CHAPTER 10

In the Imperial Palace, the Empress called the Crown Prince to discuss something important between the two. Rumor has it that she left the emperor’s palace in rage this afternoon. Apparently, the Empress has a big fight with the emperor.

“Greetings mother, your son is here.” The Crown Prince greeted.

“Luke, your father has gone crazy!” The Empress shouted.

“What’s happening, mother? Please stay calm.”

“How can I stay calm?! That bastard will come. That damn dead Queen’s son will come back to this Empire under your father’s command!”

“Rayzhen?” The Crown Prince asked hesitantly.

“Yes. Rayzhen will go back here. I know your father was intentionally called that bastard to ruin your position! How dare he!”

PYAR

The Empress shouted as she threw a glass of wine to the floor that made the white-coloured fur carpet turned red by the wine stain and smashed anything in front her.

“The throne should be mine, mother.” The Crown Prince said as he loosened his cravat.

“Yes, it should. We must get rid of him immediately.” The Empress gritted her teeth.

“What will we do, mother?”

“What else? we must kill him before he enters this palace.” The Empress smirked confidently with her head up.

“But won’t there will be the knights who assigned to guard him, mother?”

“The assigned knights will be settled at Kalle. That means, that bastard will not be guarded until he arrives there. I’ll arrange the assassination at Mabeulla, a small city of the border.” The Empress said as she clenched her fists.

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On the day of Marquis Payne’s first daughter’s coming of age ceremony, the maids were all busy preparing Althea for the ball. Zoey as the makeup artist and five other maids as the dressing agents. For today’s party, Althea will be wearing a halter-strap gown which was made of a combination of silk and organza that directly imported from the neighbouring kingdom.

The colours were a combination of gold and dark brown colour that would glittering in the dark. One fourth of her arms from the shoulder will be beautifully exposed, while three fourth of her arms from the elbow would be covered with the same fabrics and the same colours.

The gown has been made specially to emphasize Althea’s perfect-shaped body. Together with this gown, she would wear a pair of glass heels with dark brown gem on the edge. And for the hair decoration, she would braid one fourth of her hair and wear a golden-brown leaf tiara that matched with her blond hair. The rest of her hair would be beautifully hung beyond her slender neck.

“The makeup is done, My Lady.” In Zoey's words, Althea opened her eyes to face the mirror.

“My Lady is indeed beautiful and makeup makes you look more perfect.” Hana said.

“Oh my God! Is this me? Wonderful! Thank you for the help.” Althea thanked them sincerely.

“No, My Lady. We are so happy to help you. You are truly the beauty of this Empire!” Anne exclaimed.

“Yes. I bet he will regret hurting you, My Lady.” Zoey said.

“Hohoho…he must pay the price after all.” Althea said with a wicked smile.

“My Lady is right! He dared hurting My Lady!” Said Anne pinching the towel in her hand.

“Hahaha…don’t forget that he’s the Crown Prince, though.” Althea said.

“Even if he’s the emperor, he’s not worthy to hurt our precious lady!” Zoey replied.

“You’re right, Zoey!” The maids agreed.

KNOCK KNOCK

“My Lady, are you done? The duke has been waiting for you in the main hall.” Mr. Loin informed.

“Yes, Mr. Loin. I’ll go there right away.”

“Have fun, My Lady!” The maids exclaimed happily.

Althea stepped downstairs, she could see the duke was having a conversation with Kyn and the escort’s leader for tonight’s outing. The duke’s side looked perfectly handsome despite of his age. And Kyn was wearing Harrigan’s knights’ uniform. He looked so charismatic in that.

‘Geezzz, why these men are all handsome, huh?’ Althea whispered to herself.

“Fyuhhh…right, I am ready for this.” She said as she walked approaching the duke.

“Ah…My Lady is here already.” The knight noticed Althea’s presence. Both the duke and Kyn turned their glance at Althea. There was quite a long silence. The duke and Kyn were blinking at her.

“Do I look too much?” Althea broke the silence as she wagged her dress. With Althea’s question, the duke and Kyn came back to their senses.

“Ah…no, Athe. My daughter is stunningly beautiful. Let’s go.” The duke praised Althea’s looks and he stretched his hand to escort her.

In Marquis Payne’s mansion, all nobles have been gathered. Apparently, the Crown Prince has already come with Lady Priscila. Surely, it was something that was easy to guess. Even if others were feeling irritated by their presence, they couldn’t express their feelings to them. All they could do was just pretend to welcome their presence.

More than that, many of them were more interested in Althea’s presence. In fact, she has been avoiding all kinds of social gatherings for almost three months since her recovery time has ended. She purposely doing that to gain more attention from high society. And when Marchioness Payne announced that Althea was confirmed to come, the high-society was in commotion. They came to the ball for the hot news.

And today’s hot issue was about who will be Althea’s partner. She was technically unengaged to any bachelor. That means, there will be many high-class young noblemen competing to win her heart.

“Fyuhh, really. I am curious to death to think of who will be Lady Harrigan’s partner.”

“Hey, hey, I do think the same. Look at that couple. Geezzz, even Lady Priscila seems to has a very bold face.”

“To be honest, I feel so irritated with their presence but what can I do?”

Not long after, the hall door opened. The noisy hall turned silence and the duke came in with Althea’s hand wrapped in his arm. The presence of the most waited characters has come. Althea’s gown glittered like diamonds under the sun shine.

All of the guests opened their mouths in agape. They were so captivated by Althea's beauty and perfect appearance. Also, the duke’s handsome face expressed his pride of walking side by side with his only daughter. Above all, the guests never imagined that Althea’s partner would be the duke, her own father.

Althea walked in grace with the warmest expression ever. She smiled brightly to everyone who met her eyes. This was truly the perfect expression to gain more attention.

The Crown Prince, who stood about five meters from the entrance could vividly saw Althea’s face. In fact, his eyes were enchanted by Althea’s beauty that looked so much different from what he knew. Althea’s expression was more lovely. He never thought that his ex-fiancé was that stunning.

‘Hahaha…come on people. Look at me more, look more until you are satisfied!’ Althea laughed inwardly.