Previously
Helio Carlo confronts the Empress Dowager, and although he remains cold, he grants her a chance at redemption by inviting her to the Empire Foundation Day.
Liliana lightly lifted the hem of her gown and dipped into a small curtsy as the orchestra began to play. Helio placed a hand upon her slender waist and asked quietly,
He guided her into slow, elegant steps. Liliana wanted to glare at him, but she knew countless eyes were watching them. She could hardly admit she was frightened by Bestie’s murderous glare.
At Liliana’s flattering reply, Helio pursed his lips with a soft hum and smiled faintly. He danced as though truly enjoying himself, cutting a figure like a work of art.
Helio’s voice was clear enough to pierce through the music and carry across the ballroom.
Liliana blinked in astonishment. She was not the only one caught off guard; hushed whispers broke out among everyone in the hall who had caught his words.
He had previously demanded that their third child be placed in the line of succession for the Kingdom of Niita, a fact that was widely known.
Even so, that was supposed to be a mere nominal honor, unlikely ever to come to pass. Princess Riley was slated to become Niita’s next queen. Yet Helio spoke as though it were otherwise.
And Helio was a man fully capable of making that a reality.
Liliana did not know how to respond. She knew he wielded succession rights as a political instrument, but she had never imagined he genuinely intended for their child to inherit the throne.
With everyone watching, she could hardly press him on the matter, managing only an awkward smile.
Helio then caught her by the waist, lifted her up, and swept her through a full turn.
Startled as she was, his grip was firm enough that she felt no fear.
Liliana watched the hem of her gown ripple through the air like violet waves before her feet settled back onto the floor.
When the dance ended, the crowd’s applause carried an undercurrent of dazed shock. It was not merely the brilliance of the performance, but the revelation that his partner was no ordinary consort, but potentially the mother of a future king, that threw the hall into confusion.
‘The man is truly out of his mind.’
Liliana thought this to herself once more.
As soon as the dance concluded, she hurried toward a corner of the ballroom as though fleeing.
Unaccustomed to wearing high heels, having danced in them left her desperate for a brief respite.
Yet after what had just transpired, people were hardly going to leave her in peace.
Someone called out to her, and she lifted her head, attempting to conceal her exhaustion.
There was an eerie familiarity to the voice.
Liliana exhaled deeply, stifling the urge to gasp for breath.
The speaker was none other than Bestie. Liliana concealed her face behind her fan, offering proper ballroom etiquette.
Liliana had meant it only as a pleasantry, but Bestie’s face twisted in derision.
Had she spoken out of turn and forgotten her place? Liliana wondered, casting her gaze around, and noticed the noblewomen flanking Bestie looked uneasy as well.
Bestie turned her head aside and let out a deep sigh.
Bestie traced a small circle near her own face with a finger, turning with a light scoff.
A question mark practically materialized above Liliana’s head.
In the Kingdom of Niita, it was considered courteous to cover one’s lower face with a fan when speaking at close quarters during social gatherings. Liliana had merely adhered to that custom, so why the ridicule?
Liliana quietly reviewed the conversation in her mind.
Gradually, the truth began to dawn on her.
Unlike in Niita, hiding one’s face behind a fan while speaking was viewed in the Carlo Empire as ill-mannered and a sign of insecurity.
Liliana had simply not known the difference, having spent so little time in the empire. Bestie, however, had seized upon it to mock her.
Bestie took a step closer and whispered in Liliana’s ear.
Her voice was hushed, barely audible to those nearby. The noblewomen who had accompanied Bestie dared neither laugh at Liliana nor defend her, hesitant to take sides.
It was a perilous position for them, caught between the lady destined to become the future empress and the current consort favored by the Emperor.
Liliana snapped her fan shut with a sharp, resounding crack. Her striking features were instantly revealed—graceful from afar, but up close, breathtakingly delicate.
Bestie looked as if she wanted to strike Liliana’s cheeks again, yet she could no longer do so. Once merely an abandoned consort, Liliana was now the Emperor’s favorite, giving Bestie pause.
Liliana averted her eyes as if unable to look Bestie in the face, bringing a hand to her cheek with a stricken expression, looking as though she had just been slapped.
Tears welled in Liliana’s eyes as she lifted her gaze to Bestie.
At that, one of the noblewomen standing nearby asked cautiously,
Even as the wealthy daughter of Duke Gabriel, she had no authority to discipline a consort. Whatever the circumstances, a queen remained a member of the imperial household.
Bestie parted her lips to retort, but Liliana, appearing utterly frail, adopted a sorrowful expression and spoke in a subdued voice.
Lowering her voice, Liliana reached out and caught Bestie’s hand, pleading softly,
Bestie cried out in astonishment, prompting Liliana to release her hand at once and cover her cheek, flinching as though bracing for a blow.
The gesture fueled the imaginations of all present.
Whispers rippled from a distance.
Another voice joined in, laced with disapproval.
Others murmured in sympathetic agreement.
Liliana reopened her fan to conceal her face once more.
If in the Carlo Empire this gesture signaled distress and insecurity, she could certainly use it to her advantage.
Just as a smile touched Liliana’s lips behind the fan, someone approached.
Only two people in the hall could address her simply as “Queen” rather than “Your Majesty”: Emperor Helio and the Empress Dowager. Since Helio rarely involved himself in ladies’ chatter, the speaker was bound to be the Empress Dowager.
Liliana turned to find the Empress Dowager smiling warmly.
The Empress Dowager smiled, turning slowly as though she had only just noticed the others.
Though Bestie felt her pride wounded, the woman addressing her was the Empress Dowager—her prospective mother-in-law. She could not behave toward her as she had toward Liliana. Bestie gathered her skirts and curtsied respectfully.
Eyes widened across the gathering.
The Empress Dowager still wore a gentle smile, but her interruption had been unmistakable.
Bestie struggled to maintain her composure, replying smoothly,
The Empress Dowager nodded as though nothing were amiss, but her following question was anything but ordinary.
Bestie froze at the words.
It was a clear, unvarnished warning.
Though the Empress Dowager was the Emperor’s mother, she carried little sway at court, widely viewed as a reclusive elder detached from worldly affairs. Yet here she was, unmistakably taking Liliana’s side.
‘Even the Emperor supports her…’ Bestie thought, clenching her fists. But with so many eyes watching, she forced a tight smile and turned to Liliana.
To Liliana, the words sounded like a veiled threat.
‘Will you dare keep this up when you must answer to me soon enough?’
Liliana hesitated. Calling it a misunderstanding now would leave the Empress Dowager in an awkward position after stepping in to defend her. Yet pressing the issue further risked escalating into unforeseen consequences.
Just then, an attendant arrived to rescue Liliana from her predicament.
The uninvited arrival was hardly welcome to Bestie.
Bestie demanded sharply, but the attendant replied steadily, without the slightest hesitation.
The name was familiar to Liliana.
Under ordinary circumstances, she might not have known him, but Duke Philom was a pivotal figure in the original story.
Duke Philom had risen like a blazing meteor through high society, founding his own noble house. It was known that Emperor Helio had bestowed his title upon him, yet no one knew of his past or what he had been before rising to prominence.
‘He was originally a prisoner of war and a slave. Helio recognized his talent and brought him into the aristocracy. In the future, he becomes my daughter’s right-hand man, while his son becomes a supporting character in the story.’
Given the importance of such a figure, it was only natural that Liliana knew his name.
‘But why would a man like that ask to meet with me?’