One of the carriages passing beside us came to a sudden stop. Dirt and dust kicked up all around it, as though to prove just how abruptly it had halted.

Caught off guard, my body stiffened for a moment.

The carriage that had stopped so suddenly was one covered in elaborate crests, and I had seen it before. The Ilterich duchy’s carriage. I had half suspected it, but when the window of the stopped carriage opened, a familiar face looked down at me.

“Mary?”

It was Isen Ilterich.

We had seen each other’s faces twice now, yet he met my eyes with no emotion, the way one looks at a stranger.

“Young master.”

“You disappeared all of a sudden and I wondered where you had gone, but here you are. Did you get time off?”

“No. Lady Rechel gave the order, so I came to assist another household for a time.”

At those words, the curtain draped over the window on the opposite side drew back.

“I was wondering why my brother suddenly stopped the carriage… and here I find Mary in a place like this.”

Rechel drew out the end of her words with what sounded like amusement, then looked me over with eyes not much different from Isen’s.

“Allow me to make introductions first. My lady, the gentleman over there is Lord Isen Ilterich of the Ilterich duchy. Young master, this is Lady Evian Chenples, the Marchioness of the Chenples marquisate, whom I have been assigned to serve for the time being by the young lady’s order.”

“Rechel. You are going to have to explain how this came about.”

“Oh. Why? Do you have a problem with it?”

Rather than explain, Rechel shot him a sideways glare.

“Not at all. I am simply curious. My sister, who never lent her things to anyone, sent Mary to another household on a whim. I wondered what got into her.”

“The Chenples marquisate is not just anyone’s household.”

“I suppose not. Come to think of it, the current Marquis Chenples was a childhood friend of yours.”

“Yes, that is right. He recently took a new wife, and she seemed rather lacking. So I sent Mary, the most demanding person in our household by reputation. To teach that woman the proper etiquette of a noble family, since she knows none.”

Rechel, who had been leaning out past the window, stared openly at Mary.

“And that is the woman. The one I told you about, the one with unclear origins who makes Dertosse’s mother miserable.”

“I see.”

“So there is nothing more to think about. Mary, you are doing well, aren’t you?”

“Yes, my lady.”

“Then that settles it. Let’s go. No need to give it another thought.”

Her interest apparently spent, Rechel pulled back from the window.

“Is that so? If that is what you want, then so be it. But Rechel, that woman you seem to care about enough to lend Mary to….”

“I do not care about her.”

“No? I was going to mention that she has bandages all over her body.”

“Bandages?”

For some reason, Rechel’s voice brightened noticeably at that.

“Oh, you are right.”

Rechel thr*st her head back out the window, making no effort to hide her delight.

“Why do you look like that?”

“…Do I have to tell you everything?”

“You really are insufferable. Mary, you tell me. Why does that woman have bandages wrapped all over her? Did she go rolling around somewhere?”

“…Well.”

Mary glanced at me deliberately, the way someone does when they are playing a part. She clearly had sharper eyes than most.

“Was it not you who ordered this?”

I raised my voice on purpose and fixed my gaze on Princess Rechel.

“Oh ho. Me? Would I really have told someone to beat my friend’s wife?”

“And how did you know she was beaten?”

“Hm…?”

“I never said I was beaten.”

I had struck a nerve. Rechel twisted her lips to one side.

“Was it not?”

“I did not tell anyone to beat her. I only said to teach her properly. And why should I have to explain myself one by one to someone like you?”

“You are right. It seems the princess has quite a talent for saying things no one asked her.”

I glared at her with all the fury I could put into my expression.

It was Isen who cut between Rechel and me.

“Getting struck is something that can happen in the course of learning etiquette. Is that any reason to reproach my sister?”

“Excuse me…?”

“That’s right. Brother is right. Getting hit is just part of etiquette training. Instead of thinking about what she did wrong, she goes around showing off her bandages like it is something to be proud of. Tsk.”

She was a smaller version of my mother-in-law Rose.

At least with my mother-in-law, there was a clear reason she had no choice but to dislike me. Her son had been taken from her, and so had her place as the mistress of the marquisate, so I could understand it. She had even given her approval because of my family name, only to find that my status itself had been a fabrication. Understanding it did not mean forgiving it.

‘But that woman over there is something else entirely.’

She was the one who had kicked Dertosse away herself, and now she hated me for marrying him. It was almost laughable, really.

“Yes. You are right. I went too far. So please pay me no mind and carry on.”

“Rechel. Since we are heading the same way, why not give her a ride?”

“No. What is there to like about her.”

“I am not saying to give her a ride because you like her.”

“Then why?”

“Because my sister has not stopped watching that woman.”

Only then did Rechel give a firm nod.

“Brother really is perceptive. Fine. You. Get in.”

Ha. What a ridiculous little farce. I looked back and forth between Rechel and Isen with an expression of disbelief. But neither of them took back a single word.

“Get in.”

“The duchy is showing generous consideration to someone like you, and you are going to refuse?”

“You should get in, my lady.”

Starting with Isen, then Rechel, and then Mary, all three quietly pressed in on me. I made no effort to hide my reluctance, but gave in to their insistence and slowly climbed into the carriage.

Come to think of it, was this not actually a very favorable situation for me? If I returned like this, what kind of face would Mother make? And Dertosse?

But I kept letting my discomfort around Rechel show, all the way to the end.

“I am only getting in because I have no choice. Not because I want to.”

“And I did not take you in because I wanted to either.”

Mary, who seemed well accustomed to riding in carriages, guided me to the innermost seat. I had thought it a small carriage, but it was spacious enough to seat six with room to spare, and I was briefly taken aback.

“What? First time in a carriage, I take it. How provincial.”

“If you are going to keep picking at me like this, I will get out.”

“Oh, talking back to me now? How entertaining.”

“…….”

“Well. You are still amusing enough to keep around for now, so I will let it go. But watch yourself. You may not know it, what with your missing memories and your dim wits, but this is a place where power comes first.”

The unspoken message, in other words, was to keep my mouth shut, and it drifted toward me along with Rechel’s smile.

Of course, I looked at her as though I understood nothing. The simpleminded Evian would have no grasp of power or political affairs. I arranged my expression into something suitably blank and foolish, then spoke.

“I see. More importantly, are you all right? I heard you had quite a misunderstanding about me.”

By then the carriage had gradually picked up speed.

“Ha. Me, have a misunderstanding about you….”

“Are you certain there is none?”

She had caused a scene at the dining room over the possibility that I might be pregnant, that I might be carrying Dertosse’s child.

“Are you trying to test me right now? Someone like you?”

“Not at all. I only brought it up because I wanted to clear things up if there was a misunderstanding. If there is none, then there is nothing I need to say.”

Only then did Rechel’s eyes waver with unease. Whatever pride she had left must have held her back, because her lips twitched before she snapped her head toward the window.

That brought my eyes to Isen. He had been watching me with what seemed like indifference, but the corners of his mouth lifted just slightly.

“We have not met before.”

“Oh. Brother has not met her?”

“That is right. I had no reason to attend the marquisate’s wedding.”

“True. Brother is always so busy. Well, it is a good thing you did not go. There was really nothing to it. Nothing worth seeing… I should not have gone either.”

The princess let a faintly sharp edge into her manner, crossed her legs, and tapped her forearm with her fingernails as she turned her head away with a tilt. Then she fixed a piercing gaze on me for a long moment.

As it happened, I was seated diagonally across from her, so there was no avoiding her stare even if I had wanted to. If you cannot avoid it, you might as well face it. I did not look away, and held her gaze right back. Sure enough, the moment I started staring back just as openly, Princess Rechel spoke up as though she had been waiting for exactly that.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Out of curiosity. I was wondering why the princess dislikes me so much.”

“Me? Dislike you? That is something you say about a fellow human being. I do not think of you as one.”

“Then why do you pay me so much attention?”

“That is funny. You are sorely mistaken if you think I pay you any attention.”

“Then why did you assign a handmaid to me? And one who beats harshly, at that.”

At that, she shook her head as though she found it amusing.

“I have said more than once that it was not for your sake. Dertosse is a dear friend of mine. And whether you know it or not, he loves me. I was simply showing generosity for his sake.”

“He loves you….”

“Oh my. You did not know? Dertosse loves me deeply. And you did not know that he chose you only as a substitute for me?”