“Why is Master here……”

Weren’t they supposed to meet after the Founding Festival? She couldn’t understand why he was here in such attire, wearing a hood and exuding a suspicious aura.

“Why are you running, Your Highness? It’s almost time to dance.”

“That’s……”

She couldn’t bear it anymore. Contrary to insisting on attending the party, she was scared. So she ran away overwhelmed by nausea.

“You don’t want to dance with His Grace the Grand Duke?”

Amelia shook her head with a silly smile at his teasing question filled with mischief. Maybe she relied on the Master more than she thought. Gradually, she felt more stable, forgetting this place was a party hall.

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, I guess because Your Highness doesn’t seem to like the Grand Duke much?”

Despite constantly telling the Master she liked Raphael and talking about love marriage, strangely, the Master never believed her. Whether he doesn’t listen to people or maybe he’s just the kind of person who just thinks whatever suits him best.

“If that were true, you wouldn’t have danced two songs in a row.”

“……”

I really didn’t dislike him. That was the problem. It should be normal to dislike him, but dancing with Raphael made my heart race and tense. He was as seductive as anyone could be, just by appearances alone.

“How did you attend the party?”

While anyone could attend parties outside the imperial palace, the ones inside were different. Only nobles could attend. It highlighted how severe their nobility was. Those not invited could not come.

Could the Master attend because he is the Master of the Chester Merchantry? Among the nobles here, there were few with more money than the Master.

“Were you invited?”

The Master of the Chester Merchantry was shrouded in secrecy. The Emperor, who liked to boast, wouldn’t miss the fact that such a Master was invited. Surely, he would have used it to brag in any way possible.

“No, I just came. The security was less strict than I thought.”

The security of the imperial palace wasn’t strict? I heard that security in the palace is supposed to be heightened during the Founding Festival banquet. Amelia lost her words at the Master’s attitude, who was speaking as if he was walking in and out of his own yard. He must be the only one who thinks the palace’s security is lax.

No, there was one more person. Raphael Lloyd Siegfried, her husband.

“Was my report of any help to you?”

“Wait.”

“Your, Your Highness?”

Was it helpful? I was curious about how he knew such things. There seemed to be many eyes watching them. Even though it appeared like no one was around, someone might be listening from somewhere. Amelia grabbed the Master’s wrist and pulled him into a room that appeared in front of them.

She didn’t care how surprised the other party was.

“What… what are you doing…”

Thud.

As soon as the door closed, Amelia pushed the Master against it, trapping him with her body. She hadn’t thought about how this might look. It was true that she couldn’t see anything else in her urgency.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

***

There was a limit to trapping a body as large as Raphael’s with hers. She was almost buried in the Master’s body. It wasn’t a threat to prevent him from escaping; it looked more like she was clinging desperately.

“What… are you talking about?”

“The fact that I might be of the imperial family.”

The Master would have known that silver hair and purple eyes were traits only the imperial family had. Yet, he remained silent, which was suspicious. Moreover, he knew about Patrick’s secret birth. He must have investigated her.

“What are you talking about?”

With each word from the Master, Amelia felt his warm breath and slowly regained her senses. She also realized what she was doing. She tried to pull away in a hurry, but it was too late. The more she flustered, the more she slipped and pressed against his body.

“Are you saying that Your Grace is of the imperial family?”

“…Yes.”

“I didn’t know that. Is it true?”

Was he pretending not to know, or did he really not know?… The anxiety that seemed about to explode inside Amelia cooled down in an instant. The Master even knew the secret about Patrick, the First Prince. It couldn’t be that the Master didn’t know.

“Don’t joke around.”

“It’s true. I’ve never heard about Your Highness being of the imperial family.”

The Master raised his hands in a gesture of innocence, prompting Amelia to release her grip on him. Maybe because they were too close, she sensed a fragrance from the Master that she hadn’t noticed before—a refreshing scent that tickled her nose.

It seemed like a scent she had smelled somewhere before…?

“Uh, sorry for being rude.”

“It’s okay.”

“I was just in a hurry.”

The fact that Amelia might be of the imperial family was a story never mentioned in the original work. Since she died before any significant events unfolded, it was natural.

“The Master seems to know a lot about the imperial family…”

“…”

Maybe he also knew about her.

“I just came to check on the emperor because of the old downtown redevelopment project.”

“Ah… I see.”

That made sense. There was no reason for the Master to appear here otherwise.

“Then I happened to meet Your Highness.”

“Well, then I’ll be going.”

If she stayed any longer, Raphael might become suspicious, so Amelia tried to leave.

“Aren’t you curious?”

If it hadn’t been for the Master’s words holding her back.

“The secret about First Prince Patrick Russell Khalid,.”

“This is the imperial palace. Aren’t you afraid someone might hear?”

She had come into the room thinking someone might overhear them, but revealing a secret about the imperial family didn’t seem safe enough. However, the Master spoke with too much calmness.

“It wouldn’t really matter if it got out.”

Do all businessmen have such nerve? It seemed like they couldn’t make big money without such boldness.

“You’re curious, aren’t you?”

“…”

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious. She wanted to know if there were any hidden secrets about her as well. And that Patrick, the first prince, wasn’t the emperor’s biological son.

But Patrick had silver hair and purple eyes, traits of the imperial family. No one could doubt he was the emperor’s son. That meant she might also find out why she shared similar features with the imperial family despite not being related by blood.

“Are you curious how someone who isn’t the emperor’s biological child could have the appearance of the imperial family?”

Indeed, the Master caught on to what she wanted to know right away.

“How much do you know about the current emperor?”

“He ascended to the throne… luckily…”

Before she could finish speaking, a snicker came from above her head.

“Does it really seem like that?”

“Isn’t that the truth?”

“Could the Crown Prince and the Emperor both die in the same year? Of course, a tremendous coincidence could happen.”

Was the current Emperor responsible for killing both? But I heard that the Emperor was a powerless prince in name only during his childhood. Such a prince couldn’t possibly kill the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

“The current Emperor is cunning and thorough in everything. He’s also famous for not trusting anyone.”

Amelia quietly chewed her lip, waiting for him to continue.

“Such luck couldn’t have just happened. The Emperor is more cruel than you think, Your Highness.”

“So… explain how the First Prince has silver hair and purple eyes.”

James seemed about to explain leisurely. Even in such a situation, his unbreakable calm was simply amazing.

“Before that, aren’t you curious why the imperial family is born with silver hair and purple eyes?”

“I think it would be better to start with the First Prince.”

It wasn’t leisurely enough here to be joking around with the Master. We won’t know when or where someone might appear, and it would be a disaster if Raphael, not just him, but anyone else found out.

“To conclude, Patrick has silver hair and purple eyes because he is of the imperial family.”

So, if not of the imperial family, one wouldn’t have silver hair and purple eyes?

“But… he’s definitely not the son of the Emperor.”

“That’s right.”

Lifting my head at the sound of laughter above, I saw the Master lifting one corner of his mouth in a sharp smile.

“He’s the son of his older brother.”