Chapter 7

Count Bettia sat beside Uriel, and a maid poured tea for the two of them as well.

Lifting her teacup, Heila added,

“If I hadn’t heard about it, I wouldn’t have known until today.”

“Is that so? I wonder why the servants didn’t inform Your Highness.”

Uriel said in a mocking tone.

Heila remained unfazed and calmly swept her gaze over her.

With her wavy red hair and gentle-looking eyes, she was so beautiful that one could never forget her after seeing her once.

Uriel also looked at Heila.

Heila was short, so even when she stood upright, she only reached about Uriel’s nose.

So when they faced each other, Heila should have been looking up at Uriel, yet her gaze felt as though she were looking down from above.

Seeing the woman before her, the grand scene of the wedding day came flooding back.

The hall filled with guests, elegantly decorated, the sight of Kersian in his white wedding attire so dazzling it seemed almost blinding, and the dress the woman wore—more luxurious and beautiful than any she had ever seen in her life.

Recalling everything that should have originally been hers, resentment surged once more, and she even felt the urge to kill the woman before her.

She had already heard plenty about the woman who would become Kersian’s bride through the servants of the ducal house whom she had bribed.

The youthful face was merely pretty, not a peerless beauty, and her small, slender frame was hardly different from that of a child—nothing compared to her own mature, voluptuous figure.

Yet even if she seemed like a child, a royal was still a royal—the way she looked down on others and the pressure she exuded were different from what she had heard.

Even so, this was the ducal territory, where the influence of the imperial family did not reach, and the master of this land was Kersian.

Now that she had become the duchess and would live here, she could not help but be mindful of him.

No matter how arrogant her opponent might be as a royal, she was still just an outsider who had rolled in, and the loyalty of the servants lay not with that woman, but with herself.

“Uriel.”

Count Bettia shot her a brief warning glance.

She turned her head away with a sullen expression.

“You do know why I called the two of you here, don’t you?”

As Heila set down her empty teacup, a maid refilled it.

Count Bettia swallowed dryly.

His gaze passed over Heila and landed on the knights standing behind her.

They were not knights of the ducal house, but imperial guards—personally assigned to her by the emperor, who cherished his daughter.

“I’m afraid I do not.”

Count Bettia said.

The next moment, Heila threw the tea at him.

“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?”

Count Bettia spoke, struggling to suppress his anger, though he could not completely hide his displeasure.

Uriel froze in shock, her eyes wide, and the others were no different.

“What do you mean, what is the meaning of this? That’s what I should be asking. Instead of apologizing for your wrongdoing, you respond so calmly—I’m so beyond anger that I don’t even know how to react.”

“Your Highness, I believe there is some misunderstanding. Let us speak again once things have calmed down. There is no reason for us to remain here and continue to be subjected to such humiliation, so I will take my leave.”

As Count Bettia stood up, Uriel rose as well.

Though it was a breach of etiquette, Heila did not point it out.

She placed her teacup back onto the table.

“Count, whether it was a misunderstanding or intentional, I am more than capable of judging that myself.”

Heila stood up and faced the two of them.

“Now that I think about it, the reason you were so confident must be because you believed I was someone you could look down on. To think a mere count’s house would dare treat the imperial family so lightly.”

Though she was smaller than not only Count Bettia but even Uriel, her presence did not falter before either of them.

“If this matter reaches my father’s ears, I cannot say what will happen.”

At those words, Count Bettia looked at Heila in disbelief.

It might have been something a child blurted out in anger—but if she truly meant it…

The House of Bettia, not even a ducal house like Chaos, could never withstand the charge of disrespecting the imperial family.

“Your Highness, this is a misunderstanding. I have never once harbored such thoughts. She insisted on coming separately by carriage, so even my wife and I were unaware. My daughter acted out of ignorance and made a mistake—please, I beg you to forgive her just this once.”

Count Bettia said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead.

At his urgent excuse, Heila let out a faint scoff and shifted her gaze toward Uriel.

“If it was a mistake born of ignorance, then there may be room for leniency. But I wonder if the young lady herself sees it that way.”

Uriel bit her lip.

She felt that Count Bettia’s reaction was excessive, to the point that it was damaging her own dignity.

She did not feel entirely free of fear toward the imperial family, but as long as Kersian stood by her, the princess would not be able to touch her.

“It seems that even after several days since your wedding, Your Highness still considers yourself a member of the imperial family rather than the ducal house.”

Uriel said.

The busy emperor would never personally involve himself over something this trivial.

But if word of this spread, it would be Heila’s reputation that would fall to the ground.

A duchess who brings trouble upon her own house—she would earn Kersian’s displeasure, and even the servants would no longer follow her.

“What changes with marriage is the surname, not the blood. I am both a member of the imperial family and the mistress of the ducal house. In either case, I am not someone a mere noble lady can insult.”

“For something this trivial, do you not worry even a little about how others will see it? A married daughter troubling her natal family—if people hear of this, they’ll think Your Highness cares nothing for His Grace or this house.”

“Something trivial? Ruining the imperial princess’s wedding is trivial to you?”

“If you punish me over something as insignificant as clothing, the one who will lose face is Your Highness. His Grace the Duke is not someone who would put others in a difficult position over such a minor matter, and what you are doing now is something that will tarnish his reputation as well. And more than anything.”

With one corner of her lips raised, Uriel continued, her expression full of confidence.

“I cannot understand why you are bringing this up now, several days later, when His Grace has already forgiven it.”

“Listening to you, it seems Kersian tried to mediate, but you appear to be misunderstanding something. I don’t know about Kersian, but I have never forgiven you. And Count, it seems you’ve done a very poor job educating your daughter.”

Heila looked at them with an indifferent gaze.

Uriel had used Kersian as her shield countless times.

Unlike Uriel, who grew bolder as she mocked Heila’s fear of earning his displeasure, Heila had only grown more withdrawn, enduring everything until she eventually fell ill.

Her chest had felt tight, her breathing difficult—so much so that she had to rely on medicine.

“The crime of insulting the imperial family is not a light one, but since the ducal and comital houses have long been acquainted, I intended to summon you quietly and decide your punishment out of consideration for Kersian. But since you have refused even that final courtesy, there is no longer any other way. Whether it is fortunate or unfortunate, there are plenty of witnesses, thanks to you making a mockery of me before so many people.”

Uriel could no longer endure Heila constantly invoking the imperial family, treating her as beneath her, and bringing Kersian into every word.

“Do you know this? His Grace the Duke prefers gentle women. So if he were to see this side of you, he would surely be disappointed.”

Contrary to expectations, Heila did not grow angry.

With a calm expression, she replied,

“When Kersian courted me, he said he would love me no matter what I was like. And matters like that are between husband and wife—far beyond something a young lady like you has the place to speak of.”

For the first time, Uriel’s gaze wavered.

Though she had shared a deep relationship with Kersian for a long time, he chose to marry a woman of higher status instead of her.

The moment she learned he would marry another woman, it felt as though her heart had been torn apart.

For the first time, she resented her own status—and hated Heila enough to want her dead.

“I am like family to His Grace the Duke. So I believe I have the right to interfere to this extent.”