Ephine finished dressing her with quick, practiced hands and held up the mirror. Lionette saw a woman with a melancholy expression looking back at her, and pressed the corners of her own mouth up with her fingers. The woman in the mirror smiled in a way that looked almost like crying. She let her face fall back to neutral and walked out.

Coming down the stairs, Dante looked up from the newspaper he had been reading. He gestured to a maid to bring the food.

“Dante.”

“You’re here.”

“I’m sorry. You waited long.”

“It’s all right.”

After that, the two of them kept to silence. Lionette simply had no desire to carry the conversation, and Dante held his tongue while he watched her face. When the appetizer arrived, Dante spoke carefully.

“Come to think of it, you attended the academy as well.”

“Mm, yes. I did.”

Lionette nodded slowly, spooning her soup. Now that she thought about it, had Dante attended the academy too? She couldn’t quite remember. She had never paid much attention to other people back in her school days.

Still, a young duke attending the academy would have been enough to cause a stir, but at the time, the imperial princess and crown prince had both been enrolled simultaneously, which was unprecedented, and there were far too many people to keep an eye on. It really had been an eventful school……. Lionette found herself drifting into nostalgia without meaning to.

“……I heard you were a diligent student.”

She had been. She copied down every note she possibly could, memorized it all until it was second nature, and pushed herself to score perfectly on every exam. That had been the best she could do for her family at the time, when the household had already begun to falter.

“Mm, I just did what I could. Back then, getting a position at the imperial palace was my dream.”

“Ah…… the imperial palace.”

……?

Dante’s expression seemed to shift somehow. Perhaps he was tired.

She couldn’t tell. Her mind had already been working far too hard, trying to draw something meaningful out of the scraps of information she was given. Her head ached.

After that, silence held for the rest of the meal. Then why did he even ask me to eat together. Lionette grumbled inwardly and finished her dinner.

It was delicious, of course. Everything was perfectly suited to her taste, almost like magic, from the doneness of the meat to the pudding served as dessert afterward. She hadn’t had a single unsatisfying meal since coming to the ducal manor, but tonight was especially so.

“Well then, may I head up?”

“Yes, Lionette. Rest well.”

And just like that, dinner with Dante ended without a thing to show for it.

As she turned to leave, Dante watched her with a look she couldn’t quite name, but she had already turned her back and never saw it. Even if she had, it was subtle enough that she likely wouldn’t have caught it.

Back in her room, a reply had already arrived. It was from Charlotte. At that speed, she must have sent it back immediately with her fastest servant the moment she received the letter. Lionette tore it open without delay and caught the scent of laurel.

My dearest Lionette!

Your letter barely made it in time. I was supposed to leave tonight, which is why I’m sending this reply straight away. Don’t you dare think I’m being careless! My maid is right beside me as I write this, nagging me to hurry up and pick what to pack.

Lionette, I heard everything you said. Here is my answer.

Why not try confessing?

Don’t you dare stop reading here and throw this letter away or tell your maid to get rid of it. I mean every word. You’ve never truly confessed your feelings, have you? You know, Lionette, it’s only natural that there are things in this world people will never know unless you tell them.

Besides, the two of you have a rather…… special relationship, don’t you? Neither of you has ever said what you truly feel, has it? You’re always so perfectly polite with each other. I can see it plain as day from the outside.

Opening up once in a while is a good thing, Lionette. Especially now, when all these unspoken things are piling up and turning into poison. You need to let it out!

With love, Charlotte!

Lionette’s expression turned strange as she finished the letter.

A confession…… a confession. She hadn’t thought of that. Because Dante had needed a woman who wouldn’t fall in love with him. Lionette had entered the contract with him precisely because she fit that condition. The moment she confessed, the contract would shatter, and their relationship would fall completely apart.

But was things any different now? Lionette turned the question on herself.

One thing was certain: the relationship was already cracking, little by little. If things kept going this way, she wouldn’t even be able to keep up the act of a happy couple, and if it came to that, Dante might be the one to ask for a divorce first.

But, but…… what if the feelings Dante had shown her, even a little, had been real. If that were the case, then perhaps, just perhaps, she could allow herself the tiniest bit of hope.

Even if he couldn’t accept her feelings, if she could still keep her place beside him even after admitting that she cared for him…… that would be enough.

Lionette’s eyes began to shine again. The very same eyes her father had grown weary of, the ones she got whenever she was cooking up something unusual.

Then, a confession…… she needed to make a proper confession.

Lionette thought that far and stopped. She had never confessed her feelings to anyone in her life. That was only natural, since Dante was the first person she had ever liked, but…… in other words, she had absolutely no idea how to go about it.

Back at the academy, focused as she was on her studies, she had received a few invitations to go out, but her feelings weren’t something so light. She wanted Dante to know that what she felt ran deeper.

So it was back to novels again. Lionette slid aside the bookshelf stacked with dictionaries and reference books. Behind it, a hidden shelf appeared. This was Lionette’s treasure trove, the shelf that held all the novels she loved to read.

“……Hmm.”

She had meant to pick only her favorites, but reading through the confession scenes kept pulling her further and further into the next pages. She lost herself in the reading for quite some time before finally surfacing.

“This isn’t the time for that.”

She refocused and began searching specifically for scenes where a confession was given or received. After going through about ten volumes, one stood out as particularly romantic: a confession made against the backdrop of fireworks by the sea.

That’s the one. Lionette murmured and began to make her plan. For one thing, the sea was hard to come by in the capital, so it seemed like it would create a sufficiently unfamiliar and romantic atmosphere.

But the sea, the sea. As she had just noted, the sea was hard to come by in the capital. Which meant that to confess by the sea, she would have to bring Dante all the way to a port city……

“……Mmmm. A port city.”

Lionette spread open a map and ran her finger along the coastal port cities.

Hefir, Levesia, Quinton…… Quinton. Quinton? It felt vaguely familiar somehow. Distance-wise, this one seemed the most suitable. She tilted her head at the odd feeling that kept circling in her mind and called for Ephine in a low voice.

“Ephine.”

“Yes, my lady.”

“There’s something only you can do.”

With a resolute air, she dismissed all the maids except Ephine, and opened her mouth.