“Haa, you heard while hiding. The captain of the knights won’t even talk to me. So there’s no way he would grant my request.”

“Then perhaps you should give up on the western garden……!”

“No. I’m curious. Everyone keeps saying it’s not allowed, which only makes me more determined.”

The silent scream emanating from the head maid’s glare at Mel was quite easy to read: Why must I endure this because of this childish princess?

Looking at the head maid, who clearly showed signs of distress, Mel continued to smile brightly. Being perceptive, the head maid would easily realize that Mel wouldn’t back down easily despite her cheerful smile.

“The basics of negotiation are to cut off your opponent’s retreat. That way, no matter what conditions I set, they have no choice but to nod in agreement.”

Mel was faithful to the basics of negotiation that Genoa had taught her long ago. He had said that whether making plans or requesting a deal, one must establish this foundation well.

Watching the head maid in such distress, not knowing what to do, Mel quietly clicked her tongue.

‘Even after working under the young master for so long, what exactly have you learned?’

The plan was so absurdly flimsy that it was becoming difficult even to pretend to fall for it. But Mel didn’t want to make the head maid realize how terrible her own plan was.

Until the head maid realized this and set another trap for Mel, Mel continued her act as a bright and naive princess. This was because the head maid would think she could get what she wanted by moderately satisfying her whims.

“……The night before the tea party, for a very brief moment, it might be possible.”

“Really? That’s great!”

Having smoothly achieved her goal, Mel clapped her hands lightly in delight. It was also quite amusing to see the head maid sighing with despair at this sight.

* * *

As expected, Lin returned without finding the head maid.

“Where on earth could the head maid have gone if she’s not in the mansion?”

Lin’s face was all scrunched up like a knight refusing to accept defeat as she burst through the door.

“Welcome back.”

Mel welcomed Lin with a slight pang of guilt.

“Huh? What are you doing?”

Lin was surprised to see Mel crouched down picking up pieces of paper, and hurried over. She couldn’t allow the princess to pick up anything from the floor herself.

“Let me do that.”

“No, I’ve almost got it all.”

Mel declined, but Lin ignored her and collected the remaining paper scraps. As she placed them one by one on her palm, Lin discovered that the torn paper scraps had some indecipherable writing on them.

“Is this a letter?”

“Yes. I was going to tear it up and throw it away, but I left the window open and the wind scattered it all.”

Hearing Mel’s answer, Lin tilted her head this way and that for a moment before saying:

“You usually keep all letters that come from outside.”

“Yes. But this one came from inside, so.”

“Pardon?”

Puzzled by Mel’s ambiguous answer, Lin carefully examined the paper scraps on her palm. Then she spotted a familiar partial name among the torn pieces.

“Tiburian……, isn’t that the tailor from back then? That arrogant one!”

“Oh my.”

Mel plucked out the piece with that name written on it from Lin’s palm.

“How did you manage to pick up exactly that piece?”

“Why would that person write to you, princess? Is he thanking you because his price went up thanks to you?”

“Don’t get so worked up, Lin. This is fake. I imitated his handwriting.”

“What?”

Lin asked again with a dumbfounded expression. The meaningful smile on Mel’s face somehow felt unfamiliar, making Lin blink a couple of times.

“Why would you need to imitate the tailor’s handwriting, princess?”

“I was bored, and I had something to verify.”

“……?”

While Lin still stood there confused, Mel gathered all the paper scraps from Lin’s palm and threw them into the fireplace at one side of the room. Before Lin could ask how she had learned to perfectly imitate someone’s handwriting.

Watching the paper scraps quickly turn to ash among the crackling logs, Mel smiled and asked Lin, who was still crouched down:

“So, you went looking for the head maid and came back empty-handed?”

At Mel’s question, Lin finally snapped back to attention and answered.

“Yes, I don’t know where she’s off playing around. I thought she might be with the duke, so I even went to his office, but she wasn’t there either.”

“Oh dear. I made you take unnecessary steps.”

Having deceived Lin and met with the head maid, Mel’s face clouded slightly with guilt. Thinking it was her fault for not properly carrying out the order to bring the head maid, Lin hurriedly waved both hands and said:

“It wasn’t unnecessary at all. Thanks to that, I heard a message the duke wanted me to deliver to you.”

“What?”

This time it was Mel who asked back as if she didn’t understand Lin’s words. Lin’s eyes widened at the distinctly changed atmosphere from just moments ago when Mel had been burning paper scraps with a relaxed attitude.

“He said he wants to discuss something with you before you enter the imperial palace today…… He’s coming to visit.”

“Where?”

“Where else? Here to your room……”

Before Lin could finish her sentence, Mel strode over to her and firmly grasped both her hands.

“Lin!”

“……Yes?”

“Let’s go water the field!”

“The duke is coming, what are you……”

What nonsense is this when the duke is coming here? Just as Lin was about to shake her head, Mel tightened her grip on their joined hands and suddenly pulled Lin with tremendous force, dashing out of the room.

“Our children will starve! Let’s hurry!”

“Wait, princess! Princess!”

Lin called out desperately as she was dragged out helplessly, but Mel pretended not to hear.

“The duke said he wants to see you!”

“I need to feed our children right now!”

“You can do that later!”

“There is no later!”

Mel’s firm resolve was evident as she cut off Lin’s protest decisively and pulled her toward the southern garden.

Why is she acting like this when it’s not the first time the duke has visited the princess’s room?

“Let’s go to the southern garden!”

“Yes, princess.”

With an utterly bewildered expression, Lin had no choice but to board the carriage heading to the southern garden as Mel led her.

Carefully closing the carriage door herself, Mel offered various excuses.

“Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since we tended to the field. How can we expect a proper harvest if we’re this neglectful?”

“Why are you suddenly worried about that now of all times?”

“……I just thought now would be the most appropriate time.”

Mel avoided Lin’s gaze and opened the carriage window to look outside. As the carriage moved farther away from the mansion, Mel’s rapidly beating heart began to calm down. At this point, Mel didn’t have the confidence to face Genoa as if nothing had happened.

“How about becoming the lady of the Ivanstein ducal family?”

She recalled that proposal, delivered as if it were nothing, showing not even a hint of love or respect.

Until then, Genoa had been considering a union between the Princess of Reibritton and the Raon Empire’s second prince. She had thought he abandoned that idea after promising to give her freedom, but Mel couldn’t understand what reason had made him change his mind from the second prince to himself, the Duke of Ivanstein.

“……Princess.”

“Huh?”

“Are you avoiding the duke right now?”

“Me? Does it look that way?”

“Yes.”

Caught red-handed, Mel quietly folded her hands and placed them on her knees. Lin’s gaze fell on Mel’s fidgeting fingers. Noticing how she couldn’t keep her hands still, as if anxious about something, Lin narrowed her eyes.

“Did something happen between you and the duke last night?”

“No, I just suddenly realized how scary the Duke of Ivanstein is……”

“What’s scary about him? The duke has been so kind to you lately.”

Lin still remembered the duke’s cold gaze when he first looked at the princess in Harttenberun. Those emotionless eyes that seemed like they wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to cut off her head if she made the slightest mistake. It was completely different from how he looked at the princess now. Lin, who had been in Harttenberun, could keenly notice this change that the head maid and butler were unaware of.

“Thanks to you, the duke can now sleep soundly, so you’ve become indispensable to him. You should have more confidence……”

“Don’t say that. That’s exactly why I’m scared.”

Mel shook her head and looked out the window again. Seeing her desperate attempt to avoid the topic, Lin sighed and leaned back in the carriage.

The southern garden was far from the mansion, so they would need to travel a bit more before reaching Mel and Lin’s small vegetable patch.

‘I guess no one knows yet that the young master proposed to me?’

Mel glanced at Lin’s now quiet face. The head maid she had just met hadn’t mentioned anything either, and the mansion seemed calm, so it appeared that Genoa hadn’t spoken about it yet.

At this point, she could almost believe that Genoa had just been talking nonsense, but unfortunately, Mel knew his character too well. Among all the words that had ever come out of his mouth, none had been empty talk.

Genoa had sincerely marked the princess of Reibritton as his most suitable bride candidate, and now he was merely giving Mel some time to accept it. Sadly, Mel felt this all too well.

‘But was that proposal not just political but also personal?’

This thought occurred to her after hearing Lin’s words. Come to think of it, it was strange that Genoa had only now proposed to her, considering how useful she had been. After all, everything she had done and said to survive had been the result of her desperate efforts to please Genoa.

‘Does that mean I’ve jumped into this fire pit myself?’

Thump. Mel hit her head against the carriage wall in distress. The sound startled Lin, who had been closing her eyes momentarily, and she looked at her in surprise.