25: A Private Audience

Kael, who had planned to leave immediately after the ball, was not particularly pleased with the emperor’s invitation to a banquet. However, since he couldn’t refuse, he made his way to the dining hall and found himself seated across from the crown prince, someone he didn’t even want to look at.

The crown prince’s furrowed brow was evident, but Kael, wanting to show that he was the more composed one, directed his gaze toward the emperor.

“Your Majesty, thank you for inviting my wife and me to this banquet.”

“Hahaha! Don’t be so formal. Remember, I consider you like family.”

“I am deeply honored by your words.”

Kael smiled even more brightly, especially at the crown prince, whose expression only grew more distorted. Satisfied that he had made his point, Kael turned to Aella, who was sitting beside him, and spoke in a gentle voice.

“My dear, let me cut your meat for you.”

“Pardon?! Oh, no, it’s fine. I can—”

Ignoring her protest, Kael took her plate.

“Your Majesties, I hope you will understand, as we are newlyweds.”

“Haha, of course.”

“It’s a delightful sight, isn’t it, Your Majesty?”

The empress smiled as she spoke, and the emperor, nodding in agreement, looked pleased. Meanwhile, Aella, unable to lift her head, watched Kael as he cut her meat.

“There, I’ve cut it into bite-sized pieces. Enjoy your meal, my dear.”

“Thank you… my love.”

Hearing her address him as “my love,” Kael’s lips twitched, and Aella found his reaction so endearing that she let out a small laugh.

Across the table, Elena, who had been silently watching, turned to the empress, who was looking at her with a sympathetic gaze, and smiled faintly before addressing the twin prince and princess seated beside her.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes! It’s even better because we’re eating with Lord Kael and Aella after so long!”

“Haha, I’m glad to hear that.”

“Aella! Lord Kael! You should stay at the palace tonight! Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow!”

Kael, who had been about to politely decline with a smile, found himself unable to refuse when the emperor suggested a game of chess and the empress expressed her desire to chat with Aella further.

“If it’s not too much trouble…”

“Haha, don’t mention trouble. You can stay in any room you like.”

“I am deeply grateful, Your Majesty.”

“Now, let’s continue our meal.”

As the emperor resumed eating, the dining hall fell silent, save for the soft clinking of utensils.

‘Kael Hormons…’

The crown prince, Julius, narrowed his brow further as he observed Kael leisurely enjoying his meal across from him. His gaze, filled with hatred, shifted to Aella, who was seated beside Kael.

‘Aella…’

A pitiful woman who had thrown herself into the flames. His first love, whom he had never been able to forget since their first meeting. Though he had reached out to save her, she had foolishly become the Duchess of Hormons.

‘If only I weren’t the crown prince… I would have taken Aella and run away anywhere. D*mn it!’

He had ascended to the position of crown prince solely to make Aella his crown princess.

He had believed that as the heir to the empire, he could somehow claim Aella as his wife, even though her fiancé had been decided before her birth.

But despite reaching the position of crown prince, the woman he desired had been taken by another man—a man who oppressed her. And now, sitting beside him was another woman, Princess Roden, his foreign fiancée, whose mere presence filled him with anger.

‘If only this woman and that damned man didn’t exist, Aella and I…!’

“Ahem!”

At the emperor’s warning cough, Julius clenched his utensils tightly.

[Remember this well. If you continue to act this way, I’ll strip you of your title as crown prince for disgracing the imperial family and pass it to Ren.]

The emperor’s final warning echoed in Julius’s mind as he chewed the piece of meat in his mouth with frustration.

‘I never cared about being crown prince in the first place. D*mn this title…’

Julius recalled what he had learned from an elder about his mother, the emperor’s first empress, who had passed away shortly after giving birth to him due to her frail health.

[The late empress, Her Majesty Resia, only wished for the crown prince to grow up healthy and succeed His Majesty.]

As a child, Julius had longed for the mother he had never met. The only connection he had to her was a portrait, but even that had been taken away by his father, the emperor, in anger when Julius refused to accept his stepmother.

Julius resented his strict father, the emperor. The only reasons he endured life in the imperial palace were his stepmother, who occasionally argued with the emperor on his behalf, and his twin siblings, who affectionately called him “brother” and looked up to him.

‘Aella…’

Julius’s gaze softened as he watched Aella conversing with his twin siblings, her face lit up with a smile.

Elena, who had been glancing at Julius’s sorrowful expression as he gazed at Aella, struggled to swallow her soup.

***

After Kael left to play chess with the emperor, Aella enjoyed tea and conversation with the empress, Elena, and the adorable twin prince and princess.

“Aella! Why did you just let them treat you like that?”

“Exactly! If you had told Lord Kael, he would have had all those bad people executed!”

“Your Highnesses, I’m grateful for your concern.”

“Duchess.”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“I, too, find it difficult to understand. Why did you endure such treatment from the servants when you’re the mistress of the household?”

Aella couldn’t bring herself to reveal the truth. Feeling the sympathetic gaze of the princess, the only one who knew her circumstances, Aella managed a strained smile and quickly came up with an explanation.

“I couldn’t speak out. The maid, Rensi, had conspired with a dark sorceress to control the servants. After silencing the head maid and butler, she cast a spell on me that left me immobilized. I could barely heal the wounds on my body.”

“How terrible…”

“Such insolence! Mother! I’ll go tell Father immediately!”

“Wait! Sister, I’ll go with you!”

As the empress shook her head at her children’s outburst, Aella gave her an awkward smile. Then, Elena approached, placing a hand on her shoulder, and their eyes met.

“I heard the duke dismissed all the servants and hired new ones.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“From now on, don’t let anyone mistreat you. Not anyone.”

Seeing the earnest look in the princess’s eyes, Aella nodded in gratitude. She sincerely wished for the kind-hearted princess, who was treated poorly by the nobles, to be respected as a true princess of the kingdom.

‘For that to happen, the Crown Prince must…’

Aella felt frustrated with the crown prince, who treated the princess even colder because of her.

“I’ll leave you two to talk freely.”

As the empress rose and left the room, Aella and Elena bowed to her.

Thud.

“Aella…”

“Yes, Prin—?!”

Aella was startled when the princess suddenly hugged her. The princess, unable to cry out loud, let out muffled sobs. Aella gently patted her back as they sat on the sofa.

Aella held the princess, who had wrapped her arms tightly around her waist, and comforted her until her tears subsided.

“I’m sorry, Aella, for showing you such a pitiful side of me.”

“It’s alright, Prin—”

“When we’re alone like this, let’s call each other by our names, okay?”

“Of course, Elena.”

Hearing Elena’s soft smile as she spoke, Aella felt a pang in her chest.

That forced smile was one she knew all too well.

Seeing Elena, whose situation was just as difficult—if not worse—than her own, Aella couldn’t help but feel even more pity for her.

‘How much pain must she be enduring to break down like this in front of me…?’

Aella, watching the fragile princess who seemed on the verge of collapse, gently took her hands.

“Elena…”

“Aella, it’s too late for me now.”

“…”

“When I arrived in this empire… the moment I first saw the Crown Prince, I… I lost myself.”

“…”

“I know it’s foolish, but I’ve already given my heart to him. I just want to stay by his side, even if he never holds me, even if he takes a mistress and raises her child to the throne instead of mine.”

“!”

Aella couldn’t believe her ears.

“Elena, did the crown prince say all of this to you?”

Though Elena didn’t answer, her tear-filled eyes told Aella everything she needed to know.

Thinking about it only made Aella angrier. No matter how much he disliked her, how could the crown prince treat an innocent princess this way?

“Elena, I feel humiliated. It hurts so much.”

“…”

“But… maybe one day, like you, the crown prince will love me.”

“Elena…”

“Haha… I know. I know how pathetic I sound. But Aella, I know you understand how I feel, don’t you?”

Aella’s heart ached at the princess’s words. She could understand her feelings—loving someone who despised her, yet still wanting to stay by his side.

But Aella couldn’t stand by and watch the princess endure such treatment any longer.

“Elena, I will meet with His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“!”

“I won’t let him hurt you anymore.”

“Please! Don’t! If you intervene, the crown prince will…”

As the princess broke down in tears again, Aella comforted her before leaving her in the care of the twin prince and princess, who had just returned.

“Where can I find the Crown Prince… Ah!”

By chance, Aella encountered the crown prince’s aide, who helped her find him strolling in the garden.

“Aella, for you to request a meeting with me…”

“Please address me properly, Your Highness. I am the Duchess of Hormons.”

“…”

As the crown prince’s expression hardened, Aella placed a hand over her chest and bowed slightly.

“I apologize for my rudeness toward the empire’s second sun.”

“…”

Raising her head, Aella looked directly at the crown prince and spoke firmly.

“Please let go of your feelings for me and stop hurting Princess Elena. If you cannot love her, then send her back to her homeland. That is why I have come to see you.”