Having worked in the Imperial Palace, Valia had already known about the overlapping dates. The Gel Empire invited unmarried royal families from other countries to the Imperial Palace once every five years. It was a kind of inspirational work so that the royal families would have respect when they saw the Empire’s culture.
The Imperial Palace was always busy but it became even busier at this time. Back then, Valia did not even have time to sit down but now she was taking a leisurely walk. Life was really unpredictable.
“But what are they all doing?”
Valia stretched her head out. It seemed that they were choosing something on a wide display but she could not have a good look at it. Were they buying sacred relics?
“They are choosing cufflinks that have been blessed by the temple. If you attach it directly to your lover, your love will deepen. If you don’t have a lover, you can meet one if you throw it into the lake in the backyard of the temple. It is very popular with unmarried noble ladies. Looking at it today, it seems that the royal families from other countries are also interested.”
“It’s my first time seeing it today. It’s fascinating.”
Valia became interested and walked toward the display stand where the ladies were gathered. Contrary to her expectations that they were selling the cufflinks, she quickly noticed that no monetary transactions were involved and that the cufflinks were being offered free of charge.
‘As expected, rich people are different. But then again, they must have given large amounts of donations.’
The temple is not a poor and honest place. The payment for blessings or the amount voluntarily donated by devout believers easily went beyond imagination. Above all, this backyard where Valia was walking allowed access only to those who had a status higher than common nobles. Although it seemed like the temple was doing an act of good deed, there was no way the nobles with such a clear status would commit theft so they just distributed the cufflink free of charge. Anyway, Valia could not take her eyes off the display. Robin, who was guarding in the back, persuaded her.
“Why don’t you give it a try too?”
“Robin, don’t just carelessly recommend something like that to Lady Valia.”
“I will keep that in mind!”
Robin hurriedly corrected his posture after listening to Shaun’s stern reprimand. Valia smiled.
“It’s fine. I have never made any donations to the temple anyway.”
The nobles that were choosing the cufflinks over there may be from wealthy families who could make donations, but not Valia. She could not afford to make a donation. Even though the priests would not check the donation list before giving out the cufflink, it was a matter of conscience. When Valia was about to take off her eyes, Shaun—who was standing in a serious manner—said.
“The marquess makes a huge donation to the temple every year.”
Valia blinked her silvery-gray eyes. Looking at Robin, he also looked puzzled.
‘So… He wants me to do it?’
When Valia looked at Robin, he nodded to her. Shaun was still raising his head with a solemn face. Even though he knew they exchanged looks, he just feigned ignorance. Valia took a step while holding back her laughter.
“You can choose the one that you like.”
After hearing the priest, Valia’s eyes headed to the cufflink display stand. Even at first glance, the cufflinks placed on soft white silk were noticeably inexpensive. However, it could be seen that it was a handmade product made with considerable effort, and with the romantic legend, the ladies were choosing the cufflinks quite carefully.
‘The ladies are so cute. Well, if it were in the past, I also would have done that.’
Contrary to what she thought, Valia also could not take her eyes off the cufflink. What caught her eyes was a small cufflink embedded with a ruby. Rubies were precious jewels, but as the size on the cufflink was half the size of Valia’s fingernails, it did not seem so expensive. But most importantly, its red color caught her eyes.
‘His eyes were red.’
Schuden’s eyes were vivid red. If someone asked her what the most impressive thing in his appearance was, she would definitely choose his eyes—the red eyes with two conflicting energies; a burning passion and a cold apathy.
Valia realized why his rumors were so famous in the Imperial Palace only after meeting him directly. It was his gaze that was unforgettable once you saw it.
‘It’s going to be a nuisance if I take too much time so I will just take this one.’
Valia reached out and grabbed the ruby cufflink. And when she was about to pick it up, a woman who looked more mature than Valia reached out to the same cufflink.
“…”
The same light brown eyes as her eyes stared at Valia. She could guess that she was of high status with her flashy appearance but from the way she looked at Valia up and down, there was an arrogance that was hard to tell.
“It seems that we picked up the same thing.”
To be exact, she reached out to what Valia picked first. Valia blinked her silvery-gray eyes.
“It seems to me that you reached out to what I grabbed first.”
At the moment, displeasure passed by the woman’s brown eyes. Although it was for a moment, Valia was a master in capturing other people’s expressions and emotions after working in the Imperial Palace for a long time.
“Oh my. Maybe you saw it wrong. We definitely grabbed it at the same time.”
The woman who responded gracefully gave strength to her hand at the moment. It seemed that she tried to turn Valia’s attention by talking to her and took the cufflink away with her strength. But her opponent was Valia. Maybe not with a trained man, but Valia could easily win against the weak grip of a lady.
‘I broke the wall of my house with mace when I was young.’
Valia thought that the amount of effort this woman had exerted to take away the cufflink was ridiculous. As evidence, Valia’s expression did not change, while the woman’s face gradually turned red. The woman’s hand trembled, but the cufflink did not budge at all as if it had been fixed there.
“Are you done?”
Valia’s question made the woman’s face flushed up. Her hand was shaking as she used all her strength at once. The woman tried to ask with a calm face.
“W, which Kingdom…are you from? Are you from the Empire?”
“Gel’s etiquette is to reveal your identity first when asking about someone else’s identity.”
Even though Valia was from another Kingdom, she worked as a lady-in-waiting in Gel Imperial Palace. She knew that much clearly. The woman cleared her throat.
“I have been rude. I’m Cassia Grace Hildon, the third princess of the Hildon Kingdom.”
The Hildon Kingdom was a fairly powerful Kingdom. Of course, it was not that powerful compared to the Gel Empire, but it was at least more powerful than the Kingdom where Valia was from. It seemed that she displayed such a condescending attitude as she was a Princess from quite a powerful Kingdom.
“I’m Valia Dean from the Lisa Kingdom.”
“Lisa Kingdom? Oh… That small Kingdom?”
Cassia raised her voice. The crowd turned their eyes in this direction after listening to her clearly demeaning voice. Shaun and Robin frowned but a Princess from another country was beyond their control. At least she did not hurt Valia by force. Cassia asked Valia with a haughty face.
“Dean? Forgive me as I’m ignorant of the nobles in other countries, but what is your father’s title? A viscount? Or is he a baron?”
“My father is a knight.”
“A knight?”
Cassia burst into laughter.
“The knight’s daughter tried to confront me. How interesting.”
“That’s not my intention. I’m just acting in accordance with reason.”
“You have been talking about reason since earlier. Fine. Let’s make it reasonable. I’m sure you will throw the cufflink into the lake and make a wish. So wouldn’t it be more efficient for me to have it?”
“Why do you think I’m going to throw it into the lake?”
“Aren’t I right? There’s no way the daughter of a knight from a small Kingdom would have a lover in this Empire. Or are you going to be the second wife of just any rich noble? But then again, considering your lineage and place of birth, that would be a rise in your status.”
Her mockery went too far. Shaun wanted to throw his gauntlets at the Princess’ escort knight right away to apply for a duel, but his liege, Schuden, had ordered him to stay as quiet as possible. Eventually, he decided to take Valia elsewhere as the next best option. When Shaun was about to step out with a stiff face, a short sentence rang in Valia’s ear.
“Here you are.”
A somber voice captivated the audience even though it was not very loud. Valia turned her head as if she was bewitched. Even though he was not wearing a knight’s armor or helmet, a man who had a presence stronger than any other knight was walking towards her.
Valia’s heart jumped for no reason. She saw him a few days ago, but she did not know why she was so happy and excited. Shaun and Robin politely bowed their heads and took a couple of steps back. Schuden stood very naturally next to Valia. His red eyes headed for their hands and the cufflink that was in between them.
“I heard a loud noise. What’s going on?”
“There was a misunderstanding with the Princess of the Hildon Kingdom for a moment.”
“Princess of Hildon?”
Only then did Schuden turn to Cassia. She hurriedly opened her mouth.
“Greetings to you, Marquess Garth.”
“Do you know me?”
“Is there even any royal family who does not know you? Moreover, we met at the banquet not long ago and even held a conversation together.”
“Did we? I don’t have a good memory.”
Schuden drew a line with an expressionless face. Actually, he did not even remember Cassia.
Schuden stopped paying attention to Cassia who was at a loss as to what to do and looked back at Valia. She was firmly holding the cufflink in the midst of this.
“Did you choose that cufflink for me?”
“Oh, this…”
The color in Valia’s cheeks gradually began to intensify. She vaguely thought it would look good with Schuden, but she did not plan in detail what to do next. In the meantime, Cassia, who was making an effort to not make it obvious that she was trying to snatch the cufflink, looked at him with surprised eyes.
“Y, Your Grace, forgive me for interrupting, but the lady is going to give that cufflink to her lover. It is not just a mere cufflink…”
“If she’s going to give it to her lover, then all the more reason for me to take it.”
Schuden held Valia’s hand. A strong hand dug in between her fingers. He raised Valia’s hand and kissed her briefly at the back of her hand. It was as if a scream-like sound could be heard around her, but Valia could not come to her senses.
What’s going on now?
In the meantime, she had a thought that the kiss was strangely odd. Schuden tilted his head.
“Am I not right? My dear wife?”
Having worked in the Imperial Palace, Valia had already known about the overlapping dates. The Gel Empire invited unmarried royal families from other countries to the Imperial Palace once every five years. It was a kind of inspirational work so that the royal families would have respect when they saw the Empire’s culture.
The Imperial Palace was always busy but it became even busier at this time. Back then, Valia did not even have time to sit down but now she was taking a leisurely walk. Life was really unpredictable.
“But what are they all doing?”
Valia stretched her head out. It seemed that they were choosing something on a wide display but she could not have a good look at it. Were they buying sacred relics?
“They are choosing cufflinks that have been blessed by the temple. If you attach it directly to your lover, your love will deepen. If you don’t have a lover, you can meet one if you throw it into the lake in the backyard of the temple. It is very popular with unmarried noble ladies. Looking at it today, it seems that the royal families from other countries are also interested.”
“It’s my first time seeing it today. It’s fascinating.”
Valia became interested and walked toward the display stand where the ladies were gathered. Contrary to her expectations that they were selling the cufflinks, she quickly noticed that no monetary transactions were involved and that the cufflinks were being offered free of charge.
‘As expected, rich people are different. But then again, they must have given large amounts of donations.’
The temple is not a poor and honest place. The payment for blessings or the amount voluntarily donated by devout believers easily went beyond imagination. Above all, this backyard where Valia was walking allowed access only to those who had a status higher than common nobles. Although it seemed like the temple was doing an act of good deed, there was no way the nobles with such a clear status would commit theft so they just distributed the cufflink free of charge. Anyway, Valia could not take her eyes off the display. Robin, who was guarding in the back, persuaded her.
“Why don’t you give it a try too?”
“Robin, don’t just carelessly recommend something like that to Lady Valia.”
“I will keep that in mind!”
Robin hurriedly corrected his posture after listening to Shaun’s stern reprimand. Valia smiled.
“It’s fine. I have never made any donations to the temple anyway.”
The nobles that were choosing the cufflinks over there may be from wealthy families who could make donations, but not Valia. She could not afford to make a donation. Even though the priests would not check the donation list before giving out the cufflink, it was a matter of conscience. When Valia was about to take off her eyes, Shaun—who was standing in a serious manner—said.
“The marquess makes a huge donation to the temple every year.”
Valia blinked her silvery-gray eyes. Looking at Robin, he also looked puzzled.
‘So… He wants me to do it?’
When Valia looked at Robin, he nodded to her. Shaun was still raising his head with a solemn face. Even though he knew they exchanged looks, he just feigned ignorance. Valia took a step while holding back her laughter.
“You can choose the one that you like.”
After hearing the priest, Valia’s eyes headed to the cufflink display stand. Even at first glance, the cufflinks placed on soft white silk were noticeably inexpensive. However, it could be seen that it was a handmade product made with considerable effort, and with the romantic legend, the ladies were choosing the cufflinks quite carefully.
‘The ladies are so cute. Well, if it were in the past, I also would have done that.’
Contrary to what she thought, Valia also could not take her eyes off the cufflink. What caught her eyes was a small cufflink embedded with a ruby. Rubies were precious jewels, but as the size on the cufflink was half the size of Valia’s fingernails, it did not seem so expensive. But most importantly, its red color caught her eyes.
‘His eyes were red.’
Schuden’s eyes were vivid red. If someone asked her what the most impressive thing in his appearance was, she would definitely choose his eyes—the red eyes with two conflicting energies; a burning passion and a cold apathy.
Valia realized why his rumors were so famous in the Imperial Palace only after meeting him directly. It was his gaze that was unforgettable once you saw it.
‘It’s going to be a nuisance if I take too much time so I will just take this one.’
Valia reached out and grabbed the ruby cufflink. And when she was about to pick it up, a woman who looked more mature than Valia reached out to the same cufflink.
“…”
The same light brown eyes as her eyes stared at Valia. She could guess that she was of high status with her flashy appearance but from the way she looked at Valia up and down, there was an arrogance that was hard to tell.
“It seems that we picked up the same thing.”
To be exact, she reached out to what Valia picked first. Valia blinked her silvery-gray eyes.
“It seems to me that you reached out to what I grabbed first.”
At the moment, displeasure passed by the woman’s brown eyes. Although it was for a moment, Valia was a master in capturing other people’s expressions and emotions after working in the Imperial Palace for a long time.
“Oh my. Maybe you saw it wrong. We definitely grabbed it at the same time.”
The woman who responded gracefully gave strength to her hand at the moment. It seemed that she tried to turn Valia’s attention by talking to her and took the cufflink away with her strength. But her opponent was Valia. Maybe not with a trained man, but Valia could easily win against the weak grip of a lady.
‘I broke the wall of my house with mace when I was young.’
Valia thought that the amount of effort this woman had exerted to take away the cufflink was ridiculous. As evidence, Valia’s expression did not change, while the woman’s face gradually turned red. The woman’s hand trembled, but the cufflink did not budge at all as if it had been fixed there.
“Are you done?”
Valia’s question made the woman’s face flushed up. Her hand was shaking as she used all her strength at once. The woman tried to ask with a calm face.
“W, which Kingdom…are you from? Are you from the Empire?”
“Gel’s etiquette is to reveal your identity first when asking about someone else’s identity.”
Even though Valia was from another Kingdom, she worked as a lady-in-waiting in Gel Imperial Palace. She knew that much clearly. The woman cleared her throat.
“I have been rude. I’m Cassia Grace Hildon, the third princess of the Hildon Kingdom.”
The Hildon Kingdom was a fairly powerful Kingdom. Of course, it was not that powerful compared to the Gel Empire, but it was at least more powerful than the Kingdom where Valia was from. It seemed that she displayed such a condescending attitude as she was a Princess from quite a powerful Kingdom.
“I’m Valia Dean from the Lisa Kingdom.”
“Lisa Kingdom? Oh… That small Kingdom?”
Cassia raised her voice. The crowd turned their eyes in this direction after listening to her clearly demeaning voice. Shaun and Robin frowned but a Princess from another country was beyond their control. At least she did not hurt Valia by force. Cassia asked Valia with a haughty face.
“Dean? Forgive me as I’m ignorant of the nobles in other countries, but what is your father’s title? A viscount? Or is he a baron?”
“My father is a knight.”
“A knight?”
Cassia burst into laughter.
“The knight’s daughter tried to confront me. How interesting.”
“That’s not my intention. I’m just acting in accordance with reason.”
“You have been talking about reason since earlier. Fine. Let’s make it reasonable. I’m sure you will throw the cufflink into the lake and make a wish. So wouldn’t it be more efficient for me to have it?”
“Why do you think I’m going to throw it into the lake?”
“Aren’t I right? There’s no way the daughter of a knight from a small Kingdom would have a lover in this Empire. Or are you going to be the second wife of just any rich noble? But then again, considering your lineage and place of birth, that would be a rise in your status.”
Her mockery went too far. Shaun wanted to throw his gauntlets at the Princess’ escort knight right away to apply for a duel, but his liege, Schuden, had ordered him to stay as quiet as possible. Eventually, he decided to take Valia elsewhere as the next best option. When Shaun was about to step out with a stiff face, a short sentence rang in Valia’s ear.
“Here you are.”
A somber voice captivated the audience even though it was not very loud. Valia turned her head as if she was bewitched. Even though he was not wearing a knight’s armor or helmet, a man who had a presence stronger than any other knight was walking towards her.
Valia’s heart jumped for no reason. She saw him a few days ago, but she did not know why she was so happy and excited. Shaun and Robin politely bowed their heads and took a couple of steps back. Schuden stood very naturally next to Valia. His red eyes headed for their hands and the cufflink that was in between them.
“I heard a loud noise. What’s going on?”
“There was a misunderstanding with the Princess of the Hildon Kingdom for a moment.”
“Princess of Hildon?”
Only then did Schuden turn to Cassia. She hurriedly opened her mouth.
“Greetings to you, Marquess Garth.”
“Do you know me?”
“Is there even any royal family who does not know you? Moreover, we met at the banquet not long ago and even held a conversation together.”
“Did we? I don’t have a good memory.”
Schuden drew a line with an expressionless face. Actually, he did not even remember Cassia.
Schuden stopped paying attention to Cassia who was at a loss as to what to do and looked back at Valia. She was firmly holding the cufflink in the midst of this.
“Did you choose that cufflink for me?”
“Oh, this…”
The color in Valia’s cheeks gradually began to intensify. She vaguely thought it would look good with Schuden, but she did not plan in detail what to do next. In the meantime, Cassia, who was making an effort to not make it obvious that she was trying to snatch the cufflink, looked at him with surprised eyes.
“Y, Your Grace, forgive me for interrupting, but the lady is going to give that cufflink to her lover. It is not just a mere cufflink…”
“If she’s going to give it to her lover, then all the more reason for me to take it.”
Schuden held Valia’s hand. A strong hand dug in between her fingers. He raised Valia’s hand and kissed her briefly at the back of her hand. It was as if a scream-like sound could be heard around her, but Valia could not come to her senses.
What’s going on now?
In the meantime, she had a thought that the kiss was strangely odd. Schuden tilted his head.
“Am I not right? My dear wife?”
