Episode 15
“This necklace was my comfort when I was having a hard time.
During the day, it’s too bright to see the stars, so I’d look at the star on this necklace to feel better and make a wish. It will help you, too, Prince Theodore.”
“Mm. Did any of your wishes come true?”
“Some have, and some haven’t yet.”
“Then take it back…”
“Hm?”
Theodore’s face showed disappointment as he tried to take the necklace off.
Roxana stopped him gently.
“Don’t you like it?” she asked.
“No… It’s just that if you give it to me, Duchess, you won’t be able to make your remaining wishes.”
A soft smile spread across Roxana’s face.
“You don’t need the necklace for wishes to come true. Even if the star disappears, your wish can still happen as long as you look at the star and make it.”
Theodore looked puzzled.
“Well, think of a shooting star. People make wishes when they see it, but the star vanishes before they finish saying their wish. Still, even after the star is gone, the wish doesn’t disappear — it can still come true.”
“Oh, I get it!”
Theodore’s face brightened like he’d learned something new. His expressions were so alive.
Roxana smiled back.
“Keep it on your neck so you don’t lose it.”
“Okay, I’ll take good care of it.”
“If you do lose it, you’ll be able to find it. The spirit’s blessing is on it, so anyone who touches this necklace will carry a bit of the spirit’s energy.
Even if they touch it through cloth, it’s the same.”
“Wow!”
Theodore looked at the star pendant with wonder.
Roxana knew how rare a blessed object like that was. Spirits were hard to meet, and blessings even rarer. This necklace was precious.
She glanced around. Some people nearby pretended not to listen, but they were paying close attention to the Duchess and the prince. Roxana noticed — she always did.
She and Theodore were whispering, but ears are sharp in places like this. Someone might try to steal the necklace or snatch it out of greed.
A person who laid hands on royal belongings without permission would be punished severely.
But for a powerless prince, things like that could easily happen.
So Roxana mentioned the necklace’s secret on purpose, a subtle warning not to covet it.
Those who felt her gaze backed off and pretended to be busy.
They wouldn’t dare ignore the power behind the Kailani name.
Roxana put on a calm face and spoke.
“Prince Theodore, in return for the necklace, there’s one thing I’d like.”
At once, Theodore’s expression clouded like a gray cloud over a blue sky.
Of course, he wanted to repay her — but he had nothing valuable to offer. Worry bubbled up inside him.
“What is it?” he asked, voice shaking a little.
“Call me Roxana. I’d rather you call me Roxana than Duchess.”
When Roxana said that, Theodore’s face lit up like the moon. He fidgeted shyly with his hands.
“Okay… Roxana.”
“Thank you for agreeing,” Roxana said, rosy with happiness. She cupped his cheeks with both hands and gently kissed his forehead with affection.
Later, Roxana met Asterion in front of the Great Hall and attended the Harvest Festival ball.
The nobles clustered in groups, gossiping about the garden incident. More nobles sided with Victoria than with Prince Theodore.
They sprinkled their talk with unpleasant remarks about the Duchess, saying she’d meddled in palace affairs and had called Victoria “Lady Lowell.”
They were flattering Donovan and the Lowell family.
Soon after the Emperor and the royal family appeared and the ball got underway, Roxana felt Crown Prince Donovan’s sharp gaze on her. He clearly knew about the commotion.
Trying not to react, Roxana danced with Asterion.
The man, who might have heard the news even before the Crown Prince did, kept his face calm and unreadable.
Roxana worried more about how Asterion would respond than the possible backlash from Victoria.
She had tried, and still tried, not to get involved with palace politics — but today she had to break that rule.
As the ball reached its height, the Kailani couple left the palace. Asterion didn’t say a word about the incident on the way home. From then on, the Duke’s visits to the Duchess’s chambers — which had been almost daily — stopped completely.
A week passed after the Harvest Festival.
“Public opinion in the social circles is turning against us,” said Trevor, the First Secretary. Asterion put down the papers he’d been reading.
“How are our nobles positioned?” Asterion asked, sinking into his chair.
“They’re highlighting Prince Theodore’s unfair treatment, but since so many nobles side with the other camp, the topic flares up and then dies down,” Trevor replied.
Asterion tapped the desk with his finger and thought for a moment.
“It looks hard to turn public opinion in our favor.”
Trevor added, “The Crown Prince’s side won’t just let this go. They’ll think this is a good chance to attack.”
“Right. More nobles have chosen the Crown Prince’s line.
Lowell Marquis had been visiting the Crown Prince’s palace often.”
The shift after the Harvest Festival was expected by both sides. The argument between Victoria Lowell and Roxana had ripple effects. It could easily turn into a bigger conflict between the Crown Prince Donovan and Duke Asterion — their relationship was already very poor.
Donovan wanted a reason to pick a fight with the Duke, and this incident gave him that reason.
Donovan and Victoria were on opposite sides from the start. Among the empire’s four ducal families, the Kailani house towered over the others in many ways. The Lowell family was clearly weaker.
After the previous Crown Prince died, the Kailani house returned to neutrality. From Donovan’s perspective, that stung his pride — and it could mean a powerful political rival later. He wouldn’t ignore that.
Nobles whispered that the Crown Prince had caused the current situation.
“Technically, royal law and etiquette would call her ‘Lady Lowell,’” Trevor said, “but the reality is different. Everyone knows.”
“If the Crown Prince plays the role of the devoted lover to sway public opinion, the people will fall for it.
He’s got the Crown Prince’s son as a figure to use.”
Victoria wasn’t officially the consort, but she’d given birth to the Crown Prince’s son, so this incident could justify an attack on the Kailani house.
“Are the Crown Prince and the Lowell Marquis pushing to change the law? The timing is perfect for it.”
“That’s my thought, too.
The Crown Prince will try to change the law that prevents a Crown Prince from having a concubine.
This incident gives him the perfect excuse.”
“We need a solid defense.”
“Of course. We can counter this by showing historical examples where non-official-born children rose to the throne, proving there’s no need to change the law.”
Trevor pushed his glasses up.
“And even if the Crown Prince promotes his son, the Emperor—who lost his own heir Nathan—will want the imperial power to remain stable. If we strongly oppose, the Emperor will likely hold his ground.”
The Emperor wanted the imperial line secure and didn’t want a son to become more powerful than the throne itself.
The law limiting concubines was a political check to prevent a Crown Prince from gaining too much power before becoming Emperor.
“The Emperor won’t want any son to have more power than him,” Trevor said.
“Yes. A nobles’ meeting will probably be called soon. We must move faster.”
The Kailani-led neutral faction would work to block the Crown Prince’s plans.
Asterion referred to Prince Theodore as “our little star prince.”
Asterion knew Roxana’s most precious necklace. He hadn’t asked why she wore it, but she never took it off. Sometimes he couldn’t ignore the sense that the necklace held something special.
“There’s no unusual movement yet,” Trevor reported. No one had made a move to harm the Seventh Prince, and there were no signs of a hostile group acting.
The late Crown Prince Nathan doted on Theodore, treating him like a treasure. Nathan died soon after Theodore’s one-hundred-day celebration, so Theodore remembered nothing of him.
Asterion had known about Theodore’s poor situation from the start. He hadn’t acted openly because drawing attention would make Theodore a target of Donovan and his faction.
That didn’t mean Asterion had done nothing. He’d planted people around Theodore and received periodic reports, but he hadn’t reached out directly. It was still too early; timing mattered.
