“Yes, Lady Rozenne!”

The maid quickly changed the brooch. Rozenne touched it. For something like this, even the Empress would understand. Besides, this wasn’t Rozenne’s fault.

She picked up the box and walked toward the Empress.

Her determination to shut down Iris’s dress shop had long since dissipated.

※※※

“Phew.”

I sat sprawled on the sofa. I couldn’t carry out my plan to change clothes and burn them as soon as I returned. There were things I had to do first.

I remembered Rozenne, whom I had left behind at the banquet hall.

She seemed to have quite a temper.

If I’m not careful, the dress shop I’ve barely established could collapse completely. So Laurel and I quickly selected some usable brooches, sent them to the banquet hall, and only then could I sit down.

Laurel also collapsed next to me. She muttered in a drained voice.

“……It feels like I’ve been losing my heart ever since we came to the capital.”

“Should we pack up?”

“That would look even more suspicious. You need to take responsibility for what you’ve started.”

No matter how I look at it, Laurel is definitely a T for Trustworthy. I’ve never seen her say anything wrong. I puffed my cheeks and then let out a deep sigh.

I told her everything that happened at the banquet hall today. From being mistreated by Rozenne to running away from Vairen and becoming a fairy.

As I spoke, Laurel grew paler and said.

〈That’s why I told you not to go!〉

After that, I had to listen to her nagging the whole time.

“But how did he recognize me?”

I stood up abruptly and turned around. Then I asked Laurel.

“How is it? Can you tell? Do I look like Ires just from behind?”

“……Not at all. You just look like a noble woman wearing a veil and hat. Recognizing you would make him a pervert.”

“Are you saying Crown Prince Vairen is a pervert?”

Laurel didn’t deny it.

“Well…… no, but how could such a thing…… even with a different hair color. If you had taken off your hat or veil, I would understand. It’s not easy, but it might be possible to recognize you.”

“I know!”

I’m truly indignant.

I stomped my feet. But what can I do? What’s done is done. I need to review what happened today once more.

“So, how does my dress look now?”

“Very ordinary.”

“There must have been at least ten noble women wearing dresses like this at the banquet hall. And the hat and veil?”

“It’s a bit long to cover your face, but it falls within the ordinary range.”

“There were several people wearing things like this at the banquet hall. So that’s also a pass. What about the shoes?”

“……Well. Since you left them all behind, how could he find you with those? It’s not like he’s going to put out an advertisement to find the owner of the shoes.”

At that moment, a chill ran down my spine.

An advertisement? Come to think of it, that’s what the prince in Cinderella did. He went around the country with one shoe, searching for Cinderella.

When I was young, I thought it was romantic, but now that I think about it, there’s no greater obsession.

Ha, surely not. He wouldn’t do something that crazy, would he?

※※※

And the next day.

Vairen glared at the modest pair of shoes placed on his desk.

His aide watched his reaction carefully.

“……Where did those shoes come from? I heard you didn’t stay until the end of the banquet yesterday and returned. Surely not.”

The aide’s eyes widened.

“Did you steal those shoes?”

Vairen raised an eyebrow. He stared at his aide who was saying such nonsense. The aide awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’m just saying it’s that absurd. What happened yesterday, and what’s the story behind these shoes?”

“……Yesterday I saw a woman who resembled Ires from behind.”

“……From behind?”

The aide made a sour face. For the past three years, he had been searching for Lady Ires under the Crown Prince’s orders. And he had discovered that the Crown Prince harbored much deeper feelings for Lady Ires than expected.

Considering how he had acted like a madman when he thought Lady Ires was dead, the current situation was better, but…….

‘No, that doesn’t look sane at all either.’

Why on earth was he having a staring contest with women’s shoes? Disturbing a working man from the morning.

And recognizing someone by their back view? He had no idea what this nonsense was about.

‘Is it time to resign?’

The aide made a commendable consideration and carefully opened his mouth.

“You recognized someone from behind? Was she blonde? Or was she wearing a dress that she used to wear before?”

“She was wearing a hat and veil, and it was a style the former Ires would never have worn.”

“And you still recognized her?”

Vairen stared at the aide with an irritated look as if asking why he kept questioning. The aide gave a hollow laugh. He kept forgetting that when it came to Ires-related matters, Vairen defied common sense. No, even he, who had been with him his entire life, found it difficult to understand.

The aide smiled awkwardly.

It was the smile of someone who had given up trying to understand.

Understanding Vairen was impossible.

‘Just accept it.’

If he resigned right now and returned to the mansion, he would die either by his father’s hand or his wife’s.

Perhaps he had already reached enlightenment when Vairen declared he would name the supposedly dead Lady Ires as crown princess!

At that time, he had to endure all sorts of opposition, conflicts with the nobles, and almost daily fights with the Emperor alongside Vairen.

‘As long as it’s not something like that, well……’

The aide consoled himself and opened his mouth.

“And then what happened?”

“She ran away.”

Vairen’s eyes darkened.

“What do you think? Was that woman really Ires?”

“I’m not sure.”

“When I called Ires’s name, she ran away without looking back and got into Serena’s carriage.”

“Ah.”

Now he understood why Vairen had stayed in Serena’s bedroom for an unusually long time yesterday.

In fact, after his relationship with the Empress became awkward, Vairen had distanced himself from Serena. He didn’t want to create unnecessary conflict over something the Empress disliked.

So lately, he had only been sending gifts to Serena, but yesterday he had spent a long time with her for the first time in a while.

‘As expected. It was related to Lady Ires.’

The aide nodded. From the beginning, Vairen had always lost his reason when it came to matters concerning Ires.

“The fact that she got into Serena’s carriage means she was trying to escape, and if she was that desperate to run away……”

“Even if she’s not Lady Ires herself, there’s a high possibility she knows something about Lady Ires.”

Vairen’s green eyes darkly sparkled. That was it. That was the conclusion he had reached after a sleepless night. He had calculated and thought countless times, worried that he might be mistaken and rushing ahead.

Still, what was certain was that if he found that woman from yesterday, he might find a clue about Ires.

“But how do you plan to find her? Do you know how many nobles attended the debutante ceremony yesterday?”

Young ladies from small noble families in the provinces also wanted to make their debut in the capital. So during this season, nobles gathered from all over the country.

“Moreover, this year’s attendance was twice that of the past five years combined. How do you intend to specifically identify and find that woman?”

Vairen’s gaze turned to the shoes. All he had left now were those pair of shoes. The good thing was that they weren’t cheap ones sold just anywhere.

“I intend to start with these shoes. I want you to put out a wanted notice for these.”

“……What?”

What exactly is he asking to put a wanted notice for…… The aide blinked his eyes like a cow. Vairen issued his order coldly.

“Put a bounty on these. Advertise that anyone who knows the owner of the shoes or helps find the owner will receive two hundred thousand gold.”

Two hundred thousand gold. The aide gulped. That amount was what he would earn after twenty years of grinding work.

“And you should find out who made these shoes behind the scenes.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“And just in case, strengthen the surveillance on Lady Rozenne and the Liberks.”

“I will do so.”

After issuing his orders, Vairen stared at the shoes. Serena’s statement hadn’t been helpful at all. The woman had truly disappeared like a lizard shedding its tail, leaving only the shoes behind. But this was far more hopeful than the past three years when he couldn’t find any clues.

‘Has she really returned?’

A breeze stirred in Vairen’s heart. The corner of his eye twitched slightly.

‘If that’s the case, I will never let you go, Ires.’