Until The Real One Shows Up

“Oh, look over there.”

“It’s the emperor, isn’t it?”

“What is he doing at the regular ball? He never showed up before.”

At the unexpected appearance of the Emperor, everyone in the ballroom was excited and focused on him.

However, Wilhelm did not notice the countless eyes pouring on him.

He wasn’t interested.
His attention was now focused solely on one thing.

‘Where is she?’

Wilhelm looked for only one person from the moment he entered the ballroom.
But he couldn’t see them at all.

He looked around the ballroom in frustration, but he still couldn’t find even a strand of hair from the visitor.

“Your Majesty, please stop moving.
Did you come to the ballroom to exercise?”

Colton, who faithfully followed Wilhelm’s footsteps, eventually complained.

“You’ve been going around this big ballroom over three times!”

He did.
He thought he’d just go around once, but… When who he was seeking did not come into sight, he was already spinning for three laps.

“Are you looking for someone?”

Colton thought of someone and asked.
But Wilhelm only answered calmly.

“Who is looking for who? No one is looking.”

“Your eyes have been busy since then.”

“…it’s an illusion.
I’m afraid your eyes have gotten a lot worse.”

“Your Majesty exploits me day and night.”

Colton, who shrugged and skillfully responded, snuck up on Wilhelm.

Suddenly, Wilhelm narrowed his brow and glanced at him, as if to ask what he was doing, Colton whispered in a covert voice.

“Are you looking for Her Majesty?”

“…what?”

“That’s the way it seems… Whoo!”

“You sound like you’ve run out of sugar.”

As if Wilhelm didn’t want to hear it, he picked up the muffin that the servant was holding and put it in Colton’s mouth.

Colton took a bite and bit the muffin that covered his mouth.

“Are you sure you aren’t?”

“I’m not!”

Wilhelm asked, who answered with a rage.

“Why do you keep asking that? Like someone who knows.”

“No, then, if you are not looking for anyone, why are you walking around this large ballroom in public?”

“If you stay still, someone will come and ask me to dance.
Because I don’t want to do troublesome things.”

“If you don’t like it, you can go back to the Central Palace, right?”

At those words, Wilhelm’s eyes fluttered like a candle in the wind.

Colton, who was behind Wilhelm and couldn’t see him, continued his complaints in an incomprehensible voice.

“No, if you’re not going to dance in the first place, why the hell did you come to the ballroom? Someone who doesn’t like loud noises.”

“… ha.”

In the end, Wilhelm, tired of Colton’s restless words, looked back with an annoyed expression on his face.

He didn’t want to see him chewing muffins with his innocent appearance today.

“Sir Colton, you are very talkative today.”

“At first, there were many questions.
This is new for you.”

“… Can I get you another muffin?”

“No, sir.
I’m on a diet these days.”

At the same time, the muffin in his hand was given to Colton, who put everything in his mouth without leaving anything behind.

“If you’re not looking for anyone, why don’t you just leave? Or did you want to dance with someone who came to the ball? I have a lot of work behind me, so I recommend the former.”

“… The Empress.”

Wilhelm asked, narrowing his brow.

“Didn’t she come?”

“Are you curious about that?”

“I’m not curious.”

As if he meant it, Wilhelm answered in a natural way.

“I’m just asking because it’s amazing.
She used to be a party girl.”

“If you’re so curious, you can go to the Empress and ask.”

“…me? Why?”

“You said you were wondering why she didn’t come.
You should go and ask.”

“That’s enough.”

Wilhelm replied, dumbfounded.

“Someone might think I care a lot about the Empress.”

That’s what it looks like…? Colton tried to say, but he decided to stay quiet because he thought Wilhelm would put two muffins in his mouth.

“…back to the central palace.”

Colton bowed to Wilhelm as if he had thought well.

Wilhelm left the ballroom and headed for the main palace.

Then it was the moment when I was about to pass by the Goddess’ garden.

“Your Majesty the Emperor.”

A strange voice stopped him.
At the beautifully decorated voice, he paused and turned around.

“…”

In that moment, Wilhelm felt a choking sensation.

A woman in a red rose dress he hated, with a headdress modeled by a red rose wrapped in bushes on her head, and a ruby ​​necklace sculpted in the shape of a red rose around her neck, stood before him.

Up to half a braid of her long hair.
It was the most favorite outfit of the former Empress Violet.

A woman who looked exactly like her was now in front of him.

“Greetings to the one and only sun of the Empire, the Master of Rosenberg.”

Olivia Fontaine.
A woman who was the half-sister of the former Empress Violet.

Wilhelm looked at Olivia with his face hardened.

She was approaching him with Olivia smiling at him.

“… stop.”

Under the pressure of facing his dead sister-in-law, Wilhelm couldn’t bear it any longer and raised his hand.

“You don’t have to come any closer.
What’s going on?”

“I have something to tell you, so I decided to meet you while I was visiting you.”

Olivia smiled with her graceful expression.

“I’m happy.
Is this fate?”

“No false sentiments.
What do you have to say?”

“… Would you like to walk around the perimeter, Your Majesty?”

Wilhelm narrowed his brow at her unexpected request.
But he soon nodded and dismissed all his accompanying attendants.

In that space, only Wilhelm and Olivia were left.

“Now tell me.
What do you have to say?”

“I heard that the adoption of Prince Louis and the establishment of me being concubine were discussed at a political meeting recently.”

“The news is late.
The adoption has been put on hold, and the Empress has no intention of adopting yet.”

Wilhelm replied with an expressionless face.

“I told you this before to your father, but the Marquis of Fontaine seemed to have not said it.”

“No, Your Majesty.
I… … I want to know why you rejected me.”

“Because I have no desire to bring in a concubine.”

“Do you hate me?”

Wilhelm was at a loss for words at the absurdly ambiguous question.

“Was the will of the Emperor important to his marriage?”

“It is important to me.”

“If I don’t like it, will you understand?”

“Your majesty…!”

“Then I will answer you.
I hate you.
So I refused.”

“You put a dagger into a lady’s heart without any fuss.”

“I thought it would be good for the lady to be certain if I was going to refuse anyway.”

“For me…”

“Don’t get me wrong.”

Wilhelm concluded the conversation with a frown.

“If that’s all you have to say, I’ll leave.”

“Why don’t you like me?”

Olivia asked with her eyes wide open as if she could not accept the situation.

“I’ll fix whatever it is.”

“Didn’t you say you’d understand if I told you my intention?”

Wilhelm found this situation ridiculous, but it seemed meaningless to argue further.

He cleared things up in a cold voice.

“I don’t think you’re going, so I’ll have to leave first.”

“Your Majesty!”

Then Olivia screamed at Wilhelm and grabbed him by the collar.

When Wilhelm looked at Olivia with a panicked look, he saw a burning look of desperation.

Why? He thought the eyes were like noose, slowly strangling his throat and stifling him.

“You can’t do this to me.”

“Let go of me.
How dare you put your hand on someone’s body…!”

Wilhelm did not hide his displeasure and struck Olivia’s hand.

She looked at Wilhelm as Olivia bit her lip.

“Someone will think we have a very deep relationship.”

“It’s a deep relationship.”

He responded by saying it wasn’t true.

“Aren’t you Louis’ aunt?”

“If you take that into consideration, you would know that marriage with me is unreasonable.”

“If I become Your Majesty’s concubine, I can raise Louis better than anyone else.
Much more than Her Majesty!”

“How could a lady, who was deprived of her nanny position for abusing the prince, say such a thing?”

“…”

Olivia bit her mouth as if she had been gagged at those words, and Wilhelm sneered at it.

“It’s funny.”

“… It’s not abuse, Your Majesty.
It was education for Prince Louis after all!”

“Excessive education can be abuse.
Who told you to educate the prince so severely?”

“That…!”

“The Empress is already taking good care of Louis.
Even if you adopt Louis, he will be the Empress’ child.”

Wilhelm nailed Olivia with one merciless look.

“So, stop paying attention to me and start living your life as the Lady of the Fontaine house.”

“… my life?”

Olivia opened her eyes and said.

“Three years, Your Majesty.
For three years, I gave my all to Prince Louis.
How can you tell me to live without him? It can’t be! Give me back the Prince!”

“The Prince was not the lady’s child in the first place.
You’re too squeamish about being a nanny for three years.”

“… You will need me.”

At that moment, Olivia’s eyes changed.
She said in a meaningful voice.

“You shouldn’t be kicking me out like this.”