For the One Who Hates Me - Chapter 31

The spring ball wasn’t Aura’s responsibility. It was a task for the palace staff.

“Did you bring this because you’re having trouble with the plans?”

“The plans are complete, but His Majesty the Emperor said it would be good if Your Majesty the Empress gave it a final check.”

“Who said that?”

“…His Majesty the Emperor.”

‘…Why now, of all times?’ She was already stressed about the situation in Ansena. She wasn’t in the mood to look at a document about a ball.

Aura gave him a small smile. “Then I think His Majesty the Emperor can just check it himself.”

Josh immediately retracted the document. ‘I knew she would say that.’

“Yes. Then I will be going.” Josh turned around, looking embarrassed.

Just as he was about to grab the doorknob, “Wait.” Aura held out her hand, a look of reluctance on her face. “Give it to me.”

Josh thought to himself, ‘I knew she would do this too.’ He quickly came over and placed the document in Aura’s hand. Aura flipped through the pages and stopped at the list of attendees.

‘He’s coming.’

[Whale Thane/ Elise Thane]

‘What is this mark?’ Aura asked calmly, “Why is there a mark next to Duke Thane’s name?”

“Oh, yes. I put a mark there because he has an audience scheduled right after the ball.”

“I see.” Aura answered plainly and turned the page. She skimmed the contents and said, “I will contact you once I’ve reviewed the document.”

“Yes. Thank you, Your Majesty the Empress.” Josh bowed and left the office. Aura opened the list of attendees again.

“…” Tap. She tapped on Elise’s name with her fingertip.

Late at night, Duke Thane summoned Elise to his office. Elise came to him with a dark expression.

“Are the ball preparations going well?”

“Yes, Uncle.”

“What do you mean, ‘yes’? I heard you haven’t even used half of the money I gave you for the salon.” Duke Thane clicked his tongue. “I don’t know anything about dresses. I told the salon madam to prepare the best dress, so you will wear that.”

Elise’s hands clenched. She seemed to swallow something hard and bowed her head. “Yes.”

“Emperor Karl told you not to attend the audience with me.” A look of hope flashed across her face. Duke Thane quickly added, “But we will go together. He won’t kick us out once we’re in the audience chamber.”

“Uncle, but that’s a royal command.”

“Hmph! Don’t talk back.”

“…I apologize.”

“You have to do well, Elise.” Duke Thane walked over and patted Elise’s shoulder. “I heard Emperor Karl is quite fond of his empress. But you have some things in common with the empress, don’t you?”

He wasn’t lying. It was a rumor that was already circulating among the nobles. Aura and Elise had a certain resemblance.

“You must bring honor to the Thane family as a woman.”

As a woman. Elise’s fingertips twitched at those words. “…Yes.”

“Good. You can go now.”

After Elise left, Duke Thane took a sip of his liquor. His position had become unstable after Karl was crowned. He never thought his close relationship with the late Crown Prince would backfire like this.

He thought Lion, who was in the same position as him, would stay put. But when Isen died, Duke Thane knew that Lion had used Isen to plot a rebellion. ‘Well, Lion is a royal, so he can try. But I can’t. I have to align myself with the emperor.’

The best way to unite the royal family and a noble family was through marriage. The empress’s position would have been the best, but a concubine would do. ‘If he doesn’t accept Elise as a concubine…’ Duke Thane stared at the safe in the corner of his office. ‘I’ll have to force him with that. Even if it’s a waste.’

Meanwhile, Elise was peeking into the office through the door crack. Duke Thane took something out of the safe. He stared at the glistening object for a moment and then put it back. Elise disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.

The spring ball was just a few days away. The dress she would wear had arrived in Aura’s room. It was a simple, elegant chiffon dress. Since Aura was so thin, she had to have the measurements taken down a little.

Aura sat on the sofa, staring at the dress on the mannequin. As the spring ball approached, Lion’s words started to bother her. ‘Empress. If you ever feel the urge to ask me about the Pin, please dance one song with me at the spring ball.’

‘He’s a man I can’t trust. But if dancing with him is the price for information, it’s not a bad deal.’

Just then, Mina entered the room. She had just come back from visiting her twin siblings. Her face was tearful as she came over to Aura.

“Your Majesty… I think you should choose another dress.”

“Another dress? Why?” Mina quickly opened a book on the table.

“What is this?”

“It’s the new collection catalog for the best dress salon in the capital, Eveje.”

“My dress is made by the palace. Why would you bring me this?”

“Please, look at this.” Mina pointed to a page in the catalog. It was a satin dress with a beautiful silhouette. Even though it was a light cream color, it stood out more than any other dress. “I heard the Duke of Thane’s family bought this dress.”

“…Elise must be planning to wear it to the spring ball.”

“Compared to that dress, Your Majesty’s dress is too plain. I think it would be good to change your dress, with all the rumors going around.”

‘So that’s why she was so upset. The dress.’

Aura chuckled and pushed the catalog away. “It’s impossible to make a new dress in a few days. And I don’t have a reason to.”

“But…”

“I’ll pretend I never saw this catalog.”

“Yes…” Mina put the catalog away, her face tearful.

Aura looked at her dress again. Was it because she had seen the catalog? It was simple, but it lacked the flashy beauty of the other dress. ‘What’s the point of a dress anyway?’

It was the day of the Kasa Empire’s spring ball. All the nobles of the capital had been waiting for this day. The spring ball was an important social event for the young men and women of the noble families. Everyone would be dressed to the nines, as social gatherings were often a precursor to marriage.

In the early afternoon, Karl left his room in a blue tailcoat. Josh and Theo, who were also dressed up, walked beside him.

“Your Majesty, it’s a bit early to leave.” Theo said.

“I need to stop by the empress’s room. I have something to tell her.”

Josh and Theo exchanged glances. Lately, the nobles couldn’t stop talking about Karl and Elise. It was as if someone was constantly adding fuel to the fire.

The empress was strangely calm about the whole thing. It was the same when she returned the ball documents to Josh. ‘It’s good. Go on with the plan.’ That was all she had said. Even though she knew about Duke Thane’s audience. And Karl was also annoyed by her reaction.

Finally, Theo couldn’t take it anymore and gave Karl some advice last night. “You should give the empress a heads-up before she starts to worry. Tell her you have no intention of taking a concubine.”

Karl chuckled. “Why would I do that? She’s a person who doesn’t care who I meet.”

“You don’t know whether she doesn’t care, or if she’s pretending not to care.”

“I know for sure. She doesn’t care. Don’t talk about that anymore, Theo.”

“…Yes.”

With that, Theo could only hope that this spring ball would end peacefully.

The three men arrived in front of the empress’s room. A maid went in to announce their arrival. A moment later, the head maid came out to greet them. “Please, come in.”

“You two wait here. No, go on ahead.” Karl waved his hand at them. He walked alone through the hallway and stood in front of the door. Since she had told him to come in, he opened the door without knocking.

“Aura, I…” Karl couldn’t finish his sentence.

Aura was standing in front of a window. She was wearing a light silver dress with countless shimmering beads. No, she was only wearing it; she had not yet fastened the pearl buttons that went from her waist to her neck. Karl’s mouth went dry at the sight of her exposed back. He secretly cleared his throat and said calmly, “…If you’re not ready, you should have said something.”

“There’s no time to waste. What is it?”

There were a lot of buttons, after all. The maid was hurrying to button them from the bottom, but her back was still half-exposed. Karl felt a knot in his stomach. Her casualness in showing him her bare back felt like a sign of indifference. His wounded pride quickly turned into stubbornness.

“Send the maid away. I’ll do it.”

“You will?”

“I’m not so free as to wait for you to finish all those buttons.” He was also implying that the maid shouldn’t be here. Aura told the maid, “You can leave.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The maid quickly left the room.

Click. The door closed. Karl walked toward Aura, who was standing still like a mannequin. Thump, thump, thump… His footsteps stopped behind her. Without a word, Karl began to button the pearl buttons, one by one.

His movements were clumsy. He had only ever unbuttoned Aura’s clothes; this was his first time buttoning them. The buttons, smaller than his fingernails, would occasionally slip from his fingers. Every time that happened, his fingertips brushed against Aura’s back.

Karl thought to himself that it was a contradiction to cover this beautiful back in order to complete this beautiful dress. And he wanted to kiss her exposed neck.

Aura spoke first. “So, what did you come here to tell me?”

“The rumors circulating among the nobles. About me and Elise.”

“That you’re taking a concubine?”

“Yes. It’s just a rumor started by Duke Thane. That’s what I came to tell you.” Karl laughed at himself. To be making excuses without even being asked.

Aura was silent for a moment. Karl added, “The concubine issue is also your job, so I’m just telling you.”

“…Then why are you meeting with Duke Thane?” Karl’s fingertips stopped.

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