“……Even so, I can’t believe she did something like that.”

“Tilda, it makes even less sense to expect a young lady raised in a family like that to be a gentle little lamb.”

Selina gave Tilda a pointed look about her naivety.

Blair had been listening to their conversation in silence, and something vaguely bitter settled in her. She took a quiet sip of her black tea.

“Anyway, Blair. Tell us. How are you feeling?”

“Pardon? About what?”

Blair shifted her gaze to Selina, who had scooted in close beside her.

“What do you mean, about what. The princess consort selection is tomorrow.”

“Ah…… right.”

Blair let out a small, involuntary sigh. Both Selina and Tilda looked surprised.

“Oh. I expected a stronger reaction. Why are you so calm about it?”

“……It’s just an official ceremony.”

One where she would have to stand in front of everyone and be formal and uncomfortable.

But there was something else weighing on her more than that.

She was going to be deceiving all those people right to their faces.

After the inquiry, everyone had been going on about fate and true love when it came to her and Kalintz.

The reality was a contract marriage, but no one knew that, and to their eyes it was nothing but the sweetest romance.

“Oh, I’d be shaking so much if it were me. Blair really does have nerves of steel.”

Tilda, misreading Blair’s guilty expression, looked at her with admiring eyes.

Blair was still searching for what to say when the reception room door opened and one of Queen Rhea’s maids stepped in.

“Her Highness the Queen has arrived.”

Blair felt a quiet wave of relief and rose from her seat.

Queen Rhea entered the reception room with her usual graceful composure.

“You’ve been waiting. The ladies had so much to say that I’ve never sat through such a long luncheon in my life.”

Queen Rhea accepted the frons’ greetings with a gentle smile.

“Blair, everyone is very interested in you. They kept asking about you and the prince, and I found myself in quite the awkward position.”

For someone in an awkward position, the queen looked rather amused, and Blair answered with an uncertain smile.

“I wanted to have tea with all of you together one last time. That’s why I called you here.”

The queen spoke warmly and took her seat. The maids moved quickly to bring out freshly brewed tea and refreshments.

The elegant scent of tea spread softly through the reception room.

“As you all know, the princess consort selection will take place tomorrow.”

Queen Rhea began, taking a sip of tea.

“After that, there won’t be many chances for us to gather like this. You’ll each have your own choices to make.”

Those choices meant deciding whether to leave the palace or to remain and go to the western annex, the Withered Garden.

The day she had been counting down to. And now it was a choice she no longer had.

Something strange and hard to name settled over Blair.

“I remember the first time we had tea together here. The room was a little fuller then.”

At the queen’s quietly wistful tone, Blair, Selina, and Tilda all looked in silence at the empty seats.

In barely more than half a year, someone had lost their life and someone had lost their honor. The weight of it made the room go still.

“In any case, thank you for staying to the end despite everything that happened.”

“It is all thanks to Your Highness’s care.”

At Selina’s reply, Blair and Tilda each nodded and added their own words of gratitude. Queen Rhea smiled with what looked like genuine relief and said she was glad they felt that way.

After that, they talked of small things and drank their tea and enjoyed the desserts, the way they always had.

Blair realized, without quite meaning to, that she had grown used to moments like these.

She had thought of every day here as something to endure, but now that it was the last time, she found herself unexpectedly reluctant to let it go.

When the atmosphere had grown warm and easy, one of the queen’s maids came over and quietly mentioned the next appointment.

“I’m afraid we must end things here for today.”

The queen rose with a look of genuine regret on her face. She then exchanged a brief, light embrace with each of the frons in turn.

“Then I’ll see you all at the central palace tomorrow.”

She left the reception room with a kind smile to the very end.

“Her Highness the Queen is truly remarkable. To think she cared for us this much.”

Tilda murmured with an moved expression.

Selina gave Blair a prim little poke in the side.

“Blair, you’ll treat the frons well too, won’t you? Like the queen does.”

“……I’m not sure I could ever be as wonderful as she is.”

Blair looked away slightly as she said it.

Of course she couldn’t. She would be princess consort for two years and then be deposed and go to Lis.

“Well, you never know. No one can see what’s ahead.”

Selina shrugged and walked out of the reception room ahead of them. Blair bit back the urge to say it would never happen and followed.

“Ah, after tomorrow I won’t be walking down this corridor anymore.”

Selina looked around at the ornate hallway with a wistful voice.

“Selina, are you going straight back to your estate?”

“Oh, Tilda. What are you talking about? There’ll be parties one after another soon. And the Founding Festival is coming up. I can’t miss the chance when all the eligible men come to the capital.”

Selina had shed her wistfulness entirely and was blazing with determination to reign as the queen of the social season. Blair smiled at her unwavering consistency.

“Then Selina will be staying at the capital residence. Tilda, you’ll be in the capital too, won’t you?”

Blair asked, assuming Tilda would naturally stay in the capital with Selina.

But Tilda’s answer was unexpected.

“No. I’m thinking of staying in the palace.”

“……Pardon?”

The words caught Blair completely off guard. She stared at Tilda with her mouth slightly open.

“Staying in the palace, what do you……”

“Tilda! You’re not thinking of going to the Withered Garden, are you?”

Selina asked with a raised voice, but Tilda just smiled calmly without any sign of distress.

“Tilda. Is that true? You’re going to the western annex……”

Blair asked again, unable to quite believe it.

“Who knows.”

But Tilda only smiled with a meaningful expression and said nothing more. She left the two of them standing there in stunned silence, waved goodbye with a cheerful see you tomorrow, and slipped into her room.

“What on earth was that about.”

Selina stared at Tilda’s door with a baffled expression.

“……I have no idea.”

Blair murmured blankly, just as puzzled.

❀❀❀

The next day, Blair made her way to the Great Hall of the central palace, still carrying the question she hadn’t been able to resolve.

Many nobles had already gathered early to witness the princess consort selection.

The moment she stepped into the hall, a wave of intent stares washed over her. Blair fixed her gaze straight ahead and tried to hide her discomfort.

She couldn’t very well plug her ears, though, so the whispering was unavoidable.

“That’s the young lady from the romance?”

“What a striking hair color. And her skin is so smooth and fair.”

“I hear Her Highness the Queen has already shown her great favor. Apparently she was presented with a necklace made from the Leaves of Tamira.”

Curious, interested eyes.

“Haah. Choosing someone from such an obscure, unremarkable family as princess consort. Is this really right?”

“She doesn’t look like anything special. What trick did she use to catch His Highness’s eye?”

And cold, resentful ones.

“Haah……”

Blair had never in her life attracted this much attention of every kind, and she felt tired before anything had even begun.

Fortunately, the ordeal didn’t last long.

“All talk, as usual. They’ll have something to say no matter who gets chosen.”

She turned at the familiar voice. Selina and Tilda were standing side by side.

“Don’t let any of that bother you, Blair.”

Tilda spoke with her usual easy expression, and the sight of her brought the question flooding back.

Was she really planning to go to the Withered Garden?

“Tilda. There’s something I wanted to ask you……”