At Prince Milon's residence in Feysac, a grand ball was underway.
It was both to welcome back the Empress from the Winter Hunt and to celebrate the great victory that had just concluded on the front lines a day earlier.
The Feysac Third Fleet had finally wiped out Loen's Sonia Sea Fleet, successfully broken through the enemy's northwestern defenses, and advanced to the gates of the industrial stronghold of Constant City.
Once Constant City fell, Loen would have no defensible positions left before Awwa County, and the scales of victory would tip toward Feysac.
Thus, every guest at the ball wore a radiant smile, as if they could already see the army sweeping forward and marching into Backlund.
Empress Sophia II was clearly quite pleased as well. She kept toasting the families of the frontline commanders and soon became unable to hold her liquor, entering the lounge supported by a young priest from the Church of the Earth Mother.
At this sight, most of the nobles chose to turn a blind eye, only occasionally casting mocking, derisive looks at Earl Heinrich, whose expression had turned ugly.
Quite a few people had long disliked this Earl, who had greedily seized the territories of other nobles. They had merely refrained from interfering out of consideration for the Empress.
Now that they saw him falling from favor, naturally, most were delighting in his misfortune.
Only the Empress's eldest daughter, Princess Anna, showed displeasure... It was not that she was standing up for Earl Heinrich, but this was her father's residence. What her mother was doing was truly embarrassing for her father, and their relationship would likely worsen further.
Moreover, that priest from the Church of the Earth Mother had once been the lover of Countess Laws Xenia. Anna did not even know how