Time passed smoothly, and the day of the imperial palace banquet arrived.

Terriard, who was sitting across from Ellen and looking at her with a satisfied expression, spoke up.

“You carry off the new style of dress well. It was worth the effort to choose it.”

“I would have carried off whatever you picked.”

Ellen replied, seemingly wondering what he was talking about, and Terriard chuckled in agreement.

“That’s true. But this red really suits you.”

He laughed as he spoke, and indeed, today he looked more like a noble young master than a knight.

His neatly parted, well-groomed, honey-colored hair and eyes matched his spring attire, making him quite dashing.

“Come to think of it, Ted, you haven’t been able to attend the banquets properly for the past few years, have you?”

“Hm? Well, that’s true. Someone has to be on duty.”

“I see… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“Because of me, you can’t enjoy the party. You should be chatting with other ladies…”

Terriard made a slightly awkward face and then sighed deeply before speaking.

“I’m not interested in such things yet. So you don’t need to worry.”

“But…”

When Ellen seemed unable to shake off a sense of guilt, Terriard waved his hand and laughed.

“Don’t worry. The time will come when it will happen naturally. Today, what’s most important to me is ensuring nothing happens to you.”

“Thank you, Ted. I mean it.”

“In that case, next time, instead of scolding me for coming, it would be nice if you welcomed me.”

“Well, an imperial knight—”

“Yes, yes. I, the imperial knight, was wrong. But your makeup will get ruined.”

Ted teased Ellen with a chuckle, and Ellen, about to retort, gave up and sighed.

May is a month of consumption and entertainment for the nobility.

In May, they gathered in the capital to enjoy social activities, and the first banquet of the season was always hosted by the imperial family.

After the imperial family’s party ended, families with residences in the capital began hosting their own parties and events, commonly referred to as the ‘social season.’

Today was the day of the imperial banquet, which marked the opening of the social season.

Men and women dressed in splendid evening attire began to gather at the imperial palace.

Terriard, in his rare formal attire, stepped out of the carriage with a grin.

“Take my hand and step down, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

Terriard lightly supported Ellen to ensure she didn’t trip over the hem of her voluminous dress.

When Ellen playfully glared at him for treating her like a child, he burst into laughter and led her inside, saying he got the message.

Today, Terriard was assigned as her escort.

This was the Crown Prince’s arrangement to prevent Gillian from approaching her at the party. It was a good choice for her, but thinking about how it might be for him, she couldn’t help but feel grateful yet apologetic.

Remembering Lady Cheshire’s concern about why Terriard always seemed to have duty during parties, Ellen felt both thankful and sorry for his kindness today.

‘Come to think of it, Terriard never married. They even suggested bringing in Sweeney’s child as an heir…’

Was he truly uninterested?

Ellen glanced at Terriard.

Sensing her gaze, he looked down at her.

“Let’s go in.”

He smiled softly and led Ellen inside.

There were things to worry about, but still, it felt pretty good.

The warmth of the moment was so comforting.

At least, until the moment they entered.

“…Oh my, the Duchess of Krembell isn’t with the Duke today.”

“She came alone last time too. Don’t say such heartbreaking things.”

“Entering separately and with Sir Cheshire by her side…”

A familiar malice.

Terriard’s face immediately hardened.

“…Ignore them. And those words.”

Hearing the voices echoing above her, Ellen looked up.

Their eyes met.

“It’s okay. They’re not wrong. Listening can be useful.”

Ellen smiled brightly, seemingly unbothered.

Even though Terriard was worried about her, Ellen, noticing his constant glances, playfully tapped his arm, saying he was worrying for nothing.

“Ellen!”

A voice called her from not far away.

The owner of the familiar voice was Spaniel Cheshire, Sir Cheshire Terriard’s younger sister.

“Sweeney! Long time no see.”

“Oh, please spare me that candy-like nickname.”

She grumbled about having to see that idiot who came to visit her right away.

Terriard, who was about to retort, noticed Sir Coenheim Morris—Spaniel Cheshire’s fiancé—beside her and pretended to be affectionate while glaring at his friend clinging to his sister like he was looking at a bug.

It was quite a lively scene, but to Ellen, it was all just beautiful.

Living, breathing friends. A brother sharing childhood memories. And the warm warmth transmitted through their clasped hands.

These were all precious people to her, people on the inside of the fence, so to speak, for someone who didn’t particularly like social gatherings.

However, if Ellen had to recall their last moments in her memory, it could be summed up in one word.

‘Death.’

These two had stayed by the Crown Prince’s side until the end during Gillian Krembell’s rebellion.

And she had turned a blind eye to their deaths for the sake of her love.

Even when she heard that her friend had fainted upon hearing the news, and even when she heard that she had taken her own life after regaining consciousness.

Even though tears flowed from sadness, she couldn’t bear it and cried out, and finally realized that the loss was eating away at her body.

She had ultimately turned a blind eye to it all.

All for that foolish love.

Perhaps the ending of her previous life was the price for all that neglect, Ellen thought.

As she was lost in such thoughts…

“But what’s with that dress?”

“Right. Her neckline is so exposed… how indecent.”

“She’s completely tarnishing the Krembell name. The rumors about her not getting along with the Duke might be…”

“But look at that delicate gold leaf and lace. How much money did they spend?”

“Delicate? Did you see the dress the Duchess of Tria wore recently? Now that dress was…”

Chattering without restraint.

They had always been like that.

People who tried to prove their worth by trampling others.

In that sense, the term ‘nouveau riche Crient’ was one of their favorite gossip topics.

In the past, she had resented Gillian for not embracing his wife like others did.

She wondered that if she could do better, he would eventually turn to her.

She thought about such things.

Now accustomed to the words, Ellen smiled and spoke.

“Oh my, Countess Periwinkle. Your conversation is quite interesting. Can you share that story with me too?”

When Ellen suddenly intervened, some of the women couldn’t hide their faces of embarrassment and looked at her.

They hadn’t expected her to speak so openly.

“Ellen.”

Terriard, who was with her, called her softly.

But Ellen waved her hand, indicating it was fine, and moved forward, with Spaniel following her lead.

Ellen walked briskly toward the group of women.

Countess Periwinkle opened her mouth with a smile.

“Oh my, I’m worried about tarnishing the Krembell name. Listening to others’ conversations isn’t a good behavior, Duchess Krembell.”

“Ah… Your voices were so loud I thought you were enjoying a public debate. If it was a private conversation between ladies, I apologize.”

Ellen mentioned how loud their voices had been, almost as if they were asking her to listen.

When it came to discussing ‘the virtues of a lady,’ no one here was entirely free from blame.

Raising one’s voice in a private conversation wasn’t exactly considered a lady’s virtue either.

Knowing this, Countess Periwinkle seemed displeased and retorted.

“It wasn’t exactly private. You asked what we were talking about, didn’t you? We were discussing a rumor we heard.”

“Oh, a rumor.”

“Since the person involved is here, may I ask? If it’s a false rumor, we should help put an end to it as soon as possible.”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

“What I heard is the rumor of your divorce from Duke Krembell.”

They thought the divorce rumor was absurd.

They simply assumed that Duchess Krembell must have been neglected by the Duke again, and that’s why the story leaked from the servants.

But what Ellen said completely overturned their expectations.

“Since you already know, I don’t need to explain. Yes, divorce.”

“…What? Excuse me?”

“Oh dear, look at me. I should have considered your age.”

Ellen spoke, furrowing her brows as if genuinely sorry.

“I’m getting a divorce from Duke Krembell.”

Divorce.

They all fell silent as if struck by lightning at that word.

“I’m just waiting for him to sign… I wonder why he hasn’t stamped it yet.”

Ellen sighed, seemingly frustrated.

“A divorce… Are you sure you didn’t mix up the subject? I heard you were served with divorce papers.”

“Countess Periwinkle!”

When Countess Periwinkle openly attacked Ellen, Spaniel, who had been holding back, couldn’t contain her anger and shouted.