Chapter 15

“…….”

Diana sat inside the rattling carriage. She looked utterly exhausted, clinging to the last threads of her sanity. And for good reason—Evan was sitting directly across from her.

“Now that I think about it, I could’ve just taken my own carriage.”

“You’re going to the Imperial Palace anyway, so why go separately?”

Despite the commotion, the social gathering had ended without incident. When it was over, Evan also left the Marquis’s mansion. Diana, who had business at the palace, ended up riding in the carriage with him.

“You said you left some documents behind.”

“To be honest, I could deal with them tomorrow. Actually, there are a lot of things I wanted to ask you, Your Majesty.”

So Diana planned to go straight to the palace to ask Evan her questions, but since they were sharing the carriage, she spoke up.

“First of all, why did you come to the social gathering today? You didn’t tell me you’d be coming.”

Diana recalled the tense confrontation between Sophia and Evan.

“Thanks to you, Sophia was really upset.”

“Tell her later it was her side that provoked me first.”

“So the conversation you had about the social gathering was the cause, right?”

Clearly, when they met in the palace last time, they had stirred each other up. Diana resigned herself to the idea that she’d be trying to stop their fights until her dying breath.

“Alright, I get that. But did you really come to see the Marquis? For what reason?”

“We exchanged greetings.”

“…Were you and the Marquis really that close, Your Majesty?”

Because of Sophia, they’d seen each other’s faces since childhood, but they weren’t exactly friendly. Plus, Diana knew Philip well enough to find it hard to imagine him and Evan exchanging warm greetings.

“And you spent hours exchanging greetings? That’s no different from a ladies’ social gathering.”

“We talked for about ten minutes.”

“So the rest of the time…?”

“I walked in the garden.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

Diana was even more confused.

“Is there some unusual plant growing at the Marquis’s mansion?”

“If you stay for a few hours, it makes it look like you actually did something at the mansion.”

Ah.

Only then did Diana start to understand Evan’s words.

“So, when you said you exchanged greetings, it wasn’t really about greetings…”

If Evan, now Emperor, had a weakness, it was the lack of support from the noble factions. If the Christine Marquisate supported Evan? That would be a huge deal.

“So, did the Christine Marquisate openly say they’d support you, Your Majesty?”

“No, but they said they’d stay quiet about today.”

“That’s still a big deal, isn’t it?”

That meant they were willing to think positively about their relationship with Evan. Even if her master was unpredictable, Diana felt this deserved praise. She took the opportunity to compliment Evan.

“Anyway, well done, Your Majesty. Whatever happens, an alliance with the Christine Marquisate isn’t a bad thing.”

But even with Diana’s praise, Evan showed no reaction. Instead, he stared at her intently.

“Aide.”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to leave me?”

“Excuse me?”

What was that supposed to mean? Diana tried to stay calm, but she couldn’t guess.

“I have no idea what you mean. Have I ever said I’d leave, Your Majesty?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Just.”

“…This conversation is making me want to leave a little.”

Diana, now used to her master’s random comments, replied.

“When you say leave, you mean retire, right? If so, yes, I’ve thought about it.”

“Retire?”

“Yes. Not right away, but someday.”

She hadn’t expected to bring up retirement here, but since it came up, Diana decided to share her thoughts.

“Eventually I’d like to hand over all my work and return to my family’s estate, or maybe move somewhere quiet. It’s not concrete yet, but I am considering it.”

“Then I’ll go with you.”

“If you come, Your Majesty, it’s not retirement at all. And where would you go? You need to stay in the Imperial Palace.”

Diana strongly objected, worried he might actually follow her. Evan asked,

“So you went to the noble gathering to look for a husband candidate? Planning to marry and retire?”

“Husband candidate? Who said that?”

“The new aide.”

“Neil?”

Despite being so afraid of Evan, Neil had apparently been spreading nonsense. Diana let out a sigh.

“What a ridiculous thing to say… He probably heard about my retirement plans and misunderstood. I went to the social gathering today because of you, Your Majesty.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I wanted to see for myself which ladies might be suitable Empress candidates.”

“…….”

“Anyway, it wasn’t about finding a husband. Like I said, my marriage is for later—right now, Your Majesty, your marriage comes first.”

Of course, the most likely candidate, Irene, was now out of the running, but Diana still managed to gather useful information from her conversations with the other ladies.

“I’ll narrow down the Empress candidates and show them to you, Your Majesty. Then you can select a few…”

“I won’t.”

“…Your Majesty, you’re not saying the Emperor of the Empire won’t marry, are you?”

He had talked about marriage just a while ago, so why this now? Diana tried to keep her temper in check with deep breaths.

“If you don’t marry, who will be the next Emperor?”

“Someone will.”

“…Right. Maybe it’d be better to bring back the princes from the mausoleum.”

With all the princes gone, what kind of nonsense was this?

“There’s no reason for you not to marry, Your Majesty. It’s not like there’s some other reason… Oh, wait. Your Majesty.”

Suddenly serious, Diana asked carefully,

“Is it that you can’t have children…?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief. Then there’s no reason not to marry. Your Majesty, you are such a hot topic in the social scene.”

Even if Irene and Sophia refused to become Empress, there were still plenty of ladies who dreamed of the position. Diana had focused on those ladies.

“So please, stop changing your mind. I’ll send you the candidates’ information in a few days.”

“…….”

After a moment of silence, Evan spoke.

“Alright. Handle the letters as you see fit.”

“Me? Without your approval, Your Majesty? Shouldn’t you at least look them over once? What if I pick strange ladies?”

“You’re a capable aide. I trust you’ll do well.”

The unexpected trust felt strange. But at the same time, his sudden easy approval left her feeling uneasy. For some reason, Diana’s instincts, honed by her time with Evan, warned her.

“…Yes. I’ll investigate first, as you said.”

“Alright.”

At least the social gathering ended without incident. After finishing her conversation with Evan, Diana finally relaxed. Her eyes were half-closed before she knew it.

“Are you sleepy?”

“…I think so. I’ve been up since dawn getting ready. And all the ladies looked at me like I was some legendary figure, so I was really nervous….”

She tried to stay awake in front of the Emperor, but it was too much. In the end, Diana’s eyes slid shut.

“…….”

As Diana fell asleep, the carriage grew quiet. Evan, sitting across from her, gazed at the sleeping Diana with his red eyes.

“I didn’t expect her to be thinking about retirement.”

Evan murmured softly, never taking his eyes off Diana.

“But I won’t let that happen.”

The Marquis Christine family’s social gathering that had stirred everyone ended like that. Of course, that wasn’t the end. It was also the beginning of events that would unfold in the days to come.

And a few days later, the news of the Emperor’s engagement to Marquis Christine’s daughter swept through the entire social scene.