CH 89

Tea Party and Lorschel (3)

To him, she was the most precious and treasured person in the world, but not only did they not attend her debut, they had also said a lot about her afterwards. Therefore, Kergel’s feelings for those women from the Duchy had never been good at all.

“But… I just can’t go to a tea party that is hosted by Roelin and be mean like that.”

Kergel muttered to himself and stood up. Then, the attention from the Chief of Staff, Heinez and even Bert was all focused onto him at once.

Kergel smiled like a rascal at that gaze before he opened his mouth.

“It’s the first tea party that the Empress is hosting, so I can’t just sit there. Isn’t that right?”

“No, what are you even planning to do? You’d better just stay still……”

Bert inadvertently retorted at those words before he shut himself up in return. Then, he took a look around him. However, Heinez and the Chief of Staff seemed to have a rather similar idea, but they did not intend to hinder Bert’s words as well.

“No, but that’s not exactly true. Maybe I’d better go and see instead.”

In the meantime, Kergel had been the only one who was really excited. He made some more expressions when he complained and frowned ever so slightly.

* * *

“I had no other choice but to not attend the hunting contest. I’m so sorry, Empress. I suddenly had a high fever……”

“At that time, due to an unexpected accident……”

As soon as the women took their seats, they all began to make similar excuses. They were such lame words that even anyone could think of it as a mere ‘excuse’.

That was why some old ladies at the tea party looked rather upset.

In particular, Heinez’s mother, Pauline Bashel, who was rather hot-tempered, could no longer hold back her anger that her mouth started twitching as if she would eventually say something harsh.

Nevertheless, Pauline and the other old women only showed some slight signs of discomfort, but they did not come forward and blame the women specifically.

It was because Roelin had just been listening to their excuses with a calm look on her face.

It was a tea party that had been hosted by the Empress. She must be the one who should be angrier than anyone else, but if she were to remain calm like that, who would actually dare to come forward and ruin the atmosphere of the tea party then?

Pauline grabbed her dress with both of her hands and took a deep breath. In this case, Pauline envied Roelin’s calm temper that was similar to her son’s. It was a disposition that she herself never had before.

So, Pauline and the other old ladies tried to soothe the simmering air, but instead, Roelin’s calm voice could eventually be heard.

“It’s okay. You might not have been able to attend because of some unexpected circumstances. But it’s nice to see everyone like this.”

Roelin was just listening to their excuses before she smiled and spoke right at the suitable moment.

Then, the women, who were busy making excuses, all began to quiet down at the same time. They eventually glanced at Roelin and looked at her eyes.

Ever so carefully. But it looked as if they had been merely observing something that was almost rare.

It would have been interesting to hear that the ‘Hidden Princess of Rakain’ or the ‘Ominous Twin Princess’ had become the Empress of the Empire.

Even it was of such ignoble interest.

The smile that spread around Roelin’s mouth soon turned into a bitter smile and disappeared immediately. She lifted the cup to cover her mouth so that no one could ever notice it.

‘Well, just because it’s here, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be perfect.’

After coming to Seroif, she seemed to have mistaken without her realizing it all because she had faced no prejudice or discrimination against herself. It was just that she suddenly felt bitter about all these gazes.

She breathed in and looked upwards. She could still feel that the women from the Duchy were still staring at her.

Although Pazolan and Kaizen were Duchies that belonged to Seroif, they still had been greatly influenced by the Rakain Kingdom in terms of socio-cultural aspects.

Perhaps the reason was that there had not been many exchanges between the Seroif Empire and the Samalta Mountains crossing.

On the other hand, it had the right geographical conditions for easy exchange with the Rakain Kingdom.

Maybe that was the reason why.

Within the gazes of women from the Duchy that had been stealing glances at her, there was a prejudice against those ‘Ominous Beings’.

Perhaps if she were not the Empress, she would have been treated similarly to how it was back in Rakain.

At that moment, one of them had brought up a topic.

“By the way, the Empress’s bracelet is really beautiful. I think it is made of jewelry which I’ve never seen before, so may I ask the name of the gem?”

“……Are you talking about this?”

Roelin blinked at the woman’s question and winked at the bracelet on her arm. Then, another woman stepped in and showed interest as well.

“I was also looking for a chance to ask the Empress, too. I’m confident that I have a better eye for jewelry than most jewelry appraisers. I don’t really know the jewels on the Empress’s bracelet. I think it’s rather close to a gemstone, but what kind of gemstone is it……”

Roelin’s expression began to change somewhat strangely as she listened to those women. The bracelet which they had been asking about was bought at the market on the day that she had gone out of the palace with Kergel.

And the jewel of the bracelet that they had been wondering about was in fact, just an ordinary stone.