She picked the wrong day.

“Good heavens…”

Thunder rumbled through the sky, and Adeline, soaked to the bone, breathed in shallow gasps.

Bang, bang, bang—Adeline’s maid pounded on the estate’s door.

Anton, one of the few young servants in the quiet mansion, peered outside cautiously. When he spotted Adeline standing in the rain with a single maid behind her, he hurriedly opened the door.

With a brief exclamation.

“Princess…”

Adeline had arrived without warning, like the sudden downpour that had started an hour ago. While Anton stood flustered and speechless, the princess herself simply smiled brightly.

“Yes, hello. I’ve been seeing you quite often lately, Anton.”

As Adeline stepped into the entrance hall, leaving faint traces of rain on the marble floor, the sound of the rain receded beyond the door.

“Is Mrs. Neumann here?”

Adeline folded and lowered her decorative parasol. Water droplets clinging to the thin lace couldn’t shake off in time, trickling down the back of her hand to her arm.

Of course, her arm wasn’t the only thing wet. The parasol had been woefully inadequate to block the pouring rain.

Unbefitting her noble status, Adeline’s hair and parts of her clothing were already thoroughly soaked.

Though the master had given strict orders not to let anyone into the estate, Anton couldn’t possibly have refused to open the door in this situation.

“Yes… she’s inside.”

“Then Mother must be here too?”

Anton’s face showed clear signs of distress as he took the small travel bag from the maid’s hands.

“…Good heavens, Princess!”

Just as Anton hesitated to answer about the mistress’s whereabouts, Mrs. Neumann appeared with a housemaid at her side. To him, she was nothing short of a savior.

“You should have at least contacted us beforehand. You’re completely drenched.”

Mrs. Neumann, seemingly accustomed to this, removed the thin shawl Adeline wore over her shoulders like an outer garment and took her hat. 

She shook out the shawl, its edges darkened from absorbing moisture, folded it in half, and began lightly scolding the newlywed about what she would do if she caught a cold.

“If you had contacted me, I would have sent Anton out. Why did you come alone like this? Really, you’re so reckless.”

“Mm, but if I had contacted you, you would have made up some reason to say today wouldn’t work, absolutely don’t come.”

“…”

“I’m right, aren’t I, Mrs. Neumann?”

“For someone who understands this person so well, you really…”

Mrs. Neumann trailed off, making you feel so awkward, and stepped back. Adeline’s green eyes looked gloomy, rivaling the overcast sky.

‘You are no longer my daughter. That’s how I’ll live from now on.’

Having received a declaration of disownment from her mother, the only person she could lean on in life—how much must her heart ache?

Though this visit wasn’t exactly welcome, Mrs. Neumann fully understood how Adeline must feel.

“Let’s prepare a bath first. Would you like to come inside and warm up?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s not that bad. Even though I got this wet, I took a carriage straight from the train station. Just give me some tea. Oh, and please take care of this girl too.”

Adeline, who asked her to look after the maid who accompanied her, climbed the stairs while holding Mrs. Neumann’s hand.

“How is Mother’s mood today?”

“No different from usual, but…”

A teacup was placed before Adeline, who sat in the second-floor parlor. When Adeline invited her to sit, an identical teacup was prepared for Mrs. Neumann across from her.

However, what came from Mrs. Neumann’s mouth wasn’t particularly pleasant.

“You’ve made a wasted trip. You’ve picked the wrong time again today, Princess.”

“When have I ever picked the right time?”

Adeline, holding her cup, let out a faint, mocking laugh.

“Mother wouldn’t have known I was coming and avoided me, so she must have just had plans. Where did she go?”

“She decided to start a new volunteer activity every second Friday of the month. She went there today.”

Adeline’s mother, the former queen consort, had left the capital of her own accord in the past. 

However, regardless of the circumstances, she now found herself far removed from power. So she spent her days devoted solely to caring for her neighbors.

“With the rain pouring like that? And she’s not even in good health… Mrs. Neumann, you should have stopped her.”

“That’s too much. You’re asking me to do what even her own daughter can’t.”

Mrs. Neumann rolled her eyes while sipping her tea, and Adeline’s eyes curved gently.

“You’re much closer to her than I am, her own daughter…”

It wasn’t an exaggeration. Mrs. Neumann had spent several times more years with her mother than Adeline, who had left her homeland of Krauben when she turned ten.

Mrs. Neumann had been a maid who accompanied her mother when she left her homeland to marry her father. Having relied on each other in a foreign land, the two had become extremely close.

In fact, Adeline often felt more comfortable mentally when dealing with the warm-natured Mrs. Neumann than with her strict mother.

“Will I be kicked out again today?”

“Well, I suspect I’ll be the one kicked out for letting you in without permission.”

“No way. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“At least the rain gives me a decent excuse for disobeying the Queen’s orders, so that’s fortunate.”

After Mrs. Neumann, who had been discussing her mother’s recent activities, left, Adeline was about to pour her third cup while passing the somewhat tedious time alone. A small commotion arose outside the door.

“You’ve already been here for two hours.”

Judging by the faint voice, the mistress of the estate—her mother—had likely returned home.

Adeline set down her cup, stood up, straightened her clothes, and approached the opening door.

“I’m here, Mother.”

What greeted Adeline’s warm voice was silence and a cold gaze.

“…”

Every time those eyes, the same color as Adeline’s own, pierced her like a knife, her chest tightened painfully, but she endured without shrinking back.

‘I haven’t wronged Mother. I didn’t come to beg for forgiveness.’

Adeline, maintaining her composure, took her mother’s hand. Or rather, tried to. 

But her mother Luise coldly shook off her daughter’s hand and sat on the sofa, looking up at Mrs. Neumann’s stiffened expression.

“Tilia, I told you not to let any guests into the house without my permission. What is the meaning of this?”

“I apologize, Your Majesty. I have no excuse.”

“No, Mother. Mrs. Neumann did nothing wrong. I came here stubbornly and insisted she open the door. I was caught in the rain, so she had no choice but to let me in.”

When Luise scolded her, Mrs. Neumann hurriedly bowed, but Adeline quickly stepped forward to make excuses on her behalf and pulled her arm to help her up.

Meanwhile, Luise looked over Adeline from the hem of her skirt to her sleeves.

“I see. If you came in to escape the rain, then you’ve already achieved your purpose. Your clothes seem dry, and you don’t look unwell.”

“…”

“Go home now. There’s no reason for you to stay here any longer.”

“Mother!”

She had no intention of backing down today. With her wedding just around the corner, Adeline didn’t have much time left. She urgently grabbed the wrist of her mother, who was turning to leave. Desperation naturally seeped into her voice.

“Mother, please! Please listen to me.”

“I’ve heard your circumstances enough already, to the point of exhaustion. How many more times must you repeat the same words?”

Adeline’s hand slipped down and clutched at Luise’s skirt, but she remained completely unmoved.

“You’ll go through with that absurd marriage to the very end.”

Luise simply gazed quietly at her tearful daughter.

“Just like you can’t bend your will to the end, neither can I.”

“But this isn’t about who bends or yields their will… If it were such a simple matter, how could I have gone against your wishes?”

Adeline murmured, shaking her head, then slowly lifted her chin. Her vision blurred from welling tears.

“When have I ever defied your wishes, Mother?”

Adeline had been a rather obedient daughter. Though she sometimes thought her mother’s commands to simply obey without proper explanation were unreasonable, she complied, thinking it must be for her own good.

“Not even once, from childhood until now.”