At that time, deep inside the palace.
A blood-stained shadow was drawn into the Empress's hall, surrounded by splendid decorations. The attendant, blood trickling from his mouth, bowed before the Empress, eyes filled with fear.
The Empress looked down at the servant and slowly sighed.
"Will Calix notice?"
The servant let out an incomprehensible groan, "Huh, huuhau." Hearing that sound, mixed with sobs, the Empress stared at the bleeding lip, then tilted her head back and sneered.
"Well, he must have noticed, so your tongue must have become like that."
Then she wiggled her fingertips.
“Put it away.”
The Empress clicked her tongue as she watched the back of the servant being dragged away, bleeding profusely.
"It's not fun."
At that moment, another court lady quietly approached the Empress and whispered to her.
It was a brief report on what Odelia and Calix had been doing at the villa that afternoon. The Empress didn't even raise an eyebrow. Then, slowly, she smiled wryly.
“I didn’t do anything serious, so why are you making such a fuss?”
She touched the teacup with her soft fingertips.
"Where? Is that guy the only one I've got under my wing? Most of this palace is my eyes, hands, and feet."
The Empress raised the corners of her mouth as if she was amazed, then raised her hand and gave an order.
"Go get some paper and pen."
***
Next morning.
Odelia, who had left the Herdel family's townhouse and returned to her own home, was silently greeting the morning in the midst of an unsettled afterglow.
As the sunlight slowly streamed through the window, a servant hurriedly opened the door.
"Lady, Lord Cedric has come to see you."
Before Odelia could even raise her head, the door opened, and Cedric strode in. His face was a bit more stern than usual.
Odelia quietly met his gaze, which seemed to have something to say.
"Cedric? What's going on?"
"Odelia, I have something to tell you."
She joked, "What are you talking about? Why are you so serious this morning?" Cedric didn't laugh. Was something serious going on? Odelia's nerves began to waver.
“Odelia, I..."
But before Cedric could even begin to speak, another sound was heard from outside the door.
A wheel rolls in, a horseshoe stops, a carriage bearing the imperial emblem, and finally, the voice of the imperial servant is heard.
"Lady Odelia, come out and receive Her Majesty the Empress's command!"
The voice was so loud that not only passersby but also the servants of nobles who were curious about why the imperial carriage was passing by Odelia's mansion so early in the morning gathered in front of Odelia's mansion.
As Odelia slowly went out and bowed to the servant, the servant respectfully handed her a scroll with the Empress's seal.
Odelia carefully opened the seal, her brow furrowed slightly. The text was crisp and clear, and the command was clear.
"Golden Lion Hero Odelia.
I want to hear in one place what kind of eyes you see this world through, what kind of words you speak. I want to see it with my own eyes, Empress. So, without delay, come to the palace.
I command you in the name of Empress Fabiana Arzen."
The Empress was calling her.
Odelia quietly rolled up the scroll and approached the servant.
"Can I just get on the carriage?"
The attendant blinked in confusion at the unexpected question.
“Yes? Right away?"
He looked Odelia up and down. It wasn't anything particularly unusual, but wasn't it customary to arrive at the palace the next day, or at least dressed formally, after receiving such a directive?
"You ordered me to come without delay, and you didn't say I couldn't do it on the same day. I'm ready."
It's not like we're just going to the next-door neighbors, and how can you be so calm after receiving the Empress's edict? Far from being flustered, the imperial attendant was taken aback by Odelia's appearance, as if she had been waiting for him.
After hesitating for a while, he reluctantly nodded.
"If that's the case, then..."
The moment Odelia was about to board the carriage, Cedric grabbed her wrist.
"Are you going to go right now?"
"You told me to come without delay, so I have to go."
"But after His Highness Calix came..."
To Cedric, who was worried, Odelia cut him off with a firm shake of her head.
"No, I don't have to. I don't want to rely on him all the time."
***
At that time, the imperial palace.
Through the window bathed in the white sunlight, Empress Fabiana was sitting on her bed as usual, slowly welcoming the morning.
Her hair, which hung over the silk name, was half-tangled and wavy, and a still-warm teacup remained at her fingertips.
Then a maid came quickly and whispered.
"Lady Odelia has arrived at the palace."
"...What? Already?"
The Empress frowned and raised her upper body. She had been burrowing into the blanket until just now, but she quickly straightened her back, sighed, and waved her hand.
"Huh, I've been waiting for this. Is this it?"
As if she wouldn't give in either, Fabiana quickly got up and called her maids over to start dressing up.
***
Odelia sat quietly in a spot in the drawing room, bathed in thin sunlight, holding her teacup.
As the tea was starting to cool down, the door suddenly opened.
Soon, the sharp, rhythmic click of footsteps echoed up and down the corridor. Only then did Odelia raise her head and face Empress Fabiana.
Her hair, a color close to platinum, flowed long and glossy, and her eyes, which were slanted downwards and her shadowed, voluminous eyelashes, were overwhelming in themselves.
Odelia thought to herself.
'Wow, she's beautiful.'
At her debutante, Odelia had been so nervous that she hadn't had the time to look at the Empress's face. Now, she finally understood why people were so excited about the scandal between Calix and the Empress.
‘Yes, if you are that beautiful."
Perhaps it's possible to go to war to forget. Perhaps Calix's negative comments about love last night weren't because he truly believed it, but because he couldn't forget this beautiful woman before her eyes.
Fabiana was flawlessly beautiful.
Odelia, unconsciously staring blankly at the Empress, quickly stood up.
The fan greeting that was shown at the debutante was nowhere to be found, and the greeting was done awkwardly, like a wooden toy soldier.
But the sight of her kneeling on one leg and covering her heart with her right hand was the most plausible example of knightly etiquette.
"Odelia, meet Your Majesty, the Empress."
"Oh, this is more impressive than the greeting at the debutante."
Only then did Odelia belatedly straighten her back and bow politely again in the lady's manner.
'There is no need to say hello twice."
The Empress waved her hand slightly. With an extremely gentle expression.
"I'm not unaware of your background, and I know you're more accustomed to a knightly greeting. I just wanted to get to know you a little better, so don't be too nervous."
Odelia thought to herself, "She is as gentle as she is beautiful."
And soon, without realizing it, she started to laugh at herself a little.
"...Am I weaker than I thought to something beautiful?"
Before meeting the Empress, she had been extremely uneasy, but when she saw her beautiful face, all that unease seemed to disappear.
In reality, the Empress's heart was the complete opposite of Odelia's.
She thought that Odelia was far below her anyway, and when she saw her as a debutante, she didn't leave much of an impression, so she didn't think there was any need to keep her in check.
But as the two of them sat facing each other like this, Fabiana felt a strange sense of discomfort rising in her.
A sense of crisis, as if an unexpected variable is right in front of her.
Although she wore a gentle and calm smile on her face, the Empress's gaze never left Odelia's for a single moment.
She was constantly calculating inside.
How can I use this child to make Calix kneel before me?
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