While lost in serious thoughts with her brow furrowed, she heard very faint squealing from outside.

“Looks like they had a passionate night.”

“I’ve never seen the bed so disheveled before.”

“I heard His Majesty left drenched in sweat……”

“Soon we’ll have an imperial heir!”

“It seems divine blessing has begun for the Empire.”

Their excited, giddy gossip snapped her back to reality.

No, how did it turn into that! How could these lustful demons always think that way…….

She couldn’t tell them the truth, so she could only pray for the purification of their souls.

May these lustful demons be vanquished!

Namu Amitabul Gwanseum Bosal Amen Inshallah!

They really don’t give people a chance to think seriously.

And so, their second contract night ended, leaving people with keywords like “chaos,” “wet emperor,” and “passionate night.”

With no time to worry about the adult-rated rumors surrounding them, she became completely immersed in her duties as empress again.

These days, besides learning her duties as empress, one more important task had been added.

It was preparing a welcome party for the diplomatic delegation coming to celebrate the wedding.

Having never done such a thing before, she felt completely overwhelmed, but she was barely managing with help from Duchess Pahorder and Marchioness Victoria, the wife of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Couldn’t they just deliver a letter or have a simple meal together!

Why torture people with parties like this…….

This world was definitely possessed by the ghost of someone who died from not having enough parties. They went crazy with parties at the slightest excuse.

She wondered when these so-called social leaders actually did any work when they spent every night partying.

Then again, with no computers, smartphones, or TVs, perhaps parties were their only entertainment.

Because of this, she spent her days vacillating between anger and understanding as she struggled with these unfamiliar tasks.

The only clear truth here was that her mental state was very unstable.

While reviewing documents with a tired and anxious mind, she heard sighs from beside her.

Madam Peggy and the handmaidens in charge of adornments had been agonizing for days over papers with drawings of about ten dresses.

They had fallen into what seemed like the world’s most difficult dilemma over which dress she should wear to the diplomatic delegation welcome party.

“I can wear anything. The important thing is making the party successful.”

Madam Peggy, who had never done this before, responded with an irritated face.

“Empress, that’s unacceptable. Don’t you know this isn’t just an imperial party, but one where many countries, including our allies, will attend and pay attention!”

“No, what’s so great about—I mean, it must be very important, right?”

Intimidated by her intensity, she unconsciously changed her answer.

“Shall we choose together, Madam Peggy? Since everyone’s gathered, we can have a meeting now.”

At that moment, one of the handmaidens spoke up.

“That’s a good idea. With the Kingdom of Hazel coming too, we absolutely cannot choose carelessly.”

“Hazel?”

When Madam Peggy gave the handmaiden a look, the maid quickly shut her mouth, which seemed strange.

There’s something else I don’t know about. Again. What story could there be…….

If you’re going to be so obvious about it, you might as well just tell me directly.

Though curious, she started looking at the designs, figuring she needed to choose a dress before she could move on to other tasks.

“We’ve already agreed on the basic framework—His Majesty will wear navy blue with white accents, and Your Majesty will wear white with navy blue accents.”

She pointed to the simplest mermaid-line dress.

“That’s too plain for the host of the party.”

She wanted to say, ‘Then you shouldn’t have included it as an option,’ but swallowed the words when another voice spoke up.

“The color of the Kingdom of Hazel is red.”

This comment drew fierce glares from Madam Peggy and the other handmaidens toward the maid who kept bringing up the Kingdom of Hazel.

When she tightly closed her mouth, acknowledging her mistake, another handmaiden quickly continued.

“The color of the Noangmai Empire is green.”

“And that’s not all. Most attendees will be princesses or wives and daughters of the highest nobility, and we can’t even imagine how splendidly they’ll dress. As the hostess, you must outshine everyone else.”

Madam Peggy pointed to a bell-line dress with abundant lace, jewels, and navy blue ribbon accents on the waistline and hem. Everyone nodded in agreement.

Why ask for my opinion when they’ve already decided…….

It looked a bit excessive, but she decided to go along with their wishes rather than prolong the meeting with unnecessary objections.

That was the fastest way to end this meeting, after all.

Finally, I completed the dress selection meeting.

Life certainly brought unexpected experiences.

As if that wasn’t enough, the handmaidens of the Empress’s Palace were in a frenzy, not even sleeping for three days before the party.

The commotion caused her to wake up repeatedly during the night.

These passionate enthusiasts…….

Their passion was so astonishing it could make even passion itself wither away in its flames.

The party that had consumed all their energy was rapidly approaching.

And on the day of the party, from dawn, she was dragged to the bathroom in a half-asleep state by the handmaidens.

She felt even more tired because of her sudden meeting with him at dawn.

All day, she desperately wanted to escape the fuss but endured and participated in the doll play.

Looking in the mirror before going to the party, she was surprised by her own appearance.

A toast to their eyes—no, their magical handiwork!

* * *

“Throw it away! This one, this one…… No, everything from one end to the other, throw it all away!”

Viviana, Baron Anderson’s daughter, was in a bad mood as she selected clothes to attend the imperial ball.

She needed to stand out at this event, but none of the clothes pleased her.

“That woman has blocked my path again.”

It had been that way since birth.

They were born on the same day, but she was from a baron’s family while Leila was the only daughter of a duke.

When they were very young, they occasionally met at tea parties, but the gap widened as time passed.

Leila attended the academy Viviana failed to enter and was always present at parties she wanted to attend but wasn’t invited to.

After taking everything else, the lucky Leila finally secured the position of empress.

The timing had been perfect. The Empire had never left the empress position vacant for more than a year.

Emperor Charte had resisted like a wild colt for three years.

In truth, the Anderson family was wealthy but had a tarnished reputation due to numerous scandals.

But in such extraordinary circumstances, it might have been possible if no one else had applied.

Her age was also appropriate. Her sister Mary was also of eligible age, but an illegitimate daughter couldn’t become empress.

Viviana had vaguely dreamed of becoming empress.

“Um…… Sister……”

Viviana shot Mary a venomous look.

“What?”

Mary asked cautiously with a cowed, almost terrified expression and a timid voice.

“May…… may I wear the dresses you’re throwing away?”

Viviana approached Mary and slapped her cheek hard, saying coldly,

“How dare someone like you wear my clothes? Get out now!”

Mary covered her slapped cheek and backed out of the room.

“If it weren’t for her, our family wouldn’t have ended up like this!”

Viviana stared at the door Mary had disappeared through with a face full of resentment.

Meanwhile, Mary, who had appeared to be the most pitiful and miserable person in the world, completely changed her expression as soon as she closed the door.

“She’s so greedy despite being stupid!”

Mary hummed a tune as she selected a few decent-looking dresses from those Viviana had discarded and began altering them in her room.

The dresses that passed through Mary’s hands were reborn with completely new designs.

“This time I’ll definitely escape. From this insufferable house!”

Mary’s eyes blazed with desire.

* * *

The day before the party.

“Madam Peggy.”

“Yes, Empress, what is it?”

“Tomorrow at the celebration party, will the emperor and I dance……”

She wanted to ask if they would dance, but seeing Madam Peggy’s matter-of-fact expression, she quickly changed her question.

“…need to dance a lot? Since it’s a party for the diplomatic delegation……”

“You must dance at least two songs. You need to dance the first song that signals the beginning of the ball and the second song with the diplomatic delegation.”

A heavy burden began to settle on her heart.

Last time she had barely managed, but having to dance two songs…….

Anxious, she bit her nails until late at night when everyone was asleep, then secretly slipped out of her room.

She barely managed to stop the knights from following her and went to an unfamiliar, deserted garden as far as possible from the Empress’s Palace. There, she began awkwardly practicing dance steps, trying to recall her previous experience.

* * *

It was late at night, and he was on his way to the Second Annex Palace after finishing work when he sensed someone’s presence.

Rad’s eyes sharpened as the knights surrounded Charte.

But the knight who had gone ahead to scout returned with a troubled expression.

“Her Majesty the empress is……”

“The empress?”

“Yes.”

“What is the empress doing at this hour?”

“Well, I…… I’m not exactly sure, but she keeps spinning in circles.”

Charte hurried to where the empress was.

She was indeed spinning in circles with her arms spread out. The sight was so eerie that Charte signaled Rad to step back.

He became curious about why she was doing such a thing.

Had she gone mad? Was it a dark magic spell? Could she be possessed by a demon?

After considering various possibilities, Charte approached her.

Sensing his presence, she stopped what she was doing and looked flustered, not knowing what to do.

* * *

Why is His Majesty the Emperor appearing here?

Though startled by his sudden appearance, she quickly greeted him.

“What is the empress doing here at this hour?”

“Ah, well I……”

She felt awkward, unable to admit she couldn’t dance.

Suddenly, his eyes sharpened.

“Have you perhaps done something you shouldn’t have?”

“What?”

No, is practicing dance such a serious offense?

But his gaze was growing increasingly fierce, so she quickly confessed the truth.

“Actually I……”

“Tell me immediately.”

“Actually…… I was practicing dancing. The dance I’ll perform with Your Majesty tomorrow.”

Was there something wrong with her answer?

His expression seemed to change from shock to horror.

Of course, it quickly returned to his usual expressionless face, but still…….