Being too formal would be judged as stiff, while being too casual would invite mockery. Since they needed to hit somewhere in between, Rihanel had personally selected the dress Janet would wear today.

After eight years of desperately chasing after nobles, he was confident in his ability to grasp these subtleties better than anyone.

“It’s my pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am Janet Reynes.”

Janet greeted them politely and gently. Janet Reynes—that name that came out while he was off guard stuck in Rihanel’s ear rather than flowing past.

“Welcome. Please take good care of the duke.”

Emperor Airus smiled gently.

Despite his friendly expression, he was by no means a person who appeared soft. Janet maintained her composure and walked perfectly to her seat.

Before long, all the invited guests arrived and the gathering began. Several trivial conversations were exchanged, during which people quite frequently glanced at the newlyweds.

This was natural. Half of those gathered were people who had claimed to the emperor that they had entered into a strategic marriage.

And finally, the focus of conversation shifted to the couple.

“Congratulations on your marriage. I felt bad that I couldn’t attend the duke’s wedding.”

“Thanks to that, we’re having this meal together. I thought you deliberately didn’t come so you could invite us to a more splendid occasion.”

Rihanel wittily responded to Airus’s remark, delivered with lowered eyebrows. His affable tone made Airus and others at the table laugh lightly.

Then the emperor turned his gaze to Janet.

“I hope the duchess will also forgive me.”

“My husband is right. Thank you for inviting us.”

“I’m glad. I’m pleased that such a well-matched pair is gracing this occasion… if you don’t mind, would you tell us your story?”

Some nobles swallowed. The emperor was setting a trap with an exceedingly kind face.

Rihanel placed his hand over Janet’s. Then, gently rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb, he shook his head as if embarrassed.

“It’s the usual story that everyone might expect from ordinary lovers. It might be interesting to us, but I’m not sure if it would be interesting to Your Majesty.”

“Well. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had ordinary lovers around.”

Airus smiled, tilting his head. People cleared their throats.

The emperor, who was just over thirty, had neither remarried nor taken a consort since his empress died a few years ago.

Many had urged him to take another empress, but he seemed intent on growing old and dying alone without an heir, as he turned a deaf ear to his subjects’ words.

“Ah, I know well about loveless marriages.”

At this remark, thrown out like a joke, the nobles cleared their throats again. He had naturally entered into a strategic marriage with the late empress, and there were many rumors that they had no affection between them.

In other words, neither good nor bad. It was said to have been truly like a business relationship, formed simply because they had to marry.

In any case, loveless marriage—though thrown out as a joke, there was a barb in it. It meant he intended to determine whether Rihanel and Janet had entered into a strategic marriage or if they had truly married out of affection.

“So will you tell me? I’m curious about how you two first met.”

“…Five years ago, at an amateur soccer field. We happened to sit next to each other.”

Rihanel answered, gently squeezing Janet’s hand that he was holding.

It’s cold. But this woman’s hands were always cold, so just by the temperature of her hand, it was impossible to tell whether she was nervous, unwell, or neither.

Normally, he wouldn’t care whether her hands were cold or not, but today was different. If their strategic marriage was discovered in front of the emperor, they would not only be punished but might also have their marriage annulled.

Rihanel had not yet inherited his inheritance. He hadn’t fulfilled the condition that required three months to pass after marriage.

He hadn’t received the key to that room in the Reynes territory, where traces of his mother remained.

So it couldn’t happen yet.

“A soccer match? That’s a sport difficult for women to enjoy.”

Airus raised his eyebrows as if somewhat surprised. Usually, ball-kicking was a game permitted only to men, and because of that, women often found it boring.

But the duchess spoke in a straightforward and proper voice.

“Tastes differ from person to person. Hasn’t Your Majesty ever liked something different from others?”

There was no sign of shrinking back even in front of the emperor.

Her tone was as if stating an obvious fact. However, perhaps due to her calm voice or her clear gaze, it didn’t come across as aggressive or pretentious at all.

“You’re right. These days flower arranging suits my taste.”

Fortunately, the emperor nodded and replied.

Though he wasn’t sure if cutting off flower heads could be called flower arranging, Rihanel thought the empathetic response wasn’t bad and playfully added,

“I may not know about flowers, but my wife probably kicks a ball better than Your Majesty.”

At those words, Airus burst into laughter. And following his reaction, the atmosphere of the gathering became lively.

Rihanel deliberately looked at Janet with an affectionate gaze. Janet, perhaps caught up in the mood, wore a light smile.

⟨We agreed not to lie. There’s nothing difficult about it.⟩

As she said, this gathering wasn’t as difficult as expected.

Actually, the agreement not to lie was decided more because of Rihanel than Janet.

There was no point in creating a fabricated romance narrative and cramming it into their heads when it would show. She might immediately drop her smile and become serious.

If they couldn’t immerse themselves in it, it was a hundred times better not to try. So they had agreed beforehand that if questions about their romance came up, they would simply exaggerate the emotions based on facts.

As Janet said, it wasn’t a lie.

Except for substituting their reunion five years ago as their first meeting.

Shortly after reuniting, they got engaged. During that process, they met several times to eat together or take walks, and there should be quite a few people who witnessed them during that time.

It didn’t matter if it didn’t look like love was blossoming. They could just say it was because they were shy.

Though he wasn’t confident that the cunning emperor would properly accept this.

“No matter how much you liked each other, it must not have been easy to decide on marriage. I’m curious how you nurtured your love.”

“After that, there was really nothing special. We walked in parks, had meals together. We naturally grew closer during that time.”

“That’s boring. Would anyone like to share an eyewitness account?”

Airus playfully asked the other nobles. Then one of them opened his mouth with round eyes.

“Perhaps… that soccer match. The match between Team Ready and Volta? Rihanel, isn’t that the match you suddenly left saying you had something to do?”

At his words, Janet’s eyes widened.

“That’s right.”

“I knew it! It was such a famous match that I remember it.”

The appearance of an eyewitness heated up the atmosphere.

Rihanel briefly pondered how he knew this fact, but quickly found the answer.

Come to think of it, he was someone from the same club that Rihanel frequently associated with around five years ago. Originally, they had gone to watch that match together with the club members.

It received great attention as a legendary match between the capital’s number one amateur team and the south’s number one team. Probably a lot of money changed hands that day.

“I wondered where you suddenly went, but you were making advances after falling in love at first sight with the duchess! While we were tense watching the match, you must have been quite tense looking to your side?”

It was somewhat unrefined language, but he decided to understand. The words this guy was throwing out were serving as excellent testimony.

‘I was… quite tense indeed.’

It felt strange to recall himself from five years ago, still not having shed his boyish traits. Worried that his expression might have become ambiguous, Rihanel deliberately wrapped his arm around Janet’s shoulder to hide it.

When Janet opened her mouth, a shallow resonance was felt from her delicate shoulder.

“I was the one who was nervous. Because I met someone who felt like destiny.”

“…Was that so?”

“Finding someone with matching tastes like this is never an easy thing. Hmm, maybe it’s because we both like soccer? We both hate losing, so we enjoy games with winners and losers, like puzzles or chess.”

Rihanel looked at Janet’s small, prettily moving lips while listening to her clear voice.

Janet turned her head and met Rihanel’s eyes. And just like that, she continued speaking.

“Liking walks, preferring summer over winter, having raffle as our favorite fruit, and… even being awkward with expression. It was amazing how we were similar in every little thing.”

Rihanel stared at Janet while holding his breath, then realizing he had been absentmindedly doing so, he picked up his wine glass and brought it to his lips.

Airus made a thoughtful “hmm” sound, then rested his chin on the table with an interested look in his eyes.

And the moment Rihanel put his glass back down, he threw out a rude question.

“When and where did you two have your first experience? Tell me in detail. That’s what I’m curious about.”

『To You Who Despise Me』 Continued in Volume 2