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The Young Lady was wearing a pink robe décolleté with a mermaid line that exposed her breasts. Every time she moved, her dress glowed.
She stood in front of Carius with a faint smile on her face. Slowly, she raised her head and softly greeted him.
“Your Majesty, we met the other day. I’m Alish von Baxter.”
Carius raised his eyes and stared at Alish.
“You’re Count Baxter’s daughter.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Alish’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment. She looked like a well-ripened peach.
Liv frowned at the sight of Alish, whom she had not seen in a long time.
Alish averted her gaze and made eye contact with Liv, greeting her with her eyes. With that breeze, Liv gave a deliberate, cutesy smile.
‘I can’t believe that after all that embarrassment that day, you haven’t changed a bit….’
Liv wished she could have watched Alish’s actions more carefully…However, the ladies beside Liv were talking to her, so Liv couldn’t look at them properly.
“Your Majesty, you are very pretty today. Which designer did you choose for your dress?”
“The decorations are very elegant.”
“Please invite us to the Imperial Palace sometime.”
It was the women who had no interest in Liv before the regression. No, they had said all kinds of bad things about her back then. But now they didn’t know that she was standing in front of them. She was disgusted.
Liv managed to make eye contact with them.
“Thank you. I’ll arrange a meeting and invite the ladies here soon.”
The women smiled as if satisfied with her words.
Liv smiled softly at them, but instinctively glanced over at Carius again.
This time, however, Liv’s vision was interrupted by the sight of all the other ladies standing near Carius and greeting him.
‘Not just one or two!’
Liv casually asked the Duchess who was standing beside her.
“Who are those ladies…?”
The Duchess turned her head and took a glance. Then she whispered in Liv’s ears.
“It seems like they are the daughters of the knights who made a great contribution at the frontier this time. Young ladies who are at the age to marry.”
Perhaps it was because they were ladies of marriageable age, they were all beautiful. Their refreshing laughter was exceptionally catchy.
Liv had a hard time swallowing her dry saliva. Then, as if thirsty, she lifted her glass of wine from the table.
‘It’s a shame that such a popular man hasn’t even gotten married until now……….’
Liv said in an unknown mood, she lifted her wine glass and moistened her lips.
It was then that someone approached her. A supple, sweet voice rang.
“Your Majesty.”
It was Edgar, neatly dressed in his wrinkle-free light blue uniform.
Liv passed by, inadvertently seeing a man in a sky-blue uniform near the display table, surrounded by the ladies. However, the fact that the hero was Edgar made Liv shake her head.
‘The flirt didn’t go anywhere, did he?’
A gentle gaze directed at the women, Edgar looked at Liv with that gaze. Why?
The Duchess had heard the rumors about the two of them and were carefully watching the delicate air currents between them.
Liv hurriedly greeted him with a nod. As if to end a public relationship.
However, Edgar suddenly called out to her.
“May I visit the Empress’s palace in the near future?”
Liv looked at Edgar again at his words. She asked in a sharp tone.
“What is your business?”
Edgar kept a gentle smile on his face and looked at her with very sad eyes. It was as if he didn’t want her to treat him that way.
But the cold look on Liv’s face made him let out a short breath and quickly put down his expression.
“I will be visiting in the near future, as we will be receiving the Delta Kingdom’s envoys. And………”
His words, blurred the end, made Liv feel uneasy for a moment. Edgar said in a hushed tone.
“I would like to unravel Your Majesty’s heart against me, because we must resolve it first.”
Liv almost laughed for a moment at his words.
Was there a problem that needs to be solved? Between them?
Liv didn’t reply, she just stared at Edgar cruelly. Meanwhile, the young ladies who had been near Carius when they saw Liv and Edgar began to whisper to each other.
“So the rumor is true after all.”
“Aren’t the eyes of the two exchanging with each other so hot?”
Carius’s eyes had been following Liv the whole time, so it was impossible for him not to see what was going on. Carius was trying hard to control his simmering anger. In a little while, his patience was going to run out. Alish, who was among the ladies, casually interrupted the conversation.
“I heard about the rumor when I was in the Delta Kingdom too. Where shall they go with the feelings they had for each other?”
Her words were overheard by Carius, who was not far away. Carius rose from his seat and walked toward Alish with a rough clatter of his shoes.
Alish’s eyes grew more and more round as the emperor approached in the blink of an eye. It wasn’t long before a soft smile appeared on her lips. Carius stared at Alish, whose cheeks were red with shyness.
“I’m pretty sure I warned you last time.”
Alish asked him again, as if she didn’t understand Carius’ words.
“What….”
Carius stared into Alish’s round eyes. Then he said in a heavy bass tone.
“It seems you have two lives to surpass the imperial family in contempt.”
Alish flinched, startled by his cold energy. Carius chuckled.
“Watch your mouth. Your father’s life depends on it.”
In Carius’ fierce eyes, Alish’s eyes began to flutter like waves. She quickly knelt down, clasped her hands together, and said in a wistful voice, as if in earnest prayer.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me…………”
Overwhelmed by Carius’s energy, the other nobles who were watching this in the shadows could not say anything and tried to flee the scene.
But Liv, who had been watching them from afar, couldn’t help but misunderstand when she saw the two of them standing nearby.
‘Does he like that woman? Well, I said he can have concubines….’
Liv tried to turn away at the sight of them, but for some reason she felt like her gaze was being drawn to them more and more. Even though Edgar was standing in front of her.
When she made eye contact with Carius, who was returning to his seat, Liv hurriedly turned her head. Like a person who never cared about his business.
The music changed, as if trying to change the mood. A sweet waltz flowed from the melody of the orchestra’s violins. The nobles who had been conversing with each other gradually went out to the center of the ballroom to dance.
Suddenly, however, Edgar held out his hand slowly toward Liv. With a gentle smile.
“Your Majesty, would you like to dance with me?”
It was a white, soft hand that she hadn’t faced in a long time.
The old days passed like a running clock in her mind. The day that even time seemed to stop when she came to Edgar’s hand that he had first given to her.
The red pupils of Liv’s eyes began to sway as she stared at his white hand.
Edgar smiled harmoniously and asked Liv again. He still kept his hand extended to her.
“Your Majesty, my hand is getting embarrassed.”
But Edgar didn’t know that Liv, the empress who had come to stand beside him before the regression, had been traumatized by the disdain of the nobles, unable to move her frozen feet at all to any beautiful melody. The wives of the nobles, who were watching the two of them, covered their mouths with fans and began to talk in whispers. The hot and cold eyes around them made Liv hurry to get out of her position.
“Oh, my. What should I do? I’m sorry, but I already have someone to dance with first. I look forward to the next time, Grand Duke.”
Liv purposely avoided his eyes as she pulled on her red dress and stepped off the stage. But it was because she had no prior engagement with anyone. Liv’s both eyes were busily moving from place to place, fumbling to find a partner.
Eventually, her vision directed at Jack Daemon, the knight captain, who was standing guard with fierce eyes.
Lord Demon quickly knelt down in front of her as Liv approached him. Liv cleared her throat and spoke carefully.
“Lord Demon, please be my dance partner.”
“What? What…….?”
Lord Damon’s words, which came out nervously, were soon clouded by Liv’s earnest gaze.
“I’m not a very good dancer at all… and I must be on guard…..”
Nonetheless, Liv held out her hand gently towards him.
“If the Lord refuses, what would the Empress’ authority be in front of the nobles?”
Lord Daemon eventually raised his nervous hand and took Liv’s white hand. Hand in hand, the two of them stood in the middle of the ballroom.
In the midst of fashionably dressed men and women dancing as one in a sweet waltz. Everyone’s gaze was focused on the two wooden stones, who were completely bad at their dancing.
It wasn’t enough for Lord Daemon and Liv to step on each other’s feet with their offbeat; now they were overstepping the lines of traffic of their neighbors.
Of course, the expressions on their faces were truly spectacular. The Empress was frowning. And Lord Daemon, who barely had his hand on her waist, broke out into a cold sweat.
Their hands, clasping each other, were sweaty and slippery. They sighed secretly as they moved stiffly.
As they were in an awkward situation, a presence of someone appeared behind them.
“It’s an interesting sight.”
At the sound of a heavy low voice coming from behind them, Liv and Lord Daemon turned around hurriedly. Carius was looking at them with his arms crossed. They hastily stopped dancing.
When the emperor went down to the stage, the people who were dancing and those who were sipping wine and chatting next to him stopped their movements. Everyone could only watch the scene.
Carius stared at the clasped hands of Lord Daemon and Liv. One of his eyebrows went up fiercely.
“A knight captain is dancing in the middle of the ballroom…..”
As his heavy voice echoed in the air, Lord Daemon turned pale with nervousness.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’ll go back to my position!”
Lord Daemon turned to greet Liv and Carius, then hurried back. The suddenness of Carius’s action caused Liv’s eyes to begin to tremble.
At that moment, Carius approached Liv, whose body had stiffened, and held out his hand.
“Would you like to dance a song with me, Empress?”