Princess Rosemary sank into deep thought, rubbing her chin. After glancing at the quotations I had written, she pushed up her large glasses that were barely perched on the tip of her nose and nodded.

— That makes sense. The Amelia of the past wasn’t cruel enough to mistreat her subordinates.

— Right?

— I thought her true nature had emerged after my brother’s death, but hearing Pepe’s theory… her angry outbursts did seem rather awkward?

— She might have determined that the only way to escape the pressure and obligations imposed by the conservative royal family and regain her freedom was to be expelled from the palace.

XX said calmly. I pondered her words blankly. Pressure and obligations. And freedom.

……Freedom……

— By the way, whoever wrote this script for her, it’s terribly outdated.

XX examined Amelia’s quotations carefully and frowned deeply.

— **ing **? Who uses curses like these nowadays? Did she perhaps copy them from classic films?

— Anyway, eureka! The mystery is finally solved!

I exclaimed, throwing both hands up. XX muttered “you haven’t changed at all” while shaking her head.

……

That evening. Fortunately, Amelia didn’t reject the tea time I proposed. She appeared in the dining room wearing a provocative gown as usual.

Today again, her face was covered with makeup that was closer to stage makeup. (Now I understand. Amelia had always applied powder to her face with the mindset of an actor going on stage!)

— What is it? I’m going to bed soon. If you have something to say, make it quick.

Amelia grumbled as she sat down across from me. I stared at her as she crossed her legs haughtily.

— Someone else will be joining us.

— Who? Viett?

— No. The person I invited is……

Just then, the young maid whom Amelia had been tormenting mercilessly entered the reception room hesitantly. Upon seeing the maid, Amelia became visibly flustered and uncrossed her legs.

— Why did you invite her?

— Amelia. From now on, you must tell me only the truth.

— What, what do you want me to say? **, I’m leaving! This has been nothing but a waste of time, **!

Amelia stood up abruptly like someone who had detected danger. I quickly spoke just before she could fully turn away.

— I want to help you return to your hometown.

Amelia slowly turned her head with a surprised expression. Her large eyes trembled anxiously.

She exchanged glances with the equally startled maid, then slowly sat down across from me and bit her lip.

— What did you just say……

— All those behaviors you’ve been showing. You and Miss XX wrote scripts and acted them out, didn’t you?

I smiled gently at the young maid as I looked up at her. When I mentioned her name, the young maid was so startled she looked like she might faint at any moment.

— You desperately wanted to be expelled from the palace by ruining your reputation, didn’t you?

— ……

— It was strange. Someone who usually stays quietly shut up in her room started acting like a villain from a classic film, but only in front of me. Everything you showed was all an act, wasn’t it?

— ……

— You need to be honest with me so I can help you, Amelia.

At my careful questioning, Amelia bowed her head as if collapsing. A long silence followed. After a stifled sob, teardrops fell heavily onto her knees.

— Lady Amelia……

The young maid also burst into tears and stroked her shoulder.

— This… this was the only way!

At that moment, Amelia buried her face in her hands and broke down crying.

— To escape people’s expectations….. this was the only way……

— ……

— I didn’t want to live… as a widow trapped in the palace for the rest of my life……

— So you conspired with Miss XX, who was closest to you, and volunteered to be the villain in my novel?

When I looked directly at Maid XX and asked, she nodded inadvertently. Amelia gently raised her head while wiping away her tears. I looked sympathetically at her reddened, swollen eyelids.

— Pepe, don’t you… want to leave this suffocating palace and return home too?

Amelia asked between sniffles. Home? I blinked blankly, surprised by the unexpected question.

— Home……

— The Cochrun residence, I mean.

— ……

— Don’t you want to go back to your hometown?

I could feel my expression slowly distorting without needing to look in a mirror. A painful groan escaped my lips. Amelia and the maid looked at me with confusion.

— Pepe?

— I……

I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. I was deeply confused. Home? Hometown? A place I want to return to?

It felt like encountering a strange foreign language for the first time. But there was one thing I could answer with confidence.

— I don’t have any place I want to return to.

Amelia was once again confused by my answer. She exchanged glances with the maid and carefully asked:

— Then is there a place you’d like to live…? Somewhere you’d want to stay forever, away from this stifling palace?

— The sea.

This time too, I answered without hesitation.

— I want to live by the sea.

— But… you’re a Little Lady. Besides, Westenia is a landlocked country, so you could never……

— I know that.

I cut her off stubbornly while rubbing my heated eyes, and Amelia apologized as she lowered her head.

— ……I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that……

We were both in the same predicament, unable to be free.

As I was reminded of this fact anew, affection, sympathy, and a sense of kinship toward her began to well up inside me uncontrollably.

— If we were fish, this palace would be the fish tank imprisoning you, right?

I looked directly at Amelia before speaking.

— I’ll try to persuade His Majesty the King. I’ll help you get out of the fish tank. I’ll help you return to your hometown.

— ……His Majesty won’t allow it.

Amelia shook her head with a sad face. I deliberately smiled brightly to reassure her.

— Then I’ll try to persuade His Majesty together with Viett. Viett would want you to find your freedom too.

— ……

— Why are you looking at me like that?

Amelia, who had been staring at me, gave a lonely smile.

— Just. I was suddenly wondering if I had ever done anything ‘together’ with Minute……

She wiped her eyes with a sad smile on her lips, then slowly rose from her seat.

I stood up awkwardly, surprised as she bowed to me. Amelia apologized in a calm voice I had never heard before.

— I apologize for my improper behavior all this time.

— Then I also… apologize for everything, whatever it might be.

As I also bowed my head, Amelia straightened up and let out a small laugh.

— Pepe. What do you have to apologize for?

— Well….. For not realizing your true feelings earlier…?

— ……Thank you. Really.

Amelia smiled brightly as she watched me scratch my cheek. I stared blankly at her smiling face.

Today, for the first time, I witnessed Amelia’s genuine smile. It was far more radiant than any smile I had seen in newspaper photographs.

……

That night. I explained the day’s dramatic events to Viett, who returned to the bedroom late. He listened to my lengthy story while changing his clothes, then added gruffly:

— Even so, it was too much of her to terrify you like that.

Then he sat on the bed and nodded.

— But I agree that my sister-in-law needs to be freed from her royal duties.

— Right?

— Yes. Let’s find a way to persuade my father.

— Hmm….. Maybe I could make another sculpture of the queen to persuade him?

— And risk injuring your hand again?

He sighed as he looked at my left hand that had been cut by a chisel before.

— Do you know how shocked I was then?

If I honestly told him I’d been injured much worse before, he might permanently ban me from the studio.

I looked up at his sullen face and smiled awkwardly. Viett stared at my face for a moment, then sat me down on the bed.

— You said that if you and my sister-in-law were fish, this palace would be the fish tank imprisoning her?

— You remember exactly? I thought you were only half listening!

I laughed as I moved closer to him on the bed. He put his arm around my shoulders and gazed at me quietly with serene eyes before asking:

— Is that true for you too?

— ……You mean, is this palace a fish tank imprisoning me?

— Yes.

He stroked my shoulder, urging an answer. I could clearly feel the anxiety and impatience he harbored, despite his expressionless face.

— ……No?

Only after I answered with a grin did his tense face relax a little. I thought as I nestled into his relieved embrace.

It’s not a lie. My fish tank is just much larger than this palace.」

* * *

After that day, Phenelity and Amelia grew rapidly closer. They began spending time together more frequently.

Amelia would visit Phenelity’s studio to watch her sculpting process, or take the initiative to suggest meals, actively trying to close the distance between them.

After Princess Rosemary also stepped up to help persuade the king, the three women often got together, repeatedly leaving Viett out.

Viett felt a strange jealousy seeing the women bonding. He particularly found it distasteful whenever he saw the three of them returning from official events together.

While he was relieved to see his wife getting along well with the royal women, he felt hurt that he wasn’t by her side.

“Do, don’t you think you’ve been spe, spending the least time with me la, lately?”

“Come on, instead I’m always cuddled up with you every night like this.”

When he gathered his courage to act spoiled, Phenelity would often treat his behavior as a joke and enjoy it.

Each time this happened, he would feel a surge of anger, but when his wife snuggled into his arms, the corners of his mouth would twitch upward as if nothing had happened.

“I, I think you’re gra, gradually taming me.”

Viett grumbled quietly as he buried his face in his wife’s shoulder.