BXBX NOVEL Chapter 98 98. Debut, Part X
Editor: Aelryinth
Christine wanted to say, "So, did you press a man with the power of your family and now you are neglected for your lifetime?" but she was forced to bear it and looked into the mirror hanging on the wall behind Ivana. Christine stared blankly at the sky-blue dress and sapphire necklace that matched her eyes before opening her mouth toward Ivana, who was waiting for her answer.
"Don’t you think that the princess Kiellini is making her debut today, and for the Prince’s partner, she’s going to be more helpful?"
Ivanna clicked her tongue at her daughter’s words.
"I’m sure she’s the best woman if she doesn’t have as much health as you say. If Francis joins the family of Kiellini, the Emperor, who loves Killian, will have no choice. If the three families of Duke Dudley, Duke Miguel, and Duke Kiellini add their power to Francis’s fight for the throne, the story is over. If Francis succeeds to the throne, Killian will be dead. But what are you dreaming about?"
"His Highness promised that if Prince Killian gives up the crown and serves him as the Duke of Bertino, he will spare him."
Ivana sighed at the words of her foolish daughter. It was because she remembered the young days when she had cried out, "If not him, I will die," falling in love with the beauty of the Marquis.
"It’s your life, so what can I say? But I’ll just believe you won’t do anything that hurts our family,"
Ivana said coldly and cut off her interest in her daughter.
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Killian was waiting for Spencer on a curtained terrace with Oswald, who had already finished his entry.
After a while, Marquis Rhodius and Spencer, who were both unwilling to attend the party, ignored the order of entry and came up to the terrace through the side door. Spencer was stunned by the sight of Oswald sitting on a sofa on the terrace, in even more colorful clothes than usual.
"Oh, Oswald! You’re more colorful today."
Spencer smiled vainly as he looked back at Killian leaning on the corner of the terrace with an expression of disapproval, keeping away from Oswald.
"It’s the semi-annual debut party in the Imperial Castle. This Oswald can’t stand his heart beating every time."
"Why is it that your heart is pounding after ten years of attending the debut?"
When Killian snorted as if he were not funny, Oswald protested with a look of disapproval,
"Your Highness, it’s only been eight years. Eighty years from now, the debut party will always be exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing something new this year."
Ignoring Oswald who spoke so loudly, Killian looked casually into the noisy inside through the slightly open curtain.
"Marquis Robert Fyodor Anais, Marquise Ivana Mary Glane Anais, and Lady Christine Priscilla Anais are entering."
Christine was seen entering, together with the Marquis and Marquise of Anais, who were rumored to be in a bad relationship.
"What’s the racket? The husband and wife of the Marquis attended the party together."
Killian answered at Spencer’s words, "Today is the day when Princess Kiellini makes her debut. I’m sure they have to attend as a relative."
Spencer glinted at Killian, who was looking inside again at the mere mention of them.
"Do you really have Princess Kiellini in mind as the Queen?"
"I just came out to see what kind of woman she is," Killian said bluntly, as if to stop talking nonsense.
"I’m sure Prince Francis won’t stand a chance, because he has the best bride he has ever thought of, because she is weak. For Your Highness, the Lady of Kiellin may be a better alternative than Lady Anais, who has something to do with Dudley, so there’s only one thing left to be noisy about."
Oswald rose from his seat and stepped in. Spencer tapped his chin at the sight of Killian, who looked displeased, but didn’t say anything.
"Do you think your position could be shaken depending on where the princess’s mind is headed?"
"I’m sure Prince Francis thinks so, but it’s not going to be a big problem. It may just be a little annoying. Three of the five Dukes will be on the side of Prince Francis."
"What happened to Duke Kiellini, who has confined himself in Tilia Territory? He doesn’t even attend his beloved daughter’s debut party."
When Spencer asked, Killian answered, "If I think about it, that’s weird. He went down to Tilia Territory as if he had waited for the princess to come up to Dublin. The Duke keeps getting on my nerves, so I’m thinking of visiting Tilia Territory soon."
Having no idea what the Prince was talking about on the terrace, Christine enjoyed the eyes of people and leisurely looked around the hall where the party was held. It was the third time she had attended a royal party since her debut in January this year. It was a great pleasure to enter the banquet hall, enjoying the curious and interested eyes of the people, though not too often.
’If I marry Prince Killian, I’m going to have to get out of Austern’s social circle and lock myself in Bertino,’ Christine mumbled to herself as she drew up her future. But it didn’t matter. Social circles weren’t as making the person hers who she had been looking at for more than a decade. Until then, she would enjoy this social life that everyone looked forward to, and she pretended to greet them, with an arrogant nod back to the ladies who were greeting her.
Francis was confident that he would become an Emperor if he kept the prophecy of the fortune teller, but she did not believe it.
’If the old woman’s prophecy is so spiritual and correct, the next Emperor should be the Prince of the line of descent, but there is no such Prince.’
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As a child, Christine had gone to the Imperial Castle and heard what the Empress and the fortune-teller were saying in the garden.
"The Emperor of Austern will be inherited by the Prince of the line of descent. So, don’t worry too much, Your Highness."
At the fortune teller’s words, the Empress smiled with great joy.
Christine told the story to her aunt, the Queen. The Empress was assassinated shortly after on her way to Bertino. She knew that the assassination of the Empress was carried out by her maternal grandfather, Duke Dudley. When Duke Dudley heard the prophecy of the day, he killed the Empress, to raise his daughter, the Queen, to the Empress.
But gambling at the risk of Duke Dudley’s life was of no use. The Emperor said he would never bring in a new Empress. In any case, since the Emperor had no Prince of the line of descent, the fortune teller’s prophecy was wrong. Therefore, she could not believe the prophecy of the next Emperor.
Christine thought Killian would be afflicted by Francis. She was willing to do anything to make him Emperor, even if it turned out to be a betrayal of Francis and the first Queen, her aunt.
For Duke Dudley, her maternal grandfather, she was going to persuade him that pushing herself to be Empress would be a wise option if Francis, his only grandson, was not likely to become Emperor. When Killian became Emperor, she would also be able to stand in the last place to enter, with eyes envying her at his side.
It was time for Christine to retrace her plans in her head.
"Marquise Simone Anastasia Jennifer Raban and Lady Iris Regina Josephine Kiellini are entering."
At the moment, the noisy hall became quiet and everyone’s eyes, including Christine’s, turned for the door of the hall, which was just opening.
"Julietta?"
The Marquis, with a slight blush on his face, looked at Princess Kiellini with astonishment as she entered the banquet hall.
The green eyes glowed with the same blonde hair as his own. She looked so much like Julietta smiling at him when she was young. However, she looked similar to his younger sister, Katarina, if he thought otherwise.
Robert, the Marquis of Anais, tried to recall the image of the niece whom he had met with his sister a long time ago, but the memory was too dim. He had consciously avoided the child born to his sister after learning of Julietta’s death. There had been no more meetings with his niece, who had gone down to the Territory when his sister had died of illness a few months later.