Her face lit up more brightly than any expression she had shown me until now.

“Is that so?”

“…Does that not bother you?”

“He is not in love with me now, is he? It is only natural for someone to have had a person they loved in the past.”

“What…?”

“Is it not the present that matters? Dertosse told me he cannot live without me.”

As I said it, I gave my stomach the faintest, barely visible stroke. In that instant, her face flushed red.

I needed to make the princess a little more anxious. That way, Rechel would push Dertosse harder. The kind of urgency that demands he choose her quickly was exactly what would create an opening.

An opening was essential for the day that had been set, one month from now.

“…Ha.”

“Surely, princess. Did he tell you he still loves you?”

“That is…!”

“If that is not the case, then it does not concern me.”

I gave a leisurely nod and smiled.

“……I wonder how long you can keep that composure.”

“Perhaps for the rest of my life?”

“A man’s love does not last that long. Are you foolish enough to believe pretty words like that?”

“Even someone who has everything, like the princess, seems to feel insecure. How unfortunate.”

“How dare you call me unfortunate?”

I nodded slowly, the way a thoughtless person would.

“Is there a life more unfortunate than one spent not trusting anyone? Though of course I was not speaking of the princess. For someone like me, that kind of trust is a dream.”

“…Ha, are you joking? That was clearly aimed at me.”

“Not at all. Would I really be so rude to the princess?”

I gave a bright smile, and Rechel ground her teeth. Her hand trembled so badly it seemed she might slap me across the face at any moment, but she let out a short, contemptuous laugh instead.

“Fine. You have nothing, so think whatever you like. And wait until you feel that dream of yours shatter.”

The dream had already shattered. I was the fool who had believed in nothing but that dream, trusted in nothing but love, and been killed for it. But I gave no reaction to her words. I simply looked out the window on my side.

I could not tell how Princess Rechel’s expression changed as she watched me. After that, she did not speak to me again, and I gave her no further attention either. The carriage was remarkably comfortable, and the view outside was interesting enough.

Then, just as the carriage was nearing the marquisate, Rechel’s voice, unable to bear the silence any longer, cut sharply toward me.

“So go on. Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“The misunderstanding.”

“I am not sure what misunderstanding you believe you have, so I do not know what I should say.”

“You said you would tell me.”

She seemed to be swallowing her anger more than once today, forcing a scoff and twisting one corner of her lips.

“I did not say I would tell you. I only said I wanted to clear things up if there was a misunderstanding.”

“Ha… are you joking?”

“No. So I was asking you to tell me what the misunderstanding was. But it seems there is no time for a deeper conversation.”

I looked out the window on my side. Unlike when we had left, the marquisate’s garden looked extremely busy, with servants moving about as though searching for something.

“…You would do well to be careful. I will let it go this once, for Dertosse’s sake, but the way you speak is something I will not tolerate again. Next time, I hope you will have received proper instruction and conduct yourself with more courtesy.”

The moment Rechel finished speaking, she pulled the cord hanging near the carriage door. It seemed to serve as a signal, because the carriage came to an abrupt stop. The people outside rushed toward the carriage at once.

“Then I offer my deepest thanks for bringing me home today, and I will take my leave here.”

Before the words were even fully out, the coachman opened the carriage door.

“My lady. Young master. I look forward to seeing you again soon.”

Mary, who had been so quiet throughout that one could almost forget she was there, stepped out of the carriage first. Then she extended her hand toward me.

It was obvious that Isen and Rechel were watching, but I pretended not to notice and stepped out. At that, someone spotted me and cried out as though they had been waiting for exactly that moment.

“The young mistress has stepped out of the duchy’s carriage!”

At the shout, the face of my mother-in-law, who had been rushing outside, went pale. Having never once pulled a secret outing like this before, the marquisate’s servants also seemed startled and crowded thickly around where I stood.

“You, why are you arriving in that carriage!”

She had apparently been running out the moment she spotted the duchy’s carriage, because it was not long before my mother-in-law reached me and began shouting without pause.

“Is there some reason I should not arrive in the duchy’s carriage?”

“What? Of course there is! Did you not make some kind of mistake?”

In the middle of her uproar over the unexpected situation, my mother-in-law suddenly went quiet. It must have been because her eyes met Rechel’s. Contrary to my expectation that Rechel would say something to her, Rechel said nothing at all and simply closed the window.

“I did nothing wrong. The princess was kind enough to spot me and bring me home.”

“What…? That cannot be!”

In Rechel’s place, Isen opened the window and looked quietly at me and my mother-in-law.

“That is the truth. We will be on our way, then.”

“Wh, what? Oh, my, my lord.”

My mother-in-law, who only belatedly recognized who was in the carriage, quickly bowed her head, but before she could even finish the greeting, the carriage window shut firmly. And with that, the carriage departed.

Faced with a reaction she had never received before, Rose could only open and close her mouth. Her neck, bowed so deeply it was almost like a servant’s bow, quickly straightened again.

“Because of you! Because of you, I had to bow my head like that. You are a truly dreadful child. Disgusting and unbearable to look at. How do you manage to cause more trouble with every passing day.”

Just as my mother-in-law was fuming, Dertosse came running toward me.

“Evie! What in the world… what in the world happened!”

“…There is nothing to cover up for her! She had the nerve to come back in the duchy’s carriage. She went out on her own, and it is plain as day that Princess Rechel caught her trying to run away and brought her back.”

“Rechel did that?”

At his mother’s one-sided declaration, Dertosse’s eyes wavered endlessly.

“No… well. She did not exactly do that, but I know it without even looking! That is surely why Princess Rechel left without so much as a greeting.”

“No. Dertosse. My body was hurting so badly… I went out this morning to see a doctor. I left because I wanted to go and come back before breakfast….”

I mumbled and bowed my head low. I twisted my bandage-wrapped arms together in plain view and picked at my nails. Only then did Dertosse seem to notice my state, and he quickly grabbed my hands.

“Why, why are you like this! A doctor, you said. Where does it hurt!”

“First… I am sorry. Mother. I should have told you before I left, but I was worried you might be concerned… and I could not come back quickly enough… I am sorry.”

In front of Dertosse, I needed to be a slightly more fragile Evian. Sure enough, the moment I mumbled and stood there helplessly in front of his mother, Dertosse stepped in front of me.

“Mother. That is enough.”

“Wh, what… are, are you telling me to stop right now?”

“Yes. How much must she have said to you for you to go out to see a doctor yourself instead of calling one to the house!”

Caught off guard by this side of Dertosse, I quickly grabbed his forearm.

“No. Dertosse. Do not speak badly to Mother. All right?”

“No, Evie. I need to say this. Mother, is this not going too far?”

We were still in the garden, so servants stood packed all around. Perhaps because of that, my mother-in-law’s face had gone redder than usual.

“Dertosse. You must have truly lost your mind. Falling for a woman like this!”

“You were not like this at first, and now you have really… gone too far! Mother.”

“Wh, what? You say I have gone too far. Dertosse. I… I!”

“Evie always says you are not a bad person and that she will do better. Does that not move you at all? Does it not?”

“…Move me? Then are you not moved by me? By this mother of yours, who lost her husband when you were all small children and struggled to raise three children on her own!”

At that, Dertosse let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“That is enough. Mother did not struggle to raise us. It was the wet nurses and the handmaids who raised us.”

The words held not a drop of affection, and his mother could only open and close her mouth.

“De, Dert, how can you say something like that! Hm?”

“You have gone too far, Mother. How much more do you need to torment Evie before you are satisfied? Do you truly need to drive Evie out of this house before you are satisfied?”

“Ha… if I had my way, I would go back to the day of the wedding and drag that woman out by the hair. I would tear the dress right off her back if it meant stopping that marriage!”

“You were kind before. At first you even thought well of Evie. So why have you become so cruel!”

Dertosse held me in his arms and shouted at his mother without pause. The servants who had gathered around us stood in a ring, not knowing what to do, stealing glances at us.

“Cr, cruel! Dertosse. That woman deceived everyone and married you. The truly rotten one is that brazen girl right there.”

“Ha… really. It was I who deceived everyone, Mother.”

What on earth is this man doing?