“Yes.”

“That’s a relief. I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

The Princess and the young lady sitting to her right expressed their concern.

“No, I’m completely better now. Thank you for your concern.”

Since Saena had no childhood friends, not many people knew she had been bedridden for almost a year. Her family’s fame only led to rumors like ‘I heard Count Debov is worried about his sick daughter.’

“Even if you had debuted last year it would have been quite late — you must have weak health. You still look rather pale. Are you really alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m truly fine.”

The paleness was… because she rarely saw the sun. Her current body was the one that had been buried in the library doing Arlesian translations. Since that wasn’t something worth mentioning, she felt slightly embarrassed.

Then Floria, who had been strangely staring at Saena, suddenly raised one hand.

A servant waiting at the perimeter quickly approached and asked.

“Do you need anything?”

Floria covered her mouth with her hand and quietly made some request to the servant. The servant acknowledged and quietly disappeared. Shortly after, they placed a plate on the table.

Saena, while appropriately responding to the ongoing conversation, glimpsed the new plate being set down.

‘…Grapefruit tart?’

Floria seemed to have specially requested it.

‘Didn’t she prefer sweeter desserts?’

Though they hadn’t known each other long, during their meetings over several weeks, Saena had naturally learned what kinds of desserts Lady Floria usually ate. Since it was usually chocolate cake, cream cake, soft tiramisu etc., this was unexpected.

‘Well, sometimes you crave something refreshing….’

She just assumed that was the case.

The strange thing happened next. Floria picked up the plate on her right, placed it on her left, and slowly pushed it with her fingertips. Toward Saena’s direction.

While Floria’s right hand was bringing a teacup to her mouth, her left hand continued subtly pushing the plate with the grapefruit tart.

‘……?’

When it seemed to have adequately crossed to Saena’s side, the moving plate stopped. As Saena watched Floria wondering what she was doing, their eyes met when she briefly glanced up.

“Cough.”

Floria gave a small cough. As if she had almost spit out her tea, she quickly picked up the napkin on her lap and lightly dabbed her mouth.

Though that series of movements flowed gracefully, Saena had already seen it. The slight tea that had leaked and trickled down her chin.

Though Floria’s expression remained prim, her slightly flushed cheeks suggested she was somewhat flustered.

‘…Could it be that she wanted me to eat it?’

Saena’s tastes had changed somewhat since returning through time. She preferred Earl Grey cake, tart pies, or tarts with less sweetness over the sweet desserts that young ladies her age typically enjoyed.

Just as Saena had learned Floria’s tastes during their several meetings, perhaps Floria had done the same?

It seemed she might be trying to comfort her in her own way after the earlier conversation about being ill.

‘She’s actually quite cute.’

She was already grateful that Floria had kicked her foot earlier to get her attention, but seeing this thoughtful side made her wonder if she had misunderstood Floria all this time.

A smile naturally bloomed across Saena’s face.

“Thank you.”

As her smile drew across her lips with sincere feeling and her eyes curved, Saena’s whole expression changed.

Floria stared at Saena with a slightly dazed face for quite a while before sharply turning away. But though she cleared her throat and lifted her tea to drink again, her cheeks were quite red.

“By the way, Lady Saena. How did it feel seeing Duke Kramer up close like that?”

“Cough.”

This time Saena almost spit out her tea but barely managed to recover.

In the brief glance they shared, Floria’s face held both a smile and curiosity. The other young ladies’ eyes began sparkling again too.

“I’ve never seen the Duke that close either, so I’m curious.”

“Me too. Come to think of it, I’d never seen His Grace stay after the opening speech before.”

“Right. And he even asked for a dance!”

The attack of ‘We want to know what happened’ came through their gazes. She felt cold sweat running down her back.

How could she emphasize that there was nothing between them? Saena desperately thought about what to say.

“…His Grace learned that I had great interest in the Arlesian language and asked about that. Nothing else happened.”

“Arlesian? Ah, that’s right, I heard you enjoy studying ancient languages? I heard about that too.”

“Yes. That there was a lady completely… um, absorbed in ancient civilizations. So it was you.”

She doubted if that was exactly it.

If she recalled correctly, according to how Evian had put it before, it wasn’t ‘absorbed’ but more like ‘completely obsessed,’ ‘total oddball,’ something along those lines, though they seemed to be politely rephrasing it.

“Yes. I’m quite… interested in that field. I really love Guardian Spirits too.”

“Ah! Guardian Spirits! It reminds me of this parade. It was truly impressive, wasn’t it?”

The Princess smiled broadly as she spoke, apparently having seen the parade too. However, everyone else had ambiguous expressions. They had clearly missed the parade preparing for the afternoon party.

This was actually normal for young ladies who wake up at dawn to prepare on party days.

Saena was the strange one.

“Yes. That black mane, that overwhelming presence. It was amazing.”

“Oh my, Lady Saena, you saw the parade on your debut day?”

“I really… wanted to see it.”

Saena answered with a slightly embarrassed face. Seeing everyone nodding, their expressions seemed to say ‘So that rumor was true.’

“Ahahaha! I see. I see.”

For some unknown reason, the Princess laughed for quite a while with a very satisfied expression, then looked at Saena meaningfully for quite some time before turning away.

The Princess was quite sociable, engaging with everyone individually. There had been a strange prejudice(?) that due to her position as Princess, she would sit aloof, speaking only when she wished and acting haughty, but she wasn’t like that at all.

She skillfully led topics while having the wit to make the young ladies laugh, and though she showed unexpectedly down-to-earth sides, rather than diminishing her imperial authority, it added to her charm.

One could guarantee that all the young ladies here who had exchanged even a word with the Princess today would develop a fondness for her.

That feeling arose separately from the admiration and desire to become close to someone of Princess status — it came from the person herself being admirable.

‘She seems like a good person. The gathering is excellent, the garden is beautiful…’

Saena thought.

Unlike the signs that suggested it might become that day, the tea party was going very smoothly.

And just as she had that thought…

“His Highness the Prince arrives!!”

…incident struck.

No way, the Prince? Really the Prince?

Saena stared toward the entrance with an almost shocked expression.

“Hahaha!”

A man in splendid attire entered the tea party area with many servants and maids trailing behind, letting out hearty laughter.

It was definitely the Prince.

‘Why on earth is the Prince here…?’

She couldn’t understand.

She looked to Kirsten and Evian wondering if this had been arranged beforehand, but seeing their faces briefly tense before smoothing out suggested it hadn’t been.

The participants quickly set down their teacups and forks and stood up in respect for the imperial family member.

The hosts, Kirsten and Evian, rose with graceful movements and approached the Prince.

“We are graced by Your Highness’s presence. May the great protection follow the noble bloodline eternally.”

“May the great protection follow the noble bloodline eternally.”

Though the other participants seemed confused too, they bowed their heads while giving the prescribed greeting.

“May the blessings of the Covenant be with you.”

The Prince’s lowered voice finished the greeting before he hahaha’d again.

“Have I surprised you with my unannounced visit?”

Well of course they were surprised, but one can’t exactly ask the Prince why he surprised them.

“We are humbled.”

That’s all they could say.

“Brother? What brings you here?”

Even as hosts, they couldn’t openly ask why he came — fortunately the Princess asked instead.

“Haha! Sister, isn’t it been quite a while since the Garden of Masterpieces was opened? And since your official events too.”

“Indeed.”

The Princess did rarely participate in external activities.

There were many rumors that it was due to poor health, and even those who initially dismissed them as rumors came to accept it as fact since the Princess so rarely came out of the palace.

Though looking at the Princess’s lively behavior today, it was hard to believe she was frail.

“Your brother came because he was worried and curious about you. Don’t scold me too much.”

“Why would I? But… this event is not one I’m hosting.”

“Surely there must be one seat for me. Don’t worry about it.”

Kirsten and Evian’s tea party always had attendance numbers in multiples of five or six due to the special seating arrangements.

It was an awkward situation to have one more person join tables that were meant for exactly five people, but there was nothing they could do when the Prince insisted.

Kirsten and Evian handled the situation well without showing any confusion.

“It’s time to rearrange the seating anyway. Lucky ladies will have the honor of having tea with His Highness.”

Originally, she knew there was only one mid-party seating change, but they seemed to be cleverly planning another one. Since it would be determined by luck, this could reduce potential complaints. It was a decision made in haste, but was a good solution.

…Though Saena hoped she would have bad luck.

“Your Highness, would you please draw three cards from here?”

The tray with those five cards appeared again.