Chapter 76

“What are you talking about. You’re not an accessory — you’re my husband.”

I cupped Friedrich’s one-in-a-millennium face in my hands and murmured to him.

“And as for being understated — that’s absurd. Both of you, with faces like yours, outshine any jewel in existence.”

Oh — wait. Am I actually arriving at the banquet flanked by both of them? The guests might genuinely be blinded.

“Lady René Stade, morning star of Stade, enters.”

There wasn’t time to dwell on it. The doors opened, and I stepped into the banquet hall with the expression René always wore — composed, unhurried, just a little imperious.

And I watched it happen in real time: the instant heads turned toward me by instinct, every expression went utterly blank. Silence settled over the room as naturally as a held breath.

In the quiet that followed, the click of my heels rang out with unusual clarity. The faces of those closest to me shifted from blankness into something closer to shock.

In fairness, the gown was extraordinary. There had never been anything quite like it — jewel-work this precise, this elaborate, and yet somehow still elegant.

I walked to the center of the hall, let my gaze travel the room with a pleasant smile, and spoke.

“Why does everyone look like that?”

The deliberate nonchalance seemed to break the spell. Focus slowly returned to people’s eyes.

“What on earth is that gown? Your Highness, where did you have it made?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it. That has to be Madame Drouet.”

“Madame Drouet — wasn’t she the one who turned down the Empress’s commission not too long ago? I heard even members of the imperial family have to be on the waiting list.”

Frantic whispers broke out from every direction at once. The gown had seized the room’s entire attention.

Even so, no one moved to approach me. That was typical — but tonight, something in René’s bearing was particularly overwhelming.

“……Princess.”

The first person to approach me was Empress Gisela, and she did not look pleased.

She stopped in front of me, half-dazed and half-appalled, and asked bluntly,

“This dress — what on earth——”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Who made it?”

She was visibly grinding her teeth at the thought that it might actually be Madame Drouet. I let a slight smile cross my face and answered,

“There aren’t many people in Stade who can produce something of this standard.”

“So who on earth——!”

“It’s one of Madame Drouet’s, isn’t it.”

The answer came not from me, but from Marcella’s voice.

She had apparently been standing behind the Empress the whole time, beside her fiancé Anton, looking perfectly composed as she stepped in.

“One glance and it’s obvious. I hear her appointments are fought over desperately — five years’ worth booked out already.”

My, Marcella. You should have been Empress. The way she feigned total ignorance was nothing short of masterful.

“Oh really?”

I matched her performance and returned her look with cool composure.

“Did you not know, Your Highness?”

“As if I concern myself with such things.”

One eyebrow twitched on the Empress’s face — the one who had very much concerned herself with such things, and been turned away for it.

“I suppose it makes sense. The princess must have placed her order long ago.”

“I was too busy crawling through battlefields.”

Unlike some people, who passed those years in comfort at court. I let the implication land, and the Empress’s mouth pressed into a hard line.

“Madame Drouet only rose to prominence after Your Highness left for the conquest campaign — it’s quite natural you might not have known.”

And Marcella added this, helpfully, from the side. This is how she does it, isn’t it. This is why no one suspects a thing. Remarkable.

“You look genuinely stunning tonight, Your Highness.”

Marcella dipped into a graceful curtsy. I turned to look at Anton, whose expression had taken on a slightly put-upon quality.

“And what do you think, Anton?”

“Well — you look beautiful. Though I expect it cost a considerable sum.”

“It did indeed — thanks in no small part to His Majesty’s very generous campaign compensation.”

“Were you talking about me?”

The man in question — Emperor Otto — arrived. I turned and sank into a curtsy.

“I greet the sun of the empire. May your reign be eternal.”

“You look truly beautiful tonight, René.”

The Emperor let his gaze rest on the gown for a moment.

“It looks like something to wear to a coronation.”

At those words, the Empress and Prince Anton went expressionless, and Marcella made a visible, strenuous effort to maintain her composure.

I gave a dismissive little sniff and shook my head.

“A virtue of emperors is modesty. I have no interest in any occasion of that kind.”

“And yet tonight your gown seems fit for exactly such an occasion.”

“Are you saying it doesn’t suit me?”

“Not at all. I simply mean that every eye in this hall will be on you tonight — and no one else.”

Emperor Otto said it with a quiet smile, and I laughed.

“When have they not been?”

“True enough. Come to think of it — your husband alone seems to be proof of that.”

Why bring Friedrich up all of a sudden?

I was still puzzling over it when Emperor Otto addressed him directly.

“Good to see you, Prince.”

“Thanks to the grace of the Emperor and the blessings of Her Highness the Princess, I am well.”

Friedrich answered with flawless etiquette. Emperor Otto regarded him for a moment, then murmured,

“He really is handsome.”

……Why do you keep fixating on my husband’s face? The suspicion I’d entertained once before rose up again, quietly smoldering.

“One can understand why the princess speaks of retiring to the countryside for him. With a husband like this, who needs the world?”

“Then surely Your Majesty needs no world either.”

Marcella’s interjection prompted a satisfied smile from the Empress, and a bout of laughter from both the Emperor and the Prince.

She clearly didn’t mean it that way. Terrifying woman.

“With that in mind, there’s something I’d like to say. To everyone gathered here, to be exact.”

I decided now was the moment. I hadn’t planned to stay long in any case.

The people nearby turned to look at me, puzzled, and I smiled — and said the words I had been wanting to say.

“I, René Stade, effective today, relinquish all rights as princess and return to nature.”

The instant the words left my mouth, I had the strangest feeling of déjà vu — the same stillness as when I’d first entered, every person in the room frozen, every eye fixed on me.

Then, gradually, the news spread to those standing further away, until at last the entire vast hall fell completely silent.

Into that silence, I continued, unhurried and clear.

“I’m not joking. I mean it sincerely. I intend to return Solara Palace — formerly Stella Palace — to the imperial family, and retire to Rosenthal.”

Rosenthal was one of the territories in Stade under René’s ownership — the farthest from the capital, deep in the frontier, but peaceful and free from conflict. It was exactly the kind of place I could imagine living.

“I plan to spend my remaining years there quietly, with my husband. I have been long away from battlefields, and I trust Your Majesty understands my feelings.”

“René.”

“If I wait for Your Majesty’s decision, I may well be old before it comes.”

I smiled at the Emperor, whose expression had grown stiff, and let a note of levity into my voice.

“I’ll visit now and again. Your Majesty’s birthday banquet, perhaps?”

“Request denied. My heir has yet to be decided.”

“I intend to relinquish my rights to the succession entirely, as well.”

I shook my head and said it without equivocation.

“As my qualities fall short of what it would take to carry on Your Majesty’s noble legacy, I defer to my sibling.”

“What? Sister? No — what are you——”

Prince Anton sputtered in bewilderment, though not, I noticed, with any particular urgency.

Look at the corners of his mouth — trying very hard not to rise, aren’t they.

“This seems like a conversation better suited to a different setting.”

“Not at all, Your Majesty. This is the Founding Festival — a time above all others for reflection on what will make Stade stronger and more prosperous.”

He had deflected me like this how many times now?

Today, I would tie this off, whatever it took.

“I have said what I came to say. I will begin clearing out Solara Palace without delay.”

“René!”

I moved quickly — past the Emperor before he could stop me, plucking a glass of champagne from the tray of a stunned footman on my way out.

Free at last.

No more sleepless nights terrified of assassination, of someone discovering my magic was gone.

Welcome to the life of a wealthy woman of leisure.