The Abandoned Empress

When I was about to leave, I ran into my father who had just entered the mansion.

‘Why did he come back home? He should be in charge of security around the Imperial Palace. ‘

“I’m honored to see you, the Little Sun of the empire. I didn’t know you would come here. ”

“It’s been a while, Marquis. I just stopped by as I was free at the moment. I was going to head for the palace now.”

“I see. In fact, I just stopped by my house as I was free. Can I escort you back to the palace right away?’

I smiled gently at my father. I wondered why he stopped by, but it looks like he came because he was worried about me going to the palace alone.

After arriving at the Imperial Palace with him in an awkward atmosphere, I went to the banquet with him, who was still in a cold mood. After barely dancing with him in a choking silence, I left the place with his understanding. He suddenly became cold to me while drinking tea, so I was so nervous about being around him.

‘What the heck is this? Why won’t he tell me the reason?’

When I was grumbling to myself, a group of young ladies approached and greeted me at once as if on cue.

“Hi, Lady Monique!”

I smiled brightly at the blonde woman standing in front of them.

“Oh, Niav. Nice to see you here.”

“Today you are so beautiful. Did you match that dress with the crown prince’s, too? What a good match!” said Catherine.

I briefly looked at the dress I was wearing. My dress that featured a silver ribbon on a black background was obviously designed to match with his robe with black on a white background. I felt good about it this morning, but I didn’t like my dress now.

“By the way, Lady Monique, I’ve found the craftsman you told me about the other day. His skills were very impressive.”

“Really? I’m glad to hear that. ”

“How did you find him? I think I can make a prototype product in the near future. ”

“Well, Entea, everybody has a couple of things that they don’t want to reveal, right?”

Although I gave her the hairpin design, it looked like she could not easily make a hairpin that was very different from the existing models. So, on the day when I met them, I handed Catherine some tips about the original craftsman. She might have not listened to me at first, but when it wasn’t easy to make the hairpin based on the design, she finally found the craftsman. As it was originally the craftsman’s invention, he would make it well.

‘It’s not as good as the reward I gave them in the past, but this is enough for now.’

When we talked about a hairpin, other young ladies’s eyes sparkled. I felt disgusted when I saw the girls trying to curry favor with me, but I chatted with them with a brighter smile.

“Look over there, Lady Monique. Looks like they were quarrelling.”

When I looked at the place Sarah pointed, I saw two groups quarrelling each other. Two ladies were confronting each other with other girls taking side with their leader. The woman with light brown hair on the left side was familiar to me.

“That’s Lady Genoa and Lady Hamel. Here they go again.”

When Entea pointed it out, other ladies followed suit, criticizing the two. I looked at the two quarrelling groups while letting Entea’s words in one ear and out the other.

‘Lady Hamel? I hear the leader of the noble faction ladies is Lady Hamel, the eldest daughter of Earl Hamel. Isn’t she a relative of Duke Jena? ‘

I raised my right hand and hissed down Entea and others around me, then headed toward the arguing women. While they were standing with a blank face, one of them quickly followed me.

‘Entea.’

She acted like a woman with a quick judgement of the situation. Only then did other ladies began to follow me in a hurry.

“What’s going on, Lady Genoa?”

“… Hi, Lady Monique.”

When I spoke with a slight frown, she paused for a moment and bowed her head.

When I asked, pretending that I didn’t know anything, she explained in detail.

“As I was thirsty, I called an attendant holding a tray with soft drinks, but Lady Hamel also called him at the same time…”

“Hmm, which person called the attendant first?”

“Well, we called him almost at the same time…”

“Obviously, I called him first, but Lady Genoa is arguing she did first.”

‘What the heck is this?’ I abruptly turned my head and stared at Lady Hamel. Her challenging look beat me at the moment. ‘Oh, this crap is challenging me?’

“Which family are you from?”

“I’m Raia Se Hamel, the eldest daughter of Earl Hamel.”

“I see. I thought you were Duke Jena’s granddaughter, so you are from the Hamel family.”

“What do you mean, Lady Monique? You didn’t say that by looking at the color of my hair, right? Don’t you know that everybody knows Duke Jena has no granddaughter? ”

I smiled brightly as she retorted arrogantly. Those ladies who sympathized with her seemed startled.

“Yes. Even a woman who just made her debut in social circles knows that. But the thing is…”

“… ”

“Everyone knows that there is no woman who is higher than me in status, right?”

“Yes, yes, you’re right.”

I smiled more brightly at Lady Hamel, who answered with a suppressed voice.

And then I reprimanded her clearly by saying, “I must punish your manners teacher. I don’t understand why your teacher hasn’t taught you that it’s rude to interrupt someone who has a higher status than you while she is talking with someone. This is a big shame to people in social circles. And I don’t think you don’t know such simple manners … Obviously, you were very sloppy in your manners. Who is your manners teacher? I must set an example by punishing your teacher by all means.”

Lady Hamel just stared at me, as if she was upset, but didn’t respond. I glanced at the other ladies standing with a blank look, and said to Lady Genoa’s group, “Do you know why you are at this place today?”

“… ”

“Why can’t you answer? Then let me ask someone else. What is this place, Niav? ”

“It is the place to commemorate the birthday of the crown prince, Lady Monique.”

Trying to ignore Niav’s happy smile in my eyes, I smiled coldly at Lady Genoa and her followers.

“Right. How can you quarrel over a trivial thing in this place? If the crown prince hears about this, he will be very displeased. This is a huge disgrace to him. Got it?”

“… Sorry, Lady Monique.”

“I’m glad you got it. Hmm, then let’s talk about the cause of the quarrell. Hey, attendant!”

“Yes, yes, Lady Monique.”

The attendant, who stiffened, quickly approached in surprise. I naturally picked up a cup from the tray he was holding and said, “Bring your colleagues and serve the drinks to all the young ladies here.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

I looked at the attendant disappearing quickly. Somehow, I felt empty. Those hanging out in social circles disguised themselves with a bright smile and graceful rhetoric, but the women’s quarrelling was so childish. In the past, I was also involved in this kind of quarrelling, but in the end I climbed to the top status that nobody dared to touch.

‘Was I also childish like them at that time?”

It was me who plunged myself into the nasty social circles that I wanted to escape so much, but when I jumped into the battlefield, my mood was quickly subdued.

At that moment, I felt that the ladies around me turned their eyes to someone behind me.

‘What are they looking at?’ Looking back, I saw a young man with blue hair looking at me with a deeply serene gaze. Only

Nodding at the women who showed due manners, he said with a smile, “Oh, you’re here! I’ve been looking for you as I couldn’t find you nearby.”

“… Sorry, Your Majesty. ”

“It’s good for you to get acquainted with ladies here, but it’s my birthday today. Don’t you think you’re too mean? I feel like I’m getting a bit upset.”

His words were so sweet. I knew that he spoke kindly just for demonstration, but I felt a little better at his kind words because I was getting depressed because of Lady Hamel’s arrogant attitude. I was pleasantly surprised that even the person who said that was none other than the crown prince, not my father, Allendis, or Carsein.

I tried to erase the images of my precious men from my mind and bowed to the crown prince and apologized.

“I’m so sorry to have offended you, Your Majesty. Please punish me. ”

“Okay. Then, let’s do this. ”

“Pardon?”