As the final strain scattered toward the ceiling of the splendid hall, the two's dance ended. Fortunately, no one had noticed the emperor's foot, which clumsy Luan had stepped on three times while everyone was busy examining the couple's intimate appearance. Leaving behind the admiration and applause of the surrounding nobles, Luan and Kirian slowly withdrew from the floor. As the two stepped away, one by one, people began coming out to the center of the hall hand in hand.
Now it begins.
Pressing down the temper that had flared from being teased by Kirian all through the dance, Luan pulled himself together. From here on was the real thing. The dance had been merely the start. Now was the time to show his perfectly capable self in earnest.
While moving toward the seat prepared at the edge of the hall, Luan suddenly remembered something and turned his head. The red eyes were burdensomely close. To a puzzled Kirian, Luan discreetly gestured with his eyes at the hand still wrapped around his waist. Then, in a voice low enough not to carry to those nearby, he fired off a firm warning at the emperor.
“Your Majesty. There's something I need to say in advance.”
“Say whatever you like.”
“Excessive displays like lifting me up, the way you did during the garden walk last time, are absolutely forbidden.”
“Excessive? Are you so disparaging the consideration I show for my spouse's wellbeing?”
Did he eat something bad at the council today? Kirian raised one eyebrow as if feigning injury, but Luan scoffed. This was a point he didn't want to concede an inch on. The memory of being carried like a child in broad daylight in the middle of the rose garden last time was, personally, a dark chapter of history.
Appearances, too, were only effective when kept within a proper limit. For someone in the business of selling an image, excessive staging was worse than nothing at all. It could only lower credibility. ...That, and also.
It's mortifying as hell.
That was the most important reason. As the empress of the empire... no, before that, as one rational human being, behavior like that was bad for his mental health. Luan clenched his teeth.
“What's needed right now is naturalness. Keep it understated and subtle so the onlookers don't feel any aversion. Understood?”
“...Fine, I understand, so stop glaring like that.”
At Luan's resolute admonition, Kirian finally nodded. But his red eyes were glinting playfully. He told me not to do anything excessive, he didn't tell me not to touch him at all. It was a thought that would have made Luan shout on the spot had he known.
The moment the two settled near the head seats, the nobles who'd been watching for their chance began crowding in. People from houses boasting the most distinguished reputations rushed forward one after another, glasses in hand, smiling and offering greetings.
“Your dance was so beautiful, it was as though a myth had descended upon the earth. It wasn't something we could see at the last banquet, so it stirred us all the more.”
Oh-ho? Already a remark came that took a roundabout jab at the empress for not having attended official functions, and his ears pricked up. So this was high society! He had no intention of wasting his energy on tedious work, but he couldn't help being bothered. So this is what it means to screw someone over with a smile. Honestly, kind of pisses me off.
“I'm glad it pleased you so. From now on, you'll be able to see him often.”
Wait, isn't that a bit much? He wondered how Kirian could say such a thing with the divorce so close, but then again, this whole affair was also meant to put those rumors to rest. Bothersome, but if procedurally it's the better course, then there's nothing for it.
When Kirian let slip the intent that Luan would step into official functions going forward, the air stirred for an instant. Did this mean he'd be throwing his weight behind Requies? Glances crossed, but unfortunately, House Requies was not present at this gathering. Someone opened their mouth.
“Hearing that Her Majesty the Empress would attend this banquet, everyone was astonished. His Grace the Duke must be most pleased as well.”
A fellow who's never set a foot in high society stepping out to seize the imperial court on his father's orders, my, how grand. Was hearing it that way reading too much into it? Luan answered with eyes curving smoothly into a fold.
“It's all thanks to His Majesty regarding this occasion as important. I'm pleased to be able to meet such esteemed people as well.”
Luan smiled and returned the answer of how dare you treat the emperor's person as the family's puppet. As a bonus, he added the warning of we're keeping a close eye on you lot, so mind your necks.
At Luan's answer, Kirian's gaze slid toward him. It seemed he hadn't expected Luan to step forward himself. But how am I supposed to just sit there when someone's openly scratching at me right in front of me?! The noble who'd tentatively scratched at Luan began saying something else.
Truly, if at all reasonable, he'd meant to stay put behind a pretty mask and grace the seat. Most of the conversation was led by Kirian, so there was, in fact, little for him to say. But the attacks coming at him in the gaps between the pointless chatter made him think, so this is high society.
It was a laughable fact that, the emperor being fundamentally fearsome, there were no attacks on Kirian. It was only that, in the midst of conversing with him, antagonism toward the empress would come flashing through. For example, like this.
“I never knew the two of you suited each other so perfectly. How wonderful it would have been if we could have met and mingled with you before now.”
Aha, so Duke Requies stashed you in the temple and didn't even debut you in society? The attack came sliding toward Luan from talk of the first dance. Luan made a regretful expression and said,
“I was spending sacred time in answer to the god's call. It's only a shame that now I can't do as I did before, and can only pray at the Grand Temple now and then.”
Are you lot doing better than my house? Got connections to the Grand Temple? I've got Grand Temple connections. And they're still solid! This was the time to make use of the family. Especially since he'd already grasped that the house of the noble who'd spoken had no proper ties to the temple. He dutifully scratched right where it itched.
“For the past five years, beholding His Majesty's countenance has been as hard as plucking a star from the sky, and the whole empire fretted over it. But it's a relief to see you looking so hale and hearty.”
There was also the question of what grand thing were you scheming, not coming out until now and only crawling out at last?
“There are so many who worry over my wellbeing that I've always felt grateful. Going forward, I'm thinking of ways we might meet in various forms.”
An audit dossier headed toward your house a little while ago, didn't it? You're going to be seeing a lot of that going forward. Your family's corruption ledgers were ripe and ready, you trap. He answered gracefully. The way the noble's face went pale was a fine sight.
By this point he could feel the arm Kirian had rested on him trembling faintly. When he turned his head, he saw the man very naturally raise his glass to drink, stifling laughter. He grew quietly irritated.
Is this funny to you?! Is this funny?! When he pinched the forearm lightly, Kirian's other hand covered Luan's. When he tilted his head, the man came out with the nonsensical line, “The empress's hand looked cold.”
The truth was, from Kirian's perspective, he was genuinely surprised at how well Luan was doing, better than expected. He was adjusting things so that Luan, who had little experience mingling with people and would surely find this kind of setting unfamiliar, wouldn't have to step forward too much. But the way Luan handled, all on his own and quite well, the words that occasionally slipped out like this, was remarkable. Watching from behind, Kael looked nearly ready to applaud.
Throughout the conversation, Kirian's touch reached for Luan again and again. Tidying his hair, or brushing fingers while handing him a glass. Each time, the eyes around them sparkled, and Luan marveled at Kirian's acting ability. How good an actor do you have to be for it to feel faintly ticklish and even give me a strange sensation? As warned, it wasn't excessive, yet the ripple effect it had on the surroundings seemed considerable, so he was satisfied.
If there was one difference, it was that the nobles conversing in a circle around the two were, in reality, feeling emotions a little different from Luan's appraisal. The tender gazes, paired with looks laden with deep emotion, called to mind possessiveness. The man himself didn't know it and Luan didn't know it, but at the very least everyone around them thought of it.
That fact set the surroundings stirring. From a puppet emperor to a sovereign holding absolute power, how many houses had bled in the process? That arrogant, cruel emperor, utterly captivated by the fox-like empress of the Requies he so detested, fretting and fussing like that.
The atmosphere between the two was too hot to keep claiming the rumored discord or staged affection. In that case, attacking the empress directly might cause problems. At least while the emperor's attention was fixed on the empress.
Their eyeballs are rolling.
Landing a blow felt good. But the eyes of Kirian watching Luan sip the fragrant fruit wine were full of worry. Worried I'll get drunk and start talking nonsense? I'll tell him there's no need to worry, then. Luan took the same wine he'd been drinking from a servant's tray.
“They say this is a wine aged from the specialty fruit of the Irunda region. It goes down very smoothly.”
Kirian savored the aroma, then promptly drank the wine. In that instant, the eyes around them changed.
“It's good, as you say. Since it seems to suit you, I'll have the head cook stock it separately.”
“Thank you.”
Luan had simply handed it over to mean check the alcohol content yourself. But that wasn't how it looked to those around. The emperor drinking a beverage the empress handed him without a moment's hesitation. Kirian, whose late emperor had passed away under circumstances suspected of poisoning, never under any circumstances drank a beverage given by another. Until now, the only thing he'd drunk was what his escort knight, Kael, presented to him.
The empress is not to be touched.
In that moment, the opinion of everyone present aligned. They had no idea what trick had been used, but the emperor's trust in the empress was beyond imagination. On top of that, the rumor that the empress lived in the room beside the emperor's seemed to be true. From the fact that there was no mention of sending the wine separately to his cook, people deduced all sorts of things.
It had only been a few words exchanged, yet the sharp-eyed nobles ceased their attacks on Luan as though it had all been a lie. Their retreat was faster than expected, enough to leave Luan bewildered. A victory by judgment for the imperial side, for now? It was the very moment he was thinking that.
“Your Majesty, it's an honor to offer my greetings, however belatedly.”
It was a clear, innocent voice. The one who'd parted the splendidly dressed crowd to step in was familiar to the eye. Platinum hair and violet eyes. A face that strangely resembled Luan's.
It was Selestin.
Though it had been five years, the appearance closely matched the one in memory. By anyone's eyes, they did look like brothers.
This was the Selestin who'd waited all day in the garden for Luan's stroll and come away empty-handed. But nothing negative showed on his face. Seeing the pure-white, bright-faced youth, people regarded him with favor, despite his being a Requies. Lately he was someone making a name for himself in high society.
He glanced at the pale hand resting on the emperor's arm. He knew best of all who rightfully belonged in that place.
So it's Requies at last.
Luan had no interest in what Selestin was thinking. Ever since being struck across the cheek by the duke, he'd stayed quiet all this while, so it merely bothered him that this younger brother, with whom he'd had little contact, had approached. He looked around, but neither the duke nor Lucien was anywhere to be seen.
I really can't tell what they're thinking.
The duke wasn't the sort to crudely scream and rage as before in an open place watched by this many nobles, so inwardly he'd actually been hoping the man would come. Hiding his disappointment, he met Selestin, who'd turned to face him.
“It's been a long time, Selestin.”
“I've missed you, hyung.”
That sweet voice surely conceals poison. The brothers' greeting cut through the air.
