Vivi seized Rose’s hand before she could wipe away the blush, and leaned in with a meaningful whisper.

“Do you know what star I saw last night?”

“I couldn’t say. Would you swap these earrings for something else?”

Rose kept her gaze fixed on the mirror and reached up to remove the earrings that cascaded all the way down to her shoulders.

They were a gift from Prince Julius. The extravagant pieces, set with eight-carat rubies and dozens of small diamonds hanging like a chandelier, felt as heavy as the name of the man who had given them.

There’s absolutely no chance I’ll ever marry His Highness……

“O, as the stars that point to destiny do declare!”

Vivi rattled on with cheerful indifference to Rose’s lack of response.

Rose, meanwhile, struggled to remove the earrings on her own and cast her eyes over the jewelry box on the vanity.

“Let those with ears hear! This very day, in this very place, the greatest beauty and the greatest man in all of Hailion shall come face to face! And they shall be joined as a perfect pair, kindling the light of a romantic destiny that none can stop……!”

Vivi flung her arms wide in full theatrical performance. Anne watched with a moved expression and broke into applause.

“Good heavens! Our Rose is going to meet the most handsome man in the Empire today? It must be Prince Julius, coming back to the palace after all this time for Princess Helen’s birthday celebration!”

“Eeek! I’m so nervous!”

“Vivi, why are you the nervous one? Now you’ve got me nervous too!”

Rose’s cheeks flushed at the pair’s fussing, and she stole a glance out the window.

“That’s quite enough, both of you. I’m worried someone will hear.”

The star of the afternoon’s birthday celebration was meant to be its host, Princess Helen. The last thing Rose wanted was to steal the spotlight with pointless gossip.

“What does it matter who hears? His Highness openly declared he wants to court you seriously. How are we supposed to keep that quiet?”

“That’s right! Deep down, Miss is pleased too!”

Pleased or not, that was beside the point.

“Prince Julius is not my ideal.”

Rose had absolutely no intention of marrying Prince Julius.

“Do you wish to wed my Julius? Then sever your ties with House Ordo. As his mother, I wish to prevent at least one future: that of a poor prince, turned fool by a woman’s face, saddled with the shameful label of ‘Ordo’s son-in-law.'”

Empress Camilla had laid down one condition during her private audience with Rose.

Sever your ties with your house.

Abandon the name ‘Ordo,’ and a new family name and domain would be granted in its place.

What an absurd thing to ask……

Rose had not the slightest desire to become an imperial consort on those terms.

Insufferable as her household was, not everyone gathered under this roof was someone she wanted to throw away.

“Oh, please don’t take those earrings off, Miss! His Highness went to the trouble of gifting them to you. You should wear them proudly and let everyone see!”

“Did you not bring the emerald earrings I bought in Teren?”

“There’s no use resisting destiny. You’re going to be matched with the finest knight in Hailion, Miss!”

“My emerald earrings, Vivi.”

Rose was twenty-two now.

These days, with marriage being pushed later and later, it was fashionable to enjoy one’s freedom until at least twenty-five. Still, being pressured to wed was common enough for an heiress set to inherit a great domain.

Yet why did she feel so reluctant?

Rose could not bring herself to decide.

Not one of her many suitors had stirred the slightest interest in her.

It was not that she longed for a love match like everyone else. She had never been in love, and she felt no expectation that the day would ever come.

If anything, she found this era, swept up in romance and sentiment and the whims of fleeting emotion, simply baffling.

She had not even the faintest fantasy about men, nor any curiosity toward them. The unfortunate truth was that the only men she knew were the ones in her own household, all of them squawking like roosters who had inhaled hot pepper powder.

She knew Prince Julius was an excellent prospect for a husband. He was a man of outstanding qualities and admirable character alike.

She simply had no desire to become the daughter-in-law of an empress who made no effort to hide her contempt for her house.

Even if the day never came when someone loved her again, she would not bind herself to someone who looked down on her family……

“Miss Rose?”

Knock, knock. The door opened with the sound.

“You should come out for a moment. Sir Anton and Sir Piar have just drawn their swords and headed toward Primo Palace.”

The voice, edged with urgency, belonged to Rose’s knight, Terra.

“My brothers……?”

Rose set down the ruby earring she had finally managed to remove and rose to her feet.

Who on earth had drawn a sword inside the imperial palace?

“What? Why would they do that?”

Grasping the gravity of the situation, Anne wiped the smile from her face and let out a sharp cry.

This was the Shukriene Imperial Palace. The Ordo family had been staying here for several days at the invitation of Princess Helen, whose birthday was being celebrated.

Even the most reckless of brothers had no business making trouble in a place like this.

“Well……”

Terra hesitated slightly, as though uncertain, before continuing.

“It seems the Camelots have entered the palace.”

What……

“Wh, who did you say?”

“Who did you say has come?”

Anne and Vivi screamed in perfect unison, as though they had rehearsed it. Their faces drained to a ghostly white, and they stared at each other as if they had just heard a terrible curse.

“Of all the times……”

Rose bit lightly at her lower lip, a sinking feeling settling over her.

House Camelot was Ordo’s longstanding rival. They were the second of the three great causes of Emperor Escalus’s worsening hair loss, forever picking fights over the most trivial of matters.

But five years had passed since Camelot’s celebrated heir ran away from home and began wandering abroad, and their edge had dulled considerably since.

Thanks to that, the number of brawls Ordo found itself in had decreased as well, and Rose had thought nothing remained but to restore the family’s honor at last……

“I’ll be back shortly.”

Rose spun on her heel and walked to the back of the room. She pulled the sword she had stored beneath the bed and fastened it, scabbard and all, to her waist belt with practiced ease.

“Wh, where are you going, Rose?”

Horrified at the sight of the sword, Anne lunged forward and grabbed Rose around the waist.

“Rather than add another stain to our house’s name, I’d prefer to close my brothers’ eyes with my own hands and see them onto the boat across the River Jordan.”

Rose walked forward without effort, Anne dangling from her waist.

“D, don’t do this, think of your brothers’ honor. Would you really let grown men be beaten by their little sister in front of everyone?”

“It’s for my brothers’ honor. Surely a quiet end at my hands is better than dying on the palace guillotine.”

Anne’s grip slipped and she slid down, then frantically shot out her arm and grabbed the nearest fold of skirt.

“You can’t go, Rose!”

“You’ll get hurt if you don’t let go, Mother.”

“Oh, just stay here and wait for my son-in-law, Rose!”

“Wait for His Highness, Miss!”

Vivi, who had been stamping her feet helplessly, threw herself alongside Anne with every ounce of strength she had.

“Your destiny is coming, Miss! A man, devastatingly handsome and perfectly composed, appeared in your stars!”

“Leave your nonsense star-reading out of this, Vivi. You’ve never once been right.”

“This time it’s real, I swear! Truly!”

What did destiny matter, and what did marriage matter?

I am an Ordo, after all.

Even if she bore children, all she had to pass on was a jungle of creatures burning with blind hatred, forever brawling with their neighbors.

“Out of my way, both of you.”

“Ow! This child is kicking her own mother!”

“Oh, my foot slipped.”

In her haste, Rose gave the two frail women a light kick, just enough to pass for an accident, and shook them loose. She shoved the door open.

“Rose!”

“Miss!”

Their desperate wails rang out behind her. Rose ran down the corridor like the wind.

Stepping into the garden, a rush of fragrant rose-scented air swept around her. The dazzling sky and a gentle breeze tickled her face.