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Empress Cayetana smiled warmly and tapped the seat next to her with her fan. "Come, sit with me, Inés."

"Your Majesty." Inés dipped into a curtsy before settling elegantly down under the awning.

She had chosen her simple attire for a reason beyond the intent to set a new trend. This seat, beside the empress, had been her goal from the beginning. She wanted everyone present to see that she cared little for outward appearances, even though this was her first time setting foot in this secretive and honorable location. The empress, too, was unperturbed by Inés's modest dress as she welcomed her and had even offered her a seat reserved for those within her closest circle. It was precisely the image Inés intended for everyone to witness.

"I see you have grown quite fond of the diamond earrings the young Lord Escalante gifted you, Lady Inés," Marchioness Yargavá remarked. "You only ever wear those earrings these days."

The marchioness showed her obvious interest in Inés by noticing the smallest details of her outfit.

She then babbled on about how nice it was that the empress's nephew and niece-in-law were so well-matched. Her once derisive attitude toward love in marriage seemed to have changed completely. She was also simply being polite, of course, but the marchioness now had very little to criticize about Inés even behind her back.

Since the flawless Cárcel Escalante's unwavering devotion to his wife was now common knowledge, any criticism of Inés Escalante would only seem baseless. Inés gave the marchioness a modest smile, privately relishing the thought of her husband with quiet pride.

"That is because she is frugal by nature," the empress said. "She knows neither waste nor vanity."

"I enjoyed great luxury in Calztela. Please do not misunderstand," Inés replied.

"You are."

"No, truly. Cárcel once purchased an entire jewelry shop in El Tabeo for me."

"Then it is he who is extravagant, not you."

"But he clearly did it out of devotion," the marchioness added. "And, if I'm not mistaken, Lady Inés once purchased almost an entire stock of arms in several weapon shops in Mendoza for her husband."

"It must have been a grandiose occasion," the empress noted.

"There was no special occasion," Inés admitted with a sheepish smile. "I simply wanted to gift him something."

"How incredibly romantic, to do so without a cause to celebrate."

As much as Inés found all of these pleasantries disgusting, she had grown used to them and had long since mastered the art of enduring them. Empress Cayetana, ever cunning, had always manipulated her court to serve her purposes. Even without Alicia, she would have supported her niece-in-law for the sake of House Escalante, but she was showing Inés extreme favor now, perhaps due to her instinctual need to torment her daughter-in-law. The empress was no different from the bygone days when she had lavished praise on Alicia to diminish Inés, then a crown princess.

If not for her aim to destroy Oscar, Inés had no reason to play along with the empress's narrow- minded behavior. Many believed Alicia had lost court's favor because Inés had taken all of their attention away from her. In truth, Inés had never wanted to pursue this path, not when she thought of the fanatical gleam in Alicia's eyes. But she once again needed connections who would spread her influence all over Mendoza.

The ideal ones would be those whose husbands were easily swayed. She had already regained most of the people she had known in her past life and cast her bait for the others. Now, she would only need to wait for them to take the bait and generously accept them into her circle. She needed to solidify her alliances with not only her old companions but also forge new connections with a few of the empress's wicked mouthpieces.

With perfect timing, Empress Cayetana held out her hand, motioning for Inés to offer her hat. Inés obliged with a warm smile, handing over the wide-brimmed hat. The empress, draped in a scarlet dress, placed it atop her head and waved to her ladies-in-waiting behind. Regina, the quickest to respond, approached with a mirror.

The empress examined her reflection with an amused glint in her eye, tilting her this way and that before letting out a soft chuckle. "Charming. Tell me, to whom do you owe for your delightful sense of style?"

"The ladies of Calztela, Your Majesty," Inés answered with poise. "They wear outfits like this when the spring begins. It always gets warm there sooner than here in Mendoza, and the sunlight is so fierce that such hats are essential."

"And do they wear dresses like that as well?"

"This one is more specific to my tastes, but yes, they do wear similar gowns." Her tastes had carried weight in shaping the latest trends of Calztela, after all.

The empress's expression softened with nostalgia. "It reminds me of my younger days, following my father down to the naval port. Such a memory. Simply wearing this hat makes me feel like a young lady by the harbor again."

"It flatters you far more than it does me. Please, keep it."

"Don't be silly. The young ladies would mock me."

Inés knew the empress was impervious to such supposed mockery, so she shrugged as though it didn't matter.

The empress let out an amused scoff and placed the hat back onto Inés's head. The attention of the other noblewomen, who had been chatting among themselves, was drawn to the two, seeing just how familiar the empress was acting.

"In any case, you are young enough that anything you wear seems to suit you beautifully," the empress remarked. "You have a natural grace that makes even the simplest attire look elegant."

"You are too generous with your compliments, Your Majesty."

"You must take after your mother. Olga always had a good eye for these things as well. Though she dresses well even now, her tastes have gotten so refined that it isn't as interesting as in the past."

Marchioness Yargavá, who had been watching the empress and Inés with a pleased smile, tactfully put in another word for Inés. "Who else would Duchess Valeztena have given that sophisticated taste of hers to, if not her only daughter?"

The marchioness might have recognized the earrings Cárcel had gifted Inés, but Inés thought that the marchioness herself was a perfect accessory for her. Though Inés would never be able to sway her deeply rooted loyalty toward the empress, things would be different once Inés brought her daughter into her inner circle, just as promised. All that was left now was for everyone to remember how Marchioness Yargavá and Inés were on such friendly terms, and for her daughter to repeat everything Inés planted in her head like the good little parrot she was. As a result, whatever the marchioness's daughter said would be taken as the marchioness's own opinion, which would then be taken as a rift in Empress Cayetana's entourage.

"You seem to be particularly fond of me today," Inés said with a smile, addressing the marchioness.

If her smile had been the least bit crooked, her words would have sounded derisive or even threatening, as if reminding the marchioness of her place, but Inés managed to maintain an air of innocent sincerity.

The marchioness paused instinctively, but quickly recovered, smoothing out Inés's hair that was braided over one shoulder, and replying with a smile. "I am simply daring to call a beautiful young lady beautiful."

As much as Inés despised these people, none were close to the repulsion she felt for Oscar. Whatever these women tried to do to her, it was nothing compared to him daring to try and take away her happiness once again with his filthy hands.

Right now, Inés needed even more credibility and influence than she had ever gained as Oscar's wife. She needed more people to be influenced by her words in a way that they believed to be entirely voluntary, even as they were swayed by her opinions. Only then would she be able to make them believe that no matter what Oscar tried to do to her, no matter what depths he tried to drag her into, it was all complete nonsense she had nothing to do with.

That she had absolutely nothing to do with the despicable man.

Inés, sensing the intense gaze coming from among the empress's ladies-in-waiting, nonchalantly mentioned, "Speaking of beauty, why is Dolores not here today?"

"For the same reason she has not been attending any gatherings lately," the empress answered.

"But today is special, is it not?"

"If you can manage to drag Dolores out of her room, go ahead. Her getting so upset despite her position was problem enough, but now she says she cannot bear the shame. It isn't even amusing anymore."

"I suppose she cannot help but be affected by the rumors. She is quite shy, is she not? Please be understanding of how hard it must be for her to face anyone right now," said Marchioness Yargavá in affectionate defense of Dolores.

Though the marriage talks between Dolores and Miguel hadn't progressed at all, according to the rumors spreading around Mendoza, the decision was practically made already.

Miguel would be the one most affected by this if he caught wind of these rumors. Inés felt the urge to smack the empress when she spoke of Dolores not knowing her place, but she was curious as to how these rumors had spread so quickly. She knew that they originated from the empress, of course, but in her past life, they had only ever been speculative, mentioning that the match might be made, not that it was a done deal. Inés had not expected the rumors to grow so much and last so long.

What had caused these rumors to change? The fact that Viviana Castagnary's death had come later than before? The difference in timing? She was sure that Empress Cayetana was behind the rumors this time as well, whether it was for the sake of Dolores or because her brother, Duke Escalante, was being tested by the emperor.

While it was the crown prince who had pushed Cárcel Escalante into the battlefield out of foolish jealousy in her past life, she wondered whether the emperor's unreasonable doubt of House Escalante had existed then as well.

Something felt wrong. The situation House Escalante was in at the moment was a secret, and since Inés had been cut off by the empress from all information as the crown prince's wife around this time in her past life, there was no possible way for her to have known anything about Empress Cayetana's relatives. This meant that there was indeed no proof that things were any different from her past life.

But she could detect the same unease in Cayetana's eyes as in Duke Escalante. The look seemed out of place on the empress's face, as well as the sight of her so troubled by her brother's family matters.

Don't tell me he targeted his devoted uncle, Inés found herself thinking, sending a chill down her spine. She recalled Oscar's face, so deeply burned into her memory. Just as she was starting to lose her composure, the empress spoke up again.

"At least she seems to have calmed down a little now. It's not as if I was threatening to sell her off to some decrepit lord. Dolores is such a sensitive soul. But now she has accepted that she will be married, it is only a matter of time."

"You mean that Dolores has agreed to this match?"

"Yes. She finally backed down. If that girl were as calm and collected as you always are, we would have saved a lot of precious time."

"Your Majesty, you know just how unwell Miguel is at the moment. It isn't simply Dolores's fault that things are taking longer," Inés replied evenly as she watched Alicia hurriedly make her entrance.

Their eyes met. Whether it was because she was joining a gathering she hadn't been invited to, or because she had purposefully been told the wrong time, the fact that Alicia was only now making her appearance was a bad sign for her.

"I feel sorry for her after hearing this... I shall go to her for a moment to convince her," said Inés, getting to her feet with the perfect excuse, as if she were solely opening up her seat for the crown princess.

Inés had no reason to stay wedged between the empress's poor treatment of her daughter-in-law and Alicia's fanatic submission and become a tool for the empress. She would only become fodder for the ludicrous dream Oscar seemed to have.

One of the empress's ladies-in-waiting approached Inés. "I will escort you, Lady Inés."

"Thank you, Regina."

Alicia, who had been watching everything from among the ladies-in-waiting, stared intently at them. Inés came to a halt before her and curtsied as a farewell before leaving the luxurious cabin and getting in the carriage. Regina joined her, and the carriage door closed behind her.

Inés, her demeanor suddenly frosty, asked her, "Is this your doing?"

Regina gave her an unreadable smile, as though she didn't understand her, and replied, "What do you mean, my lady?"

"I am asking whether it was you who tore down Dolores so much. Why are you getting in my way instead of pitting them against each other like I told you? That is what I would like to know, Regina."