Penelope was soon escorted by Rianel to a balcony overlooking the garden.
The nobles exchanged quick glances, their eyes flitting between each other. Ortega clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
At that moment, a lazy voice echoed near Ortega’s ear.
“Excuse me, but could you tell me that gentleman’s name?”
Ortega snapped his head around. Penelope’s secretary, Lucas, had mustered the courage to ask the question of a noble he had never seen before. The recipient of the question couldn’t hide his incredulous expression.
“Have you been holed up in some remote backwater for the past ten years? That gentleman is none other than His Grace, the Grand Duke of Rahinzel.”
“Pardon...?”
Lucas blinked blankly in response, his confusion evident.
The Grand Duke of Rahinzel...? The Rianel he knew was the chief administrator of Pelar. Of course, he had suspected that might not be the case, but still...
“What?! The Grand Duke of Rahinzel? That gentleman is the Grand Duke?!”
Lucas’s voice boomed through the banquet hall, reverberating loud enough to shake the walls.
Walking beside Rianel, Penelope nearly lost her balance and stumbled from the shock.
***
As Penelope stepped out onto the balcony, she finally had a moment to catch her breath. The cool breeze eased the heat rising in her flushed face.
However, her relief was short-lived. She suddenly felt suffocated under the weight of Rianel’s curious gaze, fixed squarely on her.
Lucas, your voice was way too loud.
Penelope managed an awkward laugh as she opened her mouth to speak.
“So, you’re the Grand Duke of Rahinzel.”
“You don’t seem surprised at all. May I ask, when did you figure out my identity?”
“Oh, uh, I didn’t know anything, really, I—hic!”
A hiccup escaped, and Penelope hurriedly covered her mouth with her hands. Perhaps it would have been better to just admit she had known all along.
Rianel seemed to share the sentiment, observing her with a faintly pitying look.
“Lady Penelope, you don’t seem particularly skilled at deception.”
Why should she need to excel at something like that...?
Penelope abandoned her last attempt at denial. At this point, it wouldn’t work on Rianel anyway, and she felt she had her own reasons for being just as indignant.
Squaring her shoulders, she looked up at Rianel with resolve.
“You weren’t exactly trying to hide it, were you? You openly called Pelar your domain, not to mention your name is Rianel. Your knights treated you like a god. Honestly, it was pretty obvious. I thought you wanted me to figure it out.”
“...I see.”
Rianel let out a hum, as though realizing he might have been less discreet than he’d thought.
Penelope pursed her lips.
Honestly, this man can be so careless sometimes.
“When did you first notice?” Rianel asked.
“Quite some time ago,” Penelope admitted honestly. There was no point lying now—it wouldn’t work, and she found spinning a story too bothersome. Rianel’s lips curved into a smile.
“Judging by the mention of my knights, it’s fair to say it was almost from the beginning.”
Penelope flinched. As expected of a Grand Duke, he had an uncanny ability to read people’s thoughts.
A glint of amusement sparkled in Rianel’s eyes.
“So, you knew my identity and still treated me the way you did.”
“...”
“I must have been quite an inconvenience to you, wasn’t I?”
That was... accurate.
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Reading her shifting expressions, Rianel hit the mark again. Penelope suddenly felt like a suspect in an interrogation room.
Flustered, she blurted out, “Have I not done enough for you? I even gave you my one and only office, and I’ve tried my best!”
“That’s not the case.”
Rianel quickly responded, seemingly taken aback by her sudden outburst.
“I only hid it because your identity seemed far too dangerous to openly acknowledge. And if you think about it, you deceived me too, didn’t you?”
“That’s... true. You’re right, Lady Penelope.”
Rianel nodded in agreement, his tone genuinely acknowledging her point. Penelope felt herself relax slightly at his concession.
Unfortunately, Rianel’s curiosity wasn’t so easily satisfied.
“Still, you knew who I was, and yet you made no attempt to use me. Why?”
“What a strange question. Who likes being used by someone else?”
“...”
Rianel fell silent, staring at Penelope as though she were some inexplicable creature. It wasn’t the first time she had seen that look from him.
Excuse me? I’m just an ordinary, self-interested human being. Do you have to look at me like I’m a rare species?
Penelope swallowed her sarcastic retort and forced herself to say something else.
“If you found out later, wouldn’t you feel hurt? I didn’t want to get on the bad side of a Grand Duke.”
She spoke as honestly as she could. Rianel, however, looked even more perplexed.
Is what I’m saying so hard to understand?
She glanced up at him briefly before averting her eyes again.
Then, Rianel suddenly asked, “Will you accept the wizard’s feelings?”
“...Pardon? What are you talking about?” Penelope tilted her head in confusion.
Rianel touched his lips with his fingertips as though he, too, didn’t understand why he’d said it. He seemed flustered.
Penelope narrowed her eyes and responded firmly, “As I’ve said before, I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
“My apologies. That was out of line,” Rianel said, offering a prompt and sincere apology. His immediate retreat left Penelope at a loss for how to react. She wasn’t petty enough to stay angry at someone who apologized so earnestly.
“Well, as long as you don’t ask such questions again...”
“I may ask it one more time.”
“...What?” Penelope’s face froze in surprise.
Rianel avoided her gaze, his expression strangely awkward.
Penelope felt the corners of her lips twitch.
What am I supposed to do with this? Get mad? Or let it go?
As she wrestled with her confusion, Rianel suddenly placed a hand over his chest and bowed gracefully.
“Her Majesty the Empress approaches.”
“So, this is where you both were. I’ve been looking for you.”
“...!”
Penelope nearly jumped out of her skin.
Forcing herself to turn her stiff neck, she saw a figure stepping onto the balcony in a pristine white uniform.
Silky silver hair, a small pale face, and regal violet eyes—everything about her matched the descriptions Penelope had read in the original story.
So last time, it must have been a wig or concealed with magic.
The Empress wore a badge symbolizing her position as the leader of the Royal Knights, and a dazzlingly beautiful sword hung at her waist.
Now that I think about it, she was a knight before becoming Empress.
The heroine of the original story had been utterly exploited and discarded by the former emperor in her first life, all because she had sworn an oath of loyalty as a knight. The emperor had desired Elizabeth as a woman, but she refused to yield to him. Enraged, he had tormented her in countless ways, eventually driving her and her family to ruin and death.
In her second life, however, Elizabeth had taken her revenge, killing the emperor and claiming the throne for herself.
Elizabeth smiled warmly at Penelope.
“Fancy meeting you again.”
“Ah... hello,” Penelope replied, stunned.
Then she flinched.
That’s not right.
After more than a week of rigorous etiquette lessons from Lady Linda, all of it had just flown out the window. The complex protocols simply wouldn’t come to mind.
Penelope stammered, “Uh, um, uh...” and ended up on the verge of tears.