Madame Loire’s formal title was Baroness Agnes Loire.

Yet nobody called her that.

Nor did anyone address her by her given name, Agnes, which evoked an image of a virtuous and refined lady.

She was instead known as the woman who had retained her position as the Emperor’s mistress throughout the reigns of the First and Second Empresses.

She seemed untouched by time, like a witch.

She held the keys to the imperial treasury, yet never wore a crown.

And to Dolores, she was something even more offensive: A mother-in-law who had no right to bear that title.

At Madame Loire’s banquet, Dolores wore a smile that seemed genuine.

Inside, however, she felt nothing but disgust.

How revolting it was to see this woman again after her return!

Guests swarmed around the Emperor’s mistress, each one eager to win her favor.

There she was, openly hosting her banquet in Swan Hall — a venue reserved exclusively for members of the Imperial Family.

The diamond necklace adorning her chest also belonged rightfully to the Empress.

Every detail of the scene was an affront.

Then Madame Loire noticed Dolores.

A crooked smile slowly spread across her lips.

“Oh my, look who it is.”

“Happy birthday, Madame Loire.”

“Hoho. Receiving congratulations from the daughter of the Marquis of Rochester is an honor for me.”

Dolores simply smiled, exuding flawless elegance.

‘Looking back now, I realize that she had been trying to undermine me even then.’

If Madame Loire had truly been honored, she would have said: “I’m delighted to receive congratulations from the future Crown Princess.”

At that time, Dolores’s position as the future Crown Princess had already been all but decided.

Madame Loire smiled sweetly as she continued.

“What a remarkable talent you have. Even smiling absentmindedly, you’re beautiful. I do hope that beauty continues to shine brightly within the Imperial Palace.”

“Thank you for your generous praise.”

“Hehe. I look forward to the day we can live together in the Imperial Palace.”

Hidden behind her fan, Madame Loire’s eyes curved gracefully.

But Dolores was no longer naive enough to take those words as a compliment.

She remembered very clearly.

It was because that woman had refused to hand over the Empress’s jewels that Dolores had almost gone mad before her wedding.

“Madame Loire, please! Stop this! The ceremony begins in two hours!”

The daughter of a marquis was driven to pound desperately on Madame Loire’s door and plead for mercy.

How could such humiliation have been tolerated?

Because Madame Loire had enjoyed the Emperor’s favor for more than thirty years.

And so, before countless witnesses, Dolores, still dressed in her wedding gown, was forced to beg.

It was a humiliation she would never forget.

Even her future husband, Adrian, had been unwilling to oppose Madame Loire.

After all, she had cared for him after his mother’s death.

Challenging her was something even the Crown Prince hesitated to do.

“If we wait a little longer, perhaps she’ll open the door, Dolores.”

“But Your Highness! The ceremony is about to begin!”

“This is merely a battle of wills. Ahem.”

Even Adrian had looked away awkwardly.

Then he muttered softly,

“If you kneel and ask… she might help. Probably.”

There was no need to remember who lost that day.

The church bells had practically been ringing out a warning that this marriage should never happen.

And foolish Dolores had ignored every sign.

“Haa…”

Dolores blinked slowly and looked around the banquet hall once more.

People surrounded her on all sides, looking at her with admiration and desire.

“I wish I could dance with the Empire’s Diamond just once.”

Before the Crown Prince claims her…

She’ll certainly need lovers after she’s married.

Dolores let out a faint laugh at their transparent desires.

“Heh.”

Those gazes would once have filled her with pride.

Now, however, her heart was as dry as ash from a long-burnt fire.

Then, a bright voice called out to her.

“Cousin!”

“…!”

For the first time that evening, the smile on Dolores’s face wavered.

Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it might burst through her ribs.

‘I thought I was prepared for this.’

There was the woman who would one day become her husband’s mistress.

The cousin she had once treasured more than anyone else was walking towards her.

To be honest, Dolores would have preferred a demon to appear before her.

At least a demon could be stabbed to death with a fork.

Unfortunately, her cousin was nothing more than a delicate young noblewoman.

Nevertheless, Dolores greeted her with a flawless smile.

“Oh my. Angelica.”

“Cousin, how could you do this to me?”

The moment they met, Angelica pouted, looking genuinely hurt.

“And what have I done, Angelica?”

“You left in the Marquis’s carriage without me!”

Angelica complained mournfully, her voice as plaintive as a songbird’s.

With her fragile beauty, she was exactly the sort of woman who inspired protective instincts.

“I was waiting so we could go together! When I heard you’d already left on your own, I was heartbroken.”

“Angelica.”

“It made it seem like you don’t care about me anymore.”

‘Let’s be honest.’

‘You just wanted to ride in a carriage bearing the Rochester family crest. Because you’re from a branch family, and otherwise you’d have to ride in an ordinary carriage.’

For a moment, Dolores nearly said it aloud.

How could someone with the face of an angel be so shamelessly devoted to her own desires?

‘Then again, that’s probably how she convinced herself she could sleep with another woman’s husband and bear his child.’

However, when tears began to gather in Angelica’s eyes, Dolores noticed that people nearby were starting to look at them.

That would not do.

She still needed to find the Grand Duke and had no desire to become the center of attention.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t let that sanctimonious face go entirely unchallenged.

“Angelica.”

“Sniff… Yes, Cousin.”

“How could you think I don’t care about you? Do you have any idea how much money I’ve spent on you?”

“…Pardon?”

“The dress you’re wearing. Your shoes. Even those accessories.”

Although Dolores spoke in a gentle tone, it was loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.

She raised her fan and gently touched Angelica from head to toe.

Her hair.

Her shoulders.

Her collarbone.

Her arms.

“I paid for every one of them out of my own allowance. After all, you didn’t have any spending money of your own.”

“C-Cousin…!”

“And after I’ve given so much to my beloved cousin, you can’t even understand that I needed to arrive early to meet His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Angelica’s pale face flushed bright red.

Perhaps the future Angelica, who would become the Emperor’s mistress, could have handled such an attack.

But the younger Angelica standing here was completely taken by surprise.

However, Dolores had no interest in continuing the exchange.

‘I’m starting to feel sick.’

Suddenly, she was flooded with memories of Angelica on the execution grounds.

Tears streamed down her face.

Yet she had smiled until the very end.

This image lingered vividly in Dolores’s mind.

However, finding Grand Duke Lesrexion was far more urgent.

The banquet had already been underway for some time, yet the Beast of Albion still had not appeared.

It was this more than anything else that was unsettling her.

‘Hah. He certainly seemed interested when I mentioned Howard Street.’

But where was her fiancé?

Where was Adrian?

Even in a crowded ballroom, the two princes would always stand out.

If they couldn’t be seen anywhere, they must be hiding in another room.

“How are both of them this useless?”

Dolores slipped out of the ballroom, muttering under her breath.

Unusually ungraceful, her sharp movements deterred men from approaching her.

At least she had a good idea of where Adrian was.

‘He’d already started chasing women by this point.’

‘He’s probably in his chambers—or the Ruby Room.’

The Ruby Room, with its lavish interior, was Adrian’s preferred place for entertaining women.

‘I already know what that piece of trash is doing.’

‘So let’s find the Grand Duke instead.’

Despite all her complaints about him, Dolores had known Lesrexion as a member of the Imperial Family for almost twenty years.

Because of that, she knew several places he would disappear to whenever a banquet became unbearable.

One was a secluded corner of the garden where Brian roses bloomed.

Another was the library, where smoking cigars was permitted.

And the gallery, which was lined with portraits of the Imperial Family.

Yet no matter how thoroughly she searched the palace, Lesrexion was nowhere to be found.

She couldn’t simply ask a servant where he was either.

The whole situation was maddening.

After exhausting every other possibility, Dolores came to a stop before one final door.

A strained smile tugged at her lips as she stared at it.

“Hmm. I hope he isn’t in here.”

The Emerald Room.

It had once belonged to Lesrexion’s late mother.

It shared a wall with the Ruby Room.

‘But I don’t have much choice.’

Despite her graceful smile, she was becoming increasingly desperate.

Fortunately, the ivory-colored door was unlocked.

The Emerald Room looked exactly as she remembered it.

Elegant.

Quiet.

It was decorated in calming shades of green.

Yet the large, infuriating man she was searching for was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where in the world did he go?’

Had she missed him?

Or had he committed the outrageous act of skipping the banquet entirely?

‘I don’t have time to storm the Lancaster Estate again. What am I supposed to do now?’

As she stood there frowning in thought, a faint voice drifted through the crack of the balcony doors.

The balcony attached to this room was empty.

Which meant…

“Ah, my angel.”

The moment Dolores stepped onto the balcony, a hollow laugh escaped her lips.

“Hah.”

Of course.

After enduring this sort of thing for more than twenty years, there was hardly any reason to be surprised.

Apparently, her future husband, Crown Prince Adrian, was once again entertaining a woman in the room next door.

‘I’ll need to wash out my ears after this.’

But before she could turn away, a familiar sigh caught her attention.

“Haa… Your Highness…”

“…!”

It was Angelica’s voice.

The same Angelica who was supposed to be in the ballroom.

Dolores felt an instant chill spread through her body.

Her toes went cold.

The back of her throat burned with nausea.

“Ugh…”

She pressed a hand over her mouth, fighting back the urge to vomit.

Logically, she had already known.

She had known for years that Angelica and Adrian would betray her.

Therefore, the fact that their relationship began before her marriage rather than after should not have come as a shock.

It should not have hurt.

And yet it did.

Dolores clenched her teeth.

There was no point in dwelling on it.

No point in feeling wounded.

It would be a foolish and pointless waste of emotion.

“Urgh!”

And yet it hurt.

At the very least, she had wanted to believe that it all began after she was declared infertile.

She had wanted to believe that Angelica had only become her replacement because her greedy father had forced her into the role.

This belief had been the last shred of Dolores’s pride.

But the conversation between the two lovers was methodically shattering even that.

“Why do you look so sad today, my Angelica?”

“Sniff… Your Highness. Cousin has been acting strangely today.”

“…Dolly? Why?”

“She was cold to me. She said cruel things about my circumstances…”

“Dolly is a woman too. Naturally she’s jealous of you.”

“That can’t be true! Cousin is the Empire’s Diamond. But I’m just…”

“Angelica, you’re an angel. The most perfect woman in the world.”

Then came the sound of a kiss.

Disgusting!

Their lips met again and again, the soft sounds lingering far too long in the silence.

The wet, intimate noise seemed to go on forever.