jeremy Richard expressed his gratitude without breaking decorum. However, his hands inside the gloves were already soaked with sweat.  

The monster that had been used to craft the sword was a notorious creature that had terrorized the frontier for years, killing dozens of his subordinates.  

‘I couldn’t even kill it myself….’  

And now it had been captured and turned into this sword.  

It felt as though the blood of his fallen subordinates still clung to the blade.  

Jeremy pressed his trembling lips together tightly, trying his best not to reveal his inner turmoil.  

‘The Emperor’s intentions are obvious.’  

This event wasn’t held to honor his achievements but to mock him.  

The Emperor wanted to flaunt that he had captured the monster and forged it into a sword, showing that the Duke’s knight order had been incompetent.  

‘Is this the monster that had you trembling in fear?’  

Being ridiculed in an official setting was something he could endure.  

But.  

He couldn’t bear the insult to the deaths of his subordinates.  

‘Whose deaths were they for?’  

Even now, his knights were shedding sweat and blood day and night on the frontier to protect the very nobles who were laughing, chatting, and drinking here.  

“Duke Richard, come here and have a drink with me.”  

The Emperor, with an ecstatic smile, raised his glass high.