Chapter 107: Ch. 107: Celebration Ball Pt.

When we rejoin the ballroom, the entire room is silent and facing one direction: the balcony. My father has just stood up with my brothers, Julia, and the empress. Marie, who has been wringing new wrinkles into her hands on the side catches sight of me and moves faster than I’ve ever seen her go. She picks me right up, sticking to the wall for less traffic, and hands me off to a waiting manservant who takes me upstairs before I can so much as say goodbye to Elias.

I vaguely recall this kind of scene happening at the Spring Ball, except I was amongst the crowd gazing in awe at the stupidly beautiful people whose blood somehow made them worthy of ruling the Erudian Empire. But today, I stand on top with them and look down below. It makes me wonder just how many people down there dream of one day doing the same.

Someday Julian and Augustus’s voices deepen, they’ll grow some embarrassing mustaches, and begin to talk of marriage. And the two lucky ladies they will choose are most likely already standing in the aristocratic throng below. Could it be Leana Bryce, the daughter of one of Empress Katya’s ladies-in-waiting? She has a sweet look with dark-colored locks and lips pulled into a permanent, sweet smile, but her brows have an arrogant set in them as she curtseys with impeccable prowess.

Or will they branch out and seek new allies from noble families in the further reaches of the empire? I can see the daughter of Marquis Mullgard who had been throwing me dirty looks during the Spring Ball in the crowd, although her head is bowed so I cannot see her face from above. As the sole daughter of the most prominent Southern noble and raised mostly in the capital, it is clear that Emilia is meant to be a candidate for the princes’ consorts. It’s too bad she doesn’t know that it will fall to the daughter of an insignificant, slightly impoverished noble family that has yet to even make its way out of the countryside province they reside in.

The St. Claire family are long-time descendants of the saintess who blessed the lands with water and freed the empire from drought a few centuries ago. As such low ranked nobility, even being able to see the imperial family from a distance would be a blessing to cherish, let alone the main character Clara somehow managing to get Augustus to fall head over heels in love with her and marry her.

Augustus is my older brother, so it’s weird to try to see him through romantic lenses, but with my father paving the road for him and his treasured status amongst the people and nobility, whoever shacks up with him will be set to live a life comparable to none. Once again, I curse my poor luck at being reborn as an insignificant character who dies young rather than the well-loved female lead character with more luck in her pinky finger than I’ve had since I was reborn.

But this still leaves room for me to worry about who Julian will one day marry, especially considering how in a few years tensions between him and Augustus may reach a boiling point even as Julian claims not to be interested in the throne. Sharing the palace with the Empress and steering clear of Julia has been enough of a task for me already. The thought of now having to deal with a haughty sister-in-law who could one day supersede me in rank only further leaves a bad taste in my mouth. However, it breeds an early idea in my mind to see if I can somehow influence whoever the Duvernay family choose to wed Julian.

.....

Lost in my thoughts of using my meager power to influence the political decisions of those far more clever and more powerful than myself, I miss the dark glare being flung my way from the depths of the crowd below the balcony.

——–

The widowed count’s plump hand was wrapped around Janice’s wrist more tightly than the diamond bracelet he had gifted her early that evening. But Janice could not lower her head in the imperial palace she’d been forced to act subservient in ever since she arrived.

Please the older maids. Please the stewards. Please the servants who worked in the prominent palaces. She had never been good at it because she was not meant for it. Janice was meant for greatness. It was the reason Akira had sought her out and blessed her with the beauty and charm she was always meant to have. To reach the highest pinnacle any woman could attain. The wife of the emperor.

She hated the empress, who had reneged on her promise to put her in a Red House and thrown her into the dingiest, lowliest brothel in all of Radovalsk. But even more so, she hated the little princess she had once served. Half of that girl’s origins were supposedly even lower than Janice’s own, yet somehow the emperor had brought her into the imperial palace. The smug look in the girl’s eyes as she had booted Janice out of the palace had been returned twofold when Janice had acted a scene with the empress to get rid of Princess Winter.

Yet somehow the incompetent Empress Katya who once looked so impressive sitting in the finery of her palace hadn’t managed to get rid of the pest. It was a personal affront to Janice’s eyes to see the brat living well and even looking down on her from above. But her time would soon come. No man had ever been able to resist the delectable appearance gifted to her by Akira, she didn’t believe that Emperor Helio would be the first to do so. And once she sank her claws into the emperor, Princess Winter’s time would come to an end as she would be thrown back into the squalor she belonged in.

The count beside her had been more than willing to take care of his own wife just from a few soft whispers under the gauzy sheets of her special quarters within the Red House she had recently left. Count Koberg was the biggest fish she had ever caught and as such he had the distinct honor of not being used as a source of energy. Instead, she just drained the vitality of the many male servants at his estate and occasionally ate the female servants who threw dirty looks her way.

Just thinking about food made the void of hunger in Janice’s belly wail as the emperor gave his victory speech and she squirmed in the silvery ballgown she wore that made the numerous pieces of diamond jewelry she wore pop. Perhaps she would have to take a short respite to the lady’s room to search for any random manservant or gentleman to sink her teeth into. And they would be more than willing, of that Janice was certain. Seeing the protective way noble ladies clutched their husband’s arms when Janice’s figure caught their wandering eyes only made her evening sweeter.

Empress Janice, Empress Consort of the Erudian Empire. She could practically already hear the stewards announcing her name to the throngs she currently stood among. The emperor, her future husband, finished his speech and began to come down from the balcony to the ground-level sitting area reserved for members of the imperial family.

Janice already had a plan in mind. She would first hook the emperor with her beauty, standing from afar so they could not speak, only look upon each other. Then while he was watching she would steal away to a quiet corridor with a few lasting glances over her shoulder on the way to lure him over. After that, it would be a wrap.

“My love. My sun. Are you well?” The count asked, mistaking Janice’s wandering eyes for her not feeling well.

Janice looked into a pair of hooded eyes full of nothing but devotion for herself and smirked inwardly. But outwardly, she just pouted a little bit.

“I think that new princess was glaring at me from the balcony. Say, do you think she looks down on me because I’m not of noble birth like the rest of you?” she whined, wrapping her hands around a chunky bicep and batting her lashes.

Count Koberg was immediately incensed. “She dares? When her birth mother is unknown, but most likely is some peasant woman the emperor graced during his campaigns? I’ll speak to my people in the palace to sort her into her place.”

Janice wished to roll her eyes at his uninventive thinking. She had been a maid once and understood better than most the subtleties of one’s hierarchical importance. Princess Winter seemed just as unliked by the other members of the imperial family as before. However, she could see the newfound deference servants treated her with, any hint of displeasure or emotion invisible on their faces. This meant one thing, that Princess Winter’s healing ability had made her a far more crucial member of the imperial family.

What could one or two spy servants in unimportant positions do to the well-protected princess? At best, it would just draw the emperor’s darker attention to the count and to herself by extension.

“No, it’s alright. I’m used to it,” Janice heaved a long, pained sigh. “As long as I can be with you, my love, I can bear anything.”

It seemed that speaking forth her dislike for the princess with the count was pointless, which suddenly made her bored. At first, Janice had been dazzled by the treasures and benefits that Count Koberg had showered upon her. He had killed his wife, moved her from the Red House to his mansions, given her several servants, and gifted her with rare jewels and money. Janice had so many gold coins she could fill the lavish bathing pool the count had built for their ‘playtime’ and swim in it.

But now... she could see that he was not the most powerful man in the capital which made him lose what little appeal he had. Count Koberg was not even the most powerful or wealthiest nobleman in the capital. Although he had attained a decent fortune from good investments, he did not have the power other noblemen did. Unfortunately, the more powerful men did not grace Red Houses, so the count was the best she could get given the circumstances.

Unwillingly, her eyes danced to the emperor, who had settled in his seat at the front of the ballroom with the crown prince beside him. Emperor Helio was far better looking than the older count, wealthier, and more powerful. Who else could compare?

In fact, Janice had always been this way. When she was in her village, the chief’s son had been what she wanted most. Then she came to work in the palace and tried to catch a knight of the royal guard. Nothing was ever enough for her. But to Janice, this was a good thing because she deserved anything and everything good in the world. And she was more than willing to make a few sacrifices to attain them.

“I must go freshen myself, my love. You wait right here for me. I will return before you can blink,” Janice said in a lovey-dovey voice as she booped the count’s hooked nose.

He smiled wide. “I already miss you, my dear Jan.”

Janice finally rolled her eyes as she quickly crossed the famous pearl embossed dance floor the maids used to whisper about and headed in the direction of the lady’s room. She had always hated the nickname, Jan.

On the way, she ran into a young steward who had practically gone cross-eyed when he’d looked at her. When Janice had finished with him, he took a nap in the quiet hallway she’d found him with a faint bite mark at the base of his neck near the collar. She had learned a lot since she’d first fed on Sir Gregory and knew how to measure the amount of vitality she took from men so they would wake up quickly and think they only fainted from dehydration.

Janice looked at her poreless skin in the wide mirrors with a grin. As long as there were men in the world for her to feed on, she would never grow old and ugly. And as long as she never grew old and ugly, Janice’s gobsmacking beauty would always ensure she lived well.

“Janice,” an unfamiliar voice called from behind her.

Janice was half a predator now, her instincts had racketed up several levels beyond that of normal people. Yet somehow she had not been able to sense the speaker until they were already in her presence.

She turned around with rage in her eyes, annoyed someone had managed to sneak past her defenses. Before her was just a boy in a wheelchair, who looked as adorable as he was pitiful.

But once she saw his eyes and felt his presence, Janice dropped into a position of deep subservience, all but falling onto her knees as her head bowed.

historical

“Sire,” she said as respectfully as she could to the one who had given her the greatest gift of all as his violet eyes looked on in indifference.