Suddenly, a womanly voice approached , causing my eyes to snap open. I found a woman in a red robe, covered in it, with her face concealed under a veil. As she arrived near , her presence instantly caused all the noblen to stand on their feet.
"Greetings, Empress!"
In unison, each of them greeted the woman, revealing her identity as the Empress Dowager.
Before looking at her, I glanced towards the princess’s table, only to find the princess gazing in my direction with a cold stare. But this ti, instead of malice, I observed a flicker of anxiety and anger in those eyes, directed at and the Empress.
’Don’t tell you are going to attack her, Woman!? At this mont, the last thing I wanted was for them to engage in a battle, knowing well that if it occurred, Aleriana would win. After all, right now, standing before was not the Empress herself but her body double, which would create big trouble for .
// Don’t panic; she would not attack , at least not until we are done. //
Suddenly, I heard a voice in my mind, projected as telepathy from the Empress, her smile visible through the thin fabric of her red veil.
[Host, save your chastity.]
"I don’t understand what you an, Empress." Unlike others, I did not stir and focused only on my food, just to create a mindset between these new won to understand that my stance, naturally, was more than the Empress’s to at least spread this rumor to elevate my position in any future bargains with nobility.
After all, for these people, it would be more valuable for soone, so to speak, to impress, but for her—Nista—it didn’t matter whether I stood or not.
"I ant, you seed to be aware of the Roherian family." I could feel her understanding the reason for not showing the sa gestures as other noblen—standing on her arrival to greet her—as she stated in a knowing tone.
"So, do you?" Naturally, it was not surprising to see how she was also aware of the Roherian family, considering they had sent an invitation to the Empress to join them as one of the elders of the family this ti, to which she had naturally rejected the idea of entertaining anything from a weak noble family, let alone beco one of the higher seats among them.
"It’s natural for to know about the problems of my subordinates." Her words were cunning, as I could feel how the nobles were clearly surprised, as the murmurs and eye-glances between them showed how she had just portrayed it as though she knew about the Roherian family because she cared about the defeated families of noblen present here.
But it was not that I was going to let her just win the whole gratefulness of the nobles who would be following , not her.
"I see, so after so many requests I made regarding the solution to the trade corridor from the northern borders, the Empress was already working on it." Taking another bite, I just used her own words about ordering herself as soone who cared about her subordinate against her by directly ntioning one of the issues that we had been requesting from the royal family, yet it went unheard every ti due to them having not much influence remaining.
"Wh-what? Sir Kyle already knew about it?!"
None of them were loud enough to reveal their surprise, as they, a few monts ago, showed their clear alignnt with the Empress, were now surprised by mine, while I used her own words to secure my image in the eyes of these nobles.
"....."
’This is why you should speak less in front of , Nista—what?’ Seeing her silence as I turned, giving a side glance towards her, suddenly, I saw a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, evident as I visibly felt confused, narrowing my gaze as I didn’t understand how, even though she had just been robbed of favor among the nobility, she was smiling.
It was confusing for to see her smile even in this situation where I knew she could see how I was using her na to gain favor here. Yet that smile seed to tell that sothing was amiss, and maybe I was going to beco entangled in sothing sad.
’Aleriana, are you not going to help your husband?’ I tilted my head to look towards the princess, hoping that maybe she would stand up to approach us, given the deep animosity between the empress and her, as was evident from the mories ford between us.
I supposed that maybe she would try to help .
However, unexpectedly, she remained silent, seated there, just looking in my direction with that sa cold gaze.
[Telepathic voice transmitted]
’Huh?’ Suddenly, I heard the system’s command as it transmitted my thought directly to Aliriana, given that our marriage bond had ford a link of telepathy between us.
’!?’
’Wait—’ But it was already too late before I could react. I saw Aliriana’s eyes widen as she looked in my direction. She shot up from her seat in haste and approached with her hands clenched, as it appeared she was fighting so kind of internal battle.
Just a mont ago, she seed uncaring, but after my call, she was active enough to co towards .
// By the way, Kyle, how about I give you a lifeline by protecting you from upcoming attacks from your dear wife? //
As my gaze was fixed on the princess’s arrival, I suddenly heard another therapeutic voice inside my mind, causing my body to flinch before turning towards the woman covered in the red robe and veil, looking at as she made an offer that took by surprise for a mont.
’Save ?’ Hearing her offer to protect , I felt confused as to why she would try to help .
"Why—" but before I could complete my statent, Aleriana arrived, halting just beside her, and in front of everyone, declared in a firm tone:
"Stay away from my husband."
Reviews
All reviews (0)