Previously
Resurreccion summons an intimidated jeweler to select a diamond necklace and earring set as a reward for Dolores resolving the Lindinis succession matter. However, Dolores recoils when presented with the gift, as receiving gifts after mistreatment triggers traumatic memories of Adrian.
Of course, talk of pregnancy had come up during Dolores’s early days as Crown Princess as well.
The birth of an imperial grandson was naturally a matter of great consequence for the imperial family.
‘Still, how to put it… back then, the Emperor never pressed me quite like this.’
In truth, the pressure felt far heavier now.
A gift bestowed by the Emperor carried as much weight as an imperial decree.
Even if Resurreccion discarded every single one as soon as it arrived, it naturally weighed on her mind.
‘It doesn’t feel like he’s merely anxious to see an imperial grandchild soon.’
Was this just paranoia born from a lifetime of being pushed around?
Or did the Emperor genuinely harbor some other ulterior motive?
Regardless, for now she had to focus on the enemies before her today.
When she was escorted into a private dining room furnished lavishly enough to rival a grand noble’s parlor, the Rochester family had already arrived.
“It has been a long time, Your Highness the Grand Duke, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”
The Marquis’s gaze was sharp enough to pierce bone, yet he still observed the bare formalities with gruff courtesy.
“…It has been some time, Your Highness.”
Her brother James offered a perfunctory greeting, so slipshod one could hardly tell which of them he meant it for.
“Sister—no! Your Highness the Grand Duchess. I am so glad to see you again after the salon.”
And then there was Angelica, smiling with that gentle, ingratiating crinkle around her eyes.
Up to this point, it was the party she had anticipated.
Yet at the final voice that chimed in, Resurreccion and Dolores both fell momentarily silent.
“It pleases me greatly to see the two of you together.”
Why in the world was Adrian, the Crown Prince of the Empire, standing here?
Taking his seat first, Resurreccion sneered.
“Well, well. Father-in-law, when on earth did you adopt such a grown son without telling a soul? I must say, I’m rather hurt you didn’t let us know.”
Taking the seat across from Dolores, Adrian smiled sweetly.
“Ha. Resurreccion, I am the one who ought to be deeply hurt.”
Dolores swallowed repeatedly, fighting desperately to suppress the bile rising in her throat at the sight of that smile.
“To think you wouldn't even consider dining with me once after your marriage.”
“Your Highness. Today was intended to be a gathering between the Grand Duke, myself, and my maiden family—”
“The Marquis invited me, Dolly. After all, we are all family now.”
“…”
Only then did a faint, cold sneer touch the Marquis’s lips.
No matter how desperately Dolores struggled, taking every opportunity was only natural if he was to return his daughter to the position of Crown Princess.
Dolores shot a sideways glance toward Angelica.
What could she possibly be thinking right now, watching the man she loved openly flirt with her cousin?
Yet Angelica showed no disgust at the scene, offering only bright, beaming smiles.
‘They’re both sickening. At least they suit each other in that regard.’
If that was how it was, Dolores was not about to lose either.
Besides checking on the state of House Rochester, she had another goal today.
“My goodness, Angelica. You look so well-matched sitting beside His Highness the Crown Prince like that.”
“Sister…”
“It looks as if that were your place all along. Why not keep sitting there from now on?”
It was a direct strike to crush the pride of the girl who had tried to ruin her salon.
Angelica’s lips twisted in visible dismay.
Adrian had done nothing in response to Dolores’s unexpected remark except cast a fleeting, awkward glance Angelica's way.
‘Indeed, what could you possibly say right now?’
If she said she was grateful to look well-matched with His Highness the Crown Prince?
Then Dolores could simply offer her blessings and tell Adrian to marry Angelica.
Cleaning up the mess could be left to Adrian, who was already glancing between them with wary eyes.
‘Would she play the modest card and claim she hardly belongs beside him?’
No, knowing Angelica’s vanity, she could never bring herself to do that.
Even now, she could barely maintain a strained smile that swallowed down her humiliation.
Yet Angelica was not one to sit quietly and take it either.
“…Hehe. You must be exceedingly happy in your newlywed life, Sister. For your thoughts to go straight to such things the moment a man and woman sit side by side.”
Just how shamelessly wanton were you being behind closed doors, to go around pairing off people who merely happened to sit together?
Seeing right through the reproach hidden beneath Angelica’s words, Dolores gave a radiant smile.
“My, thank you for saying I look happy. In truth, I am immensely so.”
Dolores turned her gaze up toward Resurreccion, beaming brightly.
“How about you, Your Highness? Are you pleased as well?”
“…Of course.”
The corners of Resurreccion’s mouth curled into an answer.
When he set his mind to it, he was a man who knew how to produce an exquisitely soft, tender voice.
It was just that his eyes were screaming, ‘We are having words the second this godforsaken luncheon is over.’
Even so, looking at his elder brother’s complexion, he chuckled inwardly.
‘Ha, he’s practically burning alive with jealousy.’
To have his mistress seated right beside him, yet still stare at his former fiancée—now his younger brother’s wife—with such rampant obsession.
In truth, Adrian’s inside was curdling into a chaotic mess of jealousy.
‘Is what Lady Kirkland has been babbling actually true?’
Rachel Kirkland had been blabbing everywhere that the mongrel bastard was utterly besotted with Dolores, clinging to her every moment.
And that Dolores, despite her demure demeanor, was returning that affection with fervent passion.
‘No. I refuse to believe it until the very end.’
He would scrutinize their every action here today and uncover the truth.
Though the meal began under an ominous cloud, the restaurant served its finest luncheon course for their distinguished guests.
The conversation was barely strung along by topics of politics, the weather, and high society gossip.
Yet Dolores quietly spat her food into her napkin whenever no one was looking.
Every time she looked at Adrian’s face, nausea roiled inside her, accompanied by creeping dread.
‘I cannot throw up here, no matter what.’
Yet all the while, Adrian kept smiling gently, striking up conversation with her.
“…Regardless of how things were between us in the past, it gladdens me greatly to see the two of you so harmonious.”
“I thank you for your kind words, Your Highness.”
“Still, Dolly.”
Dolores strained every nerve to hold her smile, desperate not to betray her nausea.
Why did he keep calling her by that pet name, as if there were still something special between them?
“…Yes, Your Highness?”
“Dolly was a pet name I gave you, after all.”
“…”
“Do you remember?”
“…Yes, Your Highness.”
Dolores nearly bit her tongue at his cloying, sugar-coated tone.
‘Come to think of it, he did.’
Ever since Adrian had called her that in their childhood, she had been addressed as Dolly right up until her death at forty.
Why was he bringing that up now…?
“Then what do you and Resurreccion call each other?”
Dolores and Resurreccion exchanged a look, their brows arching slightly in unison.
What kind of nonsense was this now?
“Wife—”
“Your Highness the Grand—”
The moment they spoke, Adrian cut them off.
“No, not something like that.”
His heart pounded with a strange sense of conviction.
For a couple supposed to share a burning passion, the two had seemed entirely too formal until now.
“It feels as though you are standing on too much ceremony with one another, you see.”
“…”
“…”
“Surely… you didn't marry and leave me behind, only to not even share a single pet name between you?”
The warmth vanished from the table laden with fragrant delicacies, turning instantly arctic.
The Marquis’s eyes gleamed with the same sharp hunger as the Crown Prince’s.
James, too, gulped down a swallow of saliva as he tipped back his wineglass.
“Ha. Haha.”
Just then, Resurreccion let out a laugh drenched in pure exasperation.
It was the laugh of a man thoroughly, utterly annoyed by this very moment.
“Honestly… Your Highness my brother has quite the mischievous streak.”
Narrowing his eyes in a sneer, he then turned toward Dolores with an affectionate smile.
“To use in broad daylight what we only whisper in the bedchamber feels rather awkward, does it not?”
“Uh—”
“Lauren.”
“…”
Dolores blinked.
She felt a brief flicker of admiration.
“Oh, my…”
This man’s quick wits were genuinely worthy of respect.
Even so, she chimed in smoothly with a sweet smile of her own.
“Not at all… Rex.”
She felt a secret swell of pride at her own quick thinking as well.
Had she not shortened that lengthy name of Resurreccion rather nicely?
Then, her cheeks flushed as she offered him a soft smile.
Just like a shy, bashful bride.
Considering how infuriating everyone else was being, bringing heat to her cheeks was hardly a chore.
“It is a little embarrassing, but please call me that in front of others from now on.”
“Is that so? If you don’t mind, I certainly don’t.”
“Hehe, of course. Rex, if you are amenable…”
“Nothing would please me more.”
The two smiled at each other, only the corners of their lips curving upward.
Then Dolores turned to her pale former husband with a genuinely radiant smile.
“Dolly is a cute pet name, but it suited me far better when I was a child.”
“Dolly…”
“Though it is a bit improper, thanks to Your Highness the Crown Prince, I can now be called Lauren even out in public.”
Next, she cast a sweet, pointed smile toward the flabbergasted Angelica.
“Well, some women might prefer being called things like ‘angel’ by a man.”
“…!”
“Now that I am older, being addressed with a fitting pet name… by my lawful husband makes me far happier.”
Dolores’s remark sent another sudden chill through the room.
Yet contrary to the frigid air, Angelica’s cheeks were burning bright crimson.
Angelica had spent all this time hypnotizing herself.
It did not matter if Dolores became Empress.
Because she would be the one holding the love and the true advantages.
That was why it was perfectly fine to entangle Dolores with Adrian again first.
‘Yet what did she just call me? She outright treated me like a concubine!’
Did she even know that Adrian called her ‘angel’?
And now she was being ridiculed for not having a pet name from a ‘lawful husband.’
Told that no matter how doted upon she was, she remained nothing more than a pathetic mistress.