A heavy silence befell the room after her words. She hadn't meant to target Ashen with this, but she couldn't spare him, and the guilt was legitimate too. After all, he had agreed to those rules as well as the others, and even if she knew it was her own pride talking, Cessilia was still bitter about Jisel. Even worse, she couldn't swallow those men's hypocrisy towards their own female relatives, and she refused to let him be used against her. If anything, Cessilia had grown up in a house where women were not looked down upon, and she wouldn't let herself be here.
After a short while, someone in the room chuckled, awkwardly breaking the silence.
"...This is why I admire the Empress so much."
The woman who had spoken was the only one seated as one of the family Lords. In fact, she could
