“Ah, so that’s what happened. Well, there have been lawsuits over wills on account of a legal representative’s signature, so it makes sense.”

Delmir watched the young ladies nodding along to her explanation and grew even more familiar toward me.

“Yes. So it seems he wishes to tie up the loose ends in the paperwork completely.”

“Well, he probably intends to cut all ties with his ex-wife before taking an Empress. Who knows what kind of obstacle the princess of an already-ruined enemy kingdom might become.”

Whitney stepped forward with her arms crossed, a meaningful smile directed at Delmir, making no particular effort to hide her contempt for me as she put the word “Empress” in her mouth.

I know nothing of Heliones’s plans for remarriage and have no interest in who becomes Empress, but I have no desire to watch Delmir win so easily, not when she was grabbing Whitney’s arm as though to reproach her while making no real effort to stop her.

I put on the detached smile only a former wife with no remaining ties could wear and agreed with Whitney’s words.

“I think Whitney is right. Once the divorce is finalized, His Majesty, true to his fair and exacting character, will surely take a worthy Empress of fine character and virtue.”

At my agreement, a triumphant smile briefly crossed Delmir’s otherwise composed face, only to shift into a sudden look of discomfort at the words “character and virtue.”

So something did hit a nerve.

“I suppose being his ex-wife gives you special insight into the Emperor’s mind. You even know his criteria for an Empress.”

Clearly not the answer she wanted. Delmir’s signature move had come out: cutting remarks that never quite cross the line.

“His Majesty is a man of honor who treats even me, the princess of an enemy nation, with the courtesy due a former wife. Naturally he would place great importance on character and virtue. And even if he has someone in mind, he will refrain from any words or actions that could harm a lady’s reputation before any formal marriage discussions take place. He will approach the matter as carefully and cautiously as possible.”

I offered my opinion as humbly as I could, and a few of the young ladies began nodding and murmuring among themselves.

‘That’s right. His Majesty is the sort of man who looks at the person before the conditions.’

‘There are plenty of candidates with similar qualifications. Whoever moves His Majesty’s heart will become Empress.’

As the rest of the young ladies agreed with my words, the corners of Delmir’s mouth, light as a feather, began to tremble ever so slightly.

“Then Delmir has the best chance of all. Who in society has a better reputation than her?”

Dylan cut in, glancing at Delmir, trying to shift the mood.

Her words were not wrong, in truth. Delmir harbored a fierce hatred for me as Heliones’s wife, but with everyone else she maintained a strict and thorough propriety.

But Dylan’s words were already lost on the young ladies, their eyes bright with anticipation.

The news that the Emperor had an interest in remarriage and that no one knew who he had in mind for his next Empress must have been unwelcome to Delmir and her circle, who had been considered the frontrunners for the position, but to the rest of the young ladies it must have sounded like rain after a long drought.

In fact, I could feel it plainly: the heat that had filled the drawing room was now turning into a fever.

“His Majesty truly is fair. To treat his ex-wife, the princess of the enemy nation that destroyed the imperial family, with such consideration, setting aside any ‘personal feelings’ of his own.”

Just as I expected. Delmir’s nature would never let it pass without a parting shot. Since she hadn’t gotten the answer she wanted, she had to remind me of my position to feel satisfied.

“Well. I could hardly presume to know His Majesty’s personal feelings, but if I had even the smallest suspicion of involvement in the war, I would have stood trial as a war criminal. His Majesty is a man who is equally fair to me.”

Insulting me is fine. My homeland’s fall is no secret.

But you just crossed a line. “Personal feelings.” You cannot let it seem like you are casting doubt on Heliones’s fairness, not in front of this many rivals.

Sure enough. The moment I said it, I felt the hostility that had been directed at me swing toward Delmir. I had stepped entirely out of the running as a candidate for Heliones’s hand, but Delmir was their most formidable rival. Of course they would scrutinize even the smallest flaw under a magnifying glass.

Sensing the shift in attention, Delmir quickly bowed her head with an apologetic air and corrected herself.

“Of course. His Majesty is honorable and fair. That is precisely why he shows courtesy to his former wife.”

Well. My task was done. With honor and reputation now part of the conversation, the number of young ladies who would throw themselves at him before any formal marriage discussions began would surely decrease.

And even those who did would face fierce opposition from their rivals, so a single slip of the tongue would send their social standing plummeting.

They would now have to circle Heliones as gracefully as possible, on their best behavior, trying to read the depths of his inscrutable mind.

Best of luck to them all.

“I will take my leave now.”

I had said what I came to say. There was nothing left for me here.

Delmir had come to this tea party hoping to pry out the reason for my stay in the capital and pin the label of a woman clinging to her ex-husband on me, so she might feel a little cheated, but learning that Heliones was considering remarriage after formally closing out the divorce was something, at least.

That much would have to do.

I smiled easily and sent a look of encouragement toward the young ladies who had just thrown themselves into the race for his bride.

May the most deserving person become his next wife. May a perfect match, one who fills every gap at his side without flaw, stand beside him, unlike me, full of cracks and already broken apart.

I turned away without a trace of regret. This kind of place no longer suits me. I was already tired.

Just as I was about to slip out of the drawing room, a woman I had never met before, with soft brown hair and golden eyes, suddenly rushed toward me. She smiled a warm, easy smile and looped her arm through mine with the most natural air in the world.

“Leaving already?”

Not overly formal, yet with an unmistakable elegance she couldn’t quite hide. Clearly someone of high standing.

I ran through the descriptions Elren had given me and concluded she was likely Nelia, princess of the Kingdom of Bruden.

“I greet Your Highness.”

“Never mind such grand titles. Just call me Nelia.”

A princess telling me to call her by her first name. Quite a convenient request for her alone.

I stood without a word in reply, and Nelia suddenly rose onto her tiptoes and whispered in my ear.

“I have a painting at the estate where I’m staying, brought from my home country. Would you like to come and see it?”

I had no desire to accept Nelia’s invitation, naturally, but this was a princess asking. And then the name of my favorite painter came out of her mouth.

A painting? I could see it in person? It was a tempting offer, but I would have to decline politely.

“It’s not far from here. We can walk, so let’s go together!”

But before I could refuse, Nelia’s grip pulled me along, and before I knew it I had already left the Balthar estate.

Nelia wore a smile that radiated pure brightness, the kind people often call sunshine, but she was clearly a far sharper woman than she appeared.

The irony was that the moment she learned I, the ex-wife whose last remaining tie on paper was about to be severed entirely, was currently the woman closest to Heliones, she had moved immediately to draw me to her side.

The painting was magnificent. I lost myself in it completely, and she even offered to give it to me, which had me sweating through my refusals, but seeing an original work by a painter I deeply admired up close was a truly rare experience.

Nelia subtly drew information about Heliones out of me. I drew a line, noting that Heliones and I had not been a particularly warm couple, and answered within the bounds of common knowledge.

Things like how he showed little interest in a woman’s appearance, or how his study was filled with nothing but military texts. Nothing that was any great secret.

But Nelia seemed to place more weight on confirming that I was not close to him than on any of the details I offered. Once she had confirmed we were a pair that would never reunite, she seemed to decide I would make a useful stepping stone as his ex-wife and grew even more familiar toward me.

Nelia treated me with a warmth and humility hard to believe in a princess, but something about her made me feel a strange mix of pity and discomfort.

Going this far with the princess of an already-fallen kingdom must mean she hoped it would benefit her comparatively small nation. There was surely a purpose behind her staying in another country’s capital as well.

This dazzlingly beautiful woman, who had almost certainly been ordered to win Heliones over, struck me as both pitiable and a little unsettling.

And for good reason: even though she clearly had an agenda, Nelia was playing the role of a girl in love with a perfection that went too far. Far enough that any woman with little experience in society would have been completely taken in.

Delmir, whose motives were at least visible, was easy enough to read, but this level of flawless performance was, well. A little unsettling.

No, wait. I may be overthinking it. Who am I to judge another person’s feelings? Heliones is an objectively remarkable man, so perhaps she truly had simply fallen for him. Yes, that must be it.

All the way home, I sat in the carriage trying to sort through the tangle in my head and calm the strange, unsettled feeling in my chest. After an outing that had run longer than expected, I walked into the lodgings with slightly heavy steps, and there was Heliones again, sitting in the drawing room, waiting for me.