“What is the meaning of this uproar!”

The Empress shouted, her eyes blazing. She scanned the room, her gaze sweeping over the people gathered in the Emperor’s audience chamber. Her expression twisted with fury.

“To harm a lady of the Grand Duchy of Gruber—ruining her pheromone gland, no less! Has the Crown Princess lost her mind?”

Seraphina received the Empress’s accusations calmly. In the past, even the slightest indication of the Empress’s displeasure would have made her anxious. Now, however, the more the Empress raged, the more gratifying it felt.

“Do you have no fear of the repercussions once the duchy learns of this? And not only the duchy—my own natal family will not remain silent either!”

“…Come to think of it, Your Majesty once claimed to be the lady’s protector.”

As they stood facing the Emperor, Damian spoke coolly, standing beside Seraphina. The Empress responded as though his words were absurd.

“Because she’s family! That’s why I even pushed for her marriage to the Crown Prince. And yet you’ve reduced her to this state—how could this have happened?”

“H-hic! Your Majesty the Empress! Your Majesty the Emperor!”

Mireille cried out in grief. Her hair was disheveled and her dress was smeared with blood. Supported by her maid, Kalina, she sobbed uncontrollably.

“What am I supposed to do now? Because of the Crown Princess, my pheromone gland has been completely destroyed! I’m no longer dominant. In fact, I’m not even an omega anymore. It’s all because of that woman!”

Choking back sobs, Mireille pointed accusingly at Seraphina. The look in her eyes as she denounced her was chilling.

Yet Seraphina did not waver. She calmly returned the Emperor’s gaze. He was seated upon the throne, his face drawn into a weary frown.

She had scarcely seen the Emperor lately. He was endlessly occupied, burdened with the constant task of preserving peace across the continent. As ruler of the empire, his days were consumed by diplomacy, politics, and maintaining the delicate balance between nations.

For this reason, he had entrusted most palace matters to the Empress. Compared to affairs of state, internal palace disputes were usually trivial.

But this time, he could not remain aloof.

Those involved in the incident were too closely tied to the fate of the empire itself.

The Crown Prince and Crown Princess were among those involved.

The victim was a lady from a grand duchy.

The witness was the heir to a margrave.

To make matters worse, the Empress had lost all pretense of impartiality, speaking only in favor of Lady Mireille.

There was no choice left.

The Emperor had to intervene.

“First, we must establish the facts. Crown Princess—how did you come to affect Lady Mireille’s pheromone gland?”

Unlike the empress, whose sharp features radiated hostility, the emperor appeared remarkably tolerant.

But appearances could be deceiving.

He was every bit as cool-headed and rational as Damian. He might treat matters between royals as family affairs and overlook them with leniency — but only to a point.

When it came to issues he deemed important, he never let them slide. Appealing to sentiment would not work on him.

It’s better to speak to His Majesty logically. Lady Mireyu will react emotionally—so we’ll appear more credible by contrast.

Seraphina remembered the advice Damian had given her on the way to the audience chamber and tried to remain composed.

“I did not touch Lady Mireyu. It was Lady Mireyu who touched me first. Just as I was about to awaken as a dominant omega, she grabbed me. She was affected by that.”

“Then it seems the lady herself provided the cause,” the Emperor said evenly. “In that case, what grievance remains?”

“I—I—!”

Lady Mireyu stammered. She had not yet recovered from the shock of having lost her pheromones completely. Her eyes wavered and her lips trembled.

“The Crown Princess mocked me and trampled all over me!”

“How so? Explain in detail.”

“Well—she—she forced me to my knees. And how she did that was—”

Lady Mireyu faltered. Rubbing the back of her neck anxiously, her eyes darted about.

Then she spotted Lineholt, standing as a witness, and shouted reflexively,

“The margrave’s heir saw everything! Didn’t you? Please explain! Tell them how miserable I was!”

Lineholt shrugged at her plea and asked, genuinely puzzled,

“Are you serious? If I testify, your position will only worsen.”

“What? What do you mean—!”

“Your Majesty, Lady Mireyu insulted Her Highness the Crown Princess and attempted to attack her. In these circumstances, it was only natural for Her Highness to release pheromones in self-defence.”

“No! That’s not true!”

“They were not hostile pheromones at all. Even though I was exposed to them myself, I felt no ill effects.”

“Your Majesty the Empress!”

With her back to the wall, Lady Mireyu stamped her foot and turned towards the Empress in desperation.

The Empress pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a weary groan. When Mireyu clutched at her hand pleadingly, the Empress shook her off coldly.

“Why do you keep turning to me? Anyone watching would think I ordered all of this. Enough already.”

“…Y-Your Majesty? Why are you suddenly saying that…?”

“Wouldn’t it have been better if you had had the sense to return to the duchy earlier? The Crown Prince has been married, yet you stubbornly stayed on and caused an incident!”

The Empress abruptly changed her stance and cut Mireyu off completely.

Seeing herself cast aside, Mireyu’s eyes reddened with disbelief and humiliation.

“You promised to make me Crown Princess.”

“When did I ever do that? I may have entertained a marriage discussion, but I never said anything of the sort to you.”

The Empress unfolded her fan and waved it lightly, cooling herself as she spoke.

“I only looked after you as an elder relative. If you expect anything more from me, that’s troublesome. Enough already.”

“……”

Pushed aside by the Empress, Mireyu clenched her teeth. Her eyes were still wet with tears as she glared at the Empress, her fists slowly tightening.

When the Empress finally fell silent, a heavy stillness settled over the audience chamber. The Emperor read through the documents that Arno had submitted, then let out a low, thoughtful hum.

“According to the report from the Crown Prince’s aide, the lady attempted to harm the Crown Princess and the Imperial Grandson. Is that true?”

“No, it’s the opposite! I was trying to save them!”

Seraphina was almost impressed by how brazenly Mireyu lied without even moistening her lips first.

Seraphina was standing right there! How could she expect such an obvious lie to be believed?

There were witnesses. There was evidence.

Does she really think that if she insists hard enough, everyone will just accept it?

Seraphina shook her head. Even if one had been pampered all their life, could a grown adult truly be this way?

And yet—she soon realized she had overestimated Mireyu.

“It’s so unfair!” Everyone has joined forces with Her Highness to gang up on me. Was it really so unpleasant for you that I was once the Crown Prince’s fiancée?”

Mireyu said, her voice quivering with emotion as she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“I admit it was my fault for failing to manage my knight properly. How could I have known he’d be blinded by greed and scheme such a thing? Still, strictly speaking, Egon Bergman isn’t even my knight.”

As she finished speaking, she jabbed her elbow into the maid supporting her. Kalina hurriedly spoke up.

“Yes. Sir Egon Bergman was a knight dispatched separately by the duchy.”

‘Egon took advantage of people by lending them money behind my back. He even caused an incident when he tried to collect interest from Count Lindenrosen. I only found out later and tried to clean up the mess.”

Mireyu let out a delicate sigh. At that moment, Kalina presented the IOU to the Emperor’s aide.

“This is the promissory note signed by Egon Bergman and Count Leoban Lindenrosen.”

“…Hah!”

Just as Kalina was handing the IOU to the Emperor’s aide—

“Oh, give me a break. So this is how you’re planning to pin everything on me?”

From the back of the audience chamber came Egon’s incredulous laugh.