Chapter 35

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“What do you mean, Princess?”

“If Young Lady Jamela Winston comes, give her a good hand.”

The palace officials who were preparing the imperial banquet together bowed deeply. The dazed Duke Winston came to his senses a moment too late.

“Princess!”

* * *

Karzen, opened the door to the office where Raha was supposed to be working, squinted.

“Why is Duke Winston here?”

“Your Majesty…..”

“Where is my twin?”

Duke Winston racked his brain.

In any case, he too was an imposing aristocrat. There was no way he could have known what the consequences would be if he brought his own daughter to sit at this seat just because Raha had willingly left. But that didn’t mean he could sit idly by and not prepare for the banquet that was right around the corner.

In the end, he came up with an answer.

“In fact, just now…….”

Karzen’s face cooled as Duke Winston told the truth mixed with appropriate lies.

“Raha has always liked to play. She’s still like a child.”

“Yes….. I fear that perhaps the Princess is in a bad mood.”

“Duke Winston.”

Karzen looked around the empty space.

“Did you ask Raha to hand over the job to your daughter?”

“……?”

Duke Winston bowed his head lightly.

“No, Your Majesty. My daughter does not even know about this.”

His voice was calm, but his true feelings were different. If he did wrong, his daughter would be misunderstood for wanting to covet the Princess’s power on a status of a fiancée.

In the first place, Duke Winston had never thought that the Princess would give up her place like that….Perhaps even Karzen did not expect it.

“Your Majesty, it’s a misunderstanding.”

Karzen turned to the voice behind him.

“I misunderstood Lady Jamela?”

“I think the Princess has shown Jamela her generosity. Jamela knew the Princess was a warm person with a generous heart when they had a conversation together.”

Karzen looked at Jamela, who was summoned by her father but could not sit down and smiled pleasantly. Karzen looked at her blue eyes.

“I know how Raha feels, Duke Winston.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I will make sure that the Duke goes and brings Raha himself. It will be nice if we can have dinner together as a family.”

“I would be honored, Your Majesty.”

Unlike earlier when he was flustered by Raha, the result was rather better with Karzen. This was because Karzen did not meet well with Jamela on the grounds that he was busy.

Moreover, going to escort a lady of high status like Raha was rather a knightly honor that also fulfilled his desire for honor.

Duke Winston gladly left the huge office.

“Well then, Lady….”

“Your Majesty.”

Jamela smiled.

“How would you like to dine in the Garden of the Sun that we were going to see the other day?”

The Garden of the Sun was a beautiful garden reserved only for immediate royalty. The lady who was about to become Empress could walk there with the emperor.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

For a moment, Karzen looked at the empty office. Raha gave up this seat. Perhaps she went to her inner palace and rolled around in bed with that slave. Karzen was sure of it.

Raha had a personality that showed no interest.

But lately she wore dresses that came up to the top of her neck. There was no exception to the casual dresses or banquet attire.

Looking at those suffocating dresses, sometimes he felt like he wanted to use his hand to draw a line deep down her chest.

Cut the fabric to show some skin. Like those dresses she used to wear.

Karzen shifted his gaze and looked at Jamela.

“Let’s do that, Lady.”

* * *

The Garden of the Sun was very beautiful from the entrance.

For generations, it was a place where no one was invited unless they were direct or collateral descendants of the royal family. It also had a strong symbolic meaning. It was a place to which the future wives of the emperor were invited.

If Duke Winston had known, he could not have concealed his delight. Not only the Duke but also his parents. Also, it was a great “Garden of the Sun” that his grandparents had never entered before.

“Then, feel free to look around. Young Lady. His Majesty will arrive soon.”

“Okay.”

On the way here, Karzen had to take care of business with the captain of the Kingsguard for a while and Jamela arrived first.

Jamela looked around the crystal greenhouse.

It lived up to its dignified name, “The Garden of the Sun,” and was generously landscaped with precious plants from the far south, which even the great nobility could not afford to have. The edges of the small pond were finished in golden marble and lined with orange trees.

All this luxury was located “in space”. All of this breathed beneath the massive crystal house.

It was a pity that it was winter and she could not see outside, but this large interior was also very beautiful.

Jamela looked around slowly with the elegant figure of a great aristocrat and admired that it was indeed a beautiful place.

It was a gesture of appreciating art. Everywhere movement was elegant.

“It really is a beautiful place.”

“Yes. It was the most beloved place of the emperors of the past.”

The chief chamberlain took Jamela’s words skillfully. For a while Jamela’s eyes were fixed on the chief chamberlain. The man had become the new chief chamberlain several days ago.

The previous chief chamberlain had lost his life for some reason. The reason was…..It was said that he dared to insult Princess Raha.

As Raha told Shed, the chambermaids of Raha’s Palace would n let the words out appropriately.

That was why the nobles could not know any more details.

It was a surprising, but on the other hand, it was understandable.

The emperor glamorously decorated the Princess as if for everyone to see while harshly holding his twin’s leash.

So no matter how harsh the situation of the imperial Prncess was, no one behaved recklessly.

This time, however, was a bit more shocking.

The emperor cherished the princess more than Jamela had expected. The inferiority complex of not having eyes of the heir was also enough to cover the flesh-and-blood bond of the twin.

Jamela felt that she needed to be more polite to Raha, even if numerous nobles had felt it without saying it.

In any case, the Princess was willing to take care of the business of the inner court, so there would be no clash between them because Jamela would become empress. The great nobles above Duke level could not be unaware of the strange helplessness of Princess Raha.

As for Raha..

As long as she had the eyes of the heir, she could not be abandoned or killed. But she could spend the rest of her life in a suitable separate palace …It was the expectation of many people if Karzen’s interest in the Princess no longer there.

And Duke Winston was convinced. The very person who could divert Karzen’s interest was his own daughter, Jamela.

“Lady Jamela, His Majesty is here.”

It was not long before Karzen arrived.

Inside the crystal greenhouse was a large right-angled dining table carved out of the finest olive-colored marble.

Karzen was the first to sit at the top table, and the chief chamberlain guided Jamela to her seat skillfully.

The clever chamberlain had already finished distributing the seats. Even though Jamela was still engaged, she should be seated on the emperor’s left side because she was the future empress.

“Young Lady should sit too.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

However, Jamela was shown to a seat on the right side and quietly took her seat.

There was no way the emperor would save that left seat for her father, so there was only one person who would naturally sit in that seat.

The Imperial Princess Raha del Harsa.

“…….”

Nevertheless, Jamela was a well-educated young woman. There was no flaw in the smile on her face.

With such a smile, Jamela looked at the seat next to the emperor where she could not sit.

Isn’t this interesting?

Because the was the place to introduce for the Empress, but she could not sit in the supposed seat, so she wondered if Princess Raha was Empress or her…

The chief chamberlain said politely.

“Since it is cold, I will serve you a light and warm tea.”

Jamela looked at the cup placed in front of her.

‘’It’s a really nice tea.”

A bloom red flower was in her vision. A cup of fine scented tea, enjoyed only by gourmets, was served.

A medium-sized orchestra, already prepared, played soothing music in an invisible place. The melody was perfect. The sound of water pouring from an artificially created waterfall.

Very appropriate. So appropriate that the aroma of the tea she was drinking might have lingered in her head.

“Your Majesty.”

Then Jamela opened her mouth.

“Why did you choose me?”

“…….”

Karzen lifted his eyes sluggishly. Jamela had a faint smile that was typical of a Young Lady. It was hard to believe that she was the lady who had just asked the bold question.

The young emperor, with a bored expression on his face, showed a weak interest for the first time.

“Why do you ask?”

“I was very curious. Why I was chosen even though there were too many ladies there.”

Karzen tilted his chin at an angle. Blood words, an appropriate subject for the emperor’s attention. But the reply that came back was not as warm as a fairy tale.

“Because our marriage is a deal anyway.”

“…….”

“The Lady’s father offered me the best deal.”

“…….”

“So I bought it.”

It was a trade of business and reputation. The reply was brutally blunt. The Emperor’s answer she heard did not encompass even the slightest sweetness, but Jamela struggled not to lose her smile.