Wedding (2)

“I’m sorry. It seems Baden ladies only show courtesy once they can see someone’s face.”

Alicia briskly untied the lace knot layered over her bonnet.

The vivid blue bonnet that had been hiding her face came away, revealing a sensitive, delicate-looking face.

“My name is Alicia Rain. I haven’t been in Baden long, so I don’t recall meeting you ladies. If you don’t mind, who…?”

Alicia remembered the two ladies.

Dalisa Dvav and Rainora Dvav were the daughters of Marquis Dvav.

Marquis Dvav was a friend of Marquis Manners and a powerful ally.

Alicia remembered them because they had been there when Viviana had ignored Alicia and walked past her in the imperial palace.

“…….”

“…….”

Even aside from that, Alicia had often seen the Marquis Dvav’s daughters in passing.

They weren’t close, but they did exchange greetings now and then.

“Lady Alicia. I am Rainora Dvav. We’ve met a few times, but we never had the chance to speak.”

“Lady Alicia. I am Dalisa Dvav. I heard you’ve been busy preparing for your wedding.”

Rainora and Dalisa hurriedly introduced themselves with exaggerated politeness.

They seemed to have forgotten how arrogant they’d been a moment ago.

“It seems House Dvav considers House Brennel’s tragedy a matter of being ‘reduced to beggars.’”

Alicia said, her face cold and expressionless.

“Lady…”

“We didn’t mean it like that…”

Rainora and Dalisa waved their hands frantically.

“I understand House Dvav’s stance perfectly. Dvav sees disaster victims—people who lost their families—as beggars. Surely not all nobles in Baden share such rude, barbaric thoughts.”

Alicia didn’t listen to them; she only continued speaking.

“You misunderstand, Lady Alicia. W-we were just trying to haze a lady we didn’t recognize. We didn’t mean it—truly!”

“We never meant it that way.”

Rainora and Dalisa spoke with teary faces.

In the imperial social scene, it was common for ladies to test each other with petty hazing.

And it was common for them to cross lines with their words.

Overly harsh remarks often turned into disputes between families.

In those cases, people might claim they’d misspoken, but no noble in the capital would ever admit they’d done it just to trample a newcomer.

The Dvav sisters’ apology and admission were rare.

But it couldn’t be helped.

Right now, Alicia was the center of attention across the entire Empire.

Recently, as the Grand Duke of Tessen and Alicia prepared their wedding, they had been sweeping up every supply that entered the imperial capital, Baden.

The way Tessen was spending gold coins was no joke.

Yesterday, they had bought half the flowers entering Baden, claiming it was for the wedding.

The nobles’ complaints had been steadily growing.

In the end, the Emperor spoke up on behalf of nobles who couldn’t voice their dissatisfaction because they feared the Grand Duke of Tessen—said to be a demon.

‘A royal wedding is important, but aren’t you being excessive, Reichardt? How many flowers did you buy that there aren’t any left for the palace?’

They said that at the Emperor’s scolding, the Grand Duke of Tessen sighed like an overly worried boy.

‘Alicia says she wants to see a wall made of flowers.’

The ministers were horrified by the Grand Duke’s lovesick remark.

They understood wanting to grant what one’s betrothed desired.

But building a wall out of flowers sounded insane.

Naturally, they expected the Emperor to raise his voice.

But what followed went far beyond their expectations.

‘Is she not the future Grand Duchess? I’ll give orders to the imperial garden. Take as many palace flowers as you need. When does the future Grand Duchess plan to visit the palace?’

‘Your Majesty is most gracious. Wouldn’t Alicia be so moved by the imperial family’s generosity that she’ll enter the palace soon?’

These days, even the Emperor was yielding a step to Alicia.

The Grand Duke of Tessen—known as a human-shaped statue due to his lack of expression—was now in a state where he would do anything his betrothed asked.

There was nothing to be gained by displeasing Alicia.

“Lady Anne. The rude words my sister and I spoke earlier were not sincere. We apologize. Please forgive us.”

Rainora approached Anne and pleaded.

“Please forget my careless words, Lady Anne.”

Dalisa offered an apology too, though her face showed reluctance.

“…I’m fine. Alicia, I’m fine.”

Anne accepted the apology with an awkward expression.

“If Anne says she’s fine, then I’m fine too.”

Alicia retreated at an appropriate point.

Thanks to that, the icy atmosphere eased.

As the salon fell quiet, Josephina entered at just that moment.

Her radiant platinum-blonde hair caught the sunlight and scattered a bright glow.

“Lady Anne! Alicia, His Majesty and Her Majesty were looking for you again today—are you really allowed to be here? Oh, who’s this?”

After greeting Anne and Alicia, Josephina naturally ignored the Dvav sisters standing in front of them.

It wasn’t deliberate the way Alicia’s actions were.

“I pay my respects to Lady Josephina. I am Rainora Dvav.”

“I am Dalisa Dvav.”

Alicia felt a flicker of pity.

“Well, who cares who they are. Doesn’t matter. Lady Anne, I read the garden design concept you sent. I’ll be counting on you. If we can decorate the Great West with improved Aengkeo flowers, I don’t care how much money it takes. It’s your first time in Baden, right? Is anyone bothering you? Tell me. I have quite a bit of influence here. Though these days, Alicia might be even better.”

Every word of Josephina’s arrogant speech sounded completely sincere.

“Thank you, my lady.”

“If you’re Alicia’s friend, you’re my friend. Call me Josephina. Have you looked around? Where’s Karan?”

Josephina scanned the room.

A salon employee who had been waiting stepped forward.

“Lady Josephina. Is there anything you require?”

“Looks like Karan isn’t here. Close the salon. I can’t shop if there are people around. No—should we go to the Great West? Wouldn’t it be better to close this place and have them bring the items to the Great West?”

Josephina wielded unjust authority as casually as breathing.

“Mm. I’m not buying anything.”

Alicia took a step back from Josephina.

At the same time, she signaled the Dvav sisters with her eyes, telling them to leave.

“And Anne?”

“This is my first time in a place like this…”

Josephina’s vivid blue eyes—eyes that had seemed utterly uninterested in the Dvav sisters—quietly watched the two of them retreat.

Anne didn’t notice because she was talking, but Alicia saw it all.

Under Josephina’s gaze, Rainora and Dalisa trembled, their chins shaking in fear.

Once the two disappeared, the other ladies also left the salon, driven out by the authority Josephina had swung around.

“Why did you let them go?”

Josephina turned to Alicia and asked.

“They apologized.”

“Yes, they apologized…”

Not only Alicia, but Anne answered Josephina too.

“Girls like that need to be properly crushed the first time. Make them never want to step outside again. You two are too soft, aren’t you? Especially you, Alicia. If you want to survive in the imperial family, you have to make trash like that disappear just by looking at them.”

Josephina said it cruelly, her face like an elf’s.

It was scary in case anyone overheard.

“Josephina, you should live kindly…”

Alicia murmured the line Reichardt said often.

“What— you’re not even married yet, and you’re copying his words already? I’m in a bad mood. I should buy a dress. Anne, you should buy one too.”

Josephina—who people said would have become an excellent yet debauched ruler if she became Emperor—picked the most expensive dress in the salon.

Anne felt overwhelmed just looking at the dress Josephina recommended.

When Anne tried to refuse a dress with a deeply cut neckline, Josephina insisted.

“You have to try wearing them from a young age if you want to keep wearing them!”

Josephina, saying that, was younger than Anne.

Unable to refuse any longer, Anne accepted the dress and went into the fitting room.

“……”

Alicia suddenly looked out the window.

The Dvav sisters were still on the street.

They were being comforted by a lady.

It was a face Alicia recognized.

Octavia Given.

“Ah, I remember now.”

As Alicia stared outside, her eyes trembled in a strange way.

The future Viscount Stebil.

Alicia recalled who Octavia Given really was and a plan came to mind.

Outside the window, the Dvav sisters and Octavia were still standing there, talking.

It wasn’t hard to guess why the Dvav sisters spoke so harshly about House Brennel.

Some of it was the arrogance of capital nobles, but Dvav was close to Manners.

If House Manners wouldn’t speak well of Brennel, it would be easy for them to belittle Brennel too.

The Dvav sisters were in contact with Viviana Manners.

Alicia couldn’t tell whether today’s rudeness had been Viviana’s intention or a coincidence.

But she could be sure of one thing: it would become difficult for Viviana to live in the imperial capital, Baden, going forward.

“This could work.”

Alicia whispered to herself, eyes fixed on the scene outside.

A very good idea had come to her.

Octavia Given was the third child of Baron Given.

She was the only daughter, with two older brothers.

So her expectations of her house were close to none.

“…….”

Octavia stared at the carriage leaving Queen Street with a tangled gaze.

In that luxurious carriage sat Josephina.

Even after seeing Octavia, Josephina went on as if she hadn’t.

Octavia bit her lip and let out a sigh.

Nothing has been going right lately.

Octavia was the type who could assess herself objectively.

The third child of a mere baron.

She had been loved as the house’s only daughter, but her family had nothing to give her.

She could live a smooth life as a noble, but she was fated to live quietly, holding her breath.

The problem was daily life in society.

Living comfortably in noble society was not easy.

First, Octavia didn’t have a great house to back her.

Octavia’s looks were only barely past “ugly.”

Even when her expression was blank, it didn’t stand out; even when she wasn’t there, it didn’t stand out.

Her hair was a muddy brown, like ten strands of blond had been mixed into it.

Her eyes were a dark brown with only a few drops of blue mixed in.

Her irises were the one mildly distinctive feature, but everything else was so ordinary that no one noticed.

She had no special talent either.

She wasn’t good at singing, painting, or writing.

She wasn’t especially skilled at embroidery, nor particularly learned.

Kind Octavia.

That was as far as any title she could earn in high society went.

Always gentle to everyone.

Not bristling with any clique, getting along well with all.

But even that kind of networking was no easy thing.

Through relentless effort, Octavia maintained an “appropriate” relationship with every group.

It was only enough to keep cordial ties—yet nothing about it was easy.

No one would acknowledge it, of course.

Octavia recently reviewed her own mistake.

When Josephina had been driven out of high society, Octavia hadn’t reached out a hand.

She didn’t have the power to, and besides, it was interesting to watch Josephina—who had acted like the queen of society—be hunted down.

Honestly, it even felt satisfying.

While Josephina was away, Octavia had used her former proximity to her to briefly lead the Zephyr Clan circle.

But Josephina returned.

The situation shifted overnight.

Even before that, Octavia had tried to use Josephina.

But opportunities kept slipping out of place.

She thought she had prepared perfectly, but her plan collapsed in some ridiculous situation.

Truly, not a single thing was going her way.

Octavia decided to place her hopes in Pierre again.

There didn’t seem to be any other method.

“Lady Octavia.”

A gentle voice called out to Octavia as she was about to head for her carriage.

Following the voice, Octavia turned—and her mood soured instantly.

“…Lady Alicia, it’s been a while.”

Nothing had been going right for Octavia lately.

In contrast, the person standing in her path had everything at its peak.

A good life.

A being living an enviable life.

Like Pierre Gique, like Josephina Lirin—someone born into a smooth path from the start.

Octavia was surprised Alicia remembered her.

The more these people remembered someone insignificant, the more they expected that someone to elevate them in return.

How much flattery would she have to spill this time?

Octavia already felt exhaustion rolling in.