By Zephyria 
The Empress Dowager’s maidservants, who could not join the meal with the Emperor without a prior engagement, guided us to the banquet hall, bowed gracefully, and left. I also bowed respectfully in return to their greeting and saw them off. The Empress Dowager’s gaze was intently observing my every gesture, making my mouth constantly dry.
Only after finding my seat and sitting down did I have the leisure to look around.
It felt as if I had entered a greenhouse, not a banquet hall.
In the room, where large, wide windows occupied two of the four walls, various rare and exotic flowers were in full bloom. As I looked at the flowers, I realized they had deliberately gathered and planted scentless ones. The harmony of the surrounding plants, arranged to avoid interfering with the taste of the food, was astonishing.
Furthermore, all the dishes on the Empress Dowager’s table were transparent, like glass. Even with a mere glance, I could see various colorful Mana permeating them, suggesting that transparency magic, along with warming or cooling magic, had been layered onto the tableware.
The food was also incredibly ornate. The dishes, meticulously shaped and decorated, each resembled a flower petal. Though I couldn’t tell what the thinly sliced fruits and vegetables originally looked like, they certainly wouldn’t have appeared in the shape of birds with such vibrant plumage. Even to me, who had been reborn into this world and grown accustomed to all sorts of precious things, it was an extraordinary display of luxury.
Perhaps my surprise was too evident. The Empress Dowager, who had been observing me closely, spoke kindly.
“We took special care, as this is a banquet to welcome a distinguished guest.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Ah.
As if to compensate for my lack of proper modesty, Ruben smiled warmly and spoke up.
“These are unfamiliar dishes. Did you acquire them recently?”
“Yes. We haven’t had a party in a while, so this is their first showing. What decoration could be more radiant than sunlight?”
“You’ve always favored inanimate things, haven’t you?”
“…People don’t change easily.”
The Empress Dowager raised her left hand in a signal, and the waiting attendants began to serve the food, portioning it out before each person. Their assistance was a great help to me, as I hesitated, unsure how to handle each dish, which looked more like a work of art than mere food.
While drinking tea, I was so busy answering the Empress Dowager’s many questions that I couldn’t tell if I was drinking tea through my nose or my mouth. However, after we moved to the dining table, I had no chance to speak. After offering a few calm compliments about the greenhouse and the tableware, Ruben got straight to the point.
“Then, as we discussed before, the fabric for the clothes is from Porta…”
“How about choosing between Anser and Petalum?”
“…”
“After reviewing them several times, I found the fabrics from Count Porta’s family to be lacking in luster, which I feared would be a flaw. I investigated a few other places as alternatives. You mentioned wanting attire that wasn’t too thin, with layers in between, didn’t you?”
“…I will go with the fabric from Porta.”
“…”
The Empress Dowager did not answer immediately. Her knife silently cut through the food.
Count Porta’s family was a house close to Valentia. The vast plains of the Duchy of Valentia were well-suited for both raising livestock and cultivating crops. It wouldn’t be unusual for one or two places there to focus on textiles.
However, textile production requires a great deal of water. Therefore, in this Sierran Empire, high-quality fabrics were mostly sourced from Yeldidus, which lay along a wide river.
The Empress Dowager’s gaze flickered towards me pointedly. Unaware of what kind of fabric Ruben intended to use for the wedding attire, I tried to avoid her gaze by looking towards Ruben.
Ruben’s expression was calm, as if he were asking for something obvious.
“As the groom is being brought from a noble house, shouldn’t we show proper etiquette?”
“It is the Emperor’s wedding attire.”
“Yes. It is the wedding attire that my consort and I will wear together. Attire that will be fashionable for five years, prosperous for fifty, and recorded for generations.”
“Someone who knows that…”
“I am saying it because I know. The previous Yeldidus had many faults, didn’t they?”
Yeldidus was not the only ducal family with past faults.
Kiadris, who was also skilled in dealing with precious metals and luxury goods, had suffered through the measles epidemic with Wesley. The Duchy of Withrow had no connection to textiles, and the former Duchy of Grimesbane had its people fleeing to the capital, leaving their land behind, so they could not produce fine fabrics.
So, it was Valentia.
It seemed she was trying to lend me her support. That was all I could understand. I didn’t have the capacity to judge right or wrong at this moment, as I didn’t know what schemes Ruben might have already set in motion.
I decided to just finish eating what was in front of me. One wing of the swan-shaped appetizer, elegantly crafted from thinly sliced apples and peaches, went entirely into my stomach. Besides its fragrant and sweet taste, it was infused with the aroma of slightly bitter herbs, making it quite delicious.
Are those blueberries serving as the eyes of this bird? Ruben likes things like that so much.
As I quietly observed the food, the attendant beside me politely placed the head of the apple swan onto my plate. After contemplating, I placed the blueberry swan eyes onto Ruben’s plate. The child glanced at Ikyun and let out a short, suppressed laugh.
The Empress Dowager’s voice gained strength.
“That is unacceptable, Your Majesty.”
“Is it?”
“Have there been Emperors in the past who intended to grant so much to their maternal relatives for generations?”
“Perhaps one is about to emerge.”
“…Do you share the same opinion, Duke Ernhardt?”
I quickly chewed and swallowed what was in my mouth and lowered my eyes.
“Yes. As a subject, I intend to follow Your Majesty’s command.”
“…”
The Empress Dowager’s gaze pricked at my temples.
Even someone whose Qi sense was not as developed as mine would feel a prickle of unease from such a stare. Maintaining a forced smile, I scooped up a generous amount of sauce with my spoon. The crimson cream drizzled over the crisply fried fish glistened invitingly.
The Empress Dowager looked back at Ruben.
“In that case, the main ceremony will be held at Morandong Palace.”
“Did not the First Goddess grant us her temple? Please choose the temple.”
“You already have the answer in your heart, Your Majesty, so what need is there for me?”
“I merely await my mother’s high discernment and advice.”
The child was still smiling.
But I was not someone who could fail to notice Ruben’s displeasure. Previously, my mother, Seiren, had casually requested a temple wedding. Because of that, I had comfortably assumed that most weddings were held in temples, and I worried if this was an unusual request.
The subsequent conversation grew colder.
Ruben and the Empress Dowager discussed fabrics, the order of the ceremony, the officiant, and the priest. The Empress Dowager’s advice was mostly rejected by Ruben, and Ruben’s opinions chipped away at the Empress Dowager’s mood. All of this was done without any hesitation. As if they had repeated the same conversation tens, even hundreds, of times…
Thinking back, the conversation I had with the Empress Dowager earlier was also like that.
The dialogue, where set questions were asked and set answers were given, was less a way to grow closer and more an act of probing the other person. The tension, as taut as a hunting dog tracking its prey, filled the dining table as I surveyed my surroundings. Everyone at the table was smiling, but no one was happy.
After finishing the meal, which was quieter than before, the Empress Dowager half-opened her fan and placed it on the table.
A silent signal of dismissal.
Indeed, Ruben didn’t hesitate and wiped his mouth with his napkin. I immediately followed suit.
“Thank you for sharing such valuable words today; I have no worries about future matters. I will visit often, so I wish you good health and well-being.”
“I too will always await Your Majesty’s summons. Please travel safely.”
“Thank you for inviting me to this glorious banquet, Your Majesty. I will see you again soon.”
“Yes. Seeing you today, Duke Ernhardt, it seems you will be able to manage life in the Imperial Palace without issue. We shall see each other often from now on.”
“If you call me, I will gladly visit anytime.”
On the way out, Ruben asked for my arm, and I readily escorted him.
Generally, banquets are meant to last four or five hours, filled with lively conversation. However, today, the total time spent sitting did not even reach three hours. I glanced up at the sky, where the sun had not yet set, and then shifted my gaze to Ruben’s profile.
No matter how you look at it, why would a mother be so cold?
Ruben’s mood always sours when he talks about his mother. That was why I had previously gone around digging into the Empress Dowager’s background through various people, without directly asking Ruben. But now that I had seen them together with my own eyes, I couldn’t help but ask about this peculiar relationship.
With ears everywhere, I maintained my silence, only opening my mouth once we were in the carriage.
“Ruben.”
“…Yes.”
“Today, it was a bit…”
“…Strange, wasn’t it? I know. I didn’t mean for it to be…”
“If your actions had a reason, there would be no need for me to interfere.”
“…”
“There must have been a reason why you didn’t properly inform me of this until now. However, I want to say that I am always on your side.”
“…”
Now, we sat side by side, whether the carriage was narrow or wide. While the child couldn’t answer immediately, I took his hand and pressed my lips deeply into the inside of his wrist. Just as he had done to ease my tension before, I licked the prominent part of his wrist bone with my tongue and gnawed at it with my front teeth.
I couldn’t bear to leave a bruise, feeling it was a waste and a pity, but it was effective in drawing Ruben’s gaze to me. The child, meeting my eyes, smiled weakly and embraced my head. I leaned my cheek into his broad chest willingly.
His muffled voice and the gentle thumping of his heart echoed together.
“…When I talk with Mother for a long time… I just get angry.”
“…”
“Even though I know this isn’t a rational behavior, it happens.”
For someone as intelligent and sharp as Rubel, knowledge and action are synonymous. Ruben could think of dozens of possibilities in an instant, choose the most correct answer among them, and act without hesitation. Thus, Ruben had walked the path he had carefully chosen as the best throughout his short life.
However, even such a Ruben had times when he was young and immature.
Just like all living things.