EOSL CH 30

Chapter 30

I couldn’t possibly say, “Well, I basically kicked the owner of this palace with my foot, so I feel guilty and awkward and just want to escape as soon as possible.”

Obviously not.

So I forced an awkward smile.

“…It’s nothing. I just… want to go home quickly.”

“But it must have been a while since you were last at the palace.”

The more attention Lady Guiden showed me, the more pressured I felt. Even the polite way she addressed me was overwhelming.

Normally, since I hold no title and she is a viscountess, she could speak down to me. But she continued using honorifics.

Perhaps it was because I had entered the palace as His Majesty’s guest.

“Yes, of course… that’s true. It’s just, I have circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

“…”

Was she always this persistent? I avoided her gaze.

I needed to make something up… but nothing came to mind. Leni once told me that whenever I entered the palace, I turned into an idiot.

She might be right. At home, I could have spun ten lies in a row without blinking.

“Lady Wildenbiston.”

Lady Guiden called me again. I looked at her with a miserable expression.

She smiled gently. By now she had surely guessed that something was wrong, but she showed no sign of it.

“There is no need to hesitate. You may remain here as long as you wish. You collapsed within the imperial palace, and the palace has acknowledged responsibility for your injury. There were instructions to treat you as an honored guest under official invitation. While you remain here, I will personally oversee your lodging, meals, and comfort so that you experience no inconvenience.”

“No, that’s not necessary—… Excuse me? You will personally oversee it?”

I had been shaking my head automatically, but I suddenly lifted it.

Had I heard correctly?

Lady Guiden herself?

She nodded calmly, smiling.

This was absurd. For someone who served the Empress Dowager to personally attend to me was far too much honor.

“I—I’m really fine. As soon as the departure procedures are finished, I’ll leave. Truly….”

“Refusal—”

She smiled warmly again. A moment ago she had looked as stern as a cinnamon stick; now she seemed as sweet as syrup.

“Lady Wildenbiston is someone I must personally attend to. It has been three years since you last entered the palace, has it not? Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has felt quite disappointed not seeing you all this time.”

Ah.

The Empress Dowager.

The moment she mentioned her, I understood.

So that was it.

She wasn’t just offering kindness. She was pointing out that I had not yet paid my respects.

“…Her Majesty.”

I pressed my hands to my cheeks and looked at Lady Guiden miserably.

I had forgotten.

Of course the Dowager would still be in the palace.

No matter how shaken I had been, how could I stay here for three days without even greeting her?

I hadn’t even asked whether she was still residing here.

How heartless, Aira Wildenbiston.

When she had been Empress, there was no one who could deny how fond she was of me.

Since I was four years old, I had been allowed to roam the palace freely because of her protection.

Even after my one-sided love ended, she showed me consideration. She stopped summoning me to the palace.

Sometimes she would send beautiful hairpins or dresses with warm notes attached. Gentle reminders that she had not forgotten me.

I bit my lower lip.

How could I forget someone so kind?

“Thank you, Lady Guiden. You were reminding me gently, weren’t you? I should have greeted Her Majesty first… I almost made a terrible mistake.”

Lady Guiden smiled again.

“It is nothing. Her Majesty will surely understand. As will I.”

“Even so… I’m not a child anymore. It’s embarrassing to show such narrow thinking.”

I covered my flushed cheeks.

No matter how personal my feelings were, I was still a citizen of this empire. A noble sustained by its stipends.

Rubellus was Rubellus. The Dowager was the Dowager.

Since I had to stay until Thursday anyway, I wanted to greet her as soon as possible.

“Lady Guiden…”

I called her softly.

“Yes?”

“May I… even now… pay my respects to Her Majesty?”

***

“If I’d known it would be like this, I would have delayed handing over the throne,” Epina said with a laugh. “Yohan grumbles endlessly. Rubellus works so diligently, and his security is so strict. It’s hard to live in the palace without feeling self-conscious.”

She wore a light coral afternoon dress, her golden hair elegantly pinned up. Sunlight sparkled over the golden grass of the annex garden, making her seem radiant.

Epina, once Empress of Zahard and the sole partner and lover of Emperor Yohan Zahard.

Much of Yohan’s greatness as a ruler was thanks to her.

She had tempered his fiery and eccentric temperament. She helped him accept the harsh advice of his ministers.

I set my teacup down gently and replied comfortably.

“I can’t even imagine the palace without Your Majesty here. I hope you remain here always. I’m sure His Majesty feels the same. Your presence alone must give him strength.”

I didn’t know if that was true for Rubellus. But pleasing her was what mattered.

Her eyes curved warmly.

“My goodness, Aira. How adorable. When did you grow up like this?”

What could I say to that? I simply smiled shyly.

Less than an hour after I expressed my wish to see her, I was granted an audience.

It happened to be afternoon tea time, so she invited me to join her. She even sent new clothes and accessories for me to wear.

A beautiful violet afternoon dress. The high lace collar and the asymmetrical skirt slit—it was clearly a fashionable design.

“That dress suits you wonderfully,” she said. “I bought it to send you someday, but I didn’t expect it to look so charming on you.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. It fits perfectly, almost like it was tailored for me.”

“My eye for such things is exceptional.”

“It has been three years since I last greeted you…”

“Ahem. And my imagination is even better than my eye. In any case, I’m glad it fits.”

…What was that?

For a moment, something felt odd. Perhaps I imagined it.

“By the way, this is my first time visiting the grand annex. The garden is beautiful.”

The Dowager and former Emperor resided in the grand annex behind the main palace, a space for retired royalty.

Why not remain in the main palace?

Simple. Once they stepped down, their access was limited. They could not freely enter the palace until the reigning emperor permitted it.

Seeing her again after so long, she seemed unchanged.

Hearing her warm voice made me feel at ease, as though we had parted only yesterday.

She seemed to feel the same. She gently squeezed my free hand.

“My dear Aira.”

She looked at me fondly.

“It feels like just yesterday you were toddling through the palace halls. And now you have grown into such a dazzling young lady. It was the Duchess of Wildenbiston who raised you, of course—but may I feel proud as well?”

Dazzling—

I nearly choked on my tea.

“Y-Your Majesty, that is too much praise. I’m embarrassed someone might hear.”

“Too much praise? I mean it sincerely. And who would hear? Who would come into this secluded annex?”

She laughed lightly, then looked at me quietly.