Chapter 03
3. On the Night of the Debutante Ball
Bookmark inserted.
The graduation party of the noble academy is hosted by His Majesty the Emperor, which means His Majesty makes an appearance.
I had always heard that he only shows his face for a moment before returning to the castle, but this year seems different.
For some reason, I have been made to sit right beside His Majesty at the seat prepared for him.
At first, of course, I refused.
“It would be disrespectful for me to sit beside Your Majesty. I shall remain standing.”
“Then I shall stand as well.”
“Please, Your Majesty must be seated.”
“If you sit, then I will sit.”
“No, I will stand, so please, Your Majesty, sit down.”
“In that case, I too shall remain standing.”
This back-and-forth with His Majesty, who absolutely refused to yield, went on for about five minutes.
In the end, the stares from those around us forced me to give in.
I could hardly keep the Emperor himself from sitting down. So I, too, sat down—only to find that my seat was right beside him.
There were clearly empty seats across or diagonally from him, yet they had placed me at his side.
“Your Majesty, who is this lady?”
“She is to be my fiancée, Lacey Dian.”
Before his retainers—nobles and knights alike—he introduced me openly, and I panicked.
“I have not accepted any such engagement.”
“You will not accept me?”
“Th-that is…”
I knew that though His Majesty had declared he would never marry, his retainers had been pressing him at least to keep a consort or mistress nearby. Since he himself now proposed an engagement, of course no one around him would stop it.
“Lady Lacey, congratulations.”
“Your Majesty, so you have at last resolved to take a wife. Truly wonderful news.”
I wanted to cry out:
I am merely a poor baron’s daughter from the provinces! Are you sure about this!? The dress I wear now is one I made myself!
But voicing such things would be discourteous, so instead I said the one objection I could:
“My previous engagement has not yet been formally annulled. I would need to confirm with my parents…”
“Indeed. I shall send word to the House of Baron Dian. Let us have an official envoy dispatched.”
“As the eldest daughter, I feel my younger sister Sophia would be more—”
“The only one I desire is you, Lacey.”
Why!?
Sophia is still only sixteen, but she is beautiful, and her figure is graceful.
As for me—I am too tall, too flat-chested… Yet when I turned to look properly at His Majesty seated beside me, I realized something.
When I stood, my height barely reached His Majesty’s chest.
Lord Renan, my former fiancé, was insecure about his lack of height and always forbade me from wearing shoes with high heels. But standing next to His Majesty, it seemed I ought to wear heels, otherwise I would appear too small beside him.
“Um… why me?”
“Do you remember when you greeted me at your debutante ball? That was when I noticed you.”
“Noticed me?”
“Yes. In that moment, I knew—you are my destiny.”
“Destiny?”
I no longer understood anything.
I am well aware I do not have the kind of looks that make others speak of fate.
My sister Sophia has been courted many times by men who claimed to feel “destiny” when they met her. But me? Never.
And yet—the one who felt such destiny was His Majesty the Emperor.
If I became his fiancée, I would surely have to move into the Imperial Palace.
Though I am the eldest daughter of Baron Dian, if the Emperor wishes it, I must wed into the Imperial family.
The duties of the Dian household would then fall to Sophia.
I had always wanted Sophia to marry happily. Would that now be impossible?
“My slow life…”
Ah, farewell, my peace.
Farewell, my slow life.
I would become the Emperor’s consort, looked down upon as the daughter of a poor baronial family, waiting quietly for His Majesty’s summons.
As I gazed off into the distance, His Majesty offered me champagne.
When I accepted the slender flute, I realized how parched my throat had grown from nervousness.
A sip moistened it at once.
“Lacey, what do you like?”
“My likes, Your Majesty?”
“Are you hungry? Shall I have some light food brought?”
Attendants at the graduation party were serving drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
But so tense was I that I could hardly eat, and when I declined, His Majesty also drank only his champagne and ordered no food.
“I wished to invite you to a dance, but security in this hall is inadequate, so dancing has been forbidden. I regret it. I am not the sort of generous man who could watch you dance with another.”
“Well, in any case, no one would invite me.”
Even my former fiancé, Lord Renan, had abandoned me to dance with Lady Emily.
No one in their right mind would ask the impoverished daughter of Baron Dian to dance.
When I said so, His Majesty frowned as if baffled.
“But Lacey, you are so intelligent and wonderful.”
“When one is top of the class every year, people see you as clever—too clever—rather than admirable.”
Throughout all six years at the academy, I had been first in the year, while Renan kept insisting, “Women have no need of study. All they require is charm.”
Such a wretched fiancé he was, that when the engagement ended, I felt not a whit of grievance—indeed, I thought myself lucky.
And yet… how had things come to this?
“This embroidery—you stitched it yourself?”
“Yes. I cannot afford to have gowns made, so I sew my own. This embroidery is simpler than Sophia’s, but her gown is far more splendid. I would dearly love to show it to you.”
Ah! I should not have said that.
Whenever it comes to embroidery, I grow too eager and speak too much.
I shut my mouth, ashamed, but His Majesty—whose beautiful face is said to rarely show emotion—was smiling as he listened.
“And this lace, did you also make it?”
“Yes. I am fond of lacework. In fact, my very name, ‘Lacey,’ comes from lace—my parents wished me to be as delicate and beautiful as lace itself.”
“So that is the origin of such a lovely name.”
This was dangerous.
When it came to embroidery and lace, I always forgot myself.
Had I spoken out of turn to the Emperor himself?
Even wearing a handmade gown while sitting at his side—could such a thing be forgiven?
As my face grew pale at the thought, His Majesty only smiled, until a retainer whispered something in his ear and he rose.
“Forgive me, Lacey. Our pleasant time must end here. I must take my leave. In the coming days, a formal envoy will be dispatched from the castle. Wait for them.”
“Could you not reconsider?”
“Reconsider what?”
“Um… everything?”
I wished with all my heart that he would reconsider the engagement.
But my plea did not reach him.
That silver hair, those pomegranate-red eyes…
They gave me a sense of déjà vu, as if I had seen them somewhere before.
After the graduation party, Sophia and I returned to the Dian estate.
But my parents had already received the news.
“Lacey, His Majesty proposed to you?”
“Lord Renan has declared the engagement void and offered compensation.”
“When did you become acquainted with the Emperor, Lacey?”
I had no answers.
All I could tell them was:
“His Majesty said that when I greeted him at my debutante ball, he fell in love at first sight.”
“What!?”
“In that single instant!?”
That year, there had been dozens of boys and girls turning fifteen.
Each in turn had but thirty seconds at most to greet His Majesty.
Yet in that one instant, he claimed to have found his destiny in me.
It sounded like a lie, but apart from that, I had no other explanation for how I had come to be chosen.
