“Is Lie the name of a woman with blonde hair, dark emerald eyes, and fair skin?”

Though he had already heard from his servant, Claude asked again to confirm.

“Yes. But why are you looking for her? She said she’s taking time off work for a while.”

“Could you tell me where she lives?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“Then is there any way to contact her? She worked at your shop, so she must have some magical communication device.”

“She doesn’t.”

Seeing the look in the woman’s eyes that told him to stop asking, Claude ceased his barrage of questions about the woman. Instead, he asked something else.

“Were you the one who delivered that strange potion to her last night?”

“Strange potion? I clearly informed you beforehand that it was a very effective stamina recovery potion.”

“Are you the owner of this shop and a mage?”

“Yes. I’m the mage who makes the potions myself. What’s the problem?”

“Why did you deceive me?”

“I never deceived you.”

The woman’s expression was incredibly confident, like someone who had done nothing wrong.

“You didn’t give me the medicine I asked for, but sent an aphrodisiac instead. Do you know what I went through last night because of you?”

Claude’s voice grew increasingly cold, enough to make the surrounding air feel heavy.

“Didn’t you sleep well last night? Looking at your face, the fatigue I’ve seen during your previous visits to the shop seems gone. Am I right or wrong? My potion seems to have worked well.”

But Celia paid no heed to his tone and spoke with her head held high.

“…”

Claude couldn’t refute her words since it was true that he had slept well for the first time in a long while, and his stress had indeed been relieved. However, he was beyond bewildered by the woman’s brazen attitude, showing no remorse for her wrongdoing.

It seemed pointless to continue the conversation, but one thing was now clear. What happened last night wasn’t Lie’s intention, but this mage’s scheme.

Despite being manipulated, rather than feeling upset, he felt somewhat relieved, so he decided to end the conversation about the aphrodisiac.

“I’ll ask one last thing. What’s her family name?”

“I don’t know. I just called her Lie. Your stiff way of talking is really annoying.”

Seeing the woman answer with such indifference made him feel drained.

She appeared completely uninterested in others. It was obvious that asking further questions would only yield more “I don’t know” responses.

It was fortunate that he had at least confirmed her name, but “Lie” was such a common name that finding her within the empire wouldn’t be easy.

If she lived nearby, he might find her quickly, but if she had returned to her hometown, locating her could be difficult.

He felt pathetic for boldly declaring to his father that he would marry her, only to realize he didn’t even know where she was.

“If she comes back to the shop, I’d appreciate it if you could detain her. She should know my contact information since we’ve communicated before.”

Celia’s magical devices each had unique identification numbers that allowed communication between them. Since they had used them to communicate before, Claude thought she would know.

“Alright. But don’t get your hopes up. She’s not the first employee to quit so suddenly.”

Though he worried she might refuse, the woman accepted his contact information.

After buying a few potions, Claude left the shop and pondered where to find Lie. Should he start searching in the nearby villages?

Wait.

On second thought, this could actually be a good opportunity for him. It provided a perfect excuse to delay the marriage with Imperial Princess Natalie.

It was suitable for buying time by claiming he was deliberately hiding the woman, and meanwhile, he could be free from the pressure of marriage. This situation could actually work in his favor.

So he needed to maintain the current state for now. However, he planned to continue searching for her, just in case.

* * *

After declaring she wouldn’t go to the shop for a while, Lisette stayed in her room at the Detached Palace without going out. She judged it best to remain hidden until Claude completely forgot about the incident.

She needed to go to the garden to check if Claude and Natalie’s marriage was still proceeding, but it seemed more important to lie low to prepare for any unforeseen situations.

That didn’t mean she was spending her time doing nothing.

In fact, living alone meant there were quite a few things to do. She had to wash her dresses herself, though not many, and prepare her own food.

Originally, food was brought to her, but at some point, they started bringing only ingredients instead.

It was probably the doing of either the Empress or the Imperial Princess, both of whom viewed her with disdain. The Emperor wouldn’t have ordered such a thing.

Of course, bread was included so she could eat it plain, and vegetables could be washed and eaten raw, but that became boring after a while. So in her spare time, she tried cooking various things herself, grateful that they at least provided ingredients.

Though she tried to keep busy, her heart grew increasingly anxious despite her rational thoughts. Claude’s words about wringing her neck if he caught her kept circling in her mind.

‘What if he discovers my identity? What if he captures me and punishes me?’

While she didn’t think her identity would be revealed by hiding like this, she feared he might seek revenge out of spite.

She couldn’t guess what kind of revenge he might take. The worst would be exposing her identity and reporting all her actions to the Emperor.

If that happened, she would be immediately expelled from the Imperial Palace, and all her efforts to clear her false accusations would be in vain.

No!

‘Why should I live in fear? Wasn’t it Celia who did wrong?’

Though she had complained when Celia treated her like a slave, she had never truly resented her until now. It was infuriating to think that her attempt to get revenge on Natalie might backfire on herself.

‘Actually, I’m an innocent victim too!’

That’s how she needed to think. Though she felt sorry for Lord Usta, she had her own circumstances and needed to be selfish. No, the more she thought about it, the more unfair it all seemed.

‘What’s the big deal about spending one night together! Don’t I deserve revenge too? I wanted payback for what I suffered!’

She needed to be confident, but the longer she spent alone, the greater her anxiety grew, to the point where she even began to pity her own situation.

They were both the Emperor’s daughters, so why does one receive respect while the other is mistreated?

‘I’m just a victim of their conspiracy. How is it fair that the perpetrators live comfortably while the victim has to hide like this?’

Given her now precarious position, there was only one thing Lisette could do.

Since things had come to this, she could only pray for the failure of Lord Usta and Natalie’s marriage.

“Please, let their marriage be called off and make Natalie shed tears of blood.”

Time was all she had anyway. Lisette planned to continue praying until the goddess Ella told her to stop.

Of course, her prayers included the hope that things wouldn’t go according to Natalie’s wishes, but they also contained her personal desire that Claude wouldn’t end up with Natalie.

She couldn’t deny that recalling the ecstatic night made her greedy, but given the situation, she had to suppress those feelings and channel them into her prayers.

* * *

Inside Natalie’s room at the Imperial Palace.

“What? Say that again!”

Natalie slapped the maid who had delivered the news. With a sharp sound, the maid staggered and collapsed to the floor.

“L-Lord Usta has sent a letter saying he cannot marry Your Highness.”

“Lies! Keep talking nonsense! There shouldn’t be any man in the world who would dare reject marriage with me, but what? He rejected me?”

Still not satisfied, she grabbed the maid by her hair and pulled while venting her anger.

“I-I’m sorry, but it’s true. And…”

“And what?”

“This shouldn’t leak outside, but according to a maid planted in the Usta household, he brought a woman to the mansion and spent the night with her. And when Lord Usta insisted on marrying her, the Marquis was so shocked that he collapsed.”

“What? Who spent the night? With whom?”

It felt like her heart was being torn to shreds. Natalie’s eyes were bloodshot with rage.

She had secretly planted spies in the Usta family to learn what kind of women Claude liked and what he enjoyed doing, so she already knew he had no interest in marriage itself.

But that was fine. She just needed to insert herself into his life. But now, out of nowhere, he brought a woman home and spent the night with her?

“Who is this woman? How dare she covet another woman’s man? I need to go and cut off her head right now.”

She had subtly threatened other noble ladies that Lord Usta was her man, so she had been confident that no woman would dare approach him.

But to think someone had managed to slip in during that time.

Which family is she from? She will go and destroy them right now!

“Um… she’s a commoner, they say.”