“We’re going to greet Your Majesty now.”

Ilion said, grabbing my hand as I was lost in thought.

“R-right now?”

We’re going to see that final boss now? I’m not mentally prepared yet!

However, it seemed there was an unspoken rule in this cursed noble society that higher-ranking nobles should greet the emperor first.

My mind started to go blank. It was laughable that I was getting flustered over a mere greeting, but I was desperate.

First, I need to be as inconspicuous as possible, as inconspicuous as possible…

“Whatever you hear, don’t get angry or flustered. If you can’t think of an answer to a question, just stay quiet.”

Ilion gave some advice from beside me, but I could barely hear the latter part of what he said.

I was too busy recalling the numerous etiquette lessons I had with Sebastian and Lily.

I’m already wearing an eye-catching dress, if I made a mistake, I would be marked forever.

Led by Ilion to stand before the imperial throne, I felt sweat seeping through my gloves as I grasped the hem of my dress.

‘Gracefully, unhurriedly, lift the skirt slightly… Smile on the lips…’

“I am honored to be in the presence of the Empire’s sun.”

Thinking I had made a perfect greeting, I raised my head only to find blue eyes staring at me so intensely it bordered on rudeness.

Wondering if I had made a mistake, my expression stiffened, but then the expressionless face disappeared like a mirage, and the blue eyes wrinkled into a smile.

“Are you the rumored Lady Ravenne? I never thought I’d see the fiancée that Duke Celestine had been hiding away so carefully. You are as beautiful as the rumors say.”

“You flatter me, Your Majesty.”

I hurriedly bowed my head in response to his compliment.

He continued to look only at me, not sparing a glance for Ilion, as he spoke.

“Well, now that I’ve seen you, may I request a dance?”

“Of course… Pardon?”

I was about to answer appropriately, thinking how could I refuse the emperor’s words, when I realized his question and closed my mouth.

Did he just ask to dance with me? There was no mention of dancing with Ravenne in the original story, was there?

Even though Klaus was known to be willful, he was more unpredictable than I had imagined.

As I pondered how to politely decline for a while, Ilion spoke up before I could.

“I apologize, but my wife has injured her leg. She needs to be careful for a while.”

Nice assist! I hadn’t actually injured my leg, but thanks to Ilion, I didn’t need to come up with a long-winded excuse.

I inwardly sighed with relief and looked at Klaus apologetically.

Klaus nodded with an angelic face, wearing a disappointed expression. If I didn’t know him, I might have been fooled by that look.

“That’s quite unfortunate. By the way, you’re calling your fiancée your wife when you’re not even married yet? Did you have a wedding ceremony without my knowledge?”

“We plan to hold the wedding ceremony in three months. We would be honored if Your Majesty could attend and congratulate us.”

Although Klaus seemed to have deliberately made a mischievous joke, Ilion answered without even raising an eyebrow.

“The Duke really has no sense of humor.”

Saying that, he leaned back in his chair, looking bored.

Even as we turned and walked away, I could still feel Klaus’s gaze burning into the back of my head, making me wonder what he was thinking with those languid eyes.

***

After safely completing the greetings, I was back among the crowd, sipping champagne and looking for an opportunity to send Ilion to the terrace.

The saintess, who had been standing quietly on one side, exchanged a few words with the emperor and then headed to the terrace.

According to the original story, this was when Ilion, feeling tired from people’s attention, would also head to the terrace. However…

“Why do you keep glancing around?”

Ilion, who had been sticking close to me like he was monitoring me, showed no signs of going to the terrace.

“I’m not glancing, I’m just looking around.”

At my words, Ilion once again gave me a doubtful look.

“By the way, Your Grace, aren’t you feeling hot?”

“Well…”

“I feel a bit hot. How about we go to the terrace for a short break?”

“Not really…”

“Don’t be like that. I’ll bring some drinks, so please go ahead and wait for me there.”

“Aren’t there plenty of drinks here?”

Looking at Ilion, who kept rejecting my suggestions, I decided to use my secret technique.

“To think you’d be so oblivious to my desire to spend some intimate time alone with you on the terrace, Your Grace…”

I looked at Ilion with a seemingly shy glance. Displeasure settled on his forehead. But soon he nodded in agreement.

It felt oddly strange that someone who would have normally rejected my request was now complying so easily.

Why do they say that when a person does something out of character, their days are numbered?

Well, it’s true that his days are numbered, but…

At the same time, my days are numbered too.

At least I could breathe a sigh of relief as I watched Ilion’s retreating figure heading to the terrace as planned.

Once Ilion meets the saintess, the original story will proceed from there. And then I’ll receive a proposal to break off the engagement from Ilion.

After that, I just need to leave this country as quickly as possible and live somewhere out of the emperor’s sight.

Although it had changed a lot from the initial plan, homework is always best done when the deadline is approaching.

Until now, I had been presumptuous and prepared too far in advance, which is why things didn’t go well.

So this time, there was no way it could go wrong.

I sipped champagne in a corner, recalling the beginning of the novel. That scene which expressed the fluttering hearts of the two people with clean and calm descriptions…

The idea that they were each other’s last hope in life was more romantic than any love story.

For Ilion, who had suffered from a curse of uncertain death all his life, the saintess who could break his curse was his hope. For the saintess, who had been brought as a prisoner from an enemy country, Ilion, who could save her from the emperor, was her hope.

And these two met.

No matter how uninterested in fate or love Ilion might be, he couldn’t deny it.

That this meeting today was indeed the fate that God had woven for him.

Well, the foreign element who values her own life will slip away at the right timing, so I hope they share the love of the century…

“I hope it goes well…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, the two of them…”

I dropped my champagne glass in surprise at the uninvited guest who had interjected into my monologue.

“Oh my, that was close to breaking.”

He quickly caught the champagne glass and naturally placed it back in my hand.

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”

Facing the blue eyes that were curved into a smile, I barely managed to hold onto the glass, feeling a chilling sensation as if the blood was draining from my fingertips.

Why did Klaus appear? I’m sure I had hidden myself in the farthest corner to avoid being noticed. And of all times, when Ilion is not here…

“I was hoping you might give me the chance to dance one song with you while the Duke is away…”

“But… my leg…”

“Surely, that must have been the Duke’s lie, isn’t it obvious?”

The emperor’s gaze as he asked this was harmless, but his voice somehow seemed dangerous.

If I insisted here that I couldn’t dance because my leg hurt, he might test whether it was true by actually rendering my legs useless.

“I’ll overlook the Duke’s cute lie, so what do you say?”

Saying this, Klaus extended his hand to me.

It was no longer a proposal.

‘If you leave an escape route, the prey will flee as if it’s their last hope, and when they realize it’s a trap, they instantly lose their will to fight. There’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing that expression when hope turns into despair.’

A devilish smile seeped into his angelic face.

‘So, Artia, please run and run again. And at the moment you feel you’ve escaped my grasp, fall into despair by your own accord.’

Why did this emperor’s monologue come to mind? The emperor’s eccentricities and misdeeds were varied, but I could assert that no other line expressed his madness and obsession as much as this monologue.

He was that much of a person who enjoyed toying with people.

Of course, the situation wasn’t that bad, nor was he obsessed with me.

His interest in me, a mere extra, would surely be just a momentary whim.

So I tried to reassure myself that there was nothing to worry about, but my body tensed up on its own.

Mulling over the emperor’s lines from the original work, I took the emperor’s hand, somehow feeling like prey.

Although the gazes around us were directed towards us, Klaus’s steps were unwavering, as if such gazes weren’t even worth noticing.

Following the emperor’s movements, the band began to play a gentle tune.

It would be nice if I could just faint right now, but my mind was clearer than ever, staring only at my toes.

If I stepped on the emperor’s foot, it seemed like not just my two legs, but all my limbs might not be safe.

“I heard you have Rempito’s painting.”

Ah, I almost stumbled.

I looked at Klaus, barely regaining my balance.

“Yes. I happened to discover the original by chance.”

“Would you consider selling it to me? Somehow, it’s unpleasant to have even a forgery.”

“Sell it? That painting originally belongs to Your Majesty. Of course, I was planning to return it to its rightful owner.”

At my words, Klaus raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so? Well, I’m not too keen on feeling indebted either…”

He trailed off as he held my waist and took a step.

My feeble willpower was on the verge of collapse, unable to keep up with both the conversation and the dance steps.

Perhaps it was because I had spent my days lazily reading romance novels, but it felt like my brain was already overloading.

“Then instead, I’ll grant you one wish.”

“A wish?”

“Yes. Tell me anything you want.”

Faced with his benevolent smile, like Santa Claus asking what I wanted for Christmas, I was momentarily blinded and almost blurted out what I really wanted.

But even so, I couldn’t possibly say, ‘Please don’t kill me later when Ilion starts a rebellion!’

“Will you really grant anything?”

“Yes.”

He had been looking at me with a constant smile, but then he seemed to notice something and briefly cast his gaze into the distance. Then he quickly looked back at me.

As I hesitated to answer, Klaus slightly lowered his head and whispered softly in my ear.

“Even if you wished for the position of Empress, I would grant it.”