A person who could be either a librarian or a young lady.
The voice of Eleanor, Duchess Grikel, rang through the library’s drawing room.
A tense atmosphere lingered amidst the still silence.
Eleanor, Duchess Grikel, and Crown Prince Karl.
Those who had been waiting for one of them to speak held their breaths, only exchanging glances.
Eyes that had been wandering over the appetizing dishes soon turned in unison to one spot.
Curiosity, questions, and stares demanding an explanation.
At the end of those gazes sat Crown Prince Karl.
Turning his head, he drank his water with a detached expression.
It wasn’t an act to ease a dry throat from tension.
Even the graceful way his fingers set the glass down radiated unhurried composure.
“She’s not just a librarian.”
Karl answered with the corners of his lips slightly curved.
“Don’t you already know whom I invited, dear sister?”
Karl jabbed at Eleanor, telling her not to feign ignorance.
Eleanor looked back at him with a faint smile.
“Of course I know. But I must say, it was unexpected.”
“Unexpected… I never meant to surprise you, sister. Still, it’s not unpleasant.”
Karl smiled softly.
His mischievous smile made others chuckle quietly along with him.
The taut tension, like a string ready to snap, slowly loosened, and the mood grew lighter.
But then, one corner of Eleanor’s lips lifted.
“A librarian from a count’s family? Anyone would be surprised, wouldn’t they?”
Her sneering smile and tone instantly froze the atmosphere once more.
Ignoring the mood entirely, Eleanor pressed on.
“Was it Mother who recommended this young lady?”
“No.”
“That tea party was something Mother prepared especially for you. And you agreed to follow her wishes, didn’t you?”
Eleanor questioned sharply.
The discomfort on the faces of those seated around was unmistakable.
Even though the imperial family stood at the very top of the Empire, such words were utterly inappropriate during a meal.
Their eyes silently urged her to stop, accusing her of rudeness, but their lips stayed shut.
“Why did you invite her then? Do you perhaps have some dissatisfaction with Mother?”
“Of course not.”
Even under her continued discourtesy, Karl’s expression never changed.
Calm and composed, he kept his noble, gentle smile without losing serenity.
“She’s a new apprentice librarian at the Imperial Library, so I simply wanted to introduce her. The library is under my direct authority, as it always has been.”
“As it always has been? You’ve invited librarians to tea parties before?”
“I’ve always shared tea with new librarians. I wasn’t present this time, but before, even Baron Ivern Aster joined us.”
Karl replied smoothly.
His explanation, delivered as plainly as saying the sun rises in the east, left no room for doubt.
“Is that so?”
Eleanor cast a doubtful glance toward the end of the banquet table in the drawing room.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
The librarian Crown Prince Karl had invited.
Eyes shifted toward the small group of Imperial Library librarians, including Baron Ivern Aster.
Most librarians ignored the stares, focusing instead on their plates.
But Grace Blodin was different.
Her face was expressionless, but the hand gripping her fork showed stark white knuckles.
“Still, to invite a librarian to a tea party tied to the Empire’s future… Mother will be disappointed if she learns the truth.”
The voice of Eleanor, Duchess Grikel, rang clearly in Grace’s ears.
Her tone implied something unworthy had been mixed in.
Grace flinched before she realized it.
The hand cutting her steak slowed.
She knew, in her head, that she shouldn’t react to such words, but her body betrayed her.
“……”
Was this a place she shouldn’t have come to, even if invited?
She felt like a contaminant just for being there.
What if she hadn’t come?
The thought came naturally, flooding her with regret.
If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t be treated like an impurity today.
Nor would there have been a contract marriage with the Crown Prince.
“Grace.”
“……”
No—that wasn’t right.
Without the contract marriage, she wouldn’t even be here now.
She would have been kidnapped by Countess Blodin and sold off to some old northern baron.
Perhaps coming to the tea party had been a blessing after all.
If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have received the proposal for the contract marriage.
It wasn’t the best choice, but it wasn’t the worst either.
Attending the tea party, the contract marriage, being here now—none of it was bad.
“Grace?”
“…Yes?”
Grace turned her head calmly.
Her face gave no sign that she had just been lost in a storm of thoughts and emotions.
Instead, she looked as though she were simply questioning why she had been interrupted.
Baron Ivern Aster frowned slightly.
“What were you thinking so deeply about?”
“Nothing at all.”
But her excuse didn’t fool Ivern.
“Nothing? Look what you’ve done to your steak.”
At his words, Grace lowered her eyes.
The once-delicious steak on her plate had been shredded into tiny pieces as if hacked apart.
Clicking his tongue in regret, Ivern sighed.
“It won’t taste right now. It was a steak of the finest cut and doneness.”
Even the librarians who had buried themselves in their plates began to look up one by one.
They too gazed at Grace’s steak with wistful eyes.
“Opportunities to taste a steak grilled by the Empire’s finest chef are rare…”
“No matter how fine the beef, once it cools it turns to stone.”
“Best to eat it before the juices dry out.”
Their voices were low, but deadly serious in tone.
Ivern chimed in as well.
“This is an insult to the meat, Grace. A disgrace.”
“I’ll… eat it now.”
“Good.”
Grace nodded, then picked up her fork and knife again.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Karl lightly held his water glass.
His sister Eleanor’s gaze had fallen upon her.
Grace Blodin.
She was stabbing her meat to pieces with her knife.
Had she overheard his exchange with Eleanor?
The thought of concern was fleeting.
Grace’s face was not comfortable, but neither was it especially dark.
The other librarians were the same—eating busily, as if they hadn’t heard a word of Eleanor’s conversation.
In the same drawing room, yet as if in a different world, completely unaware of the tension.
“To prevent any misunderstanding from Mother, I’ll explain it well.”
Eleanor withdrew her gaze and smiled generously, as if bestowing grace.
Karl’s long fingers traced a slow circle on the rim of his glass.
“Mother… Her Majesty the Empress told me herself. Whom I invite to my tea party is my prerogative.”
His tone was calm, his expression serene.
But his eyes were colder than calm, chilling in their quiet.
“So there’s no need for you to concern yourself over this.”
“……”
“Besides, sister, don’t you already have far more important matters to deal with?”
His gentle words carried an icy rejection.
Don’t interfere. Mind your own business.
“Surely you’re not reproaching me for inviting a librarian to my tea party, are you?”
“Reproach? What are you saying?”
Eleanor furrowed her brow, denying it firmly.
“I was simply surprised you invited a young lady who wasn’t on the guest list. Still… so you aren’t completely uninterested in women after all.”
Her tone suggested she would let the matter drop—for now.
Eleanor withdrew her suspicious gaze and cut into her meat again.
“So tell me—which young lady has caught your eye? If it’s someone I know well, I may even be able to help you.”
She popped a neatly cut piece of meat into her mouth, lips painted scarlet, smiling faintly.
But her eyes were sharp and cold, dripping with hostility.
Karl could see her intentions clearly.
The moment he named anyone, Eleanor would investigate.
If the young lady belonged to a family allied with Grikel, she would survive.
If not, her fate was obvious: either brought under Eleanor’s influence or cast out of society entirely.
So of course, he couldn’t say.
“I’ll tell you when the time comes.”
Karl gave her the same faint smile.
“In any case, I’m relieved. I worried because you’ve avoided engagements and marriage for so long.”
Relieved? Karl bit back a scoff.
Her words were soft, but her intentions transparent.
“You’ve spent so much time abroad, I feared you might continue living too freely. Bringing in some unknown woman, or worse, abandoning your duty as Crown Prince in pursuit of strange pleasures…”
To dare voice such vile rumors about the Crown Prince—
People silently held their breaths.
“Sister.”
Karl gently cut her off.
“Excessive worry is harmful to one’s health.”
The young ladies and noblewomen stared at Karl in a daze.
His noble smile, so beautiful, held everyone’s eyes captive.
“I hear you’ve been struggling to sleep lately.”
Karl did not look away from Eleanor.
“A few days ago, I met the Grand Duke of Grikel, and he spoke of nothing but his concern for you.”
His words were gentle, his voice mild—but his eyes were bone-dry.
The moment their gazes met, Eleanor’s hand clenched tightly around her fork.
“What nonsense. I’m perfectly fine—”
“I heard it’s because of the pressure to produce an heir.”
“…What?”
A small gasp rippled around the room.
For Eleanor, Duchess of Grikel, the words “child” and “heir” were taboo among taboos.
And yet Karl, her younger brother, had spoken them aloud.
Startled glances darted toward the Crown Prince.
“Well, it’s been four years since your marriage. Concern is natural.”
“……”
So this is retaliation.
People realized Karl’s intent, swallowing dryly.
Since she had dared bring up rumors first, he would not let it slide.
Looking at their strained faces, Karl chuckled softly.
“But don’t worry too much.”
His tone grew colder.
“You’re still young, after all.”
“Karl.”
Eleanor’s elegant voice tried to rein him in.
Her face, flushed red as her lips, forced into a raised smile.
Karl stretched his lips into a long curve as he looked at her.
A flawless smile of victory.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“The Duchess of Grikel interrogated His Highness the Crown Prince?”
The next morning, after the banquet.
Baron Ivern Aster widened his eyes at the librarians gathered in the meeting room.
“When on earth did that happen?”
“Yesterday at the library banquet. While we were busy eating, the two of them had quite the clash.”
“I had no idea… But what was there to interrogate His Highness about?”
“Apparently, His Highness invited a librarian to a tea party with the young ladies…”
The librarian trailed off, glancing around nervously.
Everyone knew, without saying, exactly who that librarian was.
Grace Blodin.
All eyes turned to the librarian who had once been a count’s daughter, her platinum golden hair catching the light.
Expressionless, Grace kept her gaze fixed only on her hands.
“There’s nothing illegal about it, and you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t let it crush your spirit. You don’t need to worry about appearances.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“Good. That’s enough.”
Yet despite his words, Ivern scowled as though deeply aggrieved.
“The Duchess of Grikel has always been insufferably rude, but now she’s being absurd. What’s so wrong with sharing a little tea?”
“Baron, someone might hear you.”
The other librarians tried to dissuade him, but Ivern only snorted.
“Hmph. Let them hear. I’ve been invited by His Majesty the Emperor and even Her Majesty the Empress themselves. I’ve spoken with them alone. And not once did anyone say it was improper!”
Creak.
Even as his words ended, the meeting room door swung open.
A woman in an ivory dress entered, surveying the room.
“I am a lady-in-waiting to Her Majesty the Empress. Which one of you is Miss Grace Blodin?”
Translated by: fatma♡
Only on nove novels !
