Chapter 8

“You’re home early today, My Lady?”

Her maid, Mary, was surprised at her master’s early return and approached her.

“Yes. It just turned out that way today. I’ll be having dinner at home, so could you let the kitchen know? And bring me a glass of water, please.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

At Diana’s words, Mary hurried off toward the kitchen. Meanwhile, Diana climbed the stairs and headed to her room.

It really has been a while since she came home before dinner.

Seeing how surprised the servants were, Diana realized just how much she’d been stuck at the Imperial Palace. Of course, her palace work wasn’t overwhelming at the moment. But she had other tasks piling up now. After dinner, she planned to get right to work.

Oh, come to think of it….

As she was about to hang her coat in the closet, Diana’s eyes landed on a dress next to it. It was an extravagant dress, even at a glance. Diana stared at it awkwardly before taking it out.

“Still, I should probably meet the ladies at least once, right?”

To properly search for a candidate for Empress, it was better to meet the ladies in person, just as Sophia had suggested. Especially since Evan was so proactive now.

“…But when was the last time I wore a dress?”

Since coming of age, Diana could count on one hand the times she’d worn a dress. After becoming an adult, she’d always worked as Evan’s aide. With the chaos of the Prince’s Rebellion, she’d never really attended a proper social gathering.

Of course, Diana was a noble lady, so she hadn’t gone without dresses as a child. But seeing the dress after so long, she hesitated. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to go to the social gathering in her aide’s uniform.

“My Lady. I brought your water… Ah, My Lady?”

Just then, as Diana was pondering, Mary entered with a glass of water. Her eyes widened, and her arm started trembling, nearly spilling the water.

“What’s wrong, Mary?”

“M-My Lady, are you… Did you just take out a dress because you’re going to wear it?”

“Ah, yes. I might be attending a social gathering soon.”

“…….”

“But I’m so unused to it. It feels awkward. Maybe I should just wear my aide’s uniform…”

“Everyone! Lady Diana is going to a social gathering!”

But Diana’s words were cut off. Overcome with emotion, Mary ran out into the corridor and shouted. And the effect was immediate and powerful.

“Really?”

“Lady Diana? At a social gathering?”

The servants, surprised, started gathering with excited faces.

“Yes! She’s even taken out her dress! She’s going to a social gathering!”

“What? Lady Diana!”

“In a dress!”

The mention of a dress made the servants even more excited. Watching from the side, Diana couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

“Is it really that shocking? Me going to a social gathering?”

“Of course, My Lady! It’s such a moving event!”

Mary’s eyes even began to glisten with tears.

“You’re always exhausted from your work as an aide, and you never attended the social gatherings hosted by the other young ladies. We worried about you so much.”

“I get that you were worried, but did I really show that I was struggling with my aide work?”

She’d never discussed work with the servants. But at Diana’s words, the servants all chimed in as if they’d been waiting.

“We could tell even without you saying it. You always come home looking so tired.”

“There was that time you mistook a fruit peel for the actual fruit while reading documents at dinner.”

“And sometimes you talk in your sleep, saying you want to go home early.”

“…….”

Diana quietly closed her mouth, realizing how much they knew about her. She hadn’t expected even her sleep-talking to be noticed. She was left speechless.

“Anyway. So, My Lady, when are you going to the social gathering? We need to start preparing.”

“Preparing? What kind of preparations?”

“Preparing for the social gathering! Surely you don’t think just wearing a dress is enough, do you, My Lady? You’ll need a massage, makeup, hair styling… Oh, and maybe a diet for a while?”

“That’s a bit much. Speaking of dieting, I’m hungry. I’ll just go to the dining room and wait for dinner.”

At that moment, Diana remembered the nightmare of her coming-of-age ceremony. Mary and the other maids had all clung to her, determined to dress her up. Just thinking about it made her never want to go through it again.

“Why, My Lady? It’s your first social gathering in ages.”

“I can handle the dress, makeup, and hair, but let’s skip the diet and massage, please. I’d rather finish everything on the morning of the event.”

Even in the dining room, Mary’s eyes sparkled. Diana quickly waved her hand.

“And it’s not like I’m going just because I want to attend a social gathering.”

“Huh? Then why?”

“Well…”

As Diana hesitated at Mary’s question, her meal arrived. The chef placed a bowl of soup in front of her and smiled.

“Yes, I know. I know why you are going to the social gathering.”

“…….”

“It’s to find your other half, isn’t it?”

In the soup the chef served, a heart pattern was drawn with sauce. Mary could barely contain her excitement.

“Oh my, oh my! My Lady, is that really it?”

“…No, it’s just that the gathering I’m going to is probably only for ladies. Unfortunately, it’s not what you’re thinking.”

“Why not, My Lady? You never know. You might visit a new friend’s house and meet a young lord there—oh my, oh my!”

Mary was already imagining Diana’s marriage, even stamping her feet with excitement. At this rate, she’d be picturing grandchildren soon, so Diana quickly stirred the heart with her spoon and denied it.

“I keep saying—I’m not thinking about marriage yet.”

“But you’re not saying you’ll never marry, are you, My Lady?”

“Well, that’s true…”

“You never know what’ll happen in life. Maybe your soulmate is among the brothers of the ladies at the gathering.”

“…The soup is delicious.”

In the end, Diana gave up trying to convince the servants and quietly ate her soup. But the excitement and anticipation around her wouldn’t die down.

She couldn’t exactly explain the real reason she was going to the social gathering….

The Empress selection hadn’t been officially announced yet. She thought she’d quietly observe the ladies’ tendencies at the gathering, but things had gotten noisy in a way she hadn’t expected. At this rate, if she said she wasn’t going, who knew what would happen.

But what could she do? She still had to go.

Evan had made up his mind to work hard, so Diana felt she had to respond in kind. That’s why she planned to carefully observe the various ladies at the social gathering. Resolute, Diana called Mary.

“Mary, after dinner, I’ll be writing a letter to the Christine Marquisate, so could you prepare some stationery?”

“Yes, My Lady. Shall I make it out to Lady Sophia?”

“Yes.”

Diana considered how to let Sophia know she’d be attending the social gathering. If she went through Sophia, the event would surely be grand.

“I’d like it to arrive as soon as possible. Can you make sure it gets there today?”

As Diana spoke, a servant clearing her plate responded awkwardly.

“Excuse me, My Lady, but that might be difficult.”

“Huh? Why?”

“We just heard, starting today there will be a special street patrol.”

“What?”

“So unless it’s something urgent, it’ll be hard to travel late at night for a while.”

At the unexpected news, Diana dropped her spoon.

“What do you mean, special street patrol? I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“We’re not sure either… All we know is that it’s an order from the Imperial Palace.”

“From the palace?”

The fact that it came from the palace shocked Diana even more, and her eyes widened.