“Don’t look so upset. Frowning like that will ruin your beautiful face, mother.”
Norma’s only ally.
Her son.
The guests were clearly avoiding the Duchess after the appearance of the empress. They treated her like she was the plague. The same people who were complimenting her earlier to get on her good side.
At least, this gave Norma a chance to talk to her son in private.
“Rob, we got tricked. Our name Lonensia no longer holds any power in this kingdom!”
Roberto continued to smile. “Oh well, it’s too bad but there still is something we can enjoy.”
Norma’s eyes widened. “Something for us to enjoy? What are you talking about?”
Norma couldn’t understand her son at all. Their current situation was dire. It was possible that Norma might never get her social status back.
She had worked so hard all her life. Her father-in-law was never fond of her, but she did her best to honor the Lonensia name. After tonight, she wondered if she would ever recover.
Yet here was her son talking as if nothing had happened.
‘Could it be…’
Her favorite child seemed to be belittling all her hard planning. When she looked up at him, he seemed to be in his own world.
“It would have been better if your plan worked, but that’s how it is, I guess.”
He acted like a little boy who lost a toy but was about to get another toy he was more interested in.
Norma looked at her son nervously while Roberto continued with excitement.
“Whatever. You won’t be able to get Yulia the first wife position anymore, but we still have the rumor on the empress going, right? Let’s use that.”
“What?”
He ignored his mother’s shocked face.
“You have some friends in the castle, right? Let’s use them to spread the rumor further…”
Norma couldn’t take it anymore.
“Are you suggesting that we should continue publicizing the rumor? The rumor that you created falsely?”
“Yes, mother. Why are you so surprised?”
She always looked at her son with a gentle smile, but at this moment, she looked angry. Roberto was shocked to see his mother furious with him.
“Mother?!”
Norma exploded. “Roberto des Lonensia…!”
She still had the sense to keep her voice down. This was, after all, a royal ball. She looked around to make sure no one was listening to them.
“You have finally lost your mind!”
“M, mother?”
She made an effort to keep her voice low. The night was already bad enough, she didn’t want to make it worse. Besides, if someone heard their conversation and realize it was her son who orchestrated the rumor…
She continued, “What will spreading the rumor further do? Will you then claim that the empress needs to be dethroned?! Do you not know that adultery is considered treason against the emperor! Did you forget the Empress Beatrice’s tragedy?”
Norma remembered it very well. She wasn’t present at the execution, but she remembered what happened. At the time, she was sympathetic to Empress Beatrice.
Of course, her current anger was a separate issue. She was smart enough to separate personal feelings from political games.
Norma continued, “The emperor had to watch his own mother wrongfully executed! The emperor and the empress named their daughter after Empress Beatrice. Clearly, the emperor hasn’t forgotten about what had happened to his mother, yet you are thinking of publicizing this false rumor against Empress Sa Bina even more?!” She couldn’t help her anger. “You have finally gone crazy! Are you trying to ruin the family?”
“Mother…!”
When Roberto frowned and tried to protest, Norma grew even angrier.
“The empress’ adultery isn’t something you should lightly publicize even if it was true! Even from the beginning, I was against you creating this false scandal! It’s too dangerous! If this goes any further, it will be either us or the empress who ends up being executed! That would be the only way it will end. If the empress proves it wasn’t her that night, this game will be over, and we will be doomed. Even if she doesn’t have proof, don’t you think she will be able to make one? Just like you were able to orchestrate this scandal, don’t you think she can easily make something up? Thankfully, the scandal hasn’t been officially acknowledged yet, but if it does, then the first thing the emperor will do is to find the source of it!”
Roberto tried to protest. “No one will be able to find out anyway.”
The noblewomen who stood as witnesses were not part of his plot, so there was no way they could know the truth and betray him. His only accomplice was Amarince, and she was completely under his control. At least, that was what Roberto believed.
Norma argued, “How would you know?! You, my own son, have acted against my order and my own niece Yulia has betrayed me to side with the empress. Do you really think you can trust a woman who is a stranger when your own family can easily betray you?”
Norma had never been so disappointed in her son. Roberto had been causing countless scandals and troubles in the past, including getting involved in the lowly work of composing, but she had never felt this angry at him.
“The emperor is very sensitive about this kind of issue because of what happened to his mother. If there continues to be this unsavory rumor against the empress without clear proof, it would mean that you are waging war directly against the emperor! If your crime is found out, do you think you will be the only one who gets punished? Your father, your brother and his wife, and I will all be doomed as well!”
When Roberto tried to argue, Norma interrupted him.
“The reason why I didn’t bring up the rumor to the emperor, even when it seemed that they have drifted apart, was because it would be too much of a gamble. If we won, we would gain everything, but if we lose, we will lose everything. Why would we risk everything? Especially now when it is clear that the emperor and the empress are in a good relationship!”
When Roberto didn’t say anything, Norma added.
“After this ball, tell me who your accomplice is. If this scandal gets investigated, she will be our weakest link. We better shut her up for good.”
“…”
Norma was telling Roberto that Amarince needed to die. Roberto didn’t care if she was dead. She had no use for him anymore.
However, Roberto suddenly got a bad feeling about everything. Something wasn’t right.
It was partly his mother. She was treating him like a stupid disobedient child.
This wouldn’t do. There was no reason why he should be treated this way. Even his mother couldn’t embarrass him like this. He started to become furious.
How dare she!?
