The Dowager Empress is looking for any way to embarrass me. Again.

She just told me that I'm having too much fun for a woman whose husband is on the front. And she's waiting for a reply that she expects to be flawed.

My answer comes without delay.

«I can't say I am not worried, your majesty. But I believe in Alexander's... in my husband's capabilities.»

I use his name, pretending it to be a slip of tongue, to show her how close we actually are.

«I will be at ease when he comes back to me, it's true,» I continue. «But I know him enough to understand that he will finish his task like he always does. I haven't heard of anyone in the Empire with his efficiency and precision. Am I perhaps wrong, your majesty?»

I turn towards the Emperor, waiting for his reply. He doesn't have real choices about his words, so I'm not that nervous to hear them.

«Indeed.» He nods. He owes me at least this acknowledgement, if not a formal one.

The Dowager Empress is trying to make me say something wrong. If I have admitted my worry like an enamoured wife would, without thinking twice, it would have shown how I don't trust my husband. If I said I wasn't worried, it would have meant I either knew there was something going on or that I don't love Alexander as much as I say.

Well, I've lived for a whole year with my Duke. Questions without any right answer are my daily challenge.

Oh, in my Duke's case, the questions usually don't have a wrong answer. It's a choice among two thrilling alternatives.

«No wonder you believe in his abilities,» the Empress adds. Is this going to finish anytime soon? «After all, admitting that you lost a war to an incapable man wouldn't be gracious.»

I'll show you what's gracious...

I nod, agreeing with her majesty's statement.

«Indeed. It took Ethiro eight years to open Polis's gates.»

«Nine,» the Princess corrects me. She winks when I turn to her, and she moves on the chair, excited like an adventurer in front of unexplored land.

«Well, Duke Kyre was there for a small part of all that time,» I point out. «He did an incredible job. A job others weren't capable of.»

Including Count Grahm. It's not the first time Alexander solves what the Count complicates.

It should be time the Emperor stops sending my husband around to solve that one's troubles.

«You think highly of yourself, Duchess,» the Empress states, taking advantage of my lack of restraint. Of what she thinks is a lack of restraint, at least. «Admitting so candidly that your resistance was right and fair.»

What? Should any small country concede in front of a powerful Empire, just because? Defence is always fair.

Even a tiny ant has the right to fight for its freedom in front of a giant. Let alone a flourishing city as Polis.

But I can't say it out loud. This place works differently. They won't accept the truth, and they'll turn their guilt into honour till the end of time. I don't have any hope to convince them of my point of view.

«Is it thinking high of myself?» I reply. «Am I compelled to renounce most part of my past to fit in in my new home?»

I turn to the Emperor, widening my eyes in surprise.

«I was never told that, your majesty. I hope you'll forgive me if my behaviour offended Ethiro or the throne...»

«No,» he sighs. «You didn't offend anyone, Duchess. I would have told you if that was the case. No one is asking you to forget your first identity. As you have already said and proved to the court, you've accepted your new role with your whole heart and spirit. Your experience as a ruler is what makes you a valuable member of this Palace and the royal family.»

«I'm relieved. I'm not sure I would have been able to forget everything,» I confess, showing the expression of someone feeling the relief of their life.

«As long as your past is not a reason for you to hate Ethiro or any of the Empire's representatives.»

«Not at all, your majesty. After all, the war is over.»

«True.»

«It seems that not everyone understood it, your majesty. I'm worried about the throne's stability. If someone is always willing to pick fights within the family...»

The Emperor nods, and the Dowager Empress stiffens her muscles, realising her position. I have his majesty's support; isn't that obvious?

Oh, she might have heard that Alexander asked for my life to be spared. Maybe that's why she's insisting on making me look like trouble.

«It wouldn't have any desirable effect if anyone thought that there's some disagreement among the closest people to your majesty,» I point out.

«I didn't mean it like that,» the Empress says, retiring from her front attacks. «You have misunderstood my intentions, Duchess. Which work of those I said means disagreement to you?»

«I'm in no place to judge on your majesty's words' meaning.»

«But you're so ready to pick on every comma. You're annoying, Duchess Kyre.»

«Sorry?» I mumble, surprised by her outspoken sentence. How does she dare to say I'm annoying? That's something even a royal can't voice without basis.

The Dowager Empress's face is now bored as if I was a problem she solved without issue. As if she didn't just fail the umpteenth attack.

Will she ever get tired? Judging from her year-long ploys and the mountain of corpses behind her, she won't get tired that easily.

«It's clear that, if there is someone feeding disagreement, it's you,» she continues, looking at her nails and shrugging her shoulders.

«Is it?» the Emperor asks, interested in the conversation all of a sudden. «Is it Duchess Kyre that brought up confusing letters, words of prejudice, and other kinds of remarks?»

«You shouldn't let her appearance fool you. This is a wolf in sheep's clothing.»

Oh, my. Am I that dangerous?