Chapter 14

The one who walked in confidently was Evan. At the sudden appearance of the Emperor, the gathering became chaotic. Amid the commotion, Evan was the only one standing calmly, and his eyes met Diana’s.

Why is he here!

Evan had appeared at the social gathering, right in the middle of the Marquis Christine’s mansion, and Diana could hardly believe her eyes—but unfortunately, reality was reality. The servant who had approached Sophia finally apologized.

“I’m sorry. His Majesty wished to enter, so we….”

“Yes, I understand. I know what you mean.”

The first to approach Evan was Sophia.

“Oh my, I never expected someone so unrefined to come to such a precious event.”

“On the contrary, My Lady.”

“Did I say that? I apologize. I was just so surprised by your sudden visit that I made a mistake. Please forgive my rudeness, Your Majesty.”

It was definitely not a mistake. With the situation already hectic, Evan’s arrival only made it worse. At this moment, Diana’s identity as an aide and as a noble lady began to clash. If she were here as an aide, she should have stood up to greet Evan immediately. But today, she was here as Lady Amber, not as an aide, so she decided to leave the situation to Sophia. Of course, if things got out of hand, she would intervene.

“So, may I ask why you suddenly visited our family’s mansion, Your Majesty?”

“I have business with the Marquis.”

“My father is on the complete opposite side of the mansion.”

“I got lost.”

At his utterly shameless claim of getting lost, Diana couldn’t hide her astonishment. Sophia seemed to feel the same.

“I see. Then I’ll assign some servants to guide you. I hope you’ll go straight to my father this time and avoid coming here again.”

“Sure. I won’t be coming back anyway.”

“…….”

Confirming that only ladies were present, Evan curled his lips into a smile. Then he turned and walked away with the servants. It was a very brief moment, but the ladies, having suddenly seen the Emperor, began to excitedly talk.

“My goodness, it’s my first time seeing His Majesty so close.”

“I was really surprised too, with him showing up so suddenly.”

Diana was just as surprised. She stared blankly at the door through which Evan had disappeared.

…What, really? Did he actually come to see the Marquis?

At first, she thought he’d come to pick a fight with Sophia, but apparently not. Since he mentioned the Marquis, he must have had something specific to discuss. But Diana had never heard of any official schedule to meet the Marquis, especially not at the mansion.

While Diana was lost in thought, someone else left after Evan. It was Irene.

“You said you didn’t want to be Empress, but even so, His Majesty comes looking for you here. Maybe the rumors about you being lovers are true.”

“…….”

“Well, I’ll be going too.”

Irene brushed past Sophia and left. With both Evan and Irene gone, only Sophia was left in the now-quiet room. Diana quickly got up and approached her.

“Um, Sophia—Lady Sophia, now that everyone who wanted to leave has gone, shall we start the gathering again?”

Diana gently placed her hand on Sophia’s shoulder and whispered.

“Yeah, yeah. You did well. Really well.”

There were very few people who could make Sophia this angry—except for Evan. With both Irene and Evan having disrupted the mood, Diana did her best to comfort Sophia.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Right? Okay, let’s stop worrying about that now….”

“I have no reason to listen to the words of insects, do I?”

She’s really furious…!

Sophia was smiling, but it wasn’t a real smile. Diana could feel all her anger.

*   *   *

“I never imagined you would visit the mansion in person, or that you’d be so eager to see me, Your Majesty.”

Philip laughed heartily as he took a seat opposite Evan. In the vast reception room of the mansion, there was not a single servant—just the two of them.

“And after such a sudden message asking for a visit, I honestly wondered if I’d done something wrong.”

“I just wanted to see you quickly, Marquis.”

“Is that so? Though it seemed you were in a bigger hurry to see something else.”

Of course, news of Evan’s stop at the social gathering had reached Philip’s ears. But he didn’t bother to mention it.

“So, may I finally ask what brings you here, Your Majesty?”

“It’s nothing special. Just a greeting. Wanted to see how you were doing, Marquis.”

“So, you’re saying you came all the way to our mansion just for a simple greeting, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“As long as it’s known that I visited your mansion, Marquis, that’s enough.”

No matter what they talked about here, the news that the Emperor had visited the Marquis Christine’s mansion would spread quickly. Philip realized this and his eyes narrowed.

“So, should I take it that, since you’re here, you want to receive other things from our family as well?”

If word got out that Evan had visited the mansion, people would surely see it as an alliance between the Imperial Family and the Christine Marquisate. That would be enough to shake the social scene.

“But that would be quite troublesome for us. I’m not really fond of causing a stir.”

“…….”

“And this may be an unfaithful thing to say, but I’ve never really thought of myself as a loyalist, Your Majesty.”

That was how all the Marquis Christines had been for generations. Strict neutrality. A family that moved only for money and profit. That was why the Christine Marquisate had amassed such vast wealth.

“Of course. I know that well.”

And Evan knew it too.

“But there’s one thing you value even more than money, right, Marquis?”

He also knew what Philip valued most.

“I know you care deeply for your daughter.”

“…….”

“More than anyone realizes.”

Sophia. That was Philip’s only weakness. And Philip didn’t deny it.

“It’s true, if it’s about my daughter, I don’t care about money. If my daughter supports you, I’ll gladly do the same, Your Majesty.”

But Philip also knew about Sophia and Evan’s relationship.

“But having watched you and my daughter since childhood… I doubt she’d ever support you, Your Majesty.”

“True. Even if I died and came back to life, your daughter would never willingly support me.”

Evan knew this better than anyone.

“But your daughter has something she values even more than money.”

“…….”

“And that precious thing is with me right now.”

Philip’s eyes widened, then he burst out laughing. He realized immediately what Evan meant by his daughter’s precious thing.

“I see. My daughter could never ignore a friend in trouble. And that friend is your closest aide.”

Philip had no choice but to acknowledge it.

“Fine. I can’t ignore what’s precious to what’s precious to me. For now, I’ll neither deny nor confirm the rumors that will spread. I’ll just stay quiet and let people interpret things as they wish.”

“That’s enough.”

“Well. Since you took the throne, it’s the first time we’ve had such a private conversation. You’ve grown a lot, Your Majesty. I concede this round.”

Philip smiled with satisfaction.

“But, Your Majesty, if I may offer some advice, don’t ever be too sure that what’s precious will always stay by your side.”

“…….”

“Even when making money, it’s dangerous to be too confident. You never know when or how things might slip away, or how much you’ll earn. People are even more unpredictable than money.”

For the first time, Evan fell silent. Seeing this, Philip pressed his point.

“So always be careful.”