The light from the chandelier was dazzling. People under the lights were spinning gracefully. Of course, Abel and I had no intention to join them. Still, I had to say hello to the host of the ball. That was, the Empress.

It was my first time meeting the Empress face to face. To be honest, I was a little nervous. Compared to me, Abel had a relaxed face as usual. Well, it was Abel after all.

“There you are.”

Abel turned his head and murmured. I also turned my head.

The empress was a woman who could pull off a gorgeous, luxurious dress. Looking at her curled-up thick blonde hair, I was sure she must have been a beauty when she was young.

“I didn’t know the Duke would attend.”

Fortunately, it seemed that the Empress was more interested in Abel than in me.

“Since I’ve been invited with so much effort, wouldn’t it make sense to respond?”

“The lady next to you…?”

When the empress pointed to me, I greeted her according to etiquette.

“My name is Fiona Heilon. Pleased to meet you, Your Majesty.”

“Ah, I’ve heard the rumors.”

The empress looked me up and down. And it was not with very favorable eyes.

“I’ve heard you’re the adopted daughter of the Duke of Heilon?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Coming with your adoptive father. That’s unusual.”

Roughly speaking, I was trying to come up with an excuse to explain that I didn’t know anyone in the social world yet. But Abel took the lead.

“There is no one that catches my eyes.”

Wow, I’m so ashamed to hear such an answer in front of my face.

“I see you seem to care for your adoptive daughter, Duke.”

“If I hadn’t cared, I wouldn’t have brought her into my family.”

“Oh, well, I guess all the rumors I’ve heard about Lady Fiona were all a misunderstanding.”

Has it finally started?

Well, it was not surprising, to be honest. It was not like nothing was happening since the beginning when I was born.

Abel twisted the corners of his lips.

“Yeah, I don’t know where Your Majesty heard the rumors, but it was obvious that those are not worth worrying about. I hope that the noble Empress is not swayed by such rumors.”

It was an answer that made it difficult for the other person to say anything more.

The empress fluttered her fan. She had a dissatisfied expression because her own intentions did not work out.

“The duke’s dignified manner.. I see it hasn’t been changed all these years.. Really, you’ve always been the same.”

Of course, she didn’t mean it in a really good way. The closest interpretation would be something like, ‘how can you still be cocky no matter how old you are?;

Abel grinned “Every time I see the Empress, I’m amazed. It’s good to see Your Majesty accepting the flow of time as a noble person.”

Well, even the meaning of these sentences was simpler. ‘You’re old’

I bit my tongue. I couldn’t believe he was saying that. How could he really say something like that? It was so poisonous.

Well, of course, there was no way that the Empress, who was much more familiar with the way of speaking in the noble social world, could not have understood the meaning. Her hand that held her fan trembled slightly.

Oh, she was angry.

“Yes, it also reminds me of the old days when the duke and I were attending this ball like these people. Duke Heilon now is just the same as when he was young.”

It was the last attack. The meaning was definitely ‘roughly speaking, unlike me, you’re still immature, aren’t you?’

However, even though Abel understood the hidden meaning, he just grinned. “Thanks for the compliment.”

Even I felt he was so spiteful this time.

But the empress just replied with a smile without losing her composure.

It really was an invisible fight.

‘Ah, I want to go home.’

The relationship between Abel and the Empress was more severe than I expected, it was not for nothing that he did not receive support from the central government.

‘He is a total prick.’

“—I beg your pardon for a moment.”

Suddenly, someone intervened in this invisible fight. I opened my eyes wide.

The empress, who had confirmed the opponent, sharply changed her expression.

“You’re very impolite, Prince SIgren!”

For a moment, people’s attention was drawn to where we stood.

The Empress right now was not like an empress who valued face. The empress stiffened, perhaps realizing that she had made a mistake. She seemed to have forgotten to control her emotions for a moment because she was arguing with Abel.

“I apologize, Your Majesty.”

Ah, Sigren also called the Empress, ‘Your Majesty’. ‘Mother’ should be a more appropriate title, but it was unlikely that Sigren would say that word.

“Lady Fiona, Would you allow me to have time with you?”

That was a really good thing to say in this situation. Sigren must be trying to get me out of this situation.

‘I’ve been really good at making friends.’

Abel, who was next to me, refuted right away. “It’s not possible.”

“….”

But Sigren ignored Abel. What was he going to do?

“My Lady’s opinion?”

He looked straight at me. The blue-grey eyes gave me a strange fascinating feeling. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. I licked my lips. “Of course.”

As soon as I accepted it, Sigren smiled and grabbed the back of my hand, and kissed it.

“It’s my honor.”

I got goosebumps. Not because I was offended, but because I was so shocked. I wondered was this the feeling of being possessed by the devil in old stories?

Sigren certainly had an atmosphere that caught people’s attention. The problem was that he was currently showing his strong charms to me right now.

In a word, I felt like I was being seduced. He didn’t intend to do this, did he?

“Duke, excuse me.”

Abel’s eyebrows twitched.

Either way, Sigren looked at his teacher with a bold expression, ‘Just fight with that woman.’

“…”

These two definitely would fight later.

I looked at the ballroom. As expected, everyone’s focus was on this side. Well, that was nothing surprising considering that Duke Heilon, the Empress, and the prince gathered together.

‘Ah, I really want to go home.’

I almost gave up while being escorted by Sigren.