Empress of Another World

Short Stories 5.2

The night finally came, and the nobles of the empire entered the castle in their masks and wigs to hide their identities.

The hall was filled with men and women in masks. Bright lights from the chandelier scattered everywhere, making everything look shiny.

Every guest’s main curiosity was whether the emperor was here in this hall in a mask. People looked around trying to figure out who the emperor and the empress were. An announcement was made this morning that the emperor and the empress might or might not attend the masquerade.

Those who wanted to attain the favor of the royal family whispered among themselves trying to guess who the emperor and the empress were. Some tried to find the empress first as they knew the emperor would be beside her. For the four years of their marriage, the emperor had shown an unchanging love for his wife; therefore, it was logical to have this guess.

However, there was no one with the unique black hair in the hall. Many were wearing wigs, and if the empress wanted to keep her identity a secret, she would have done the same.

Some gave up quickly, but many of the unmarried girls in their teens and early 20s didn’t. They were determined to find the emperor. Their hope was to dance with him and perhaps have him notice their beauty. He might have been married, but he was still the most eligible bachelor in the kingdom.

There was a rumor that the law was about to change, but nothing was certain. Besides, the rumor involved only eliminating the need for other nations to send women for the emperor, not the actual right for the emperor to have multiple wives and concubines.

Currently, Emperor Lucretius had only one wife, Empress Sa Bina, and they had one princess. There were still four spots for the wife positions. If one could have the emperor’s son, that son would immediately become the next heir to the throne.

The heir to the throne!

The woman who would give the emperor a son would be the mother to the next emperor!

Those ambitious girls and the mothers of these girls diligently looked for the emperor.

***

Not everyone saw this event as a chance to get close to the royal family. Many came to simply enjoy themselves. Young people danced with each other, constantly trying to figure out who they were dancing with.

Among them, one man asked a woman to dance, “Would you like to dance with me?”

The man was wearing a mask decorated with dark green emeralds. His wig had long white curly hair tied with a ribbon in the back.

“… Of course.”

The woman, who took the man’s arm, was slim and beautiful. She was wearing an asymmetrical black mask decorated with onyx and black pearls. They danced together very well as if they had danced together many times before.

After the music ended, the man and the woman panted.

As they walked away from the dance floor, the woman fanned herself and murmured, “Perhaps the dance was a bit too wild? I’m getting really hot.”

“… Then would you like to go out to the garden, my lady?”

The man offered his hand and the woman nodded and put her hand on top of his.

“Alright. The garden sounds lovely.”

The two left the hall towards the garden. They obviously looked like a couple or two spouses enjoying the evening.

When they got close to the garden, the woman almost fell as something tripped her.

“Gyaa!”

“A, are you ok?”