Marked as the Tyrant's Daughter-in-Law - Chapter 11

“It’s her!”

“Madam Alens! Oh my!”

The young ladies at the ball briefly made a fuss, but wherever her gaze passed, silence fell as if cold water had been poured.

True to her legendary status, everyone was watching her every move.

Even Lady Matzert, who seemed to have known about this already, tensed up with her eyebrows stiffening.

The ‘Minister of the Imperial Household’ with her tremendous influence stopped in front of me after taking one step, then another.

I looked up at her small, plump figure that was only a hand span taller than my short stature.

“……”

What is this, now?!?!

She parted her red lips and spoke in a voice full of dignity.

“Arinel Mylar.”

Just the fact that she uttered my name, a country bumpkin’s name, and no one else’s, caused several young ladies to gasp in surprise.

I don’t need to see Lady Matzert’s expression to know what it looks like.

The Minister of the Imperial Household, no, Aunt Piolet from Galnem village, filled her face with a familiar smile and said in a clear voice while looking into my eyes.

“You seem to be…… a very talented lady.”

“Later, you know, there will surely come a time when you need to learn something outside of school, and when that time comes, make sure to call for me.”

At that moment, the words Aunt Piolet had said to me flashed through my mind.

Aunt Piolet with her plump, warm appearance wearing a knitted dress, and Madam Alens with the same build but wearing an expensive-looking velvet dress, admired by all…

The faces of the two slowly overlap, etching into my mind.

“……”

The madam extended her hand adorned with an emerald ring and lifted my small hand, which was unable to close due to shock.

Once again, I hear the ladies and young ladies drawing in their breath with a “hup” sound.

Adam’s explanation came to mind.

“That person, Madam Alens, they say she can recognize talent just by looking at a lady’s eyes and posture. Anyway, if you catch her eye……”

“……”

“It’s almost certain that you’ll become the flower of high society. Just being chosen by Madam Alens will bring you tremendous attention.”

I, I can’t control my expression.

I was extremely flustered.

To think that Aunt Piolet, who learned from me how to make red beetroot sorbet with clumsy hands, is the Minister of the Imperial Household of the Albreon Empire. It’s unbelievable.

She was looking at me while holding one of my hands up gracefully.

“It was worth attending today’s party.”

Her words caused the murmuring to grow louder.

“Did she choose that girl?”

“No way! It’s a face we’ve never seen before.”

“Arinel Mylar. She’s the daughter of the Elementalist, and the one His Majesty has in mind as a match for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“But she’s from the countryside. My mother says she grew up farming like commoners.”

“Those are dirty hands that washed rags and caught bugs themselves. So why…!”

‘I can hear everything, you fools…’

They’re gossiping quite a bit, seemingly displeased that Aunt Piolet, no, the legendary Madam Alens of high society, has taken notice of me.

The expressions of the noble young ladies who had dressed up for today, and their mothers, were quite serious.

With bewildered steps, a noble lady approached us, leading Lady Matzert.

“Um, Madam Alens.”

Seeing her red hair and a face resembling Lady Matzert’s, she seemed to be Lady Matzert’s mother.

The Marchioness, forcing a smile, spoke to Madam Alens.

“It’s a great honor to have you attend the party for our Lariel’s birthday.”

At those words, Madam Alens calmly lowered my hand and looked at the Duchess Matzert.

The Duchess’s eyebrows were stiff, but her mouth was forcibly turned upwards.

“You should greet her, dear.”

“Hello, I’m Lariel Matzert. I have always… admired you, Madam.”

Lariel greeted Madam Alens with a clear voice, as if rehearsed, and with gestures full of dignity and formality.

Then, after smiling at Madam Alens, she glanced at me with cold eyes.

It was a look that seemed to say I should quickly disappear from her side as if I were oblivious.

However, Madam Alens raised her hand and placed it on my shoulder.

I could see the Duchess’s eyebrows twitching greatly.

“Yes. Congratulations, Lariel Matzert. If you focus on building good character……”

Am I imagining it? Her voice seems particularly cold.

“……Surely, you can become a fine lady.”

As Madam Alens finished speaking, a few seconds of silence passed.

The Duchess’s desperate gaze hoping for something more to follow from her, and Lariel awkwardly frozen.

But Madam Alens turned her gaze away from them as if there was nothing more to see and looked at me.

The Madam’s eyes, which had been rigid towards them, showed warmth as she looked at me.

“Well then, Miss Mylar, would you come with me?”

At Madam Alens’s words, the atmosphere in the ballroom froze.

I looked up at the Madam and nodded. And before moving my feet, I looked around.

The ladies and young ladies were looking at me without even hiding their surprised expressions. The young gentlemen were the same.

And I saw the Duchess frowning, not hiding her bewilderment, and Lady Matzert glaring at me while biting her lip tightly.

They had probably expected Madam Alens’s interest to naturally fall on Lady Matzert.

But surprisingly, some country bumpkin appeared and stole that attention, so they must be quite bewildered.

I walked following Madam Alens.

“Some call the social world a flower garden, but……”

I heard the low voice of Madam Alens, who was more familiar to me as Aunt Piolet.

“……I call it a battlefield. To survive, you need to be fully armed.”

I nodded slightly at her words.

‘Though vague, I think I understand what you mean, Aunt.’

As I left the ballroom with Madam Alens, dozens of Matzert family employees who had ignored me earlier now bowed toward us.

Countless gazes were directed at us until the moment we got into her carriage.

It feels suffocating to be the center of such intense attention.

Once in her carriage, I let out a small sigh as the door closed and we set off.

And to her, sitting across from me and looking at me, I blurted out words mixed with a bit of complaint and surprise.

“But how did this happen, Aun… No, Madam. You surprised me!”

One second, two seconds, three seconds. Madam Alens’s nose wrinkled slightly as she looked at me.

Just as I was wondering if I had made a mistake.

“Arinel, I really missed you too.”

Auntie stretched out her arms and hugged me tightly.

I can see the blush that always appeared on Auntie’s cheeks whenever she found me cute.

“Oh my! How did you get even cuter!”

An expression that doesn’t match the image of the elegant and strict Minister of the Imperial Household.

She roughly ruffled my hair that the maids had worked hard to tidy.

Then came kisses on my round forehead and chubby cheeks.

Ugh, I can’t breathe!

Indeed! That is the Aunt Piolet I knew!

***

I glanced in the mirror at my cheeks, which had turned red from Auntie’s excessive nuzzling.

Adam was overjoyed to learn that I had been chosen by Aunt Piolet, no, Madam Fiolena Alens.

“If the late Marquis knew about this, he would be very pleased, Miss.”

And when he learned that she was one of the neighbors who had been with us in Galnem, he looked very surprised.

“My goodness. This is truly an unexpected turn of events.”

He said that since it was confidential which nobles in Galnem had helped Emperor Parmes, Adam, not being a high-ranking official, couldn’t have known.

“But now, no one can dispute the fact that you are His Highness the Crown Prince’s fiancée. To think that you’ll be receiving her education from now on….. All the noble young ladies in the empire will envy you, Miss.”

“But does that mean there were people who disputed it?”

“Well… Given that there are so many nobles aiming for His Highness the Crown Prince, it’s unavoidable.”

I recalled the venomous expression of Duchess Matzert as she looked at me.

“Of course, His Majesty tore up all such letters without even reading them.”

“……”

While thinking that it was indeed befitting of a tyrant to discard petitions… I could tell that his intention to accept me as a daughter-in-law remained unchanged.

‘…Am I really going to marry Briton?’

No way.

Yes, no way.

“Um, since we’ve had good news today. How about we visit His Majesty the Emperor tomorrow to share this news?”

“We went just three days ago. Every time I tried to get up, he would complain about having a cough or a stomachache, dragging out the time until I finally managed to get up and run away……”

I shook my head at Adam’s suggestion.

“Anyway, I have something to do tomorrow. I’ll go up now.”

“Oh my, His Majesty will be disappointed.”

Adam murmured with a playful smile.

Tomorrow is not possible. Because I have an important appointment.

With a smile on my lips, I changed clothes with the help of the maids.

With my body feeling lighter, I hopped onto the bed and lay down, gazing out the pitch-black window.

The same yellow moon I saw in Galnem was illuminating my room.

☁⊹₊┈ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ🌱ㆍ┈ ▫ ┈ㆍ┈₊⊹☁

Ugh-

The groans of traitors could be heard from the underground prison, and a man was cleaning a blood-soaked iron bar, using those sounds as background noise.

For a moment, a black shadow passed through the suddenly opened window, and an envelope fell on the desk.

He tore the letter open at once with his rough hands.

And read the crisp letter.

The Red Witch has made contact with the child

Reading this, the corner of his eyebrow raised slightly, and wrinkles formed between his brows.

His thick lips moved, producing a metallic voice.

“How dare they make the first move before me.”