CESP 10

Chapter – 10

Leo, who kept laughing, met Seilia’s annoyed glare without avoiding it. Then, like a shadow that had been invisible until now, a man dressed in black appeared from somewhere and cautiously spoke to Leo.

“It is time to leave, Your Majesty.”

Leo gave a small nod, signaling his acknowledgment with a tilt of his chin. The man stepped back quietly, and Seilia, with a sharp look, scrutinized him.

She didn’t know who he was, but it was clear he was someone who worked secretly and exclusively for Leo.

She didn’t stop him, but that didn’t mean she was disappointed either—not at all.

“Well, unfortunately, I have to go.”

This couldn’t have been a more ridiculous scene.

“Not unfortunate at all.”

Seilia muttered, turning her head away.

Leo, who briefly turned his head to look at Seilia indifferently, suddenly reached out so quickly that she didn’t even notice. He fixed the misplaced button on her cardigan.

He could have just told her, but he went out of his way to fix it himself, making her embarrassment even worse.

“Make sure to dress properly.”

He remarked casually, though his tone was full of mischief.

“It was a mistake!”

Seilia grumbled in her frustration, turning her head further away.

“Alright, I’m really leaving now.”

“Go or don’t, I don’t care.”

She didn’t even glance at him, as if she truly didn’t care.

This was how it was supposed to be.

Before she knew it, when she turned back, there was no one there. It was as if no one had been there in the first place, leaving no trace behind.

Had I been talking to myself, enchanted by something?  

Unable to distinguish whether it was reality or a dream, she cautiously pinched her pale arm. Seeing the red mark appear, it seemed it wasn’t a dream.

Or did I wish it wasn’t?  

Seilia became irritated by the complicated and tangled emotions swirling in her mind.

Why did he keep trying to break through the walls I had so firmly built? Or was it just my imagination?  

She brushed her hair back, which was fluttering in the gentle breeze, and muttered to herself, her figure shimmering under the moonlight.

***

The Selection Day had begun.

In front of the Imperial City, at the altar.

Sitting at the highest seat on the altar with an expressionless face, Leo overlooked the scene below. Standing beside him, wary of his reactions, were the High Priest and other officials.

Below the altar stood Seilia, Princess Blair, and three other final candidates.

All the candidates were dressed in white gowns, their hair neatly tied back into a single bun.

Outside the altar, the area was packed with nobles and commoners alike, buzzing with noise and movement. It was so crowded that it seemed ready to burst.

“Move aside, will you?”

“This spot was mine first!”

The palace guards struggled to control the people pushing forward to get a better view, clearly having a hard time.

Seated in their designated spots, the nobles murmured amongst themselves, speculating whether Seilia or Princess Blair would seize the position of Empress.

Seilia, with a resolute expression, stood without a hint of nervousness. Perhaps because she already knew the outcome.

Princess Blair and the other candidates occasionally glanced at Seilia, clearly uneasy.

Finally, when Leo raised one hand, the surrounding noise began to quiet down as if water had been poured over it.

“The Selection begins now.”

When Leo opened his mouth to speak, the cheers that erupted were so loud they made one’s ears ring.

Now it was truly beginning.

All Seilia needed to do was walk the path she had drawn for herself. Regardless of whether it was a thorny road or a boiling, scalding one.

There was no regret. She had come too far for that now.

When one of the High Priests raised his hand, the roaring cheers gradually subsided.

The High Priest, wearing a solemn expression, cleared his throat and began to speak.

“For 523 years since the founding of the Belton Empire, countless Empresses, chosen as companions to the Emperor, have ascended this altar on Selection Day. And today, another Empress will ascend.”

The moment the High Priest finished speaking, the crowd erupted into thunderous applause, rendering his gesture to quiet them almost pointless.

“I trust that everyone here will accept the results and sincerely support the next Empress for the sake of the Empire.”

As the High Priest delivered his speech, silence fell over the crowd, filled only with tension.

When he finally finished his long-winded remarks, he looked toward Leo. With a slightly bored expression, Leo whispered something to another priest, who then spoke.

“We will now announce the next Empress.”

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived, and the silence was so profound that even the sound of the crowd’s breathing could be heard.

No one dared to speak or make a noise, overwhelmed by the oppressive atmosphere, as if they had all agreed to hold their breath and wait for the announcement.

“The next Empress is… Seilia Estelle Ernian of the House of Ernian.”

The cheers that erupted were far louder than before, and some people in the crowd below the altar even began jumping up and down in excitement.

‘It’s time to step forward.’

With the brightest smile she could muster, Seilia slowly ascended the stairs of the altar, heading toward Leo, who sat at the highest seat.

For the first time, Leo’s expressionless face showed a subtle, unreadable change.

The High Priests picked up the tiara, adorned with meticulously set sparkling jewels, and placed it on Seilia’s head as she slightly bowed.

At last, she had become the true Empress.

It wasn’t something she had ever truly desired or coveted, yet she felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

Looking down from the altar, she noticed the disappointed and envious expressions of the other candidates.

No matter how dirty their methods had been to make it this far, the winner was her.

As she slowly walked to stand beside Leo, the cheers grew even louder.

The cheers were proof, solidifying this unbelievable event as reality.

“You’re not nervous at all.”

Leo murmured quietly beside her.

“I’m just not showing it. If we weren’t here, I’d stomp on your foot to make you nervous too.”

It was true. Although she had said otherwise yesterday, standing before millions of people, it was impossible not to feel nervous.

Leo’s lips briefly curled into a faint smile at her characteristically bold response before it disappeared.

When Seilia glanced toward Blair, she saw the princess standing frozen, her wide, vacant eyes staring ahead.

Blair seemed unable to accept reality. Perhaps she had repeatedly convinced herself that she would be the Empress, that the position was hers.

For the first time, Seilia felt a strange sense of pity for her.

Should I whisper the truth into her ear?  

When Blair finally turned and their eyes met, Seilia smirked mockingly.

The victorious smile on Seilia’s face became the undeniable proof of her triumph.

Then, Seilia’s lips moved just enough for Blair to understand.

‘You can’t win against me.’

Blair, with her sharp mind, read Seilia’s lip movements, and her neck flushed red as her clenched fists began to tremble.

Finding it unworthy to engage further, she turned her gaze away.

Leo raised one hand, signaling that it was time to conclude matters.

Then, without adding any further words, he began descending the stairs coldly alongside Seilia.

Perhaps due to how tense she had been, Seilia’s legs, which had been stiff with tension, suddenly felt weak.

She almost slipped but quickly regained her composure, straightening her posture and stepping firmly once more.

As she descended the long staircase and glanced around, she saw Blair again.

While everyone else around her appeared blurry and frozen in time, Blair alone moved within her field of vision.

On her once-kind lips was now an unexpected, malicious smile. A smile that seemed to say, ‘I know everything.’

That smile set off a frantic search within Seilia’s mind for what she might have missed.

Where had I gone wrong? Where could it be?  

With her sharp intuition, Blair must have already sensed that something was amiss.

As Selection Day approached, unlike Seilia, who remained completely composed, Blair had shown no sign of tension.

When the High Priest called Seilia’s name, she had stepped forward confidently, as though she had been tipped off in advance.

This could only mean one thing: manipulation.

It wasn’t common for the Emperor’s side to be the first to resort to dishonesty, but it wasn’t impossible either.

However, Blair seemed to have realized that this marriage wasn’t manipulated out of rekindled feelings of love between Leo and Seilia.

It was too clear that there was no love between them—neither crossed the line nor met each other’s gaze.

Even in public, they seemed to face each other as though separated by an impenetrable wall.

Blair had figured out that there was another reason behind it all.

At that moment, a storm of emotions swirled within Seilia, and her mind became a tangled mess.

Blair’s brazen voice, which had once spoken so shamelessly to her, echoed in her ears:

“The ring was a gift from His Majesty the Emperor. Doesn’t it suit me well?”  

D*mn it. 

Seilia clutched her throbbing forehead as though her head was on fire.

She could feel her headache easing as she clenched her jaw tightly.

She vowed never to be caught off guard like she had been before.

She suddenly grabbed Leo’s arm as they descended the stairs together.

If Blair’s confidence was born out of cunning manipulation and certainty, then Seilia would shatter that confidence without hesitation.

“…What is this?”

Leo alternated his gaze between the arm suddenly grabbed by Seilia and Seilia herself, attempting to mask his confusion as he stammered out his words.