“I won’t move a single step from the lodgings here all day!”

“?”

“I’ll stay completely quiet, like I don’t even exist, so don’t worry about me and enjoy the banquet with peace of mind!”

I put on the most composed smile I could manage, hoping Heliones wouldn’t feel any needless embarrassment on my account. But his expression shifted again, coloring with bewilderment, the look of a man caught in an unexpected downpour.

“Ah. Yes.”

Heliones gave a short reply, drooping like a man soaked through despite not a drop of rain falling, and left the lodgings without waiting for my farewell.

Did I do something wrong again? Should I have congratulated him first? But isn’t it strange to offer congratulations a full two weeks early?

I turned to Elren, hoping he might know the cause, and found his monocle fogged over with a faint mist.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Of course not.”

“It’s just that His Majesty’s expression looked so troubled…”

“It did. But it is not your fault, Lucian. It is simply His Majesty and Count Fonta, who understand you far too little.”

“?”

I had no idea what he meant. And why was Count Fonta suddenly being brought into this?

The anxiety of having displeased the Emperor sent a chill creeping into my hands and feet, but Elren only smiled with his usual unhurried calm.

* * *

Late that night, a quiet, secret meeting took place in Lucian’s chambers, without her knowledge.

“Is it not obvious? She is already uncomfortable simply being in the capital, and you expected her to attend a banquet held in the imperial palace?”

Under Elren’s reproach, Count Fonta groaned and dragged his hands through his hair.

“But when she was the Duchess, she never missed a single social event! She never once declined an invitation!”

“That is because it was her duty, and she always worried that if she were absent, unfavorable rumors might reach His Majesty.”

“Rumors?”

“Well, you know how these things go. Rumors like: the Duke of Gertil is abusing his wife, the daughter of his enemy. They say he locked her in a tower without food or water. That sort of thing.”

At that, Count Fonta seemed to grasp something at last. He smacked his own forehead and screwed up his eyes.

“She always accompanied him to social events, even though she was clearly reading the room the whole time. I simply assumed Lucian enjoyed them.”

Getting married and having children does not make a man an expert on love. Count Fonta was more perceptive of others’ feelings than Heliones, but that came from his role as an attendant serving his lord, and he was not a man sensitive enough to fully understand a woman’s heart.

Nothing is more dangerous than an amateur who believes himself to be an expert. Novice or amateur, neither is a professional, and they amount to the same thing. Count Fonta was now facing the consequences of his poor advice, saddled with a pile of tedious tasks for the next several days.

“For now, please return. I will find a way to arrange something.”

“Is that true?”

“I have served since the reign of His Majesty’s grandfather’s predecessor. I have my ways.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Count Fonta directed a gaze full of trust and gratitude toward Elren, then left Lucian’s chambers with a somewhat lighter heart.

Watching his retreating figure, a meaningful smile settled on Elren’s face, one rarely seen on a man usually so composed and proper.

* * *

Several days passed. During that time, Heliones came every late afternoon, exchanged a few strange words whose meaning I couldn’t quite grasp, and then turned back.

Nothing else of note happened. I held myself back from going out as much as possible and stayed shut inside the lodgings, and Hanna had also taken a liking to Lucinda, the maid Heliones had hired, and the two of them had thrown themselves into tending to the rooms.

Time passed in that way, and the day of Delmir’s tea party drew near. Tailored clothing always takes time, yet a perfectly finished outfit arrived in just four days.

A light mint-colored redingote, just right for early summer, was embroidered with a gentle floral pattern.

Paired with a large bonnet trimmed with an organza ribbon, gloves of delicate lace, and the pearl necklace Heliones had gifted me during my time as Duchess of Gertil, the ensemble came together into a bright, charming tea party outfit.

“Wow! It looks absolutely stunning! You’re always beautiful, but dressed up like this, you look like a goddess straight out of Greek mythology!!”

Hanna, who had lately been absorbed in Greek mythology and sketching Psyche and Eros every day, heaped on the praise with great enthusiasm.

I’m not the type to take flattery at face value, but hearing it from Hanna of all people, I won’t deny that it made me feel just a little pleased with myself.

And since the subject had come up, I’ll add this: the reflection in the mirror, hair pinned up and properly done for the first time in a while, looked quite impressive even to my own eyes.

All right. Nothing to find fault with. Don’t get carried away. Just say what needs to be said and come back.

I was doing my best to settle my needlessly fluttering nerves and mentally rehearsing what I planned to say.

“May I trouble you for a moment?”

Elren stood at the doorway and asked with careful courtesy. I gave a ready nod, of course, and dismissed Hanna and Lucinda.

“I would like to brief you on the guests attending today’s tea party.”

Familiarizing oneself in advance with the other attendees at a social gathering is, in truth, an essential matter. It prevents careless mistakes about family names or marital status that could give others grounds to find fault.

Two years ago, I would have memorized the guest list and their particulars in full beforehand to avoid any misstep. This time, I had not given it a thought.

Partly because I was not attending for social purposes, but honestly, two years of free and easy living had buried the habit so thoroughly that I had simply forgotten it was standard practice.

“Oh, is there information I really need to know?”

At my words, Elren gave a serious nod and began reciting details I never would have anticipated.

He was right, as always.

The Balthar ducal family’s townhouse was undeniably the largest among those in the capital, but even so, the number of people gathered there was excessive.

Ah. I had been far too naive.

The invitation had said it was a tea party with only close acquaintances, so it never crossed my mind that this would be a social event attended by royalty from other nations.

If Elren hadn’t mentioned it beforehand, I would have been shocked and immediately started looking for a way to leave.

Sure enough, every gaze in the room turned toward me. The stares alone, all fixed on the former wife of the most coveted man on the continent, could have filled the entire estate.

Even during my years as Heliones’s wife, I had occasionally drawn looks of envy, but this was something else entirely.

The kind of heat that predators fix on their prey.

Elren’s words, that every eligible young lady on the continent had her sights set on Heliones, had not been an exaggeration.

Suppress needless rumors while turning everyone into a good-faith rival. That was the task I had taken on for today.

I concealed my trembling nerves beneath an elegant smile, as Elren, who had always been faithful to me, had asked, and entered the drawing room with a modest smile and a composed bearing.

The gazes clung to me like something sticky. Those relentless, heavy stares felt capable of stripping me bare on their own.

If my memory served me correctly, Heliones was not a man who indulged in women.

My first ex-husband had kept his distance from me but frequently left to meet his male lover, and he made little effort to hide that fact. The truth, of course, was that he had not been going to a male lover at all, but to the woman he married after our divorce, but regardless, he never tried to conceal from me that he had spent the night with someone.

Heliones had also kept his distance from me. But he showed no sign of meeting anyone.

At social gatherings too, he was always indifferent toward women, and only men who admired him tended to gather around him.

He was someone who struggled not just with romantic involvement with women, but even with simple conversation.

We had not been particularly close, so there may have been a lover I knew nothing about, but in any case, he was never the type to revel in the burning attention others poured on him.

If Elren was right that Heliones had no intention of settling down yet, then this kind of heat would surely feel like a burden to him.

I was still sorting through my thoughts when Delmir appeared at my side before I realized it and, with impeccable courtesy, greeted me and guided me to the center of the drawing room.

I could feel it in my skin: everyone gathered in the drawing room was watching and waiting, full of curiosity and anticipation, for whatever words would leave my mouth.

“It has been so long since I last saw you in the capital. I am so glad.”

“Yes. Thank you for the warm welcome.”

I returned Delmir’s greeting with a suitably gentle smile. The anxious stares of the young ladies bore into me, but I stepped slightly to the side to give the hostess the first opportunity.

“I hear His Majesty the Emperor intends to correct a procedural issue with the divorce papers. And thanks to that, I was able to see you again, my dear old friend Lucian.”

Delmir seemed delighted to be the first to know such remarkable news, and she took my hand and shook it warmly, as though we truly were old friends.

“A procedural issue?”

“Yes. His Majesty was at the front at the time, so a legal representative signed on his behalf. Of course it was a properly authorized signature, but since it is such an important document, he wishes to sign it himself and bring the divorce to a proper conclusion, they say.”