Episode 27

Alvedi, who has a closed-door policy, was the kingdom that only Frauss dealt with in the Empire.

When the king was on the verge of starvation due to the isolation while fighting against the barbarians in the south, Frauss once provided military food and weapons to them.

And, fortunately, Killian is engaged to a young lady of Frauss.

“How about asking for help from Frauss?”

Nicholas and the policeman looked at Killian as if it was going well.

The Frauss family does not readily cooperate unless it is in the family’s interest.

In particular, they were sensitive to digging into their dealings.

However, since it is the family of Killian’s fiance, requesting cooperation will be much easier.

Killian clasped his hands for a moment, immersed in thoughts.

Nicholas and the policeman tilted their heads.

Was it difficult to ask for help from his fiance’s family?

After a long silence, Killian opened his mouth.

“Okay. let me check it out, and..”

Killian raised his head and looked at Nicholas and the policemen.

“The fact that we discovered this must be kept strictly secret so that it does not get to the outside. If the only remaining evidence is spread outside, the criminal may get his hands on it before we even catch the tail.”

At that, Nicholas and the policeman shut their mouths and nodded their heads.

~*~

At the same time, in the Imperial Palace.

In the quiet afternoon, tea time was held.

On the table were tea and dessert on a three-tier tray.

Even though the new person arrived and made a bit of a fuss, the white cat didn’t even look at the table because he was so absorbed in his hunting game.

Meanwhile, the empress introduced Sofia to the ladies one after another.

“This is Miss Sophia of the Frauss family.”

Then, the eyes of the ladies swept Sophia up and down.

“Ah, I saw it in Lady Chanelia’s weekly magazine a while ago. There was also a small article in the weekly magazine this week.”

“Nice to meet you. Sir Killian Viprons Rivelon’s..fiance.”

“I’ve been hearing a lot lately.”

When the empress made the ladies shake hands with Sophia, their faces had a welcoming expression, but their fingertips were full of hostility.

“Sophia here doesn’t have any socializing experience yet, so everyone please take care of her and let her know.”

“Of course, Your Majesty.”

At the words of the Empress, the ladies smiled gracefully.

However, as the smiles were elegant, Sophia had a foreboding that today’s tea time would not be smooth.

“By the way, if it’s Frauss.. Do you know Sir Ian Frauss?”

The first to speak was a young lady who introduced herself as Barbara.

At the strange question, Sophia tilted her head.

‘He’s my brother, did you not know?’

While wondering if the question had a hidden meaning, another lady then asked.

“What is your relationship with Sir Ian? Cousin?”

“Ah..”

Sophia was late to understand their question.

They seemed to think we were from different branches of the family.

Such misunderstandings were not strange.

‘When you put us side by side, it’s hard to believe we’re siblings..’

Even in Sophia’s eyes, the two shared no resemblance at all.

If Sophia was a cowardly and gentle chinchilla, Ian was a sensitive cat.

Ian, who was younger than her, was well a span or two spans taller than her, and even his hair color was distinctly brown and red.

The only resemblance she had with Ian was that their eyes were green, even though Ian had a deeper color while Sophia had light pale green.

‘The gene of Count Frauss must be recessive. Because the maternal genes are lost.’

Sophia thought so and answered the ladies.

“Sir Ian..is my sibling.”

The young ladies’ eyes widened at Sophia’s answer.

“Brother? Sibling?”

“A half-brother.”

“Oh, that’s why you don’t really look like Sir Ian.”

As the young ladies chattered, the Empress opened her mouth.

“Sir Frauss had lost his wife a long time ago. Now he has remarried.”

“Ah..”

The older aristocrats were well aware of the situation, while the younger aristocrats did not seem to know much because they were from a younger generation.

“I didn’t know that Sir Ian had a sister.”

“Ho-ho. He never talked about a sister..”

“I guess you don’t get along well.”

The nostrils of the ladies were twisted.

Sophia responded, ‘Yes, that’s right.’ moderately.

They also seemed interested in Ian.

Sophia could understand their interest to some extent.

His personality was a little different, but Ian was decent in appearance, background, and abilities.

“Today is the end of the Ruchtainer Knights’ spring training.”

“Oh my, has it ended already?”

“My cousin is a knight in Ruchtainer, so I know it well.”

“Then please come with Sir Ian next time, since you are brother and sister.”

When Barbara smiled gracefully, the other ladies responded that it was a good idea.

‘I have no intention of coming to the Imperial Palace with him..’

The corners of Sophia’s lips, which were forcibly pulled up, twitched.

“Your Majesty, then I will leave.”

At that moment, Mikhail, who had been watching from the side, took a step back as if his work had been completed.

Then the ladies hurriedly caught him.

“Your Majesty, have a cup of tea too.”

“Sorry. I have plans.”

Mikhail politely refused to be present.

He wanted to talk to Sophia, but the conversation he had on the way to the Imperial Palace in the carriage seemed to be enough.

In the first place, he was probably not a laid-back person to spend a lot of time talking to Sophia, and maybe he just wanted to get a feel for who she was.

“Oh, and Your Majesty, I have something to tell you for a moment..”

“Okay.”

Mikhail, who was about to leave, made eye contact with the Empress. As if knowing, the Empress stood up.

“Then let’s talk for a moment.”

The Empress rose and left, Mikhail saluted the ladies one last time and left with the Empress.

A very regretful light spread over the faces of the ladies who looked at the back of Mikhail as he left.

And soon, Mikhail and the Empress disappeared from view.

Sophia, who was suddenly left among the ladies she did not know, sat awkwardly and looked around without a word.

‘Is the spring sun so scorching?’

Sophia lightly touched her prickly cheek.

No, this tingling sensation was not caused by the sun. It was because of the gaze of those ladies toward her.

As soon as the Empress and Mikhail left, their eyes changed blatantly.

“But you are very special, Miss Sophia. You are engaged to Sir Killian and is Sir Ian’s older sister, but today, you even appeared with the Crown Prince.”

As Mikhail went out of sight, Barbara spoke out as if waiting.

“I know right. I was so surprised you came with His Highness over your fiance.”

They laughed, saying that they were envious of Sophia.

However, there was a hint of sarcasm in their tone of voice.

“Ha ha, from His Excellency to the Crown Prince, the imperial family pays a lot of attention to Miss Sophia in many ways.”

The shrill laughter was comparable to the sound of metal clashing with sharp blades. Read only at pm tl.

“Anyway, Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty the Crown Prince are all very warm-hearted.”

“Right? How did they take care of Sophia, whom no one knew about?”

“I think that’s why the number of beggars in the new system over the past few years has decreased a lot. They went out of their way to help those in need.”

They laugh while talking to each other.

After a long, low-level mockery, Sophia looked at them wistfully.

If she had heard such sounds in real life, a fever would have reached the top of her head, but somehow, she was not angry at all.

‘It happens every day in rofan.’

Gossip, no, front talk and ignore the socialite extras.

It was not even worth listening to.

Sophia dropped a single sugar cube into the tea as if bored, and watched the white lumps slowly melt and dissolve in the scarlet water.

“The only problem is that there are often stupid people who mistake the imperial grace for something else.”

The Empress’s ladies chattered, rolling their eyes behind their fans.

Sophia knew roughly why they were doing that.

Those ladies consisted of wives and young children of prominent families.

They took great pride in serving the Empress, because they were ‘nobles with the deepest ties to the imperial family’.

But suddenly, a woman who seems to have jumped out of a dust pit accompanies the Crown Prince and comes to meet the Empress?

It was as if the order of the connections they have worked hard to build was reversed.

“During the last ball, you remember that the Crown Prince shared a dance with Miss Natalie, right?”

“Sure. At that time, Miss Natalie asked him to go out on a date because they had danced once, but she was rejected.”

“Miss Caroline also became a laughing stock after savoring a glass of champagne given to her by His Majesty last year.”

The ladies laughed among themselves again.

They were openly warning Sophia not to misunderstand the kindness of His Majesty the Crown Prince today.

Sophia thought their warnings were funny.

‘Hey, but I’m the one who’s engaged to Killian. So what kind of connection are they thinking of me with Mikhail?’

Was it possible that they thought I was going to go after the Crown Prince while being engaged to Killian at the same time?

Was there even a popular romance novel that contained crazy political drama popular among aristocrats?

Sophia shook her head inwardly.