The difference was that instead of three different people each drawing one card like before, all three cards were given to the Prince.

They clearly wanted to resolve the seating issue quickly.

“Oh, the famous drawing lots.”

The Prince must have heard about the tea party’s seating by lot system, as he smiled and chose three cards, turning them over.

“Hmm. Numbers 4, 1, and 5.”

This time Saena was among those who had to move. She would be separated from Floria. She gave her a quick eye greeting and stood up. As Saena went to sit at the next table, she heard someone plop down in the empty seat beside her.

She turned her head absently and was startled.

“Hmm, I like this seat. Let’s add another chair here.”

It was the Prince.

‘…Why this table of all places?’

And right next to her at that?

An attendant quickly brought and inserted another chair, adjusting the spacing. The extra chair appeared so quickly as if it had been prepared in advance.

After the attendant withdrew, the Prince stood up again and suddenly began escorting the ladies to their seats one by one.

“Haha. What greater satisfaction is there than serving ladies?”

She wasn’t sure what kind of service this was, but that’s how it was. The ladies at table 1 waited for the Prince to pull out their chairs and push them in before sitting down.

Though she didn’t particularly want his ‘service,’ Saena had no choice but to wait and sit down as well.

After Saena sat, the Prince finally pulled out his own chair widely and pulled it back in to sit. However, during this process, the distance between the Prince and Saena became much closer than the distance between other participants.

The Prince even leaned his body slightly toward Saena, creating an atmosphere as if they were sitting very close together.

‘……’

Though discomfort rose to her throat, Saena pretended to be composed and sat up straight. She unconsciously leaned away from the Prince, but that was beyond her control.

The attendants quickly set the table again. Unlike before, they collected everyone’s teacups and reset them.

“I brought a gift for the ladies. It’s Royal Rose tea, mainly drunk by the imperial family. I’d like to share it with everyone here.”

Royal Rose tea was made from only the young inner petals of the Royal Rose, a rose variety that only grew in the imperial palace, picked just before they fully bloomed when they were most fragrant and carefully dried.

It was a very precious tea that was produced in limited quantities, drunk only by the imperial family or occasionally given as a reward.

“Royal Rose tea!”

“Oh my, look at the color. It’s so beautiful.”

Naturally, exclamations of admiration escaped from the ladies’ lips.

The Royal Rose tea was truly exceptional, delighting the senses with its beautiful appearance, fragrant aroma, and exquisite taste. The brilliant color bloomed in the teacup while the bright fragrance invaded the nose, and one sip dominated the mouth with diverse flavors.

“Ah, heavens. It’s so delicious.”

“It feels like flowers are blooming in my mouth, Your Highness.”

If the imperial family had followed the same system as other countries for selecting a Crown Princess and Empress, the Prince’s popularity would have been enormous.

However, due to the complexity of the Guardian Spirit succession system, the position of Empress had become difficult to attain through human effort alone. As a result, the ladies’ attitude toward the Prince was more like admiring the painting of a tempting fruit rather than an actual attainable fruit.

Even so, imperial family members were imperial family members.

With two members of the imperial family present at this gathering, which was rare unless for special occasions, the participants’ excitement was understandable to anyone.

“How do you find it, Lady Saena?”

“…It’s excellent. The taste is truly surprising and rich, befitting of Royal Rose tea.”

Though startled when the Prince suddenly turned to ask her, she managed to answer well enough. It wasn’t a lie since the taste of Royal Rose tea was undeniably excellent.

She deliberately ignored the unsettling fact that he remembered her name.

“Do you know something? There’s a way to make Royal Rose tea taste even better.”

“…Is that so.”

“If you add just a tiny bit of this salt, the flavor becomes much…”

“I…”

“No, let me stir it… Oops!”

That’s when it happened.

The Prince took a round container of salt and tried to stir it into Saena’s cup, but ended up spilling it.

He stirred with such force that the tea not only overflowed but spilled outside the saucer, thoroughly soaking Saena’s front.

“Ah!”

Though the water wasn’t boiling, it was still hot enough that Saena let out a short scream of surprise and jumped up.

As she hurriedly tried to move backward, her knees got caught on the chair. She was about to fall backward completely.

“Huah!”

The Prince wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward himself.

Perhaps because he didn’t exercise much regularly, the Prince lost his balance and fell sideways while holding her.

She wondered why he even tried to catch her if this would happen.

“Oh my, what should we do!”

“Your Highness!”

“Here, Lady Debov!”

It was complete chaos.

Meanwhile, Saena shuddered at the unpleasant sensation. The Prince had fallen at an odd angle with his face buried in her nape. The hot breath she felt on her sensitive neck was more disturbing than the area soaked with tea.

Saena hurriedly pushed him away and stood up.

“Saena!”

Evian rushed over to help her up and support her.

Kirsten brought several napkins soaked in cold water, placing them on her exposed skin while shouting.

“Attendant! Bring ice and strong alcohol! We need a suitable rest room!”

The skirt of her dress was fine since it was full enough that the tea took time to soak through, but the upper body was the problem. Her chest, which had been splashed with a few drops, was already turning red, and she felt a stinging sensation where the tea had soaked through most severely at her abdomen.

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

The Prince, who had gotten up at some point, spoke.

“Come to my palace! There’s a capable imperial physician there. I guarantee there won’t be any scars.”

When this was all his fault to begin with.

Even for an imperial family member, Saena’s brow slightly furrowed at his tone that suggested this could be easily resolved without even an apology.

“Come! Lady, this way!”

The Prince grabbed her wrist and pulled Saena.

“Ugh.”

He pulled so hard it felt like her wrist would dislocate. Moreover, her skin stung. Tea must have splashed on her forearm as well.

“Your Highness, please let go.”

Though her wrist hurt, Saena desperately planted her feet and resisted. No matter how urgent it was, she didn’t want to go to the Prince’s palace. There were many other palaces, so why did she have to receive treatment at the Prince’s palace specifically?

“My wrist hurts.”

Burns were one of the things noble ladies feared most. They were both the type of wound most likely to leave scars and the most hideous kind of injury.

Especially if you get  wounds on frequently exposed areas like the face, neck, or décolletage. It was one of their worst fears. That’s why other ladies would probably have panicked and followed the Prince’s words while crying.

But Saena, though speaking in measured tones, was clearly refusing.

“Treatment, don’t you need treatment?!”

The Prince continued to insist as if he couldn’t even hear her words.

“I appreciate your consideration, but I will return to House Debov for treatment. We happen to have medicine that’s good for burns, so I think it would be best to use that.”

Though the tea had cooled somewhat so it wasn’t fatal, Saena’s skin was so fair that the reddened areas stood out even more prominently.

“What nonsense! No matter how good the medicine is, how could it compare to the imperial palace’s! Isn’t it better to get treatment quickly rather than arguing like this?”

“…Then might I request to go to Her Highness the Princess’s palace? I would be grateful if you could send the physician there.”

“……”

At Saena’s words, the Prince seemed at a loss for words, and the Princess who was nearby approached and expressed her agreement.

“Yes, brother. Come to think of it, isn’t my palace closer? This is urgent, and since she may need to remove her dress for treatment, my palace would be more appropriate.”

“…Do as you say.”

Usually in such chaotic situations, people tend to unconsciously follow when someone with more authority quickly suggests a solution.

Though following the Prince’s words might seem natural at this moment, once this atmosphere settled, there would surely be people who would gossip.

Even people who clearly saw this situation would make outrageous comments about how the Prince must have seen everything since she would have had to remove her dress for treatment — such was the nature of this world.

Though Saena had refused simply because she disliked the Prince, others saw her calm handling of an urgent situation as exemplary behavior for a noble lady, which she naturally didn’t realize.

“Evian, I’ll leave this to you.”

“Understood.”

Kirsten asked Evian to handle the cleanup of the tea party and followed behind the Princess while supporting Saena. Many people watched the group’s retreating figures heading to the Princess’s palace for a long while.

The Prince for his own reasons, Evian and Floria with worried hearts, and other participants with surprise.

If Saena had any personal regret, it was that she had finally entered the Garden of Masterpieces but couldn’t properly appreciate it. Given the venue, there had been plans for a garden tour after the conversation.

However, considering how this established her presence in social circles, it could be considered quite successful in its own way.