Invitation of the Crescent Moon - Chapter 78

Late summer sunlight streams over the ornate furniture filling the room. The marble-topped table, gilt-carved decorations, and even the golden-painted trim of the tapestries covering the walls create a dazzlingly opulent display that borders on overwhelming.

In this lavish room, only the curtains half-covering the windows seem out of place—thick, dark brown velvet that clashes with the surroundings.

The Empress Dowager left her hair styling to the maids and glared at the window where the curtain edges hung. Whenever the curtains stirred even slightly in the breeze, she would startle and hunch her shoulders.

“Ah!”

The Empress Dowager’s sudden movement caused the ornamental hairpin being positioned to jab into her scalp.

“What are you doing!”

“F-forgive me, Your Majesty.”

The Empress Dowager shot up from her seat and roughly shoved away the maid who had made the mistake.

“I am the mother of this empire’s Emperor! Don’t you know that harming me is tantamount to insulting the Emperor himself!”

“Please forgive me. I was wrong, Your Majesty.”

“How can you all be so incompetent! Utterly incompetent!”

The enraged Empress Dowager screamed furiously. The maid had aggravated her already splitting headache. She couldn’t sleep properly and felt uncomfortable even in her own chambers, sometimes becoming so terrified that her legs would give out.

“Why are those curtains so dark! They should have been changed long ago, but you’ve been lazy, haven’t you? Do you think I’m a joke now that I’ve left the imperial palace? Are you mocking me with those pathetic curtains!”

“Your Majesty, I’ll tell the head maid to change them immediately.”

Two maids prostrated themselves beside her, pleading for forgiveness. In truth, they had deliberately hung the dark curtains so the Empress Dowager, who barely slept at night, could rest during the day. It had been her own request, but in her anger, she was being unreasonable.

“I can’t stand the sight of you. Get out. All of you, get out!”

At her frenzied screaming, the maids doing her hair and the servants assisting them all fled from the room. Still not satisfied, the Empress Dowager frantically pulled the bell cord, shouting.

“Where is the head maid! Bring me the head maid!”

The bell’s clamorous ringing brought the door flying open. The head maid approached the Empress Dowager with hurried, almost running steps.

“Your Majesty, you called for me.”

“Why did you come empty-handed? Have you forgotten your duties?”

“Not at all. I have it prepared here.”

The head maid produced a small medicine bottle she had hidden in her robes. Before she could even offer it, trembling hands snatched the bottle away. But contrary to her eager heart, the bottle slipped from her shaking fingers.

Crash! The medicine bottle fell to the floor and shattered into pieces.

“No!”

The Empress Dowager’s eyes became bloodshot. Stamping her feet and screaming, she showed neither dignity nor grace. Her flushed face contorted hideously as she shrieked like an angry child.

“Do you know what kind of medicine that was? How dare you, how dare you!”

“Your Majesty, there’s still more left. I can bring another bottle. Please calm yourself.”

The head maid prostrated herself flat on the floor amid the broken glass, begging forgiveness. Her hands and arms were cut by the glass shards as she pressed against the floor, blood flowing, yet she frantically continued pleading. Only when she saw the blood dripping and staining the floor did the Empress Dowager stop her ranting.

Breathing heavily, the Empress Dowager glared at the head maid before raising her head. In the mirror directly across from her, she saw a woman in a blindingly ornate dress.

From head to toe, she was adorned with elaborate jewelry and dazzlingly crafted gem ornaments, her brown-dyed hair still lustrous and well-maintained. But her hideously contorted face was as aged and ugly as a withering old tree.

That’s not me.

There had been a time when her cheeks bloomed with a rosy, fresh beauty. But even in her prime, her face had never come close to matching her sister’s.

The Empress Dowager snatched up a porcelain ornament from the table and hurled it at the mirror. Crash! The mirror shattered with a tremendous noise.

“Ah, Your Majesty.”

The head maid’s sharp cry went unheard. Even after the mirror broke, her ugly face lingered like an afterimage in the scattered fragments on the floor.

[Everything you’ve achieved will be cast down into ruin. You’ll watch your life come to an end while begging death for mercy.]

The voice that had strangled her throat all night still buzzed in her ears. With that same face that had enchanted countless men, she had glared with pure blue fury.

Her sister in the dream remained hauntingly beautiful and cruel, just as she had been forty years ago—so why had only she changed so much?

I shouldn’t have just killed her. I should have flayed the skin from her face.

She chewed over lingering regrets, driven by the desire to hide her own ugly face. Guilt had turned to fear, fear to murderous intent, and murderous intent was now becoming madness.

How delighted her sister would have been to see her wasting away alive like this. If she had witnessed this state, she probably would have clutched her belly and laughed with cruel satisfaction.

How fortunate that she died long ago.

The survivor is the victor. Realizing this fact gave her some breathing room. Sometimes, just sometimes, she felt like she might go completely mad, but she still held more in her grasp.

The Empress Dowager straightened her back and settled into the chair with its backrest.

“Bring the medicine again, and call back the girls to finish my hair. I need to complete my preparations.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’ll call them immediately.”

The head maid hurried from the room, still bleeding. Just before leaving, she cast a fleeting glance at the Empress Dowager.

Her posture at the console was elegant, but the room was in complete chaos—just like the rotting interior of the Empress Dowager’s mind.

****

When the Empress Dowager failed to appear at the scheduled time, the ladies fanned themselves with bored expressions.

“She’s late again today.”

“She’s usually late. Is there anything surprising about that?”

With the hostess absent, they chatted quietly among themselves in groups of two or three.

“Did you hear about what happened at the Rodian Garden recently?”

“Oh, you mean when that famous gardener fled?”

“I heard it was soldiers sent from here?”

“The flower festival was canceled from that day. Really, how dramatic.”

Even in the tree shade, the summer midday was sweltering. The formal dresses and heavy jewelry made sitting uncomfortable on such a day.

Shafri sat apart from the whispering ladies, sipping her tea alone. Everyone was watching cautiously, but no one readily approached her with conversation.

Clang!

“Oh my!”

“What a shock.”

At the sound of breaking porcelain, the Crown Princess at the head table jumped up from her seat. A maid had dropped the teapot when it slipped from her hands.

“I’m sorry. I’ll bring a new one right away.”

Though it was the maid who made the mistake, it was the Crown Princess who had gone pale. It hadn’t been that loud a sound, yet her face showed pure terror.

“Um… Her Majesty seems to be quite late. I… I’ll go check and come back.”

The Crown Princess finished speaking and fled from her seat as if escaping. The ladies watched her with pitying expressions.

One of the ladies leaned toward her neighbor and whispered quietly.

“I heard she’s been confined to the mother-in-law’s palace for a week now?”

“The Crown Prince is so indifferent. Sending the Crown Princess to someone even His Majesty the Emperor couldn’t handle? Can’t he see how she grows thinner and more haggard each time she comes here?”

“He probably sent her to learn something. How could she protect her position later with such a weak disposition?”

“That gentle nature is probably why she was chosen as Crown Princess. Otherwise, she might have ended up like the former deposed Empress.”

A lady in her early twenties quietly interjected into the conversation.

“Wasn’t the former Empress deposed for infertility?”

The eldest lady among them clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

“She was from a Count’s family with no political foundation and didn’t get along with the Empress Dowager. I don’t know the detailed circumstances, but she certainly suffered hardships after falling from the Empress Dowager’s favor.”

“And the current Empress, whom the Empress Dowager strictly selected to replace her, ended up causing her to leave the imperial palace anyway. The world is truly unpredictable.”

“Shh, everyone watch your words.”

Seeing the maid bringing fresh tea, the ladies casually changed the subject.

“The Empress Dowager is coming.”

The Crown Princess, having returned at some point, quietly announced the hostess’s arrival. It was a full hour later than originally scheduled. The Empress Dowager appeared with a train of maids and servants in attendance.

“I’m a bit late, aren’t I? I gave you extra time to enjoy the beautiful garden.”

“We were just talking about how lovely it is to see the summer flowers in full bloom.”

“Flowers bloom in every season without rest, so it’s no less beautiful than the imperial palace gardens, Your Majesty.”

The Empress Dowager’s forced smile froze. An elderly lady quickly elbowed the tactless young lady, who hastily closed her mouth.

Having already exhausted herself earlier, the Empress Dowager turned the conversation to Shafri instead of getting angry.

“I heard Lady Maiheller has completely stopped attending social gatherings lately? Your brother seemed quite worried.”

“I’m being cautious to avoid bringing shame to the family.”

“Yes, a period of self-reflection would be necessary.”

At the word “self-reflection,” Shafri bit the inside of her lip.

It wasn’t an engagement broken due to her own wrongdoing—what was there to be cautious about in her behavior? She had simply kept to herself to avoid hearing baseless rumors.

The conversation between the two drew subtle attention. Shafri, former fiancée of Duke Talion. Everyone had been curious and sent invitations, but all had been declined. That’s why they were all surprised to see her appear here.

For such a high-ranking noble’s broken engagement, it had been handled so swiftly and quietly that no one knew the reason.

The most credible speculation was that Duke Talion had found another woman. While that wasn’t the real reason, since it ultimately involved Ashika, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Marquis Maiheller was so worried that I decided to arrange a good marriage for you. Count Granati will be sending a proposal soon.”

“Pardon?”

Shafri nearly dropped her teacup in shock. She wasn’t the only one surprised. The startled lady quickly looked away when the Empress Dowager’s gaze fell on her.

Shafri set down her trembling teacup on the table.

“Your Majesty, I am deeply honored, but might you be referring to Count Send Granati?”

“Yes, it seems easier since you already know him.”

The color drained from Shafri’s face. The elderly lady listening to the conversation also looked troubled.

Count Send Granati was about the same age as Marquis Maiheller—essentially old enough to be Shafri’s father. His age wasn’t the only problem.

Count Granati had already been married twice. His first wife died shortly after childbirth, and his second wife was divorced for adultery—though in reality, no one had seen her after the divorce.

Shafri’s gaze moved to the large ruby necklace around the Empress Dowager’s neck.

Count Granati had presented the finest rubies from his own mines as tribute.

The Granati family, who supported the Empress Dowager’s extravagance. They were also conveniently adjacent to the Maiheller territory.

“Count Granati is quite generous. I heard he treasures his wives greatly. He’ll make an excellent match.”

The Empress Dowager spoke with satisfaction, fingering her necklace. Shafri steadied her swimming vision and forced her lips into a smile.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I won’t forget the grace you’ve bestowed upon me.”

Only the Empress Dowager and Shafri were smiling; no one else could open their mouths. The noblewomen averted their gazes to hide their pitying expressions, and the younger ladies pressed their lips tightly shut.