Those who caught her intention didn’t care about the location, the situation, or etiquette.
They couldn’t greet Naella from a higher position, so they descended from the first floor hall and bowed their heads.
“We greet Your Grace the Grand Duke and Your Grace the Grand Duchess. I am Shat Agasan. This is my wife, Maro Agasan.”
The party host’s greeting was natural. However, it felt like he’d grasped the situation first and taken control of the surroundings.
His keen perception matched his business acumen.
“It’s an honor to see you again. I am Baron Doine. This is my wife Julie Doine, whom you met last time.”
Count Doine and Countess Julie, whom she hadn’t seen in a while, were unchanged. Count Doine gave an upright impression, and Julie wore an inscrutable smile.
Perhaps knowing she was the culprit behind that shocking rumor, Naella sensed an uncomfortable air from beside her.
“It’s an honor to meet you. I am Noah Pezmongre. My wife is currently unwell and could not attend. I ask your forgiveness for not greeting you together.”
Chedran had called him cautious, and his appearance matched that description. He had neat brown hair and calm eyes. He clearly wasn’t someone who’d move lightly for momentary gain or purpose.
Yet such a person attended alone without his wife. How would high society interpret this?
Would they think he was loyal enough to the grand ducal family to attend alone despite his wife’s illness, or would they see another purpose?
Most would see the former, and suspicious people like the Emperor would see the latter.
For example, that he’d come to recruit neutrals or pressure the aristocratic faction in this gathering of many.
Pezmongre was the largest vassal family, so it was a plausible assumption since they were essential when pressuring someone.
Or he might be making it look that way while plotting something else.
After Count Pezmongre’s greeting, she received greetings on the way into the hall. Most who greeted her were predictable.
Either imperial faction, vassal families, or those with ties to Mahoserdyi.
The most unexpected was someone from Marquis Rubus’s family, belonging to the aristocratic faction.
Everyone said if Mahoserdyi was in the west, Marquis Rubus’s family was in the east.
The Rubus family bordered the sea and guarded maritime routes, holding great power even within the aristocratic faction. She’d heard Count Agasan sold goods from maritime trade to the south, so he must have attended through that connection.
“It’s an honor to meet Your Grace the Grand Duke and Your Grace the Grand Duchess. I am Jaim Rubus. I lost my wife long ago, so I attended today with my daughter. This is my only daughter, Berueti Rubus.”
His sun-bronzed face and thick jaw befitting a seasoned sailor spoke to his character. However, his eyes trembled subtly.
Before she could wonder at this, Marquis’s daughter Berueti Rubus stepped forward.
“I’ve been wanting to meet you. I am Berueti Rubus.”
Unlike her anxious father, Berueti’s eyes shone intelligently. They held such straight, strong longing that Naella wondered if they’d had some unknown connection in the past.
Soon Berueti whispered quietly.
“Lady Hailmora told me to seek out Your Grace the Grand Duchess. Would it be rude to visit you quietly later?”
The smile hovering on Naella’s face instantly deepened.
Hailmora Serenopy.
What a longed-for name.
A welcome presence just from that name alone. Along with Esto, she was one of Naella’s only two friends. Just her name brought to mind sky-blue eyes full of whimsy.
She’d thought she could only see her after going up to the capital.
“Please do visit. If you’re Hailmora’s friend, you’re like my friend too.”
Lest the conversation grow long and invite suspicion, Naella left only a smile and passed her first. What connection had Hailmora sent her?
The perceptive Count Agasan, the inscrutable Count Pezmongre, and even the aristocratic faction’s Marquis’s daughter Berueti sent by her whimsical friend.
Somehow today’s party seemed like it would be interesting.
Watching Naella and Chedran’s retreating figures, Berueti turned her head at her father’s presence.
“Will you be all right?”
At the anxious tone, Berueti shook her head firmly.
“Of course it’s a dangerous path.”
Her father Jaim Rubus had spent half his life at sea—not an exaggeration—loving his territory and the ocean, wanting to protect them his whole life.
So he stayed far from nobles’ power struggles, only judging whether something helped his territory or not.
“But we can’t just stay still. The nobles are moving.”
“If we get swept up, the people in our territory will too.”
“If we’ll be swept up anyway by staying still, we must move to find a way to prevent it. The one called the northern maritime admiral has attached himself to the Empress.”
“He always moved according to profit.”
“The Empire is splitting into the Emperor’s faction, the Empress’s faction, and the Crown Prince’s faction. A bloody wind is inevitable, isn’t it?”
“Berueti……”
“The largest faction is the Emperor’s. The Empire’s greatest military power belongs to the Emperor. If the Empress rises like this, the purge of the Empress’s people and neutral nobles is an inevitable future.”
Jaim Rubus swallowed a small groan at his daughter’s firm tone.
The home he thought would be safe if just well-guarded now stood before fierce turmoil.
“I…… wish everyone could be safe.”
“I’ll definitely protect the territory Mother loved.”
Berueti once again followed Naella’s location with her eyes.
Count Agasan’s party was literally a model of wealth. Usually hiring one orchestra was standard, but perhaps for grandeur, three orchestras and even vocalists were prepared.
The splendor of furniture and decorations went without saying, and famous sculptures and paintings were boldly displayed. Decorations, music, lighting, heating, even modest food—all ran to the extremes of wealth, but Naella had no capacity to care about such things.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say she was receiving greetings from nearly every attendee. Nobles approached and spoke to her endlessly.
Naella finally sighed. Chedran kept secretly tapping her lower back, sending signals repeatedly.
Normally after a party started, men and women naturally separated. But they’d stayed together due to Naella’s threat-that-wasn’t-a-threat, and it seemed Chedran had finally reached his limit.
She caught Count Agasan and Count Pezmongre sending glances to Chedran from afar. Naella had no choice but to let him go.
“I’ll be back shortly.”
Naella smiled faintly. But knowing she was likely full of complaints inside, Chedran fled without looking back, worried sparks might fly.
Around Count Agasan and Count Pezmongre, only those with clear purpose and connection gathered. Either imperial faction like Baron Count Doine, or vassal families like Count Pezmongre.
The only inexplicable one was neutral Count Agasan.
Chedran slowly surveyed those gathered before shifting his gaze to Count Agasan. Though his gaze could have shaken him, Agasan didn’t move.
“Some will misinterpret the Count’s presence here.”
“I’m a businessman. So naturally I follow profit, don’t I?”
“Is that your intention?”
“All business is based on trust. I have no intention of clinging here and there like a bat, and I trust my instincts.”
He meant he’d side with Chedran, whether imperial faction or Nohesca. Chedran nodded and shifted his gaze to Pezmongre.
“If you had something to say, you could have come to me separately.”
Even at the reproach asking why he’d made a show in a public setting, Count Pezmongre answered calmly.
“I thought it would be easier to talk with Count Agasan present rather than vassals meeting separately.”
“It won’t look good to someone suspicious. Since you’ve dragged Count Agasan in too.”
“That suspicious someone will overlook it this time. This is to show the nobles.”
“The reason?”
“The Empress has moved.”
A clicking sound escaped Chedran’s mouth involuntarily. News of her movement couldn’t be welcome.
What kind of person was the Empress? Particularly since this was her first move after Prince Petron’s incident, he needed to be even more careful.
“She’s moving after a long time.”
“She seems determined to see it through. The nobles are stirring. Even those who sided with the Crown Prince are restless.”
Chedran made an uncomfortable expression.
No matter how he looked at it, this wouldn’t pass easily. It seemed he’d need to talk with Naella for a long time even after returning to the residence tonight.
Left alone, noblewomen naturally flocked around Naella. Their intention to win her favor and build friendship was transparent. As if proving that guess, all conversation topics were related to her.
When talk came up about how wonderful Danje was, she inwardly ground her teeth remembering his retreating figure fleeing desperately, and kept silent about Danahan and Ziella’s romance.
Naella had no interest in their circumstances and naturally didn’t know. She’d only smiled, yet their romance had somehow become established fact.
“Oh right, one of Mahoserdyi’s vassal families is Marquis Siron’s, isn’t it?”
“Oh my, that’s right. I heard the obituary recently……”
“I’ve heard Marquis Siron was close with Duke Mahoserdyi. He must be deeply grieved.”
Since these noblewomen were well-versed in society gossip, how could they not know about Marquis Siron’s family?
Having prepared for this, Naella quietly nodded.
“I heard Marquis Siron’s heir isn’t even married yet. He must have nowhere to turn.”
They seemed unaware Naella and Esto were friends. She felt viscerally how fortunate the security measures had been. Otherwise she would have received the noblewomen’s pitying gazes.
“Did they catch the culprit? Only the obituary was delivered, no other news at all, so I’m worried.”
“The obituary was only delivered for title succession anyway. The west seems to conduct funeral procedures and mourning quietly.”
The noblewomen seemed eager for information, but unfortunately Naella knew nothing either.
She’d even just learned Esto had inherited the marquis title. Though she’d expected it, she couldn’t say anything, feeling her friend’s sorrow rather than simply celebrating.
“Let’s stop that talk.”
Lady Julie intervened with good timing. Fanning herself, Julie subtly cleared away the noblewomen occupying Naella’s side.
Standing naturally beside her, Julie covered her mouth with her fan and spoke at a volume only Naella could hear.
“Lady Rubus’s gaze has been too fervent since earlier. Making it so obvious just makes her look cute.”
