113 – Audience With The Emperor
“Here is where you will have an audience. His Majesty is inside, and you can eat inside.” After walking through the main palace for a while, the maid stopped in front of two grand doors. Irene’s first impression of the huge door was ‘flamboyant’. It reached the ceiling. She could see why the name of the flower garden to the palace path was called ‘The Road to Gold’. The main palace was indeed a huge chunk of gold. Everywhere the eye could see was gold. Gold sculptures, gold plating, gold curtains. Above all, the door to the audience room was gold. Of course, it was painted, but it appeared as a huge gold nugget. The maid blinked at the knight guarding the door.
“Announcing Duke Noel Kristen and Lady Irene Chase!” The knight opened the door with all his strength. Irene and Noel waited for it to fully open before slowly walking inside. It was called the audience room, but the interior was reminiscent of a fancy banquet hall. A large and colourful crystal, ruby and sapphire statue hung from the centre of the ceiling. Delicate vines were engraved into the stone pillars coated in gold, supporting the ceiling. The imperial knights were aligned from side to side. Behind the imperial insignia engraved on a huge gold pedestal, was a middle aged man on a golden throne.
“I greet you, Your Majesty.”
“I greet you, Your Majesty.”
Noel bowed his head at the man and uttered the courteous greeting, followed by Irene.
A moment of silence passed, and the voice of the mysterious man sounded.
“Raise your head. Duke Kristen, Lady Chase.”
At his command, Irene lifted her head. Though it was burdensome to look at him, Irene, unable to contain her curiosity about the emperor, looked up at him sitting on top of the platform. She soon understood why the palace was covered in gold.
Golden hair…
The emperor was blonde. However, it was a shade of blonde like no other she had seen thus far.
“You will be the Duchess of the Kristen House, so I should take a closer look at you. I hear you are favoured by the Grand Duke, but for him to be writing a letter himself, the rumours must be true.” Irene was embarrassed by the emperor’s unexpected words, but she did not want to show it.
Ridding herself of nervousness, she raised her head. When their eyes met, the emperor stared at her face. Feeling burdened by his gaze, as if he were searching for something, she took a step back. Immediately, Noel grabbed Irene by the shoulder and pulled her towards him.
“Your Majesty.”
The emperor finally came to his senses at Noel’s low voice. He blinked and resumed his place on the throne. The air was volatilely tense. What on earth was going on? Irene was embarrassed.
“I’m sorry, Lady Chase. Somehow, you looked familiar. If you were surprised, I apologise.”
“…oh, it’s fine.”
“I’ve seen the face of the future Grand Duchess, and it’s been a long time since I last saw your face Noel. This is enough. I’ll approve of it soon. Why don’t you take a look at the palace for a while?”
“Yes, we shall leave then. Irene.”
Hearing the permission to leave, Noel gently grabbed Irene’s wrist and tapped the back of her hand a few times. As if rubbing off poison.
“Let’s leave.”
“Yes…”
Irene followed Noel outside of the audience room, briefly looking back before the door closed. The emperor was staring at her mysteriously.
Soon, the door closed and Irene followed Noel out of the main palace and returned to the garden they had passed earlier. There were still many beautiful flowers in full bloom in the garden, but they did not catch Irene’s eyes.
“Is it bothering you?”
“Yes?”
She was merely looking at the swaying flowers thoughtlessly, when she heard Noel’s voice. She looked back at him, puzzled.
“Does His Majesty’s words and actions bother you?” he repeated. Irene’s eyes fluttered for a moment, as if he had hit the nail on the head. She hesitantly nodded, and spoke quietly. “Yes…”
The emperor’s eyes had been obsessive, as if hunting for prey. She was concerned because of how he had unusually stared at her.
Or, maybe she had done something wrong.
“If you get caught saying these things in the Imperial Palace, you won’t get away with it…”
“…?”
“His Majesty will be afraid of Irene.”
“Ah…?”
Irene was appalled at Noel’s subsequent words. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had heard. Fortunately, it was only Irene, Noel, and the gardeners.
“What do you mean?” she said, stunned. “What if someone hears…it’s too much to joke.”
“I’m not joking. Irene, you don’t know how important you are.”
“What do you mean?
She stared at him, eyes shaking at his incomprehensible words. What on earth was he talking about?
“Do you know why I want to be the Grand Duke so badly?”
“That…”
She tried to answer as if it were obvious, but she was speechless. Come to think of it, it was strange. In Irene’s eyes, Noel was not someone who converted power. In the slightest, he did not seem to enjoy reigning over someone in dominance. Then why?
“Because if you don’t become the Grand Duke, you can die.”