Chapter 71

As the sunset approached, the carriage carrying Rafaella and Johann arrived at the Blumhart estate.  

‘It seems the Imperial Princess wanted to spend a little more time with Raffy.’  

That hadn’t happened before the regression, as far as Lia could remember.  

Was this a good thing?  

Lia went down toward the carriage that had just arrived at the main gate.  

As soon as Rafaella got out of the carriage, she ran into Lia’s arms.  

“Raffy, did you have a good time?”  

Lia gently stroked her daughter’s cheek.  

“Mom, Mom! Lady Lucia is amazing!”  

Rafaella shouted with a flushed face.  

‘She must have had a good time today.’  

Seeing her daughter’s bright expression, Lia felt relieved.  

“Rafaella, let’s have dinner together and you can tell us all about your first tea party.”  

Isabella came closer and took her granddaughter’s hand.  

“Yes, Grandmother!”  

Rafaella, who happened to be very hungry, took Isabella’s hand and headed to the dining room.  

Johann, Lia, and Penelope followed behind them.  

After dinner, everyone gathered around the sofa in the first-floor drawing room.  

Everyone’s attention was focused on Rafaella.  

“I didn’t just sit there like with Marco. I’m the Lady Blumhart!”  

Rafaella put on her own version of a dignified expression.  

“…Then, when I couldn’t take it anymore and stood up, Lady Lucia appeared right then!”  

She sprang up to reenact the scene.  

“She called the other young ladies street urchins and said she’d only have the tea party with me.”  

Everyone clenched their teeth, thinking of the young ladies who had treated Rafaella poorly before Lucia appeared.  

‘How dare they!’  

But since Rafaella was telling her story so enthusiastically, no one wanted to interrupt her, so they swallowed their anger.  

Johann recalled the families of those young ladies and considered how best to punish them.  

If a child was raised poorly, shouldn’t the parents bear that responsibility?  

“So then, they all apologized to me very politely, you know?”  

“Lady Lucia handled it very well.”  

Isabella gave a small nod.  

“The Crown Prince and Princess must have raised her very well.”  

“I want to be as cool as Lady Lucia, too.”  

Rafaella clasped her hands together as she spoke.  

“You’ll become someone just as wonderful.”  

Johann kissed the top of Rafaella’s head.  

“Really?”  

“Of course, whose daughter are you?”  

“Hehe.”  

“By the way, Raffy, I heard you became sworn sisters with Lady Lucia?”  

Penelope, sitting diagonally across, asked.  

“Yes! We decided to become sworn sisters.”  

Rafaella answered loudly.  

“Sworn sisters at your first meeting, Lady Lucia must have really liked you.”  

Penelope smiled.  

“She even said I should come visit again, but not to invite the other young ladies.”  

Rafaella covered her blushing cheeks with both hands.  

“Our Raffy, you must be happy to have a big sister now.”  

Lia laughed as she smoothed Rafaella’s hair.  

“Yeah, I’m really happy!”  

Rafaella wiggled in her seat.  

Everyone was relieved that Rafaella seemed to have adapted well to her first experience in the small world of high society, without any discomfort.  

It was all thanks to Lady Lucia.  

Perhaps tired from the day, Rafaella soon began nodding off, and Johann picked her up.  

“I can carry her.”  

“It’s fine, I’ll take her upstairs.”  

Lia and Johann headed to the bedroom together.  

“I told you Rafaella would do well, didn’t I?”  

He spoke as he laid Rafaella on the bed.  

“I must have worried too much.”  

“Even if she makes a few mistakes, it’s all right. Mistakes are part of learning.”  

Johann carefully took off his daughter’s shoes.  

“Yes.”  

He was no longer the cold Duke of Blumhart, but simply Rafaella’s gentle father.  

Lia hadn’t expected him to change so quickly.  

“Well, I’ll be going now.”  

He looked tired himself.  

“Good night.”  

After saying goodbye, Lia headed to the bathroom.  

‘She’s sleeping so soundly, there’s no way I can wake her to wash up.’  

So, she undressed the half-asleep Rafaella and changed her into pajamas.  

Then, she carefully wiped her face and limbs with a wet towel she had brought.  

She even cleaned her teeth with a small towel.  

‘I’ll have to make sure she brushes properly first thing in the morning.’  

Lia rinsed the towel, came back, and caressed her sleeping daughter’s face.  

‘You’ve grown so much, my Raffy.’  

Lia thought to herself as she stroked her daughter.  

Now you even know how to protect yourself. Mom is so proud of you.  

Lia felt relieved, thinking that Rafaella’s relationship with Lady Lucia would unfold differently from before.  

Back then, she hadn’t had her mother, and her father hadn’t cared for her, so she must have felt terribly small.  

‘That’s probably why you couldn’t properly express your longing for Lady Lucia and could only feel jealous.’  

Thinking about how Rafaella would change from now on, Lia felt truly happy.  

To stay by your side, Mom will try to change her own fate, too.

* * *

The next day, Lia visited Isabella’s room.  

Isabella had asked her to keep her company while she got ready.  

“Sigh.”  

“…Do you really not want to go?”  

Lia carefully asked Isabella, who let out a deep sigh.  

“It’s not that I don’t want to go to the gathering, it’s just that the Interim Empress makes me uncomfortable.”  

“the Interim Empress?”  

“I’ve never gotten along well with the Interim Empress, since I was close to the Empress Consort.”  

Lia gave a small nod.  

“Even when we talked, it was always just formalities.”  

Isabella closed her eyes.  

A maid tapped powder under her eyes.  

“Or we’d be on guard with each other. Our house is one of the leading supporters of His Highness the Crown Prince.”  

“I see.”  

“And ever since I was a child, that woman always made me uneasy.”  

“…May I ask why?”  

“…It started with the way she looked at Frida—my friend. It was so unpleasant.”  

She seemed to recall the past, her brow furrowing slightly before smoothing out again.  

“She was beautiful, but her gaze was so dark and creepy, it gave me chills.”  

Isabella shuddered briefly.  

“And in the end, she harmed the Empress Consort…”  

She stopped herself mid-sentence.  

Harmed the Empress Consort?  

“Lia, please pretend you didn’t hear that last part.”  

Isabella requested.  

“…Yes.”  

Lia wanted to ask, but felt she shouldn’t.  

Once she was fully ready, Isabella stood up from her chair.  

“Still, after talking to you about the Empress Consort, I feel much lighter. Thank you.”  

“I only listened, that’s all.”  

“Just listening is one of the hardest things.”  

Isabella smiled gently, took Lia’s hands in hers, and patted them lightly.  

“Now that I’ve finished complaining, I really must be going.”  

With Lia seeing her off, Isabella got into the carriage.  

The luncheon hosted by the Interim Empress was held in the beautiful garden of the Interim Empress’s palace.  

The noble ladies, chatting in small groups, all turned their heads when Isabella arrived.  

They smiled and welcomed Isabella, who hadn’t been out in society for some time.  

“How is your suddenly acquired granddaughter?”  

After the formal greetings, one lady broke the ice.  

“I heard her birth mother was a commoner—is that all right? Having commoner’s blood in House Blumhart…”  

“What did the Interim Empress say about it?”  

Pretending to be concerned, they bombarded her with rude questions.  

But Isabella, seasoned in society, faced them without a change of expression.  

She didn’t lose her gentle smile, either.  

“These days, thanks to my granddaughter, I spend every day laughing.”  

At those words, the ladies’ eyes twitched slightly.  

She laughs because of her commoner granddaughter?  

“And she’s so bright and lovable. It’s a different joy from having children.”  

Isabella leisurely waved her fan.  

“It’s all thanks to Rafaella’s birth mother raising her so well.”  

She even praised the birth mother.  

“I feel truly blessed.”  

The noble ladies were all shocked inside.  

How could someone from one of the five great ducal houses act like this?  

“As for the Interim Empress, well, she must have a generous heart to invite me here.”  

“……”  

No one could say anything.  

They had expected her to be ashamed, but she wasn’t at all.  

She didn’t seem to be pretending, but genuinely felt happy about her granddaughter’s existence.  

They all wondered if that was possible.  

“Her Highness the Princess is just quietly…”  

One lady finally managed to speak.  

“The glorious moon of the heavens, the Interim Empress, has arrived!”  

A servant at the entrance to the garden announced the Interim Empress’s arrival.  

Everyone stood to pay their respects to the Interim Empress.  

Narcissa accepted the ladies’ greetings and approached Isabella.  

“It’s been a while, Dowager Duchess of Blumhart.”  

Dressed in an elegant blue satin gown, she was as beautiful as ever.  

“It is an honor to be invited, Your Majesty.”  

Isabella hid her discomfort and smiled.  

“Please, be seated.”  

When the Interim Empress took her seat at the head of the long table, the ladies all took their seats one by one.  

“About the Duke of Blumhart’s daughter—my Patrizia was delighted, saying she’d have a daughter once she marries.”  

Narcissa was the first to bring up an uncomfortable topic.  

She smiled as if it were nothing.  

The noble ladies were surprised, but didn’t believe her words.  

The Princess was famous for her fierce and sensitive nature—there was no way she’d be pleased.  

“Her Highness the Princess must have a kind heart.”  

“She’s beautiful, and even her heart is lovely. She has it all.”  

But the ladies, watching the Interim Empress, praised the Princess.  

“By the way, Dowager Duchess, is Lady Penelope well now?”  

One lady asked Isabella.  

“Yes, wasn’t Lady Penelope unable to appear in society because of her health?”  

Everyone was as curious about Penelope’s health as they were about Rafaella’s arrival.  

“Fortunately, Penelope has made a recovery recently.”  

“Really?”  

“I thought it better to wait until she was fully recovered to say anything, so I apologize for not telling you sooner.”  

“No need to apologize; what matters is that she’s better.”  

“That’s right.”  

The ladies waved their hands gently.  

“But I heard it was an illness caused by a new kind of monster, and very hard to cure…”  

“Didn’t even the palace’s healing magicians give up?”  

“Dowager Duchess, who on earth cured that dreadful illness?”  

They all looked at Isabella with curiosity.  

“Amazingly, it was Rafaella’s birth mother who cured our child’s illness.”  

Isabella answered with a proud smile.  

“…Her birth mother?”  

The noble ladies at the table opened their eyes wide in surprise.  

Hadn’t they heard she was just a country woman from the mountains?  

“…Her birth mother?”  

Even the Interim Empress sounded half-shocked, her voice breaking.