Reina never dismissed even the slightest possibility.

While smiling brightly at the young ladies on the outside, her hand gripping the fan tightened with force.

“Reina.”

Just then, Marquis Melanian, Reina’s father, approached. After exchanging brief greetings with the nearby noble ladies, the Marquis looked at Reina with a serious expression.

Reina realized her father had something important to discuss with her.

They moved to an empty lounge.

Finally alone, Reina threw off the mask she’d been wearing in front of others.

“What on earth are you scheming?”

“Pardon?”

Her father immediately erupted in anger at her.

Reina couldn’t understand why her father was acting this way.

“Word has reached my ears. That you’ve been meeting with the First Prince.”

“Is that a problem, Father?”

“How could you! How could you do such a thing without consulting me!”

“Consulting? Our family supports the First Prince in the first place!”

As she said this, her father’s expression crumpled somehow.

He almost looked shocked.

A suspicion bloomed in Reina’s chest—surely not.

Her fingertips suddenly grew cold.

Reina’s lips trembled before she barely managed to open her mouth. Hoping desperately that it wasn’t what she was thinking.

“Surely, Father…!”

Her father, who looked exactly like her, let out a murky sigh. She had an ominous feeling.

“When was that about the First Prince?”

“…”

“You can’t even tell a setting sun from a rising one—your father has his reasons for this!”

Reina’s face turned deathly pale.

What he just said was no different from meaning the Melanian family was turning around to switch to the Second Prince.

“Father, why on earth!”

“That’s what I want to ask! Meeting alone with the First Prince without thinking—have you finally lost your mind?”

She had nothing to say to the Marquis, who poured harsh words at her with a flushed face.

“Why didn’t you tell me!”

“What would you do knowing such things!”

Reina felt like someone had struck her head hard with a hammer.

“If you stay quiet, won’t this father take care of everything for you! Why can’t you be obedient like your mother and sisters! You should just stay put and live happily with the marriage arrangement I decide for you!”

“Oh dear,” Marquis Melanian even clutched his head. Like he truly couldn’t stand his daughter doing something so stupid.

Reina’s face flushed bright red. Indescribable shame washed over her.

Father loves me.

But she had to remain nothing more than her father’s doll.

Her father didn’t acknowledge her abilities. He wouldn’t even look at the potential and capabilities she possessed.

To Marquis Melanian, a daughter was merely someone to dress up prettily and marry off to a good man.

She’d known this.

But hearing it directly with her own two ears this time left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“Surely…”

“Yes. What you’re guessing is correct.”

Cold moonlight shone behind the Marquis’s back like a backlight.

“The Emperor will be the Second Prince. You will become his consort.”

“…”

“I’ll make sure of it.”

How could he!

Reina clenched both fists tightly.

When a man already filled her heart completely.

“Father!”

“Are you still dreaming impossible dreams!”

A melancholy emotion appeared on her father’s face. He knew too. That his daughter had her heart set on a man who already had a wife.

But it had to stop now.

If his daughter had no intention of ending her hopeless one-sided love, he had no choice but to force it to end.

* * *

Reina remained alone for quite a while even after the Marquis left the lounge.

She soon called a maid and ordered alcohol. Before she knew it, she’d finished an entire bottle of champagne by herself.

Looking at her flushed face in the window, she stood up unsteadily from the sofa.

Thinking about what happened earlier, she still wasn’t drunk enough.

How could her father pair her with that Second Prince?

No matter how much he liked power, still.

The mistress’s son to her…!

Her hand gripping the wine glass stem tightened.

Her bloodshot eyes glittered through the deep shadows.

Reina had no intention of becoming her father’s doll and obediently following his orders.

There must be some way.

She just hadn’t found that method yet.

Reina composed her steps and left the lounge.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh—between the quiet wind sounds, someone’s voice could be heard intermittently.

The voice sounded somehow familiar, so Reina quietly stopped walking and listened carefully.

“…now…enough…”

Enough now?

Enough of what?

Like a bee drawn to fragrant flowers, Reina approached closer toward the sound. She walked on tiptoe so her footsteps wouldn’t make noise.

When she pressed her ear to the cold door, the sounds became clearer.

“That d*mn divorce talk—aren’t you tired of it yet?”

“No, I never get tired of it no matter how many times.”

When she recognized the voices’ owners.

She almost jumped in surprise right there.

Duke Astaire Seyfried.

And Duchess Daphne Seyfried.

The couple famous as the closest noble pair in high society was actually talking about divorce.

More precisely, Daphne was demanding a divorce from Astaire.

But why?

Reina couldn’t understand it at all.

Hadn’t that woman Daphne, who didn’t even seem like a noble, caught the Duke’s eye as her patron and achieved upward mobility?

To kick away the opportunity of a lifetime with her own feet.

That woman couldn’t have seemed more stupid.

Daphne’s strong tone even sounded quite serious, not just a trivial complaint.

But well, this isn’t bad for me.

Reina stuck out her red tongue to moisten her lips and smiled wickedly.

The sight looked exactly like a venomous snake before its prey.

A snake beautiful yet harboring deadly poison.

Completely alone now, Reina Melanian could finally reveal her true nature.

If I use this well, it will benefit me greatly.

Reina curved up the corners of her mouth.

A shadow lingered in front of the lounge door where Daphne and Astaire were, then completely disappeared shortly after.

* * *

The imperial ball that seemed like it would never end was finally time to finish.

The imperial orchestra played a lyrical piece. Nobles were boarding their returning carriages following their servants’ guidance.

Daphne and Astaire were the same.

During that short time walking arm-in-arm with Astaire to the carriage, the two said nothing to each other.

That’s when it happened.

The chaotic surroundings suddenly grew quiet, and the bustling path opened wide.

The moment Daphne, sensing something strange, whirled around, her pupils dilated.

That man.

“Duchess Seyfried.”

It was Second Prince Phaios.

What was even more surprising was that he was calling for the Duchess, not Duke Seyfried.

“…Thank you for the invitation today, Your Highness.”

“Please visit the imperial palace anytime.”

The Second Prince smiled casually like it was nothing, but Daphne couldn’t agree with him.

“Unfortunately, my wife hasn’t been feeling well lately, so it will be difficult for her to go out frequently.”

“Ah, I see. That’s fine. I can just come to you.”

Astaire’s eyes widened sharply for a moment.

In his eyes feigning calmness, hostility she’d never seen before rippled like waves.

Second Prince Phaios didn’t avoid that murderous gaze either.

“…If you contact us before coming, my wife and I will welcome Your Highness wholeheartedly.”

It was no different from meaning he wouldn’t let the Duchess meet alone with the Second Prince under any circumstances.

Though that probably wasn’t what the Second Prince wanted.

“If possible, I’ll do that.”

“May we leave now?”

“Yes.”

The air that had been tightly pulled from both sides finally loosened. The quiet surroundings seemed to grow noisy again.

Daphne, caught between them, couldn’t say a single word.

That fact was extremely uncomfortable.

Why were they having this power struggle over her?

When there was no need for it.

For a moment, Daphne’s eyes met the Second Prince’s.

The Second Prince smiled, curving his eyes pleasantly, like he’d never treated her husband Astaire coldly.

Daphne couldn’t smile back.

At least one thing was certain now.

Second Prince Phaios had something to say to her.

Something he could only say when Astaire wasn’t present.

What could it be?

In the end, to solve the mystery, she couldn’t just keep avoiding the Second Prince.

* * *

The moment she sat in the plush seat, sleep poured down like a downpour.

Daphne tried somehow to lift her heavily closing eyelids. But it wasn’t easy.

“Sleep if you’re tired.”

Then Astaire suddenly pulled her sharply toward him. Daphne, who’d been slumped with no strength in her body, was dragged helplessly to him.

“…Wh-what?”

Startled Daphne stammered as she asked.

“Sleep.”

Astaire muttered, pulling her head with one hand. His embrace was firm and warm, and her body relaxed drowsily without realizing it.

“Relax.”

Astaire seemed to feel that she’d tensed her body completely.

“You can just lean on me.”

But Daphne couldn’t do that. She had no intention of relying on him anymore.

He wasn’t a man to rely on.

She didn’t want to depend on anyone else for her life anymore.

“…Let me go.”

Her breath suddenly caught, and Daphne barely muttered. Still, Astaire showed no sign of releasing her from his embrace.

“Let’s just stay like this for a moment.”

Clop clop, clop clop.

The black horses pulling the carriage began to run slowly, kicking their feet.

After the banquet that had started in the early dawn ended, it was already evening. The sunset sun hung distantly beyond the horizon.

The evening sky was dyed a mysterious color. The moment the window opened, that mystical sunset light poured completely over the two people’s faces.

Daphne finally relaxed her limbs and closed her eyes, falling asleep.

Astaire quietly looked down at his wife. His rigidly straight lips were now drawing a small arc.

The sunset illuminated the woman’s long chocolate-colored hair. It sparkled like sweet chocolate topped with caramel syrup.

Astaire couldn’t take his eyes off her without realizing it.

Her long eyelashes were closed obediently. It seemed like if he touched them even slightly, she’d immediately startle awake and blink her bright sapphire eyes.

If she did that, it would be pretty in its own way too.

Astaire poked his wife’s pale cheek without realizing it.

Even when he poked her like that, his wife slept without knowing what thoughts her husband was having.