The Evil Empress Adores Me - Chapter 130

Smiling, a thought came to my mind that made my shoulders slightly taut.

‘Now that I think of it…’

Since meeting Damian, many things have changed.

The old Damian couldn’t withstand the divine beast’s power and would be stricken from time to time by fevers.

But now he no longer suffers from fevers.

I’ve also been relying on Damian ever since I awakened the power.

From the first time I met him, becoming familiar with him, to naturally growing attached to him.

I owed it to Damian, him being by my side was the reason I could handle the power of the divine beast without it being strenuous.

I glanced sideways.

Oh, we made eye contact.

Damian, who had been previously glaring at me with his forehead scrunched, let out a deep sigh, shaking his head as he did.

Suppressing my laughter as I continued to look at him, a thought materialized.

Perhaps Damian and I were destined to be together from eons ago.

If anyone else heard this idea, they will likely laugh it off as nonsense…

…still, I couldn’t shake that feeling.

****

The ball that followed the Harvest Festival had a special meaning even in the empire.

It’s because only high-ranking nobles that had access to the shrine of Aurelia were allowed to attend.

Therefore, the fact that Damian and I were attending this ball meant several things.

For starters…

“The nobles are starting to recognize His Highness as the Crown Prince.”

It’s just as the Empress said.

It wasn’t that long ago when she said that before the ball.

The words came out suddenly while we took a short break at the Empress’s palace before moving to the Imperial palace.

Damian half-smiled.

“It’s an overstatement.”

Damian, who showed no signs of sulking earlier, was enchantingly handsome when wearing a smile.

While taking in Damian’s attractiveness, I snapped back to reality when I heard the Empress’s voice.

“The recent recognition is staggering. Who would have thought His Highness could expand their influence at such a frightening momentum?”

“…other than that, are you all right, Your Majesty?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

At Damian’s cautious question, the Empress smiled faintly.

“The support you gathered at Lebane helped form a public opinion regarding the Emperor and the Rochester household as separate entities.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“It’s more than fortunate…it’s something the empire’s citizens weren’t aware of till now.”

The Empress reached out, fixing a jewelry pin to adorn my hair as she shook her head lightly.

“In the past, I would have attended this banquet alone, leaving His Highness and Charlize back in the palace.”

“Your Majesty?”

“Now, it seems we’ll all be going to the ball, aren’t we?” remarked the Empress in a pensive emotional voice.

…it does seem so.

After the Empress left ahead of us, Damian and I had dinner together.

I wondered about all the previous harvest festivals. How did the Empress feel when having to attend the ball alone?

Even though I have Damian with me, I get nervous at times as it feels like entering directly into the lion’s maw.

Her being alone, unable to lean on her husband, the Emperor, one bit…

It were these thoughts that had me purse my lips.

‘The Empress who had nothing for anyone to be envious of.’

People only saw the Empress from an outward appearance and made such remarks.

The only daughter of the former Duke of Rochester, an aristocrat among aristocrats, and a public servant of the empire.

A noblewoman who is ethereally beautiful, exceedingly intelligent, and holds honor and wealth in both hands.

The noblest of women in the entire empire.

The mother of the people of the empire.

But…

With the heavy burden she carried on her shoulders as empress, I can’t imagine how much of herself she devoted to giving the effort she gave throughout the years.

No one can truly comprehend what she went through.

The isolation, loneliness, responsibility, and suffering the Empress endured…

I wouldn’t even begin to know the tip of the iceberg.

I felt my mouth taste bitter for some reason.

But then.

Knock, Knock.

The knocking echoed.

Head maid Hayden politely entered the living room, lowering her head before speaking.

“Your Highness, you must leave for the palace soon.”

“Yes. We know.”

I nodded.

Damian simultaneously held out his arm for me in an impeccably courteous gesture.

“Let’s go, Charlize.”

“Yes.”

It was a gentlemanly way to escort a lady.

Placing my arm in his, I steeled my heart.

One way or another, no matter what happens…

I’ll do well.

***

As soon as Damian and I entered the ballroom, everyone’s attention was on us.

Their eyes were full of fascination and awe.

I couldn’t help but reminisce.

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Between the time when I was attending Damian’s victory ball and now.

Although the ball attendees then and now were nigh identical, the reception towards me was starkly different.

‘It wasn’t that long ago and yet their vastly different reaction caught me off guard.’

I took a deep breath.

Unlike back when even taking a step was risky, I felt like I was stepping on solid ground with each step I took.

In the distance, the Emperor stood with a smile on his face.

The Empress, who had been beside the Emperor, wearing a sullen expression, brightened up as she laid eyes upon us.

“He’s here too?”

Seeing the Emperor’s face twice a day, isn’t this getting a little out of hand?

As I tried shrouding my inner thoughts, I bowed my knees to the Emperor.

“I see you, Your Majesty.”

“I see you, Your majesty.”

Damian followed my example.

The Emperor accepted the bow and raised his gaze.

And on the other end of that gaze….was me.

“The right to the first dance of the ball customarily belongs to the emperor.”

The Emperor narrowed his eyes as he said what everyone knew.

“Which is why-”

I looked down blankly at his hand stretched out in front of me.

His smile broadened a bit.

“How about it? Care to have your first dance with me?”

For a moment, a chilling silence fell over the ball.

The question left everyone shocked and wide-eyed.

As did I.

‘Why is he doing this? Is he crazy?’

I felt goosebumps all over my body as if I had been doused in cold water.

Why is he putting me on the spot?

This wasn’t just an insult to the Empress but to the Duke of Rochester and her family that played a significant role in the Emperor’s ascension to the throne.

I glanced back.

The Duke of Rochester’s face contorted with rage.

The Empress was taken aback.

When I turned my gaze again, I saw the Emperor looking straight at me.

I bit my lip softly.

‘He was still looking at me. There’s no way he’s not being serious right now.’

The Emperor was staring at me, the way one would look at a woman.

“Your Majesty, what…”

Damian growled.

It seemed that at any moment he could launch his fist directly into the Emperor’s visage.

However, despite all that, the Emperor kept his gaze fixed only on me.

‘He’s mad.’

I spoke up and pacified Damian.

“Your Highness, it’s all right.”

“Charlize!”

“Naturally, it is also the right of the person who received the dance request to refuse.”

At those words, the Emperor’s previously unassailable face, which had a bright smile etched upon it, cracked for the first time.

I slightly raised my head and met the Emperor’s eyes.

“Pardon me, Your Majesty. The right to the first dance is not exactly His Majesty’s alone…”

I spoke calmly.

“I know of another, ‘someone with the same highest status’ as well.”

“Hmm?”

The Emperor widened his eyes.

He probably never thought that I would dismiss his offer so blatantly.

I smiled brilliantly as the Emperor wasn’t able to hide his ignominy.

“The ‘right to the first dance’ is held not only by His Majesty but also by Her Majesty.”

I hit the nail on the head when it came to this. It left the Emperor stunned.

“Among all the ladies in this court, the highest-ranking lady is none other than Her Majesty, the Empress.”

“…Lady Charlize.”

The Emperor’s visage crumpled in response as if smacked across the face.

Well, I was just following the rules.

People sometimes forget about the ‘rights of a lady.’

It happens because it’s common for the gentleman to ask the lady for a dance.

But I won’t have that.

‘Does he think I’ll just stand idly and watch the Empress be insulted?’

I sharpened my gaze.

“I understand His Majesty’s wishes to show respect toward his nephew’s fiancée.”

I spoke in a pensive tone of voice.

“However, how dare I deprive Her Majesty of Her Majesty’s rights?”

“Lady Charlize is worried too much at the thought of taking away Her Majesty’s right to dance,” retorted the Emperor.

“I wouldn’t want to do to others what I would be offended by,” I replied, shaking my head politely but firmly.

“Even more so when she is the Empress whom I respect.”

In an instant, the Empress’s eyes lit up.

I straightened my posture and continued speaking again.

“As a couple, they are both deeply respected in our society.”

“….but.”

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“Should Her Majesty’s prestige be undermined because of me, it will directly affect His Majesty’s prestige as well.”

With that impeccable reasoning, the Emperor had no refutation.

He quietly raises his eyebrows.

After a while, the Emperor narrowed his brow and looked back at the Empress.

“Lady Charlize has spoken. What say you, Empress? Would you like to dance?”