Chapter 02
“Miss, please wake up! It’s almost noon already!”
“Ugh… I hate sunlight.”
Sunlight poured warmly into the room through the curtains Rachel had drawn wide open.
It was the perfect day to enjoy tea outside.
But Irein treated even that gentle sunlight as a nuisance, pulling the blanket over her face.
Sighing, Rachel mercilessly pulled the blanket off her.
“Ah! Just five more minutes! I couldn’t sleep last night…!”
“Well, whose fault is it for drinking so late?”
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to go in a normal state today…”
In the end, Irein lost to Rachel and sat up.
Clutching the blanket, her sulky face looked just like a child’s.
It wasn’t like Rachel didn’t understand how she felt.
That was why she sat at the edge of the bed, half considering persuading her not to go at all.
“If you’re that worried, maybe you shouldn’t go?”
“If I skip again this time, people will definitely start talking about our family. I have to go…”
“Ugh… I should’ve stopped you more firmly seven years ago.”
Rachel’s voice was full of regret.
She looked like she wanted to pat Irein’s head right away.
“I don’t regret it. And honestly, no one will recognize me anyway.”
Feeling sorry for making Rachel worry, Irein spoke gently to reassure her.
Rachel smiled faintly at that.
“Well then, I’ll prepare your formal dress. The young duke of Macmillan will be here soon.”
With that, Rachel stood up and left the room.
Stretching her stiff body from the hangover, Irein glanced at the invitation by her bedside.
The engagement ceremony of Emperor Killian and her relative, Sierra.
The luxurious invitation, edged in gold, seemed to pressure her into attending.
Ever since returning from Esi to Marchioness Chaent, Irein had felt an inexplicable unease in the week leading up to the ceremony.
Her hair had changed back from water-colored to silver, and the scar makeup on her face had been removed.
Esi’s face—like that of the war hero at the victory party years ago—had all but disappeared.
Yet even as she reassured herself by checking the mirror repeatedly, she would soon find herself pacing in anxiety again.
“If I get found out, both I and my family are dead.”
The emperor’s fiancée was Sierra, the daughter of Duke Lusher—her aunt’s family.
If the emperor were a normal person, being discovered wouldn’t mean life or death for her or her family.
But the problem was that Killian was far from normal.
He was cruel, a cold-blooded man who showed no mercy to nobles.
“…Ha. But I can’t skip the engagement ceremony either.”
For the past two years since becoming a marchioness again, she had avoided high society under the excuse of poor health.
But skipping the emperor’s engagement ceremony—especially when it involved a relative—would certainly spark gossip.
Knock knock.
“Miss, the young duke of Macmillan has arrived.”
As she ran her hands through her messy hair in frustration, a maid’s voice followed the knock.
“Come in, Noel.”
Irein answered, brushing back her tangled hair carelessly.
Noel entered the bedroom, already fully dressed for the ceremony.
He looked completely put together, unlike Irein, who had just woken up in wrinkled sleepwear with puffy eyes.
“You look like you just woke up, Ren.”
“And you’re a heartless jerk who left a depressed person behind.”
Irein shot him a glare as he casually used her nickname.
The closer the ceremony got, the more depressed she’d become—so she had summoned Noel with a whole crate of alcohol.
She had drunk two-thirds of it herself, but Noel had still drunk quite a bit too.
And yet he looks perfectly fine.
“Ren, you said the same thing at least twenty times yesterday. I wanted to stay, but there was no end to it.”
“Even if I say the same thing a hundred times, you’re supposed to stay! What kind of friend just leaves? Is this all our friendship means?”
“If it were the other way around, you would’ve left too.”
“Ugh… my head hurts.”
Ignoring the unfavorable remark, Irein pressed her temples, wincing.
Noel chuckled as if she were hopeless.
“Still, I came to go with you today. The Duke Lusher said, ‘Why would I bother taking care of someone who drank herself senseless?’”
“My aunt knows I drank? Did you tell her?”
At the mention of her aunt, Veronica Lusher, Irein flinched.
“Sierra told her. I stopped by their estate this morning, and they were talking about you.”
“…So she not only caused me to drink because of her engagement to the emperor, but also went and reported me?”
That woman clearly had no conscience.
“And by the way, the duke said he’s preparing for your title conferment ceremony.”
“Title conferment? That was already handled in writing two years ago.”
“You’re a special case—you’re being granted the title of marchioness again. He said there needs to be a formal ceremony. And your debut in high society too.”
“…My headache just got worse.”
At this bolt-from-the-blue news, Irein slumped into her chair.
The dull ache from her hangover intensified instantly.
A title conferment ceremony meant swearing loyalty to the empire and the imperial family in front of the emperor.
Which meant she would have to face Killian directly.
“Even at the engagement ceremony, I was planning to stay as quiet as possible… and now I have to face him…”
“There’s no way he’ll recognize you. Your hair color is different, your face is different. Even I couldn’t recognize you back then. Don’t worry.”
Noel smiled reassuringly and patted her shoulder.
Normally playful and annoying like a sibling, he could be serious when it mattered.
Irein felt slightly comforted and smiled warmly at him.
“You’ve really grown up well.”
“Of course. Where else would you find a handsome and kind guy like me?”
“If only you’d fix that mouth of yours. Anyway… I need a plan.”
Clenching her fist, Irein steeled her resolve not to be discovered.
Thanks to Noel, Irein was able to enter the imperial palace without trouble.
Aside from the attendant checking invitations staring at her a bit longer than usual, everything went smoothly.
Considering she had only ever been here once before—at the victory party—it was fortunate she came with Noel.
“But what’s with that fan?”
Once they found a secluded corner and sat down, Noel pointed at the fan covering most of her face.
“To hide my face.”
“Doesn’t that make you stand out more?”
Your silver hair already stands out.
He chose not to say the rest and shook his head.
“Even if I stand out, they can’t see my face. If I tilt my head like this, they can’t even see my eyes. They’ll just think I’m some odd noble who hasn’t been out in society much.”
“…Well, it does look a bit suspicious.”
With her head lowered and eyes barely visible, she did look suspicious—but her face was mostly hidden.
Wanting her plan to succeed, Noel adjusted her bangs to cover her eyes more.
“Isn’t that the young duke of Macmillan?”
“I think so. Why is he sitting in such a corner?”
“Then who’s the person next to him?”
As time passed, more nobles gathered in the hall.
Most of them began whispering about Noel and Irein.
