Slipping back into my office, I fiddled with the invitation Hyle had brought me. When the national assembly convened and the nobility flocked to the capital for the social season, countless parties were held at the imperial palace for the most trivial reasons. This party was one of those parties.

I picked up a pen and wrote a letter to Renée. There was something I needed to confirm.

After putting the short letter into an envelope, I sealed it and asked a servant to deliver it to her.

‘If Renée has abandoned her lover and become the Emperor’s mistress because she wants to, she wouldn’t refuse to meet me.’

After all, we parted quite fondly at the end.

As I waited for a reply from the imperial palace, the servant who went to the imperial palace returned to the mansion shortly afterward.

“Did you deliver the letter?”

“Yes, Madam. But I didn’t receive a reply.”

“Really? I see.”

It was something I had anticipated.

“Did you deliver it directly to Renée?”

“No, the Emperor’s hunting dog in front of her quarters took the letter, saying they would deliver it to her instead.”

“It wasn’t a guard but the Emperor’s hunting dog? Are you sure?”

The servant nodded.

“Yes, they were definitely a dog shapeshifter. There’s no way I could have been mistaken. They were dressed differently from the imperial guards, and I clearly saw their dog features. I’m certain.”

“All right, I understand. You may go now.”

From the servant’s words, I was certain.

‘She must be imprisoned.’

This must have been obviously against her will. Otherwise, why would a woman favored by the Emperor be watched by his people?

‘What happened to Renée’s lover, Nigel? It makes sense if Count Larscel, being such a greedy man, pushed her towards the Emperor, but why did the Emperor accept her? What kind of deal did they make?’

I was worried about Renée.

“I need to find out what happened to Nigel first.”

With the intention of discussing it with Dimitri, I asked the butler where he was now. However, his response was unexpected.

“The master went out a little while ago.”

“Went out?”

From what I’ve observed so far, I couldn’t believe that Dimitri, who was an introvert and usually stayed confined to the mansion except for inspecting the estate, went out. Although it was unusual, since he had Hyle send me the party invitation directly, it must mean he intended to attend the party today.

‘He’ll probably be back by the time the party starts in the evening.’

I nodded, thinking to myself.

“I see.”

“Has the Duke returned yet?”

“No, not yet…”

When I asked the maid about Dimitri’s return, she shook her head apologetically. Contrary to my expectation that he would be back by evening, Dimitri didn’t appear even when it was time to go to the party.

“What’s going on?”

It’s not like he could have gotten lost.

‘…Could it be that he isn’t attending the party?’

It could’ve been so. Hyle had only delivered the invitation, but he hadn’t said that Dimitri would attend the party with me. I had just assumed he would attend the party without confirming it. Now that I think about it, Dimitri had never expressed any intention of going to this party together.

‘What should I do?’

Well, there was nothing I could do about it.

I wanted to know how Renée was doing in the imperial palace right now.

Since I couldn’t contact her directly, the best I could do was to go as close as possible to where she was staying and gather any small piece of information I could.

‘I’m sure if I go to a party, people will be talking about Renée.’

After all, wasn’t it a perfect gossip topic?

The younger sister taking her older sister’s lover. It was a provocative scandal. There was no way people who loved to talk would stay quiet about this.

‘I have to figure something out.’

I was worried that the Emperor might try to kidnap me again like last time. Nonetheless, he had lost interest in me for quite some time, and I doubted he would do such a thing openly in the imperial palace.

‘I still need to be careful, just in case.’

Especially if I was going alone without Dimitri.

While I was lost in thought, Agwen dressed me up splendidly for my first social appearance in a long time.

“When I was walking around the store with the Madam the other day, I saw that wearing hair decorations like this is a trend these days!”

Saying so, she held up a mirror to show off her work with an excited expression.

She had skillfully arranged my long red hair, adorning it beautifully with brightly colored flowers. The white and yellow floral decorations perfectly complemented the white lace accents of my light green dress.

“Agwen, this is truly great!”

How did she develop such a keen eye and skillful hands? Rowaine already possessed striking features and vibrant colors. It wasn’t an exaggeration. When you adorn a beautiful person like this, it truly makes them shine.

“You’re so beautiful, Madam! Your presence brightens up the entire room!”

“Thank you, Agwen. It’s all thanks to you.”

I praised Azen generously before hurrying out of the room, but not before checking with the butler one last time.

“Ruben, has Dimitri returned yet?”

“No, he hasn’t returned yet. Shall I proceed with your departure?”

“It can’t be helped. Did Dimitri leave any specific instructions?”

“He didn’t.”

“All right. If Dimitri returns, let him know that I’ve gone to the imperial palace party.”

“All right.”

Despite feeling uneasy about what had happened in the morning, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for him to discuss it before leaving. It was because it was considered impolite to arrive later than the imperial family at a party they were hosting.

“Let’s depart.”

After giving the command calmly, the carriage set off. But to be honest, my heart was far from calm.

‘I can’t believe I’m going to the party alone…’

I thought Dimitri was coming with me!

Before I left, I searched and hoped he would come.

‘…I just hate crowded places.’

No matter how much etiquette was ingrained in this body, being a Korean who wasn’t familiar with party culture, and moreover, someone lacking in social skills among them, I felt out of place.

‘When I enter, all eyes will be on me, though it’ll only be for a moment. I’ll casually mingle with people and pick up any gossip about Renée.’

And if I was lucky, I might even run into Elaine.

‘It would be great if Elaine attended the party.’

I tried not to cry, fearing that Agwen’s carefully applied makeup might smudge, but tears kept welling up.

‘Dimitri…’

I wished I hadn’t run away like that when he came to the office.

‘It was just a matter of kicking off the blankets a few times to get rid of this embarrassment. Why did I miss the chance to ask him to come to the party with me by running away?!’

In reality, if Dimitri was actually Blue, wouldn’t I be the only one embarrassed?

‘He was acting a bit of an idiot himself, wasn’t he…’

The thought of Dimitri was Blue, and the idea of going to the party alone was all jumbled up in my head.

‘For now, let’s just focus on Renée.’

I struggled to compose myself.

And so, the carriage continued its journey towards the palace.

“Rowaine, the Duchess of Blois has arrived!”

The door opened with the servant’s shout, and all eyes turned in our direction. Undaunted by any of the gazes, I confidently walked into the hall.

‘Okay, be natural.’

It was the result of self-hypnosis by taking deep breaths about a hundred times in the carriage.

As expected, people murmured and whispered as I made my entrance.

“Hey, isn’t that her?”

“What? How shameless of her to show up here?”

“Pfft. Did she come running to me because she was so angry that she lost her position as the mistress to her sister?”

“I thought she was so ashamed that she disappeared after being abandoned by His Majesty, but that arrogant expression of hers hasn’t changed.”

“If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to even set foot in the imperial palace.”

At first, there were murmurs about Rowaine, who once wielded power as the Emperor’s mistress. Then, gradually, there were speculations about my relationship with Dimitri.

“But why isn’t that shapeshifter duke with her? Even if he doesn’t often show up at parties, did he just send his wife alone?”

“It seems their relationship isn’t good. I’ve heard rumors that they don’t even look at each other.”

“Well, isn’t it a relief that they don’t look at each other? I heard she hit the Duke.”

It was a really funny story.

‘Have they all forgotten that Dimitri was called the ‘murderer of the battlefield’?’

Despite being a villainess who didn’t hesitate to commit cruel acts, it was ridiculous to think that I would hit a man who was called the ‘murderer of the battlefield.’

‘Do they think it’s going to be that easy?’

If Dimitri set his mind to it, he could slit my throat. Not even Rowaine or Grandmother would be able to lay a fingertip on Dimitri without permission.

A laugh escaped me as I imagined it in my mind.

At that, the ladies around me flinched and whispered in surprise.

“What? Why is she laughing like that?”

“How could she be so vicious?”

She was treated like a proper villainess.

‘But still, I’m glad that you gossiped so openly. I really want to hear about Renée quickly.’

While I looked around the hall, as expected, Renée was nowhere to be seen. She wouldn’t appear with the emperor or show herself at all.

At that moment, someone called out to me as I was glancing around.

“Rowaine?”

 
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