In her imagination, instead of walking out on her own two legs, Evelyn was lifted by the ladies-in-waiting and flung out the door.

Instead of making that absurd imagination reality, Kareina pushed a large bowl toward Evelyn. With the hope that it would at least become a quiet meal.

Whatever her feelings, she didn’t want to engage in a typical battle of nerves between legal wife and mistress over food. However, Evelyn’s mind seemed quite different.

“Hmm, raw salmon.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes to check the salad bowl, then promptly pushed it away with displeasure.

Kareina coughed lightly in embarrassment. To push away food offered by the host. It was unthinkable at nobles’ dining tables. Even more so in Tirantus, which valued dining etiquette.

Even if Evelyn tended to be blatant, had she decided to ignore even basic courtesy now?

She didn’t even feel like pointing it out and only let out an empty laugh when Evelyn raised both hands to cover her mouth as if realizing something.

“Oh my. Without thinking! I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t eat raw things, so I have them kept off the table. I thought the lady-in-waiting made a mistake. What should I do for being rude?”

Whether sincere or not, her widened eyes did look innocently naive. Kareina exhaled a short sigh and shook her head.

And instead, she pushed a piece of the salmon Evelyn had rejected into her mouth.

As the firm salmon and sweet-tangy sauce spread throughout her mouth, her mood improved slightly.

And childishly, thinking that Evelyn couldn’t taste it made her feel even better. Kareina smiled gently and posed a question.

“By the way, I know the Debussy estate is close to the sea. It’s surprising that Lady Debussy can’t eat raw fish.”

“I ate it when I was young…… but lately I’ve been avoiding raw food due to health issues.”

“Health issues?”

“Nothing serious though.”

Evelyn, who seemed unwilling to explain in detail, mumbled and stirred her stew bowl half-heartedly. Since Kareina hadn’t asked out of curiosity either, she didn’t press further.

After such unsubstantial conversation crossed the table a few more times, the meal ended.

Only after Evelyn, who had nibbled even through dessert, left did Kareina have time to devote to work.

She was especially impatient to start investigating the bombing incident as soon as possible. However, there were no immediate gains.

As Raul had said, the initial investigation report written by Duke Debussy was terrible.

“Duke Debussy shouldn’t be such an incompetent person.”

There was no information about the type of explosives used in the terror attack, nor any credible suspects or witnesses. Feeling lost about where to start, Kareina flicked a quill pen with her fingertips.

Then Ginny, who had come in to light candles, read the room and grumbled.

“By the way, that person who’s His Majesty the Emperor’s mistress really has no manners. I was so angry my stomach was turning inside out!”

She still seemed upset about the earlier meal. When Kareina gave her attention, Ginny pressed close to the pile of documents and began complaining.

“Even when I worked at the Emperor’s palace, I had no idea she was such an ill-mannered person. I actually thought she was kind!”

“Did you?”

“Now that I think about it, the maids in charge of Lady Debussy were particularly quiet—they must have been told to keep their mouths shut! And actually, back then I thought Your Majesty the Empress was a very inhumane and cruel person……”

Ginny, who had been chattering excitedly, covered her mouth with exaggerated gestures. She seemed to have realized her verbal slip.

Kareina smiled bitterly. She knew what her reputation was in the palace, but hearing it again after a while felt strange.

The reputation following her was peculiar. After becoming Empress, it seemed negative labels attached to her every breath.

When she smiled, she was criticized for having no respect for the people who lost family in the war, and when she remained expressionless, she was condemned for lacking qualifications as Empress and being cold.

Occasionally when she met Lady Debussy in the corridor and exchanged greetings, labels related to jealousy or envy attached, and when she stayed up late at night, rumors about hidden lovers circulated.

Since Kareina had no allies, she had no power to change her reputation.

And that wasn’t much different now. The few ladies-in-waiting were somewhat favorable toward her, but how long would shallow favor last?

People could change easily.

The same was true for Raul. He had originally loved Evelyn. Even now, he could fall in love with her again. If that happened, the things briefly given to Kareina would return to square one as if nothing had happened.

Kareina put down the quill pen she’d been holding weakly.

“I knew about the rumors about me, so you don’t need to be careful.”

“But I’m truly sorry, Your Majesty……”

“Likewise, there’s no need to judge Lady Debussy by what you saw today alone. She might be particularly sharp only toward me.”

Kareina didn’t like Evelyn, but conversely, it was also understandable that Evelyn disliked her.

Whatever the relationship between husband and wife, legal wife and mistress were destined not to like each other. Kareina’s mother had also trembled with rage until her death over the suddenly appearing mistress’s existence.

Kareina turned her gaze outside the window. Moonlight so bright it felt white was rippling across the quiet lake.

That lake, which somewhat resembled Niyev’s wide river, was the only thing Kareina liked within this palace.

“……Today doesn’t seem right for more work.”

“Because of me…… I’m truly sorry, Your Majesty.”

“It’s fine. I should walk for once.”

When she stood up energetically, Ginny followed along with her head deeply bowed.

As the New Year festival approached, the imperial family grew busier.

Moreover, this year was Nox Atra, when the moon’s dark energy was strongest in a century.

Though the bloodline of evil dark mages had supposedly died out centuries ago, Tirantus held annual rituals to purify the bad energy remaining in this land.

Especially during Nox Atra, large rituals had to be held not only in the capital but also in central cities of each region to suppress the dark energy descending from the moon.

Of course, rituals were the temple’s jurisdiction, but overseeing the entire New Year celebration was the Emperor’s role.

Raul was suffering from countless documents and messengers coming up from various regions in addition to his original duties.

Living a life semi-forcibly going back and forth only between his office and audience chamber, it had already been several days since he’d seen Kareina’s face.

Raul was flipping through something like a thumb-thick ancient text submitted by the temple when he opened his mouth irritably.

“Morantz. Answer me.”

“I wasn’t dozing, Your Majesty!”

The chief chamberlain, who had been nodding off, rolled off his chair and answered loudly.

“What is it?”

Raul looked pathetically at the chief chamberlain naturally wiping his mouth before continuing.

“The moon’s energy. Does it actually exist?”

“Ah, you mean Nox Atra?”

The chief chamberlain, rubbing his eyes with one hand, shrugged as if it were nothing.

“In the past, there were many mages and those who practiced evil sorcery, so they believed such superstitions. Now there are no mages and……”

“Then the rituals and various ceremonies.”

“We do them ceremonially because we’ve done them every year, Your Majesty. We can’t just not do them because of the temple’s opposition, and it feels unsettling.”

“So there are no dark mages now?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. They all died and disappeared long ago. Nothing happened even a century ago.”

Ceremonial. Raul shifted his gaze outside the window. The round moon was emitting white radiance.

“The moon is certainly bright. Like the sun.”

“Come to think of it, what did the scholars say? I think they said this year’s unusually bright moon could somehow be explained by the movements of the sun and stars.”

The chief chamberlain furrowed his brow deeply and rubbed his temples as if trying to recall the bizarre terminology astronomers often used.

The sight of a nearly sixty-year-old man with bloodshot eyes and deeply furrowed brow looked quite pitiful. Raul thought he should help prevent the chief chamberlain’s head from bursting at this point and opened his mouth lightly.

“It doesn’t matter. Whether the astronomers are right or wrong, we’ll still hold the ritual.”

“Aha.”

The chief chamberlain nodded, deflated but agreeing.

By the way, could astronomers really explain that puzzlingly bright moon? The light the moon emitted was so white and bright it inspired awe.

Feeling mystical as he continued watching outside the window, Raul suddenly lowered his gaze.

“Ah.”

With a small exclamation, his eyes, thoroughly soaked in fatigue, sparkled for once. A moment later, a gentle smile graced his face as he turned his head.

“Morantz, let’s call it a day.”

“Really, Your Majesty?”

The chief chamberlain asked again as if he couldn’t believe it.

“I can’t make you stay up all night for three days straight. Mrs. Greendale needs her husband too, doesn’t she? Go on.”

“Yes, yes, Your Majesty, please rest well too!”

Had working him overtime for several days made his head strange? The chief chamberlain seemed so moved by the order to go home that he looked ready to tear up.

Bowing repeatedly while urging His Majesty to definitely sleep, he backed out of the office.

Raul closed the book with crude drawings of the round moon and hooded priests and stood up.

Unfortunately, he had no intention of following the chief chamberlain’s urging.

His lips curved gently as he looked down at the garden from a slightly higher position than before.

That day too, Kareina was walking by the lakeside. Two or three ladies-in-waiting were chattering ahead of her slow steps.

Following behind them, Kareina thought about Raul, whom she hadn’t seen in days. Today there had been no gifts arriving at the Empress’s palace either. It was probably because Raul was frantically busy with New Year festival preparations.

Or perhaps he was seeking Evelyn again. Wasn’t she the woman Raul had originally chosen as his mistress? It wouldn’t be surprising if their relationship deepened again.

Kareina sighed and stared blankly at the opposite side of the lake. Even knowing it was pointless, she couldn’t stop the repeated anxious thoughts.

She had tried devoting herself only to work. So a few hours ago, she had met with an investigator dispatched to the Niyev region site, but there were no significant gains.

—The two guards closest to the carriage testified to the explosion sound and smoke. But how could no explosives be detected in the carriage?

—That’s…… we’re guessing a very minimal amount was used. Or it could be refined special explosives from the black market.

All she’d gained from interrogating the investigator was speculation that Duke Debussy had probably done his best. Or perhaps even the field investigation was neglected, or someone deliberately interfered.