Acantha and others looked at the door when it suddenly opened. There the empress came out, who was smiling when she saw her son.
Acantha and the duke bowed their heads to pay attention, and she even saw how Noraya smirked at her when she didn't bow to the empress and came running to her.
"Your Majesty!" Noraya said as she ran to the empress and went to her side and clung to it's arms.
"Easy there, my girl," the Empress said, which made Noraya's smiles bigger.
Acantha saw; she looked at her and smirked again.
"Oh, there's the duke, Solaris." The Empress smiled at her father.
The Empress smile faded when her eyes landed on her. "Lady Acantha, you're also here," she said, and Acantha could hear the bitterness in her voice, which she didn't know for what.
As far as she could remember, she was her mother's closest friend, and she didn't do anything to offend her for her to bluntly show her dislikness towards her.
