When the Female Lead Went Off-Script, the Main Male Lead Became the Tyrant's Empress - Chapter 14.1
A lonely air lingered in the dark corridor.
Most people remained inside the bright and splendid banquet hall, and despite the late hour, they showed no intention of leaving.
Except for one man.
He walked quickly, as though the sweet music of the orchestra were trying to seize him and drag him back.
“Haa.”
Overcome by heavy exhaustion, Haster swept his hair back and sighed.
Being tortured would probably have been more comfortable.
Haster had been standing outside the dance floor, watching Clary and Arden dance.
Despite how reluctant they had both been to ask the other to dance, they moved well together.
Just as Haster thought they were unexpectedly compatible, the bridge of Arden’s nose wrinkled.
Clary seemed to have stepped on his foot by accident.
No. Judging by the way the child was smiling, she had probably stepped on it deliberately.
Arden whispered something to Clary with a smile still on his face.
Then he spun her slightly faster than the original tempo.
Judging by his niece’s indignant expression, the perceptive bastard had probably provoked her and then acted first to prevent her from stepping on his foot again.
While Haster watched the pair behaving in anything but a mature manner, a noble approached and greeted him.
Normally, Haster would have cut the conversation short in a bored voice, but the man had been an acquaintance of the previous Grand Duke.
No matter how cold Haster was rumored to be, he couldn’t behave rudely toward his father’s former comrade.
After exchanging a few words with him, Haster was forced to endure a considerable number of nobles, particularly parents with unmarried daughters and the young ladies themselves.
Almost no noble was unaware of Haster’s personality or the rumors circulating about him.
However, Haster’s power and wealth were so desirable that they were willing to ignore the rumors calling him a cold and cruel monster or an iron-blooded ruler.
The quick-witted nobles began to believe that the rumors were either false or exaggerated.
If he were truly problematic, why would the Emperor try to draw him into the central government instead of restraining him even more?
Even if the rumors were true, it didn’t matter.
There wasn’t a single ambitious person here who would hesitate over such a trivial matter and kick away the ladder leading upward.
However, their families were of no military or political benefit to Haster.
Even though they knew that, the young noblewomen and their parents remained shamelessly persistent.
They had nothing to lose even if he rejected them.
Unfortunately, the one doing the rejecting found it exceptionally bothersome.
No matter how coldly or arrogantly he treated them, the stream of people pestering him never ended.
Haster frowned as he looked around the banquet hall.
‘No wonder the number of people clinging to me kept increasing.’
At some point, Arden had disappeared.
Despite being notoriously promiscuous, the Crown Prince’s lively and outgoing personality, along with his status as the next heir to the throne, made him far more popular than the Grand Duke.
Once such a man left his place, the nobles had flocked to Haster as a substitute.
Haster turned his gaze toward Clary, who was walking around the banquet hall with Troanne.
Having only just debuted in high society, she showed no shyness and was happily conversing with others.
Whatever amusing things she was saying caused bright laughter to burst out around her.
“I will take my leave.”
As though that were the signal, Haster left a one-sided farewell in a voice as hard and cold as ice, then walked out of the banquet hall.
With every step, the faint music behind him grew more distant.
Turning his back on the Great Palace, he headed toward a detached palace known as the Summer Palace.
Long ago, the palace had been crowded with noblewomen, but now only old, ghostlike furniture covered in thick dust decorated its ownerless rooms.
On a day like this, it was the most suitable place to find silence within the imperial palace.
A large, round moon emerged from behind the clouds and illuminated Haster’s path as he entered the garden of the Summer Palace.
The sight of moonlight settling over the garden dyed in deep blue-black looked unreal.
Haster entered a gazebo covered in blooming climbing roses and leaned his exhausted body against a pillar.
The banquet hall of the Great Palace could be seen glowing brightly with yellow light.
The reason he had endured the troublesome people instead of leaving earlier was Clary.
She had a capable chaperone protecting her, but he had still stood nearby and watched in case she became intimidated.
As though proving that his concern had been needless, his goddaughter was adapting well.
“What are you doing here? Did you run away too?”
At the unmistakable voice, Haster moved only his eyes to look in that direction.
Another source of his exhaustion was approaching with an innocent expression.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
