Chapter 58
Even for a high-ranking noble’s party, it was unusual—no, abnormal—for His Majesty the Emperor himself to attend.
Did the Duke and His Majesty make some kind of deal?
What was their goal? What could they possibly be talking about?
Questions swirled endlessly through Tiana’s mind.
“Tiana, go to your father.”
“Yes.”
Since members of the imperial family had arrived, it was proper for both the duke, as the head of the house, and myself to greet them together.
“Ah, Duke, it’s been a while.”
His Majesty approached the duke with a smile.
Empress Flear also kept a graceful smile on her face.
She must be used to attending events like these.
By contrast, Prince Joshua looked openly bored.
“We pay our respects to His Majesty, the radiant sun who blesses the earth with abundance.”
The Duke and I bowed together in unison.
“Lady Tiana, we are meeting for the first time, aren’t we? Thank you for inviting us today. I am Sylvester J. Rios.”
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time, Your Majesty. I am Tiana Astaire. It is truly my great honor to have you grace this evening’s banquet.”
Lifting the hem of my dress, I crossed one leg behind the other and greeted him exactly as Lady Refia had taught me.
“Oh…”
His Majesty seemed somewhat intrigued by my bow.
Yes! I did it properly.
Since he didn’t comment, that means it wasn’t strange, right?
“Well, be grateful—I went out of my way to come to such a party.”
Joshua replied irritably.
I didn’t need to force a smile for him.
Still, it would be troublesome if he decided to hold a grudge.
“Joshua, that’s enough.”
The Emperor scolded him before he could say anything ruder.
“…My apologies.”
Joshua apologized through clenched teeth, glaring fiercely at me the whole time.
Hey, it’s not even my fault!
“Lady Tiana, thank you for your polite greeting. I am Flear J. Rios.”
She smiled warmly—the kind of smile that would make anyone instantly like her.
But behind that smile was something else.
In the novel, she was cunning and scheming behind the scenes to have Joshua made first in line for the throne by orchestrating Felio’s downfall.
In other words, she was a villainess.
If I didn’t already know, I would probably be fooled by that smile too.
No one would ever suspect this woman of being wicked.
In the novel’s ending, Joshua never became emperor.
If I remembered right, he committed some crime and was exiled from the country.
If things proceed according to the original story, there’s no problem…
But lately, events that never existed in the novel have begun to happen.
There’s no telling when Felio might fall from power.
I should be cautious around both Empress Flear and Prince Joshua.
“Tiana, happy birthday.”
“Thank you for coming, Michelle.”
“Hehe, of course—I’m your friend, after all.”
Ever since that chaotic tea party, Michelle and I had been exchanging letters whenever we could find time between our studies.
At first, I was wary since she came from the prestigious Agrion family,
but we quickly bonded over our shared love of reading.
Now, we’re genuinely good friends.
My very first friend since coming to this world.
I hadn’t had many close friends in my previous life, so it made me really happy.
“For members of the imperial family—His Majesty himself—to attend Lady Tiana’s birthday party…”
“It just shows how much importance is being placed on it. Proof of how dearly she’s loved, don’t you think?”
“Do you suppose the Astaire family has joined the imperial faction now?”
“Perhaps. Though I expect there’ll be plenty of clashes between factions from now on.”
Unlike the earlier malicious gossip, these noble ladies could barely hide their astonishment at the Emperor’s presence at Tiana’s celebration.
