Spoiler: Volume 3: Arendt’s fiancée Esther Jurgen. She was selected as Arendt’s crown princess at ten years old and was raised in the palace alongside Arendt and Renier until Arendt was 20 years old. In the end, she left Arendt with a nightmare of a matrimony that could not be erased. If you’re not going to love me, I want you to remember me forever so that you can’t love anyone else If it was a fight, Esther was certainly the winner and Arendt could never forget what she said on the day she died. Esther and Arendt were good betroths. When they were young, the concept of friendship was stronger than being engaged or being lovers. Even in adolescence, there was always Esther, Arendt and Renier. Those days, Arendt and Esther were friends rather than betroths. Moreover, the three friends had even made naive promises to always live together in the palace and Arendt had seriously draw up plans to live with Renier and Esther. Now that Arendt thinks about it, their childish thoughts were ridiculous. If he had a first love, it might have been Esther since she was one of his closest people in name and reality. Esther was also a pretty and beautiful person. Her speech was gentle and her smile was gentle. Arendt’s tenderness was nurtured by Renier but Esther also influenced his tenderness. That’s how close they were. Therefore, Esther’s death was even more of a shock to Arendt. He couldn’t recover for a while since wherever he went in the imperial city were full of memories with Esther. He remembers once, they were sitting side by side in the exit window of the palace, and Esther asked him to choose which was worse, threat or hypocrisy. After that they began to discuss these ideas within the framework of the fact that they will one day become the monarchs of the empire. At that time in their lives, there was still no love affair between the two but it was comfortable and enjoyable to be together. Such memories were all over the imperial city and after Esther’s death, they all turned to nightmares for Arendt. There was no where he could escape to even if he wanted to. The incident occurred right before their planned coronation. Esther, who was supposed to walk the red carpet with him at the coronation ceremony, was buried in a black coffin. He had nightmares at night but he decided to live stronger because Renier was beside him. Above all, he didn’t want to be swayed by Esther’s curse (last words). How happy would she be in the after life if he was reeling from her death? In the present time, he still remembers her last words but shakes them off. He couldn’t afford to be trapped in such an idea now. Arendt opens his mouth and addresses his mother. He tells her that he heard what she told his wife and it seems she’s used her tongue more than necessary. Adelhite claims she doesn’t understand what she did wrong. She says it’s important to face reality. Arendt responds that he knows she brought up Esther to his wife on purpose. Adelhite smiles satisfactorily. She knows she’s good at controlling the conversation. No matter what topic her opponent brings up, it was her specialty to lead the conversation as she wants. Arendt, however, was not easily involved. It’s something that pleases her as his caregiver even if it’s a situation in which the son she raised glares at her. Adelhite’s excuse to Arendt is that Niveia doesn’t seem to know much about him and she thought Niveia needed to know. Arendt tells her that it’s unnecessary and orders her not to tell his wife anything. Adelhite appeals to Arendt not be angry. She thinks it’s a good thing to care about his people but he should do that while looking at others. She reminds him that she’s his mother. Arendt tells her that it doesn’t mean that she can interfere around him. He’s an adult now. Adelhite tells him that he’s still young and stupid. Why doesn’t he recognize that she’s right? Arendt admits that she’s a brilliant person but she can’t always be right. Adelhite knows her son has a good heart. She was the one who guided him to grow right. She was his teacher and mother. She was a leader and an educator. She also knows it wouldn’t be easy for him to confront her like this. So she doesn’t like her son’s shortcoming. Once he identified his immediate enemy, he should have abandoned his personal affection and not care about blood. Adelhite asks Arendt to think carefully. Has she ever been wrong? There were times that he was wrong by a stretch but her decision is always right. Arendt rebuts that right things don’t necessarily mean the right way. Adelhite points out that he still hasn’t kicked her out of the palace She knows that he’s still unable to cut off her powers and that’s why he hasn’t kicked her out. Adelhite states that she mentioned Esther to his wife so that she doesn’t have false hope. Isn’t he the one who’s fed up with love? A lonely man easily falls apart in easy warmth. Adelhite states that she was trying to help Niveia. Arendt replies that it’s sophistry. Adelhite responds that she doesn’t know what his wife told him but she didn’t lie to her. He did turn a blind eye to Esther so Esther craved his love. She asks him if she’s wrong. Arendt tells her not to put Niveia and Esther in the same boat. Adelhite thinks her son is stupid because he always turns her into a villain. She tells Arendt that she’s not wrong. After all, Esther betrayed him and died. She asks him why would anyone else show him respect. He’s the only one who denies what she’s saying. Adelhite thinks that Arendt can be an ideal monarch only if he rules out useless affection. She also thinks Niveia won’t make a difference as an empress because she quibbled over a few words. She thinks Niveia will be unreliable and it’s better if she takes her hands off political affairs. Adelhite seems to be a piece of work as she actually thinks Arendt is a pathetic s.o.b. for not heeding her advice that he should throw away affection. She thinks he knows how to resist her but he’s a son who can’t be tough on his mother. Arendt states that he’s a man who should be emotionless but there’s no reason why Niveia should be emotionless. His blue eyes look horrendous but he was still smiling as sweet as ever. Arendt tells Adelhite that he knows she was worried about him and his wife but it’s unnecessary. He informs his mother that he doesn’t want to throw people away like she did. If Niveia really dies, will she take responsibility for it? Adelhite panics and grows speechless when he asks this. Arendt stands up without further delay. With a gentle smile of lingering courtesy, he tells his mother that if she can’t take responsibility for what she says she should at least stay put. Arendt asks her if she’s ever even suffered after Esther’s death? Adelhite declares that she didn’t ask Esther to die so there’s no reason for her to struggle. Arendt states that when a person stands at a cliff, he or she is alone but the hands that pushed that person to the cliff turns around pretending like they never did anything. Adelhite asks him if it was her fault that Esther was weak? It’s not that Esther was pushed off a cliff. She died on her own. She says if anyone hears him, they would think that she killed Esther. Arendt tells her that she’s not a monarch so he hopes that she doesn’t give up on being a human being. Arendt smiles brightly for the last time and leaves the palace. Adelhite, who is left behind beckons her maid to fetch her pipe. She thinks of Arendt subtle ferocity and says out loud, “Bethel, your son really looks like you.” Spoiler: Volume 3: Niveia prepares for Adelhite When Isolde and Niveia left the emperor’s office after reviewing the budget for the wedding coronation, they walk and talk as they head to dinner. Isolde is earnestly friendly with Niveia and treats her like a younger sister. And even though Renier is two years older than her, it was clear that Isolde also has the upper hand in their relationship and treated him as younger. Isolde likes Niveia’s name and tells her it reminds her of her child in heaven. She confides in Niveia that her child was stillborn and she has a difficult time having kids. She says that when it happened, she was very depressed. She felt like everyone was pointing their fingers at her so she didn’t want to meet people. (This is probably around the time that Adelhite scolded her and Renier axed Adelhite’s greenhouse) Niveia thinks Isolde is different from her. She’s always hated people perhaps because nobody loved her from birth. Valer was the only exception in that even though he hated her, she didn’t hate him back. Isolde confesses that her experience when she was depressed taught her many things. She used to think the world revolved around her but that changed. If it wasn’t for Renier, she wouldn’t have this second gift of life. After dinner that night, Isolde says good night to Niveia and Rubiel. Niveia thinks that if days like these continue, maybe she can also change just like Isolde changed. On another day, Niveia is engaged in devising a different strategy to tackle Adelhite. Since Adelhite rattled off her history to her, Niveia decides to investigate Adelhite’s history in preparation for their next encounter. The information she received from the palace as well as from the information brokers were unsatisfactorily limited and there was a content overlap. What she knows so far is that Adelhite became the empress because of Joachim XI’s love. Niveia devises another way of getting more information by tasking her doll to crosscheck balls that the crown prince attended with balls that Adelhite, the second daughter of a count, attended. The doll also informs Niveia that she has information on Marquis Solen. Niveia knows that the Marquis wouldn’t sit still since his precious daughter ran away so she wants to stay current about his movements. While Niveia waits for her doll to return, she reflects on a conversation that she had with Isolde over tea. Isolde asked her when will she begin to call Arendt by his name instead of Joachim. After all, Niveia is Joachim too. In addition, Isolde pointed out that there are also two more Joachim living here so why not change the appellation. In response to that memory, Niveia looks at the night sky outside the window and begins to quietly pronounce Arendt’s name. It turns out that Niveia first impression upon seeing Adelhite was correct. Adelhite was in fact a scholar. She is the second daughter of a count from the countryside. She was among ten children who were sponsored by Arendt’s grandfather and brought up to the imperial city to study. She thought that she could succeed in her career based on her brilliance but in reality, connections, status and money mattered more than intelligence. She was basically a bookworm that cared more for knowledge than interacting with people. She was gossiped about in the imperial city because of her intelligence and unique character. When Arendt’s grandfather died, there was a succession battle between the first and third princes for the throne. All that mattered to Adelhite, however, was her need to secure a new sponsor since the emperor died. She didn’t want to return to the countryside to take marriage lessons. Consequently, she decided to use her precious money to purchase a dress to attend a ball to look for a new sponsor. Her plan failed since everything about her was plain and she didn’t stand out. Right before she decided to leave the crowded party, she went to a dark balcony to get some fresh air. There she accidentally meets Arendt’s father who, from his greeting, knew who she was and had been observing her as she stood for an hour at the party. (This is the first prince and he has silver hair and blue eyes like Arendt) Adelhite initially wants to leave the prince to his privacy. She had no intention of getting involved in a succession battle since choosing the wrong side means death. The prince, however, asks her to join him and they talk about her educational interest and her infamy in the imperial city. The prince had seen her before because of all the gossip about her uniqueness. Before their parting, the prince tells Adelhite that he will call on her again. A few days later he beheaded the third prince and ascended the throne. He contacted Adelhite not long after and married her. Through their collaboration, they were able to accomplish a lot including developing a reliable bird messenger system with special coded messages during war time. Since Niveia and Arendt hardly gets to spend time together, having breakfast together was a priority for them. They would normally tell each other about their day and activities. Today, however, on their way to breakfast, they bumped into Renier and Niveia invited him to breakfast much to Arendt’s dismay. However, Niveia’s main purpose for inviting Renier is so that she won’t be alone with Arendt when she attempts to call him by name. During breakfast, Renier asks Niveia if she’s busy. Niveia answers no and Renier asks her if she can meet with the Thierry representatives on his behalf. Arendt interjects that he thought he gave that assignment to him. Renier replies that Arendt gives work to him so he’s giving work to Niveia. It seems that they are holding discussions on negotiations for the Gauren mind. Renier tells Arendt to take the work if he’s free. Niveia interrupts both men by listing several actions that the people involved in the negotiation will take or has already taken. Both men are shocked. Renier tells her that she’s amazing and confirms that everything she said was correct. He asks her how does she know. Niveia continues to provide profitable information on the private connections between the members of the Thierry envoy. She knows this information because she was at the bottom of Thierry’s society and she used to employ her resources to keep tabs on those in society for personal reasons as well as other uses. Arendt asks her a question about the negotiation but Niveia feels he asked her the question to demonstrate to Renier that she’s on Vinfried’s side. They discuss Thierry’s intentions some more and Niveia thinks that all the involved parties are really after the Gauren mine. Niveia thinks it’s better to let the players fight over the mine since in the end there’s not much they can actually take after keeping each other in check. Needless to say that by the time the discussion ends, both men are very impressed by Niveia’s intelligence. Renier also noticed that Arendt was looking at Niveia with unspoken affection. The discussion led to Niveia working in Arendt’s office while Renier took off to finish writing his book and Isolde left for a preliminary agreement with Thierry’s delegation. As Niveia concentrates on reading through documents, Arendt can’t resist the urge to tease her about the fact that she called him by name during breakfast. He asks her when did she decide to start calling him by his name. Niveia is completely caught off guard and divulges to him that Isolde brought it up to her the night before. Arendt laughs and says he has to thank Isolde. Niveia asks him then how did he know that she wanted to call his name. Arendt tells her that she called his name during their conversation at breakfast (she really did but I guess she didn’t realize). Arendt is visibly depressed that she called his name and doesn’t remember it. He rests his chin on the desk and Niveia asks him if he’s sulking. She mainly called him Joachim because she likes the pronunciation and she still feels awkward pronouncing the “t” in his first name. In the end, when she wanted to call him by his name again to soothe him, she suddenly makes an excuse and runs out of the office leaving Arendt behind smiling in vain. So, since Renier and Isolde are busy, Niveia went to Rudiger to talk over her dilemma about calling Arendt his first name. Here, there’s insight into Rudiger’s thoughts about Niveia. It seems that he thinks of her unfavorably because she was going to leave Rubiel in Thierry with her father in what he considers a bad environment. (How can Niveia just take a child that isn’t hers to another country? Wouldn’t that be kidnapping? This guy makes no sense) He thinks that if he knew Niveia simply as Arendt’s empress, then she would be a good empress in his estimation. However, because he knows her through Rubiel, he has an unfavorable impression of her. He thinks that Niveia should realize that Rubiel was the first person to reach out to her unconditionally. However, because Niveia murmured that she didn’t have anyone like him at her age to save her, after she discovered that he helped Rubiel run away from home, he holds this comment against her. He thinks Niveia is jealous of Rubiel. He thinks it’s not Rubiel’s fault that an adult was there to save her and Rubiel is not responsible for Niveia’s failure to meet a good adult. He seems to think that Niveia wanted Rubiel to grow up in a bad environment like herself. He thinks Niveia pities herself and has a sense of inferiority. He doesn’t like people like that because such people usually don’t notice what’s around them. No, they don’t care if they notice unless it’s something to do with themselves. Anyway, he thinks the fact that Niveia allowed Rubiel to stay in Vinfried is sufficient proof that she took the right path over her inferiority complex. Overall, he thinks that he should change his opinion and agree that Niveia is suitable as an empress but not as Arendt’s lover. The needle on his scale for judging Niveia has crept up to reach “not bad”. He’s known Arendt and Renier since they played together as kids and knows Arendt’s affection for values and character. Therefore, all he needs to do is trust and follow Arendt’s choice. He used to think that what Arendt felt for Niveia was sympathy but now it was hard to deny Arendt’s intimidating affection for her and there must be a reason for it. Rudiger and Niveia continues to talk about Niveia’s difficulty with calling Arendt’s name. They both agree that it would make Arendt happy. Rudiger asks Niveia why did she come to him. She answers plainly that it’s because the others were busy. He asks her what if he was busy. She replies that he wouldn’t be busy. Niveia calmly reminds him that he owes her much since it was not long ago that he almost made her a kidnapper. That response effectively shuts him down. He acknowledges that there’s a strange force in her determination and neat tone and he had no desire to rebel against her. Before Niveia leaves to the training ground, Rudiger tells her that he doesn’t think it’s about Arendt’s name. He thinks Arendt simply wants to be called in a special way by her. Niveia’s face stiffened. She gets up, thanks Rudiger and takes her leave. Rudiger wonders if he made a slip of the tongue. He thinks Niveia looks like she used to look when he first saw her in Thierry. He asks Rubiel if he said anything wrong. He then realizes that what he said could be taken to mean that he told Niveia that Arendt likes her.
Does Rudieger (emphasis on the RUDE) ever get better? As it stands, he is so unlikable. He sees nothing but the bad in Nivea despite all she's been through, a life worse than Rubiel, and how hard she's worked to become the strong qnd EXTREMELY kind hearted person she is today. If she were a lesser person, as he believes her to be, she would have treated Rubiel like shit from the beginning out of bitterness, taken advantage of Ardent and her current position as empress to fire his ass, and taken revenge on valor and her shit-stain "family". Like the audacity of this literal knight, aka her subordinate, to treat her the way he does.
From a logical standpoint, he is right. Niveah didn't want to help Rubiel, but she didn't oppose to Rubiel saving herself either. She admits she is kinda cold to her too. Rudiguer didn't know Niveah, he learns about her situation, but he didn't take the time to learn about her and sympathize with her like he did with Rubiel. From he's standpoint, Niveah is wrong. But he committed 2 mistakes : - First, Niveah wasn't in a situation where she really could help Rubiel without consequence for her, and her situation was instable too. Even now, Niveah will probably pay for him saving Rubiel. - Second, he's point of vue is biased, since he sympathizes with Rubiel and only her. He forgot Niveah is a person too, Rubiel isn't under her responsibility either. Yes, she is envious, jealous of Rubiel and didn't want to help her because of that. But at least she never mistreats Rubiel either, and didn't oppose when she learns Rubiel was with her in the journey. She isn't a monster, but she isn't a saint either. No one was here to save Niveah, and it isn't Rubiel fault yes, but, she didn't have any obligation to save Rubiel too. In short, it's not up to him to judge Niveah. So, I understand your point of view, but don't forget that if the MC was Rubiel, you probably write how Niveah is rude to Rubiel instead XD
Spoiler: Volume 3: I Love Her Niveia wonders what she means to Arendt. It’s a question that she’s been grappling with that she couldn’t easily solve. Niveia is practicing her first dance for the coronation alone in an empty banquet hall. In the past, she used to engage in dancing or other activities to ease or erase her complicated mind but this time, she’s trying to calm her floating mind. Earlier that day, when she spoke with Rudiger and her expression had stiffened, it was completely to hide her joy. To hide her agitation over the indescribable conviction that Arendt considers her special. Niveia expends herself quite happily on the dance practice. She even envisions the orchestra, the banquet attendees, Arendt, her partner and the audience applause. She’s basically caught up in her imagination as she dances and she’s more cheerful than she has ever been since the start of the story. It’s clear that it’s because she believes that she has someone by her side now who thinks she’s special. Meanwhile, Rudiger tumbled into Arendt’s office after gaining permission to enter. Both brothers are surprised by his tumultuous entrance and Rudiger apologizes to them for his rudeness. Rudiger is lying face down on the floor which Arendt thinks is unusual considering Rudiger’s normal sour and unsympathetic attitude. Arendt soon discerns that Rudiger must have done something wrong. He asks him what is so urgent. Rudiger asks his majesty if he has a thing for the empress. Arendt doesn’t know how to react to this question. Rudiger tells him that Niveia came to him earlier and told him the story about calling his name. Arendt wants to know why would Niveia go to him. Rudiger guesses it’s because she was embarrassed to go back to Arendt whom she ran away from. He said he listened to her story and he told her that His Majesty probably wanted to be called in a special way by her. Arendt asks what was Niveia’s response. Rudiger tells him that she said she understands and left. However, he thinks that Niveia used his response to figure out how Arendt really thinks about her. Rudiger tells Arendt that if he wants to condemn him for speaking out his master’s intentions, he will accept it. But before that, he would like to ask His Majesty a question. He asks Arendt if he loves Niveia. Arendt doesn’t answer. Rudiger still waits in silence for Arendt to respond. Rudiger, like Renier, is one of the few people who knew Esther and knew how much Arendt shivered about “love” ever since that incident. Rudiger says he knows that His Majesty is not just treating her majesty with sympathy or as a mere possession so he’ll no longer object to them. However, he wants to know if His Majesty will be alright. Arendt still doesn’t respond and Rudiger goes on to say now that it’s like this, he thinks His Majesty needs to make it clear. He thinks Her Majesty may never know his heart forever and he should properly make things clear to her. Renier agrees with Rudiger. He tells Arendt that he didn’t say anything before but he also thinks he should make things clear so that both of them don’t get hurt. Rudiger thinks of Arendt as a friend that he doesn’t want to see collapse in private and publicly, he is a master who should not be shaken. He thinks Arendt’s only weakness is love. He tells Arendt that the reason he objected to Niveia as his lover is because she’s a very insecure person. He should remember when they first met her and she seemed deeply dry and cracked inside that he couldn’t see the end. He thinks it takes a lot of love and time to reconnect such cracks. He didn’t want His Majesty to put effort into such things because it will only exhaust him. Rudiger reflects on his assessment of Niveia and he thinks it was obvious that she was leaning on Arendt’s kindness and as Arendt’s lover, she will only end up wanting endless affection and one day it would tire Arendt out. That’s what he thought of her as a lover. Contrarily, he now thinks that Niveia isn’t interested in love but Arendt is interested in Niveia as a lover. The problem is, Arendt is also a broken vessel. Rudiger tells Arendt that perhaps one day he will be faced with the feeling he’s afraid of so its better to decide before that whether to accept it or nip it in the bud. Arendt listens to Rudiger but he doesn’t answer. A long silence ensues and finally Arendt admits that there’s nothing he can do about it as a mixed smile envelopes his countenance. He adds that there’s no turning back for him. Do you love me? Is it okay that it’s love? These questions dig deep into Arendt’s scars. That love that Esther left him was painful, stinky and hotly ugly like a scalding wound. Maybe this is Rudiger’s concern. Maybe he wants Arendt to deny this question. Being prepared to be on par with the person (Esther) who ruined him also means he’s ready to destroy himself. Arendt finally confesses, “I love her.” To Rudiger, who doesn’t want Arendt to fall apart, this answer was like a thunderbolt. Arendt thinks there would be an undeniable moment some day when he would say those words out loud. Niveia has already made him experience emotions that he’s never felt before. Until now, he had turned away from them for various reasons. Because of Esther. Because of Adelhite. Because of the contract he shared with Niveia. Because of Niveia’s past. Arendt leaves his office and heads to the banquet hall for his practice session with Niveia. On the way, he visualizes her reactions to him now that he thinks she’s found out his feelings for her. Will she be wary? Will she feel betrayed? He hopes his one-sided love won’t make her feel estranged. Arendt arrives at the banquet hall and he’s immediately enchanted when he sees Niveia dancing alone under the dazzling light of the chandelier. It was already dusk outside and the ambience of the scene draws him in as he watches her dance with an imaginary partner. Arendt is so mesmerized and choked up by his unspeakable love that by the end of the dance, Niveia had to call his name twice before he comes to his senses. Niveia is smiling at Arendt who’s still in the dark shade of the hall. Arendt is actually trying to hide his countenance. He thinks he always loses his composure before her. Niveia’s still standing under the light of the chandelier. She asks Arendt since when has he been watching her dance. He answers that it’s been a while now. She wants to know why is he still standing in the darkness. Arendt tells her that he wants to show her only his good side and right now he can’t control his expression. Niveia tells him to show her. He doesn’t respond. Niveia mutters to herself that she missed him. Arendt finally walks out of the dark. He has no idea what kind of expression he’s making. Only Niveia sees it. Niveia looks at Arendt as he slowly approaches. She holds out her hand to him. There’s wonder on Arendt’s face as he takes her hand. She puts his hand on her waist and her hand on his shoulder. She tells him the ceremony is around the corner so they have to practice. The two are great together as she dances fluidly in his arms. Niveia suddenly tells him that she thought that as long as she threw away love, everything else will be perfect. Arendt looks down at her head that’s leaning against him and he manages an open smile. He asks her if she’s changed her mind. Niveia tells him yes. It’s an unexpected answer but Niveia tells Arendt that even if it’s not love, wouldn’t it be possible to be a special person to the other person? Arendt’s momentary hope is shattered. Niveia tells Arendt that Rudiger said he wants to hear her call his name because it’s her. She tells Arendt that she’s very happy to hear that. She loves that he considers her special. Niveia smiles and tells Arendt that he’s the most important person to her. She’s embarrassed by her confession but she doesn’t regret it. She knows Arendt has many precious people and she doesn’t know where she ranks among them but she’s happy that Arendt values her. Niveia looks up at Arendt and realizes his eyes look wet. She wonders about it but swallows her question. Instead she changes the topic and inquires about Adelhite. Recently there was an issue about her and a state guest from Silas who came early for the coronation. Niveia thinks it’s important to show harmony between she and Adelhite especially since foreign dignitaries will arrive soon for the coronation. She questions Arendt about Adelhite’s latest actions. He confesses that he had an argument with his mother and this is the first time he’s ever openly protested against her control. Niveia thinks it’s because of her. She thanks Arendt for telling her and makes up her mind to help out more since the palace was getting busier. Spoiler: Volume 3: Niveia makes progress with MIL Niveia meets with Adelhite again. This time she came prepared. She plainly tells Adelhite that the last time she visited her, she revealed her past. This time, she also came prepared after looking into her past. Adelhite seems offended. Niveia tells her not to worry. She didn’t find anything unusual except for one funny thing. Again Adelhite seems offended that anything in her past could be described by that word. Niveia brings up Adelhite’s research for coded messages and scrapped projects. Niveia asks a reluctant Adelhite several questions. She knows that Adelhite is begrudgingly interested because it has to do with her work. Even if she pretends not to cooperate with Niveia, she can’t help talking about her past projects. Niveia paints a picture for Adelhite that eventually shows that Adelhite deliberately hid her talent from the emperor who sponsored her but used her talent to the fullest to benefit his son, Arendt’s father. Niveia makes a comparison between herself and Arendt and Adelhite and Arendt’s father. Arendt recognized Niveia’s light, so she would do everything to help him and she feels that Adelhite did the same to Arendt’s father because he recognized her talent and valued her. At first Niveia thought that she should stand with Arendt against his mother since the two of them are on the same boat but something that Isolde said changed her mind. Previously, Isolde told Niveia about how hard the past few years in Vinfried has been for her. Renier always stepped up to protect her but she hated feeling helpless on her own. Niveia thinks that it’s better to get people on her side instead by doing small favors. With Adelhite, she knows that the woman is brilliant from a young age and has many years of social experience. As such, she knows she would never win against her so she decided to adopt a different approach. Niveia realized that what she and Adelhite have in common is the way their future husbands recognized their value when nobody else around them did. Niveia tells Adelhite that Arendt chose her, who has grown tired of love, because they agreed not to love each other. She doesn’t have to worry about them because they don’t have to give their hearts to each other. Adelhite finally speaks with tender emotion. She tells Niveia that all she needs in marriage is trust rather than affection especially in the case of monarchs. Niveia assures her that they have no shortage of trust between them. Adelhite smiles. She feels a sense of remorse for the past and a similarity with the daughter-in-law in front of her. Adelhite wonders if she can forget the snow (Arendt’s father) that recognized her at once even in a crowded room? She confesses that it’s a little funny that at the time she thought that she was the best in the world. She produced useless studies because she didn’t like people who recognized her only half heartedly. Even if it’s only one person who appreciates her true value, she wouldn’t lose value. However, ever since her husband died, she feels as though she’s lost her value. Adelhite turns to Niveia and thanks her. She thinks it’s been a while since she’s regained her value. Adelhite makes a dig at Arendt but Niveia couldn’t agree with her even if it’s a compliment to her. She wants to fill the gap between Adelhite and Arendt but knows that she cannot enter that realm. Adelhite calls for her pipe before informing Niveia that Marquis Solen will be attending her coronation. Niveia is speechless. Adelhite tells her that she won’t keep her anymore just in case she has more work to do but next time, she wants Niveia to invite her to the imperial palace instead. Spoiler: Volume 3: Niveia’s confrontation with Solen Marquis Solen is in deep financial troubles. The mining industry is experiencing a recession and on top of that, he still has outstanding bills incurred through Niveia’s shopping spree and the debts he owes the duke for Niveia’s living expenses. He decides to go to Vinfried for several reasons. He intends to get his daughter back and he wants to hang on to the coat tails of the imperial family there. He knows Arendt can’t stand him so he’s thinking of Adelhite’s favor since most people across the continent thinks that she holds the power in Vinfried. He arrives in Vinfried three days before the coronation and joins Valer in the palace where the Thierry envoy is staying. Niveia was caught off-guard when Adelhite announced that the Marquis Solen would be attending the coronation. According to the latest update she received, Solen’s departure was delayed. Now that she’s heard the news, the most important thing is to inform Rubiel who might be taken and sent home without warning. Niveia hadn’t sent Rubiel back primarily because she wanted to respect the child’s will as much as possible. Above all, Niveia thinks Rubiel follows Rudiger well. She trains with him in swordsmanship during the day and spends time reading books with Niveia in her study at nights. Niveia also observes that Rubiel has grown quite energetic after coming to Vinfried and she’s grown quite used to having the child with her now. Niveia hurries to the training ground. There she finds Rubiel and Rudiger who are both exercising. As soon as Niveia sees Rubiel, she tells her that her father will be there by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Rudiger, who was hanging on the iron bars, falls with a thud. Rubiel is immediately upset but Niveia tells her that she can’t do anything about it if her father demands to see her. After all, he’s her father and her guardian. Niveia also adds that Rubiel cannot stay in Vinfried forever. Rubiel sadly admits that she knows that and she planned to stay for a year. Still, Niveia can’t actually do anything if Rubiel’s father demands that she return home. Rudiger suggests taking Rubiel to his family home. Niveia can only agree to that if she meets the occupants of the house. Rudiger takes the two sisters to his family home, which is an impressive mansion judging by Niveia’s and Rubiel’s reactions. It seems that the last time he visited was a fortnight ago yet they treat his visit like someone returning from a very long trip. Rudiger introduces his mother and she’s quite bright and friendly. Niveia observes her and the environment and finally decides that she’s fine with leaving Rubiel with the family if the family is okay with it. The mother, Deborah, gladly accepts. She’s happy to have the sister of the empress staying with them. After a while, Deborah suggests that Rudiger introduce Rubiel to Erich. He’s around Rubiel’s age, which means, there’s a 15 year gap between the two brothers. After the two leave the room, Deborah tells Niveia that her family and the Joachims go hand in hand. They’re the servants of the Joachim family. Perhaps that’s why Rudiger was Arendt’s playmate. Rudiger’s mother Deborah seems to be a dramatic person. She confides to Niveia that she’s only been sleeping seven hours a night because she’s so worried about Adelhite who keeps refusing her visits with claims of illness. Niveia asks Deborah how long she usually sleeps. Deborah says she sleeps ten hours normally. lol Deborah also laments that Adelhite has cut down on the length of their letters. It turns out that Adelhite only cut down from five pages to three pages in their correspondence. Deborah is actually crying and Niveia lends her a handkerchief. Niveia assures Deborah that Adelhite is doing well and she’s recently visited her. Hearing this, Deborah asks Niveia if she can arrange for her to meet Adelhite since she’s been rejecting all her visits. Niveia thinks it’s too soon for her to do something that will ruin the little progress that she’s made with Adelhite but she also thinks Deborah will be useful to her both privately and publicly. Niveia accepts Deborah’s request. She will arrange for her to meet Adelhite. Niveia leaves the mansion but was unable to see Rubiel who apparently has good chemistry with Erich. The children are off somewhere playing and Niveia has to get back to the busy palace. On her way back, Niveia is thinking about Deborah and her family. She’s impressed by Deborah’s warmth and thinks of her as a good mother. Niveia begins to wonder if she can be a good mother. She acknowledges she’s decided to live selfishly until faced with that moment but can she be a good mother. She’s not confident. She thinks it’s better for Arendt to raise the child as much as possible and she can educate the child instead. Niveia really begins to panic when she considers the possibility of her child resembling her or what if she becomes a bad parent like her parents. By the time Niveia arrives at the imperial city, she’s still troubled about this issue about becoming a bad parent. She thinks she needs someone to talk to. Someone like a husband. She decides to quickly stop by the imperial palace and then going to visit Arendt in her spare time. Just then, however, someone calls to her for a second time. It’s Valer who holds her hand to stop her. He warns her not to go in the direction she’s heading. Niveia turns to look at him and frowns. Valer tells her that he knows it’s unpleasant but he’s sorry. Niveia orders him to let go of her hand. Valer asks her if she knows her father is here. Niveia’s eyes flutters for a moment. She didn’t think he would have already arrived. Valer sighs softly and slowly releases her hand. He informs Niveia that as soon as Solen arrived, he went to the empress’s palace to find her. Niveia asks Valer what is he doing here? Why is he trying to stop her. He says he heard that the relationship between her and Solen isn’t good. He wishes that Niveia doesn’t meet Solen. Niveia asks him if he wasn’t the one who used to habitually tell her to go back to Solen. He says he didn’t know at that time about their bad relationship. Niveia says she knows. After all, he was the type of person who didn’t care about other people and she doesn’t blame him for that. Niveia looks at Valer who is bowing his head like a sinner. She thanks him for stopping her but since Solen is already here, she can’t avoid him. Valer still protests that she should avoid it and Niveia asks him why should she avoid it. If she does, nothing will be resolved. She walks off to leave him behind and moments later he declares that he’ll go with her. Niveia tells him to do as he please. Niveia meets Solen at her palace. The man resentfully demands to see his daughter. Niveia is still hurt by this guy’s attitude but coldly reminds him that she’s the empress and to watch his mouth. The man tells her that she’s all talk and hasn’t even had her coronation yet. Besides, there’s no courtesy for someone who steals his daughter. He states that he’s not here for her coronation in the first place and that he doesn’t want to bump into her. He demands that she send his daughter to him. He’ll return to his country with her. Navier explains that Rubiel isn’t at the palace. She’s currently staying in the mansion of one of the emperor’s royal family members. She can call Rubiel but it will take some time and his permission to stay in the country might run out by then. Solen says it doesn’t matter since he can extend his permission but she had better bring his daughter without making a fool of herself. Niveia asks the man when did she steal his daughter. His daughter decided on her own. The man says if it wasn’t for her, his daughter wouldn’t have left the house. Niveia asks him why is it her fault that his daughter left the house. The man says if it’s not her, then whose fault is it. Who else could have deceived the child who knew nothing. Niveia asks him who can guarantee that a child can know nothing. They continue to argue and then Solen tells Niveia that she should be grateful that he took her in otherwise she would have been wandering the streets and she wouldn’t be a noble. At the imperial palace, poor Renier is in deep trouble. That’s because Arendt was just informed that Marquis Solen has arrived in imperial city. Arendt was stunned but he couldn’t blame Renier because he didn’t explain the situation to him. He also didn’t look at the guest list. However, poor Renier is beating up himself because Arendt is seriously mad about the Marquis Solen’s presence in imperial city. To avoid any further mishaps, Arendt informs Renier of the discord between Niveia and Solen. Renier thinks he’s in even more trouble especially because Arendt has been silent since then. Arendt is ashamed of the mistake of not knowing and dealing with the situation in advance and has no idea how to convey this information to Niveia. Both him and Renier are on their way to meet Solen but as soon as they draw near, Arendt’s smile fades. They arrive in time to hear Niveia ask Solen why is it her fault that Rubiel left his house. Renier, who is beside Arendt, feels the weight of what he had done by granting permission to Solen to come to Vinfried. (Renier made a mistake in ignorance while Rudiger deliberately created this situation. Why is Renier blaming himself and Rudiger isn’t blaming himself at all?) Renier quietly asks Arendt if sister-in-law is alright? Arendt asks him if his brother looks alright. Renier promptly shuts up after hearing the arsenic tone. This is the first time Arendt is witnessing a confrontation between Niveia and Solen and he grows very bitter about it as he thinks Niveia is quickly sinking in mud. He couldn’t go out to stop them however. It would be like dirtying Niveia’s face. He assumes that Valer, who was standing by, also understood this logic. Solen tells Niveia that he might not be a good father but he was the one who gave her support to at least achieve the life she lives today. It’s him that supported her up until now. Niveia points out that what he did was the least responsibility for putting her out into the world. Solen asks her if she doesn’t even know how to thank him. Niveia tells him that she doesn’t want to hear anymore about child support. She will inform Rubiel that he wants to meet her. Is he done now? Solen, who couldn’t overcome his humiliation in the end, raise his hand towards Niveia but Valer intervenes. Valer reminds the man of Niveia’s status and only then did the man calm down. As the head of the Thierry delegation, Valer apologizes to Niveia. He addresses her as Her Majesty. Niveia responds that she doesn’t need an apology from someone else’s mouth. She’ll only forgive the insult when the sinner apologizes directly. Solen’s face turns severely red. The man broods over the sense of humiliation he feels for having to apologize to her. He does apologize and Niveia generously accepts his apology. She orders Valer and Solen to go back and enters her palace. Solen leaves and Valer stays. His eyes meet Arendt. The two men talk first about Arendt’s scarce availability for meetings with the envoy. Arendt says he’s busy with the preparations for the coronation. Valer asks him why didn’t he intervene between Solen and Niveia. Arendt replies that he, Valer, was present. Valer thinks Arendt should have done something. He tells Arendt that he thought he would be able to protect Niveia. Arendt asks him if he’s admonishing his past self (Valer) or him. Valer tells Arendt that one day he will surely regret not stepping up today. He then leaves Arendt behind.
Spoiler: Volume 3: Niveia’s dream and Arendt’s shock After the confrontation with Solen, Niveia tries to calm her mind that has become complicated. She knows he’s a selfish, self-conscious man. A stubborn old man who lives in a high position while listening to only good things and has a hard time admitting his own faults. She knows what the man says is crap but has a hard time denying them because they were words everyone has been saying about her since she was very young. Things like, it’s Marquis Solen’s grace for having a daughter, not a son, who almost became an illegitimate child. It’s Marquis Solen’s generosity to raise a maid’s child as a nobleman. These are the kinds of things people would say in the society to which she belonged so she had no choice but to be shaken by Solen’s nonsense. The only comforting thing to Niveia was the fact that Arendt wasn’t there to witness her confrontation with Solen. Niveia considers the battle with Solen a win for her. She feels that she didn’t lose to Solen. When Solen almost slapped her, Valer had stood in the way. In fact, she admits that her personal taste is still closer to Valer than Arendt. She likes a muscular body and wide shoulders. A body that will shrink a person just by its existence. She feels lucky that Valer was there to protect her. She wants to thank him for his help. She thought it would affect her more to get help from someone who always turned away from her but it doesn’t feel as bad as she thought. At least she didn’t feel like she was alone in filth. Valer stood up for her. He looked at Solen with the same eyes as her. Of course she knows that Arendt would have acted similarly if he was there but she feels lucky that he wasn’t there. Maybe he would have thought that she did something wrong. She doesn’t want to show him her bad side. When Arendt comes to see her that evening, he apologizes for not informing her about Solen’s visit. Niveia feels relieved that he didn’t seem to have heard about the fight. Niveia and Arendt basically lie to each other. Arendt pretends that he didn’t witness the fight and Niveia pretends that she hasn’t met Solen yet. Arendt knows she’s lying but she doesn’t know he knows she’s lying since he witnessed her confrontation with Solen. They begin to talk about Rubiel and Niveia informs Arendt that Rubiel is staying with Rudiger’s family. Arendt decides to take Niveia to Deborah’s house for dinner. It’s probably because he wants to lift her spirits. In the carriage, they talk and Niveia remarks that Rudiger takes very good care of Rubiel. His parenting skills are good. Arendt says Rudiger used to hate kids for their noisiness so her sister must be very well behaved. Niveia points out that if she was well behaved, she wouldn’t be here in Vinfried. Arendt burst into laughter and Niveia thinks that he looks very happy. They also talk about her practice for the coronation and Niveia is still having problems pronouncing some of the language that she’ll need to use. When Arendt corrects her speech, she gets kind of discouraged so Arendt compliments her and tells her that she’s learn a lot in fifteen days. In their discussion, he also tells her that she tends to believe too much in human malice so she’s too wary. People’s true intentions should not be judged recklessly so she shouldn’t deny people wholeheartedly. He wants her to be able to go easy on the people around her. Niveia asks if he’s included. He says, of course he’s always number one. He smiles gently then kisses her lightly. He assures her that whatever she does, she will shine. At Deborah’s house, Niveia, Arendt, Rudiger and Deborah enjoy a nice, lively, warm atmosphere as they eat an excellent dinner. Niveia eats more than usual and she kept drinking wine to ease the embarrassment she feels when Arendt compliments her. By the time they leave Deborah’s house, she’s drunk. In the return carriage, Rudiger accompanies them so Arendt and Niveia are sitting together on one side. In her drunken state, Niveia is unhappy with the sight of Rudiger so she turns her head to her husband. Their eyes meet and she thinks her husband is so handsome. She continues to stare at him as she begins to get drowsy. Rudiger comments that Her Majesty is drunk and Arendt tells him to be quiet. Rudiger looks at Arendt who’s staring at his drunk wife with eyes full of affection. He tells Arendt that Her Majesty looks like a little girl. At one point Niveia fall asleep leaning against the corner of the carriage. Rudiger’s eyes are drawn to her face without realizing it. He thinks of Rubiel’s features. It’s the first time he’s ever thought a child is cute. Looking at Niveia, he wonders if that’s what Rubiel will look like when she grows up. Due to her drunkenness, Niveia had lost her usual coolness. There was no indifference or exhaustion in her face. She looked rather mild and a tenderness was in her face. Rudiger wonders if that’s why she looks more like Rubiel right now? (Perhaps readers who ship Rudiger with Rubiel has some hope. I get on odd feeling when I read about them so maybe the story will go there) Arendt calls out to a distracted Rudiger. He has a gentle yet ferocious smile on his face. Rudiger then realizes that he’s been staring at Niveia too much and Arendt isn’t pleased with that. Rudiger is perfectly apologetic and lowers his gaze. Arendt informs him that Marquis Solen arrived at the imperial city today. He tells Rudiger that Solen yelled at the empress and they had a confrontation. Rudiger asks him what did he do. Arendt said he just watched. Rudiger is perplexed. Arendt tells him if he came forward, Niveia might have been embarrassed. His presence might have given her strength but contrarily, it may feel like a wall blocking her path and hiding the situation. That would have been sad. Rudiger says he seem to be sad these days. Arendt tells him that there was Niveia, Solen and the duke. He didn’t feel that there was room for him to fit in there. It’s really because he feels he’s only known Niveia recently and he didn’t want to hastily intervene. He’s afraid he’ll hurt her so he couldn’t bring himself to step up. He feels he was more of a coward than anyone else at that moment. Arendt tells Rudiger that the duke said some words to him. Rudiger wants to know how dare the duke admonish His Majesty. Arendt tells him that the duke said he wouldn’t have kept silent. He wouldn’t have left Niveia alone. Rudiger admits that it’s not that he doesn’t understand what the duke is saying but it’s funny that the duke said that [because the duke should be the last person to say this considering his past actions]. Arendt assigns Rudiger to protect Niveia temporarily. Arendt carries a drunk, sleeping Niveia to her palace. Niveia, who is out of it, buries her face in the warmth of his chest. Arendt looks at Niveia with a mixed expression in his eyes. He thinks she’s a mercilessly lovely woman. Does she even know that he’s a man of desire? He concludes maybe she doesn’t know because she’s drunk. Arendt thinks he could have woken her up but because of his greed, he carried her in his arms. He looks down at Niveia in his arms and observes her loveliness. When he enters the palace, the dolls direct him to Niveia’s bedroom. Arendt puts Niveia to bed and sits there watching her sleep. At first it was just to look at her but as time passed, he became absorbed in the act itself. It created a strange tension and immersion for him, like a boy peeping into a locked secret room so he almost forgot to breathe as he stared at her. Niveia tosses and turns in her sleep. She murmurs a couple words from her dream and her complexion grows brighter. It’s obvious that she’s having a sweet dream. Arendt calms his startled heart for a moment and reaches out carefully. He brushes Niveia’s hair from her face. Niveia smiles. It’s a relaxed smile. Her face looks drunk with happiness. In her sleep, Niveia clumsily holds the hand that Arendt had reached out before. Niveia mumbles in her sleep and says, “Oh...Don’t go...Valer”. Arendt immediately flicks his hand out of Niveia’s grasp like he was just burned. In the aftermath, Niveia opens her eyes. Unlike when she was brought to the palace a while ago, her eyes are focused and clear. Her heart skips a beat. She thinks she can hear all the thumping sounds. She looks a little surprised. It’s been a while since she’s been asleep and drunk and she hasn’t fully grasped the reality yet. Arendt’s heart beats franticly in his chest. He exhales irregularly like a man who has just sprinted. He gets up and leaves the empress’s palace like a man running away as he thinks the price of peeking into the secret room was horrendous one. Spoiler: Volume 3: Niveia’s disappointment and Arendt’s change Niveia is getting dressed for her coronation ceremonies. While Isolde and her doll dress her and fuss over her, Niveia remembers the dream she had. She thinks she dreamt it because she saw Valer that day when she confronted Solen and lately Valer has been trying his best to get along with her. It’s a dream that she dreamt many times when the mind couldn’t accept the reality. In the dream, Valer loves her obsessively even to the point of teasing that he wants to imprison her. The dream is very saccharine mostly because Valer in reality doesn’t do and say those things. (The author actually spends couple pages on this dream) However, at one point in the dream, she realizes that it’s not reality because it was too unrealistic. That’s when she woke up and realized that Arendt heard her words. Isolde observes to Niveia that she seems down in the dumps. Niveia says that she’s just nervous. Isolde tells her she tried to simplify the ceremonies as much as possible so she doesn’t have to spend a lot of time in view of the crowd. Niveia is really in a discouraged mood because of Arendt. Ever since that day, which was three days ago, there’s been a subtle change in Arendt’s interactions with her. He acted like nothing happened. He still have breakfast every morning with her and he still smiles the same. However, before he used to want to spend as much time with her as possible but now he just eats with her, wishes her a good day and goes off to work. He no longer takes walks with her after dinner and he no longer pays her impromptu visits to escape Renier. His attitude towards her is still sweet and kind but his reluctance towards her is evident. As a result, Niveia is growing paler by the day. She knows his reasons for doing this are clear. It’s because she called out Valer in her sleep when he sat next to her. She believes he thinks that she still can’t forget Valer. Niveia looks at her reflection in the mirror. She thinks of her youth and her eventual abandonment of love. She thinks of Arendt who still thinks she has Valer in her mind. She gets it wrong when she believes that Arendt is disappointed in her because he believes she’s still hung up on her unrequited love. It doesn’t enter her mind at all that Arendt likes her in a romantic way. She’s frustrated because she doesn’t want to be misunderstood by Arendt in this way. She was also a little angry with Arendt for being disappointed in her. She concludes that at the end of the day, it’s better not to lean on others. She easily believed in Arendt. She believed in his kindness. She trusted him to cover her tears. She revealed all her weaknesses to him but now there’s only disappointment. Niveia, adorned in her beautiful coronation dress, leaves the palace to meet Arendt to begin the coronation festivities. So, the coronation section looks pretty long and, Julian, a new character is introduced. Valer also gets more coverage. I got all this from skimming through the section so I’ll have to read it and summarize major points. I know for sure that Arendt and Niveia gets married/crowned in the worst moods. I think even in the exchange rings, Arendt seemed reluctant. So basically, the couple wasn’t getting along on their important day.
Spoiler: Volume 3: Wedding and Coronation, Part 1 The coronation ceremonies commence and Arendt makes his speech as the emperor. It’s very popular and Niveia is amazed by it. She’s escorted by Rudiger, who looks at her complexion and asks her if she’s okay. She confirms she’s okay but Rudiger offers to escort her up on the podium. She refuses his offer thinking that tongues would wag if he took such an action. Besides, even if she’s nervous, she doesn’t need protection. She’s accustomed to living among people who wants to bite her. Rudiger is somewhat embarrassed by her rejection especially in front of his subordinates and colleagues. However, he does recognize that he’s been treating her lightly when in fact she’s the empress and another one of his masters. He was tasked by Arendt with the responsibility of protecting Niveia but he also has to respect her commands as the empress. Arendt finishes his speech to thunderous applause and cheers. Rudiger thinks the more Arendt shines brightly, the more his companion, Niveia, needs to shine. He’s worried about this fact. The priest announces the entrance of the empress. A deafening silence ensues as all eyes turn to the entrance. Niveia is wearing an outfit that when the sun rays reflect on it, the bottom of the dress sparkles/shines. Walking out into that silence, Niveia wracks her brains on how to ease the tension. Well, she does succeed in the eyes of strangers and soon there’s a thunderous roar. The crowd that heard rumors that she was arrogant, saw something much different and cheered for her. At one point Niveia laughs and her attitude is well received by the crowd. Even Rudiger was amazed by her performance. Rudiger looks over at Arendt who has lost his usual composure and thinks that Arendt might as well say, “She’s my girl” while he looks at Niveia. Niveia is in a good mood as the crowd cheers for her. This naturally elicits her smile and she’s quite relieved by the positive reception. She turns to Arendt and his face is completely stiff. She thinks he’s unhappy with her and it hurts her heart. Niveia walks up to him and puts her hand on his waist. He stiffens. She whispers to him to get his act together if he doesn’t want to create a scandal. This warning works like a charm. He immediately embraces Niveia but his upper body is still stiff. Niveia vows for a second time not to be hurt by his reaction. In this strained situation, Arendt whispers to Niveia that she’s very beautiful today. She lightly pushes him away and in her eyes he looks sad but she doesn’t understand why. He shakes off the feeling and looks numb again. In response, Niveia makes a third vow not to feel hurt. The high priest coughs to interrupt them so that they can move on to the next ceremony. In this ceremony, Niveia has a wardrobe malfunction as she does the water ritual (baptism) to receive her new name as the empress. Niveia manages to calm her panic and get through the ritual but her clothes were basically falling off, exposing her shoulders and back. Fortunately, only the priest, the flower girls and Arendt probably saw her wardrobe malfunction due to their proximity to her. At the end of it, Arendt comes to her rescue and pins her clothes that were exposing her back and shoulders. Niveia attends her banquet reception escorted by Rudiger. When she’s on her fourth alcoholic drink, she thinks it makes her feel more twisted than pleasant. She looks at her wedding ring that should look pretty but doesn’t. After the coronation, Arendt treated her like something off limits. When she put the ring on his finger, his body and expression were stiff. On the other hand, when Arendt put the ring on her finger, he did it in an odd way to minimize touching her fingers. In fact, as soon as he finished putting the ring on her finger, he took his hands off like a man burned by fire. He also kept a proper distance from her when they danced the first dance and when they greeted noble couples as part of the arranged activities. So far, his actions has hurt her 35 times that day. While she’s consuming her fourth drink, a nobleman introduces himself to her. His name is Julian. He asks for her second dance. In tradition, it seems that lovers usually get the second dance after the emperor/empress’s first dance. Niveia thinks the man is the second most handsome man she’s met in Vinfried after Arendt. She thinks he’s her ideal type. He’s a moderate mixture of Valer and Arendt. The banquet grows quiet as people’s curiosity turns to the two. Valer then walks up and asks Niveia for her second dance as well. All eyes are watching the scene including Arendt and Renier. (Note: Isolde is not at the banquet because she still doesn’t have the courage to face the Vinfried nobles in a social sphere which shows that she must have been really traumatized by past events) Since the rule is that couple cannot dance twice, it’s okay to dance with other partners. However, Niveia seems nervous because of the meaning behind the second dance. Her eyes meet Arendt and he looks stiff. This wakes Niveia up and she accepts Valer’s hand instead. Arendt and Renier are together. They talk about Adelhite. Apparently she’s not there. Arendt knows that a lot of nobles still hold on to Adelhite because of what she achieved alongside Arendt’s father. It looks like some of them support Arendt because he and Adelhite are on good terms. These are probably the conservatives and older crowd. Still, Arendt acknowledges that he’s not exactly afraid of shaking the relationship with his mother because he never would have brought Niveia if he was afraid of Adelhite’s displeasure. Renier notices that Arendt seems upset when he looks at Niveia and Valer dancing. He thinks it’s because his brother is in love with Niveia and can’t say anything. He does think that Niveia and Valer look good together and so sympathize with his brother. He amusingly thinks they look like a black leopard and a rabbit. After a bit, they hear nobles badmouthing Niveia in Thierry’s archaic language that both brothers know. Most people don’t know the language in Thierry except old high ranking nobles. And even if they know the archaic language, they would only know it’s Niveia who’s being discussed if they knew her circumstances. Valer dances with Niveia. The guy’s heart races because he didn’t think Niveia would have accepted his request for a dance. Niveia asks him why did he ask her for a dance. Valer admits in his thoughts that he did ask her for a dance for a reason but it’s clear that Niveia doesn’t care about his feelings at all. He tells her it’s because Julian is a man that can be an enemy to her. According to Valer’s information, Julian is in love with Adelhite and he used to be Adelhite’s lover but she kicked him out. He thinks Julian wants to create a scandal with her. Niveia seems more interested in the news about Adelhite rather than Valer’s speculation that Julian wanted to use her. Therefore, she plainly tells him that she almost created a scandal herself when her clothes almost fell off in the baptism ceremony. The guy almost trips her when she reveals this information to him, so she asks him if he’s trying to create a scandal with her right now. Valer looks at her exposed shoulders and doesn’t like it. He thinks she’s showing too much skin. He’s actually thinking that he’s willing to be Niveia’s lover and stand by her side. The dance ends and he kisses Niveia’s hand. Adelhite is announced. The majority of the nobles in the room are surprised by this announcement since it’s rumored that she declined attending with the excuse that she’s ill. Adelhite asks for the empress and Niveia hurries over to stand next to Arendt who was greeting his mother. Adelhite speaks warmly to Niveia and is openly kind to her. This gives a harmonious impression to the nobles in the room and demonstrates that Adelhite approves of Niveia. Valer goes back to sit with his envoy colleagues. He learns that some of his fellow countrymen were talking bad about empress Niveia. He’s told that Arendt overheard the talk and confronted the Thierry representatives in the archaic Thierry tongue. He seems surprised that Arendt actually knows and speaks the language fluently. He thinks he wants to avenge Niveia but acknowledges that this isn’t a battlefield. He looks over at Niveia, who clearly has the face of Thierry nobleman, but seems to fit well with the Vinfried imperial family. It turns out that Niveia and Adelhite planned the surprise attendance of Adelhite at the banquet hall. Since she broke ground with Adelhite on her second visit, she’s had tea with her about three more times. When she drinks tea with Adelhite, Niveia likes to pick up on similarities between Adelhite and Arendt. She’s always thought that Arendt takes after his father but there are little things in common between mother and son. As she watches Adelhite now, surrounded by the conservative nobles, she’s wary about Julian putting a dark cloud over the atmosphere. She wonders if Julian really wanted to engulf her in a scandal as soon as she ascended the throne. While she’s pondering on his intentions, a voice tells her that she looks tired. It’s Arendt. He has a worried expression on his face. She wonders why he’s worried about her when he has distanced himself from her all day. She assures Arendt that she’s fine. The 37 sorrows that accumulated in her heart that day finally prompts her to air her grievances. Niveia tells Arendt that he left her alone all day. He counters that he left Rudiger with her. She says Rudiger is not him. He responds that he thought she likes talking with the ladies. Niveia asks him if that’s why he was distant from her the whole time at the wedding. They’re quietly arguing while still keeping up appearances to prevent others from thinking that they’re not on good terms. The eyes of the two sharpen against each other. Niveia states that he can’t make excuses. He can’t lie. She asks him if he hates touching her. Or did he believe she still love Valer so he was afraid to put the ring on her finger. Arendt assures her there’s no way he would hate to touch her. She asks him, then is it that he believes she loves Valer? Niveia feels that he denied everything she said previously just because he heard her talk in her sleep one time. Niveia tells him he must have been disappointed in her. How ridiculous it might have seem to him that she said she didn’t love Valer and she still hasn’t shaken off her regrets. Arendt tells her that he’s never looked down on her. Niveia says she’s never denied that she loved Valer but she doesn’t have feelings for him anymore. Her speech was like daggers and it was the first time that Arendt has seen her angry. Niveia tells him if he had doubts, he should have asked her. He says how could he ask her that. Niveia tells him so then he just avoid it? She tells him thanks to him she almost got caught up in a scandal. This is because of Julian and Arendt gets it. Arendt explains that his mother kicked Julian out of society months ago and he hasn’t been on the social scene since so he forgot about him. He didn’t expect Julian to approach her since Rudiger is her escort. Niveia tells him that he should have been next to her not Rudiger. Arendt has an embarrassed expression on his face as Niveia grows colder than ever. His changed attitude was not enough to melt her heart which had been broken 37 times. She’s relieved that it wasn’t disappointment that Arendt had felt when she whispered Valer’s name in her sleep. However, all of her anger didn’t dissipate. She tells Arendt that if he distanced himself from her because of his thoughts on her relationship with Valer, then he’s a coward. Spoiler: Volume 3: Wedding and Coronation, Part 2 Niveia goes outside to the gardens. While she was arguing with Arendt, she saw Adelhite leave the banquet hall with a complicated expression on her face. Niveia is taking a walk in the unfamiliar gardens and her doll shadows her. Her mind is full of her argument with Arendt. She wants to know why Arendt started distancing himself from her since it wasn’t because he was disappointed with her. It does occur to her that from his behavior he might have a crush on her but she immediately dismisses that possibility. It’s too unbelievable to her. When she’s about to turn around to retrace her path, she overhears a conversation. It’s Adelhite and Julian. Adelhite is displeased that Julian showed up at the banquet hall. Her calm voice conveys her anger. She asks Julian what was he trying to accomplish by asking Niveia for her second dance. Was he trying to link her and the empress in a scandal? Julian says he thought Niveia is in a similar position since emperors shouldn’t love. He declares his intentions were pure. Adelhite finds him ridiculous. She accuses him of having lied to her numerous times. If it wasn’t for her husband, her trust in people would hit rock bottom because of people like him. She also implicates him in Esther’s story. It seems he was involved somehow. Adelhite basically cuts off their conversation and leaves. The guy is actually sobbing after she leaves. Niveia, who was listening to their conversation in the bushes, decides to show herself since she couldn’t come out unless Julian leaves. Julian is startled. He remembers he said some insulting things to the empress dowager about Niveia and he apologizes. Niveia doesn’t seem to care about this. She’s more interested in finding him useful. She hands him a handkerchief to wipe his tears and encourages him a little. That’s because she knows how painful unrequited love can be. Not long after though, Arendt comes looking for Niveia and grabs her hand. Julian leaves the couple to their privacy but not before he sees something shocking. He realizes from Arendt’s expression and the empress’s cold indifference that the one who seems to be in love is Arendt. That’s because he saw the desperate expression on Arendt’s face. He reflects on the fact that many noble women find Arendt unapproachable because he’s always protected by the impregnable wall of his gentle smile. Even Esther used to say that nobody’s jealous of her although she’s the crown princess and Arendt’s fiancée. That’s because the girls who liked Arendt didn’t think he loved Esther either. Julian remembers that Esther had also complained that she and Arendt were more like siblings than lovers. While she loved him, he didn’t love her. They all knew it. She felt that her affection was meaningless. She knew they would make an eye-catching couple but she wouldn’t be his one and only. Julian continues to walk towards to the banquet hall then realizes he forgot to return Niveia’s handkerchief. He runs into Valer whom he knows from his interaction with Thierry’s envoy. Valer sees the handkerchief in Julian’s hand and recognizes it. In the guise of her fellow countryman, Valer asks Julian about Niveia. Julian answers his inquiries accordingly. Valer asks Julian if he can take the handkerchief. He’ll return it to Niveia on his behalf. Julian hesitates but gives Valer the handkerchief. Julian notices the change in Valer’s complexion and grows a little puzzled by the sudden brightness on his face. Meanwhile Arendt and Niveia are trying to resolve their differences. Arendt tells Niveia that she’s right. He’s a coward. He’s a timid person and that’s why he makes mistakes. He apologizes to her. He said he didn’t mean to embarrass her. It’s just that when the day came, he got scared. He was preoccupied with concerns like: Wouldn’t she regret choosing him? Wasn’t her choice of him impulsive? What if she misses Thierry? Niveia tells him that she doesn’t regret her choice and there’s nothing she misses in Thierry. Arendt confesses that he’s sorry for even the small possibility that choosing him could be a mistake for her. Arendt reflects on the fact that he had a lot of worries but in the end it was all because of his fear. When Niveia told him he’s a coward, a brief panic overtook him. Only then did he realize that his worries had blindfolded his eyes and narrowed his vision. Arendt tells Niveia that he’s sorry and begs her not to leave him. He asks her to stay by his side. Arendt thinks there are many things he wants to say. His confessions pile up one by one in his heart. He’s a person who chokes when he sees her back. He becomes a birch struck by lightning. He’s a person who’s never been afraid of anything by nature. He would cry sadly like a crow in the night just by the possibility of incurring her hatred. Even though he hated the reality that he couldn’t love her to the fullest, he became a fool who is thankful for the reality that allows him to walk with her. Even if he makes the impression that the provisions of the contract they made are too heavy, he becomes a lowly person with the fact that it keeps her bound to his side. What Arendt wants is a life of happiness and stability but what Niveia wants is a life free from anxiety. They are differences that are similar but never narrows. Arendt tells Niveia he wishes he had met her earlier. He wants to destroy all the people that hurt and shunned her. Those are his feelings when he thinks of all the hurt she’s suffered. Niveia assures Arendt that he shouldn’t think like that. Those things and those people are her past. She’s chosen to share the future with him. She admonishes him not to get emotional about things that aren’t worth it. Arendt thinks to himself that he will love her after all. Even if their meeting wasn’t as dramatic, if they didn’t need each other so desperately, he would surely still love her. He finds it incredible that he, who was extremely reluctant to love just a month ago, came to think like this. The last moment he shared with Esther had shaken his mind. She told him that if he doesn’t love her, she wants him to remember her forever so that he can’t love anyone else. Arendt remembers this last moment. He couldn’t understand why Esther was doing this. He asks her if she’s doing this to get revenge on him. He thinks it’s fine as long as she gets down right now. He thinks she said she loves him yet she’s doing this to him. He wonders what is lacking in their relationship. He remembers Esther cheerfully calling out to him. She was smiling with her neck stuck in the noose. From her torn lips came the voice he had once cherished. He thinks, this is love. Love and madness have a lot in common especially in that they make people go to extremes. Niveia reaches out and takes Arendt’s hand. A faint warmth permeates when they touch. Arendt hesitates then kisses her hand. Valer is with a Thierry noble. They talk about the fallout earlier that tonight. It seems as though the Thierry nobles who were talking about Niveia received some type of punishment. Valer also received a letter from Bertrand. In it, Bertrand asks him to use Niveia politically to solidify the relationship between Vinfried and Thierry. Bertrand wants to gain solidarity with Vinfried as foreign powers are growing. He targets Niveia for this since he considers her to be Arendt’s beloved. Valer admits that even if he doesn’t like it, he has to obey Bertrand’s orders. He looks at the handkerchief that he took from Julian. He recognized it because it’s the only gift that he’s ever given to Niveia. It had the symbols of their two families intertwined. It’s a gift that is only given between couples and he was scheduled to marry Niveia at the time. He’s surprised to see the handkerchief here in Vinfried. He can vaguely guess why Niveia kept it. She doesn’t know it’s a gift from him. That has to be why she kept it. Valer suddenly thinks that it’s Niveia’s first night. She’s finally achieved the marriage that she’s yearned for in the past decade. Since he isn’t her partner, her task was easy. He quits trying to figure out how many of her proposals he had rejected in the past. Instead, he holds on to her handkerchief in silence. That night, he couldn’t sleep. Niveia is drinking again. She wonders why the alcohol in Vinfried is so delicious. In Thierry, they usually served soft drinks at banquets. She enjoys the alcohol here in Vinfried. It gives her a pleasant feeling. Presently, she’s sitting in a new room prepared for the monarch’s first night. It’s decorated with flowers, mana stones lights, various scents, etc. She thinks Arendt is late. As soon as they’d returned from the gardens, she was dragged away into a large bath surrounded by maids and a few excited maidens. While she bathed, she had listened to excited maidens babble about strange stories of the first night. Niveia, who knew nothing, was embarrassed by their stories that were clearly not meant for minors to hear. These maidens chat about some interesting things. It seems that it’s a custom in Vinfried for maidens who will marry within a month to gather and discuss the first night. In this way, they can share ideas for that night. They say that Her Majesty has never slept with anyone. Niveia asks if they mean sleeping together without getting married. The girls answer yes, that’s what they mean. After all, why are there sofas in banquet halls? Why are there so many rooms in the banquet hall? Why are there curtains hanging on the bay windows? lol They say she might not know but all that’s necessary is a place where the lower body is not exposed and a man and woman can combine. Niveia was shocked by their talk. She thinks she might be the only one ignorant of these things. lol It’s probably because there was no one in charge of her sex education and there was no one to have such conversations with. She thinks perhaps she should have asked Isolde for counseling. The girls start to talk about scandals with His Majesty and decided that those scandals were all fake. They talk about Arendt and Niveia at the ball and Niveia thinks that she and Arendt must have succeeded in fooling everyone. The girls tease Niveia that His Majesty, the emperor must be looking forward to tonight. Niveia’s cheeks were already hot from their conversation and she grew even more conscious of the upcoming night. Niveia is still drinking alone in her room. She regrets disappointing the fantasies of the young maidens and condones with Arendt who still has to work even though it’s their first night. She thinks maybe Arendt doesn’t care. Meanwhile, Arendt and Rudiger are having a weird, and perhaps hilarious talk. Arendt is holding on to Rudiger’s trousers. He says he can’t go in there. Rudiger tells him that he looks so weak. Arendt says that they’re supposed to have separate rooms. Rudiger tells Arendt that he knows he’s five years old and three months today but he can’t look at it like that. He’s an adult. Forget him and go find a new relationship. Arendt asks Rudiger if he’s really going to be so rude to him. His heart might explode before he goes in there. (All this talk is about going into the bedroom lol) Rudiger tells him he didn’t raise him to be so weak so he shouldn’t worry. It’s already been thirty minutes since the doll told Arendt that Niveia has entered the new bedroom. He had lied and told Niveia that he had work to do but it was really because he needed time to settle his internal conflict. Rudiger encourages Arendt not to keep Niveia waiting any longer. He also has to leave because he’s anxious over some family affairs involving his mother since his father is out of town. Arendt immediately tells him to go. Rudiger tells Arendt that he’ll see him tomorrow and he hopes he has a good time. He also tells him not be weak. He asks Arendt if the empress has eaten him and he doesn’t think it’s bad to be eaten. lol Arendt tells him he doesn’t hear him. Arendt is left alone. He thinks he can’t retreat from this kind of thing in the first place. Besides, running away shouldn’t be his temper. He takes a deep breath -wanting to cry a little- and opens the door to the bedroom. He laughs. It’s because of the scenery in the room. There’s also a faint smell of alcohol in the room and it was easy to understand why. He closes the door and walks in smiling like a dog looking at its owner and wagging its tail. It’s done unconsciously. Arendt calls to Niveia who’s sitting on the sofa. Her dress, which is meant to be undone by the knot on her shoulder, was disheveled in her drunken state. When Arendt sees this, all the tension and worries he experienced just before melted away as though they were lies. He looks at his sleeping wife and her head is bowed exposing the nape of her neck. There’s a sweet smell of perfume emanating from her. Arendt calls to the sleeping Niveia. He apologizes for keeping her waiting. He says there’s a lot to apologize about lately. He asks Niveia if her head hurts. He gently lifts her chin. Her eyelids were completely closed but opens to look at Arendt. His breath catches. The situation was provocative. It wasn’t just because of the atmosphere of the bridal room, which was carefully decorated by the palace attendants. The feeling of Niveia’s skin touching his hand, the faint sound of sleepiness, and the clothes that Niveia was wearing that showed explicit intentions. Niveia grins as Arendt stands breathless. A slightly heated breath immediately hangs at the tip of the nose. A sweet voice comes out when Niveia calls Arendt’s name. Arendt wonders if Niveia knows that her smile is dazzling like a lake filled with pieces of sunshine. When he sees it, it’s hard to remember how everyone thinks of her like frosty winter. It’s like she never had such a past. Drunken, drowsy Niveia starts to talk gibberish, even saying her mother, her father, Rubiel and Valer. She’s complaining about how they all took advantage of her kindness. Arendt finds her cute. She insensibly mumbles it’s good to stop a love that will fail anyway. Arendt says there must have been one person who cared about her. Arendt hugs and lifts her to take her to the bed. Niveia clasps his face without a hint of rejection and smiles bashfully at his words. She says, Etienne. This is probably her answer to his statement that there must have been someone who cared for her. Arendt wonders who’s Etienne. It’s the gardener. Niveia says he made roses so pretty. He used to admonish her not to just love. Arendt rests Niveia on the bed. Their eyes meet. Arendt stares silently at Niveia who is staring at him. Slowly, he pulls his hand out from under her shoulder. Someone says, then you can do anything without love. (I think it’s Niveia who says this and Arendt who asks the following question) Is it okay if I kiss you even if I don’t love you? Arendt didn’t need to look in the mirror to know he wasn’t smiling. He thinks at least he should have the playfulness to make this crazy tale look like a joke but now he’s expressionless enough to be straightforward. But, it was the same for Niveia who has no facial expression. Arendt thinks the tension he feels in this situation is his own. Niveia was staring at him in silence. However, only he is aware that her hair is a little messy and the skirt has been rolled up from her calves to expose some of her bare thighs. Arendt tells Niveia to forget it (probably about kissing without love) and Niveia kisses him. She wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him. Usually the next move would be to open the mouth and twist the tongue but Niveia presses his lips until their lips are crushed and she’s out of breath. It was a clumsy kiss. Niveia whispers to Arendt, “Do you think you’ll love me a little?” Arendt immediacy replies, “I don’t know.” He adds, “One more time and I’ll see.” Then he devoured her. End of volume 3
Poor Nivea, and Arendt... He knows how hurt she is, but keeps on hurting her, even thinks about escaping the first night! Damn spineless guy, did you talk about this beforehand with her? Did she agree to that? I am glad he ended up going, but still he went late.
@nurul amelia, The next morning she doesn’t remember their first night. lol She sees the hickeys but she doesn’t remember what they did until very late. She had a terrible hangover and her body felt numb? from all the drinking. So then she tells her husband let’s do it again now that she’s sober when she remembers much later.
Yes. A lot happens the day after the first night. Solen went to Deborah’s house to cause an uproar, Valer and his lame attempts to talk to Niveia, Niveia telling Arendt that she doesn’t intend to take a lover, Niveia realizes Arendt likes her, Isolde scolding Niveia for not trusting anyone and relying on anyone, etc. Then Niveia and Arendt hugs at one point and she smells his scent. His body also feels familiar. And then she suddenly remembers all the things they did the night before.
Omo Omo I hope there are no more misunderstandings, I really hate misunderstanding relationships. Btw thanks A lot
It always seemed strange to me as I read after the manhwa part that Renier seem not to have any connection to Adelhite. I think Renier might be the son of the third prince. In a side story, Bethel, Arendt’s father brought back the mistress of his third brother because of the dead brother’s child. I think that child is Renier because Adelhite was pregnant with Arendt at the time. Bethel said they can’t leave a Joachim outside the palace to live. There was also the question of why Arendt was the crown prince and only heir. So it might be that it’s because he’s the only son of Joachim XI and Renier is the son of the dead prince. Moreover, when pregnant Adelhite saw Bethel coming back from war with a woman, she was upset until Bethel said it’s his third brother’s mistress. Since Renier is older than Arendt, he’s probably the child.
So ML’s father and mother did love each other romantically? Or it’s just that both of them were faithful and respectful to each other regardless of their personal feelings?