“I request that you host a tea party at the Ivanstein mansion.”

Mel’s feet, which had been moving busily until now, suddenly stopped. As though she expected this, the head maid’s steps also stopped. Finally, Mel and the head maid’s eyes met for the first time today.

“A tea party?”

The following word, ‘Me?’, didn’t leave Mel’s lips, but the head maid could easily understand.

Mel slowly blinked her eyes for a moment. The head maid’s stern face disappeared and reappeared repeatedly in her vision.

“Surely I didn’t mishear?”

Watching Mel who didn’t hide her disbelieving expression, the head maid heaved a deep sigh. Then she nodded slightly. It meant that the request for Mel to host a tea party had indeed come from the head maid’s lips.

Finally, Mel asked while holding her head,

“Since Raon Empire’s etiquette might differ from Reibritton’s, I should at least ask.”

“……Yes.”

“In Reibritton, only the lady of the house can host tea parties at the mansion. Is it different in the Raon Empire?”

“No, it’s the same in the Raon Empire.”

The head maid nodded heavily.

A tea party was an occasion to introduce the mansion and evaluate the lady’s taste and character. It was a party where the lady’s capabilities were blatantly displayed through how the mansion was decorated and how guests were treated.

It wasn’t that people other than the lady of the house never hosted tea parties. Daughters of the family or inexperienced ladies sometimes hosted tea parties with the consideration of noble ladies who wanted to teach party hosting etiquette to distant relatives. But Mel didn’t fall into any of these categories.

“Only the Duchess of Ivanstein can host tea parties in this mansion. Ivanstein doesn’t even have the usual branch family members.”

If there was a duchess in Ivanstein, Mel could host a tea party with her permission. Or if there were branch family relatives, she could invite their noble ladies to the mansion under the pretext of seeking advice and host a tea party.

“But Ivanstein has no duchess.”

Despite its influence in the Raon Empire, Ivanstein was a noble but lonely family. The only person of Ivanstein blood in this family was Duke Genoa Ivanstein alone. Therefore, even though Mel was a social figure that Raon Empire’s nobles paid attention to, she absolutely could not host a tea party.

“If Duke Ivanstein finds out, he’ll say I forgot my place. And you won’t make excuses for me then, will you, head maid?”

Moreover, Mel didn’t even want to imagine what Genoa would think if she hosted a tea party at Ivanstein. The social circles would surely think this about Mel: that the princess of a fallen kingdom was desperately trying to survive by securing the position of Duchess Ivanstein. Or they might gossip that after staying at Ivanstein, she had started thinking she was the duchess.

But Mel wasn’t afraid of the unpleasant gazes and mockery from others. The only thing Mel feared was Duke Ivanstein — what interpretation Genoa would make of this.

“I plan to stay quietly at the Ivanstein mansion. I intend to leave as if I was never here. I thought you knew this and that’s why you only watched me. Was I wrong?”

“If the Duke doesn’t know about it, wouldn’t it be fine?”

Mel’s lips parted slightly at the head maid’s answer. Her slightly trembling eyes and stiff body, frozen while holding her head, conveyed her bewilderment.

“What do you think Lin would say to you if she heard this?”

“That child would say I’m crazy.”

The head maid coldly evaluated her own behavior from Lin’s perspective. Since Mel thought the same, she didn’t hide her what-is-this expression.

Hosting a tea party at the Ivanstein mansion without the Duke knowing? Mel thought it would be faster to just take the head maid to Genoa right now.

“What’s the reason?”

“That’s……”

“To decide whether I would grant your request or not, I should at least know the reason.”

Mel pressured the head maid who was trying to close her mouth with a quiet voice. She spoke subtly, as if she might grant the request, as if she might cooperate with the proposal.

Mel stepped closer to the head maid and asked,

“I’m very curious why you need to make such a request to me while hiding it from your master?”

“……”

Mel stared at the head maid who was looking intently at her, then tilted her head and began walking again. Until she returned to her room. That was how long Mel would listen to the head maid. If she didn’t explain the reason, or if she failed to convince her, Mel had no intention of granting the head maid’s request.

Perhaps sensing this intention, the head maid hurriedly followed behind Mel and spoke,

“Ivanstein hasn’t hosted parties for a long time. As Your Highness said, there’s no duchess, nor any branch family nobles.”

“And?”

“While parties at the mansion are the duchess’s domain, in another sense, they’re also events where I, as head maid, can demonstrate my abilities.”

“Hmm.”

Mel nodded slightly.

The more events at the mansion, the busier the head maid and butler become. Especially when parties are held, the head maid and butler must demonstrate their abilities as heads of mansion management to help events proceed without problems. And how smoothly and cleanly they can manage this process depends on the capabilities of the maid and butler.

“If time passes without being able to handle such events, gradually some people will start to question the reason for their existence.”

This was what the head maid was talking about. There were too few opportunities to demonstrate ability at the Ivanstein mansion. Naturally, some maids would start to question why the head maid was the head maid.

“And since my position started shaking after Your Highness entered this mansion, you’re half responsible.”

“Suddenly?”

Mel turned around with wide eyes at the unexpected words implicating her. When her eyes met the head maid’s who was following behind her, Mel realized the head maid had truly meant those words.

The head maid wore a raw expression that couldn’t be seen before. Her somewhat desperate eyes showed no composure.

“Unlike the butler who has served since His Grace became Duke Ivanstein, I’m a relatively recent addition.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Until Your Highness came, I was managing my given responsibilities well enough. Since His Grace didn’t demand much from me, it wasn’t difficult.”

Mel recalled the duties the head maid had been handling since she entered the mansion. While not few, they weren’t many for a head maid of such a grand mansion as Ivanstein’s. That is, assuming the head maid’s abilities were excellent.

“Since Your Highness came to the mansion and started caring for Lin, the maids have gradually begun paying more attention to Your Highness’s words than mine.”

“……”

“As someone who must know that affection from superiors becomes power, you probably did this to diminish my influence in the mansion.”

Mel wasn’t sure whether to be surprised that the head maid understood her intentions better than expected, or that she would speak about it so directly to her.

“You know that well, yet you still ask me to host a tea party?”

“Yes. Because I can’t host a tea party myself. And there’s no possibility that any lady with as much authority as Your Highness will stay in this mansion in the future.”

The head maid continued speaking with a truly troubled expression while heaving a deep sigh.

“You’re the only person I can ask now.”

“……”

What could be the head maid’s true intentions? Mel couldn’t figure it out at all. Why specifically a tea party? Why must they host a tea party while deceiving Duke Ivanstein? What benefit could there be for the head maid? Questions multiplied endlessly in Mel’s mind.

“If I host a tea party, the maids will rely on me even more. After all, tea parties are events where the lady of the house demonstrates her influence.”

“I know.”

“Knowing that, why make such a request?”

“When a true lady of the house comes to this mansion in the distant future, do you think she would welcome an incompetent head maid who has never prepared even one tea party?”

“Are you saying you want to use me for practice?”

“Yes.”

Though the head maid spoke as if that was all, Mel couldn’t remove her suspicious gaze. It was hard to believe that the head maid, who had been constantly looking for her weaknesses until now, would make such a request while bowing her head just for that. After all, her words didn’t add up from the beginning.

It made no sense that the head maid would ask Mel to host a tea party while hiding it from the Duke, whom she wanted to prove her abilities to, and it wasn’t even a method to regain influence over the maids.

“I feel sorry for making things difficult for you as head maid by showing favoritism to Lin. I’m willing to refrain from doing so if you ask.”

“That’s fine.”

“I’m merely a guest, so I promise not to do anything that would affect the head maid’s influence from now on. That should be enough, right?”

Mel tried to compromise with the head maid. But the head maid firmly shook her head as if that wasn’t her goal and said,

“A tea party is all I wish to request from Your Highness.”

That response made Mel’s thoughts even more complicated. There was clearly something, but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She decided it would be better to refuse if she couldn’t find the hidden intention behind that liar’s request. For now, Mel decided to look for an excuse to refuse.

“Isn’t it impossible to hold a tea party without Duke Ivanstein knowing?”

“I will make it possible.”

“……With that level of ability, couldn’t you prove your capabilities without holding a tea party?”

“That’s a different matter.”

“Why is it different?”

“Because it is.”

“Were you always this difficult to communicate with?”

“Not particularly.”

“……”

This isn’t easy. Mel had an ominous feeling that this conversation would continue even after she reached her room.