The public lunch, organised by Duchess Prim, is a grand event. Even the Emperor was supposed to come, but he had some sudden urgencies and sent his regards to the couple.

I'm sitting by the side of my husband, obediently greeting the people that approach us. On the way here, Pericle explained to me that I owe respect only to a few people in the court, and none of them is here now.

Other than for the two Dowager Empresses and the Princess, I'm the most high-ranking woman in the Empire.

Still, I have to curtsey to the host of the event, because I'm in her territory. If we met in another place, then it would be the contrary. Could these rules be more complicated? The Ethirians have too much free time on their hands.

I smile graciously to the people that I'm introduced to, trying to remember the face of those with more relevance.

Yet, old habits are tough to forget, and I end up with more faces in my memory than what I planned. I still have to understand the links among those people and the alliances among them. It will become a crucial detail, sooner or later.

When the first course is served, I don't have too much appetite. After kind of arguing with the Duke, I'm in no mood to eat. Luckily, this is the right moment for such a feeling. I wasn't supposed to eat much in any case, so it only makes it more tolerable.

I have to show to all these malicious stares that I'm the perfect wife for Duke Kyre. I have more interest in the court thinking that we get along than the contrary.

«Oh my, we didn't think that you would actually come, your grace, Duke Kyre,» a man says, not far from us. There are around twenty people at our table, along with the host and hostess. I am sitting at the left side of Duke Prim, in front of an elderly couple. My husband is on my left, and his right hand sometimes brushes against my arm.

The man who talked is a count. I didn't hear the name well, but I guess he's relevant if he's sitting at the main table.

«I finished my business yesterday, and I didn't have time to send confirmation to Duke Prim,» my husband answers.

He looks relaxed, and he turns to the host with a handsome smile.

«I'm glad you didn't take it to heart, Duke Prim,» he continues.

The latter nods, chuckling amused.

«My wife was so happy to know that you were coming that she almost made the maids change decorations. We're pleased to have you here, with or without confirmation.»

«I was excited to meet the new duchess,» his wife adds from the other side of the table. «I was looking forward to talking with her.»

«Your wife is rather shy, Duke Kyre,» Marquise Julian comments, two seats from me. He's middle-aged, and his wife is almost a teenager. The poor girl smiles all the time and doesn't utter a word if not asked when her husband is around.

He's probably thinking that I'm like her. He wishes.

I'm silent because I have no topics for conversation, other than politics, administration and so on. I can't talk gossip, and I can't comment on fashion. I have to learn, though, if I want to blend in.

«Rather than shy, she treasures her words,» Duke Kyre answers, and I sigh. I'm right here, is there a need to talk about me specifically?

«Are you adjusting to the court, Duchess Kyre?» the woman in front of me asks with a polite smile. Her husband is a high officer, and he was a minister during the last Emperor's reign. She was a marquise's daughter, before becoming Madam Minister. She wasn't the Minister herself, but just the wife. Here, they're called like that.

«I'm doing my best,» I answer.

I turn to my husband, and I smile as naturally as my years of diplomacy taught me.

«It's less difficult than I thought it would be,» I add, intending to show that I'm devoted.

Duke Kyre smiles back nervously.

«You're lucky, my lady. Duke Kyre is less dangerous than he looks, and he has enough patience to understand your worries,» the woman finishes, grinning again.

I thank her for her words with a movement of my head.

«Will you avoid this year's Autumn hunt as well, Duke Kyre?» Duke Prim asks.

Autumn Hunt?

«It's the last event of the season,» my husband explains to me. «I couldn't attend, last year.»

«Nor the year before. I've never met you at the hunt, my lord!»

«I will be there. My wife and I will leave for the north soon after that, so it will be the only occasion she'll have to socialise. I can't avoid it, this year,» the Duke utters, and I almost feel moved by his worries.

So, I'll only have that one chance to make some connections. After that, he'll keep me in an even colder palace, as his winter entertainment.

«I'm looking forward to it,» I comment. «It looks interesting.»

«Not just that it looks, but it is, my lady!» Duke Prim exclaims. «The Emperor himself declares the start, and the winner gets one of the crown's jewels. I won it, once, in my youth. My wife regards those earrings more than my life, isn't that right, my dear?»

Duchess Prime chuckles, nodding at her husband's words. They seem to sincerely get along. It must be natural, after many years of marriage.

It's a pity that I won't ever look at my husband with such a content smile. Simple lives are not for queens, after all.

Last time I attended a hunt was when I was eight years old. I managed to catch two rabbits, and my dogs brought me to a fox. I was so happy, back then.

After that year, I couldn't ride in the woods around Polis because the Empire struck. The long siege ruined our trade routes, and the merchants stopped using our harbour.

While I used to stay in the Council room until night and my people didn't have enough to eat, these people here entertained themselves with hunts, balls and sumptuous lunches.

«How nice,» I say, my lips curled in a soulless smirk.