Chapter 1 (Part 6)

Patzraelli spoke stiffly, looking only at the work piled up before him.

“It’s better than Lady Meryl marrying Demian.”

“Your Highness!”

“Don’t say more. It’s a political marriage anyway. As long as I have the power of the Hatzbellua duchy, it doesn’t matter who the fiancée is.”

“Are you sure you won’t regret it? Lady Meia is the flower of the social circle and already has the support of many as the prospective Crown Princess. She has stood by you for 10 years.”

“What does that flower of the social circle have to do with me keeping the Crown Prince position… Enough. As long as I have the power of the Hatzbellua duchy, it doesn’t matter who the fiancée is. Since she’s Meia’s cousin, she will support me even more.”

Patzraelli thought simply.

His aide, Andy, couldn’t say more.

The current head of the Hatzbellua duchy was Luman.

If his daughter married the second prince, Demian, the duchy’s power would naturally shift to Demian. Patzraelli allowed the change of fiancée to Meryl to prevent that.

Of course, Meia had supported him excellently during their 10-year engagement. She was skilled in social arts, diplomacy, foreign languages, music, horseback riding, politics, military science, and even had a talent for magic.

“But still…”

“Enough! Even Mother said that to gain the duchy’s power, I should marry that Lady Meryl.”

Andy sighed deeply. He closed his mouth, indicating he wouldn’t say more.

“Andy, it’s just a change of fiancée. Nothing will change.”

“Understood. But speaking to Lady Meia directly about breaking the engagement…”

“Can’t you see the work piled up in front of me? She will understand.”

Patzraelli didn’t anticipate it then.

That Lady Meryl, who would become his new fiancée, was incredibly lacking in common sense. And that he would soon realize and despair over this fact.

Moreover, he didn’t foresee that he would become a laughingstock among the nobles.

Naturally, the unstable position of the Crown Prince was an added bonus.

*   *   *

She opened her eyes and sat in front of the vanity, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

Her neatly pinned silver hair was visible. The maids around her looked at her with full of pity.

The engagement was decided to be broken.

There was not a single letter from Patzraelli or the Empress.

“My lady…”

Yudy bit her lip in frustration and anger.

“Don’t cry. It was a political marriage anyway. I didn’t expect anything different after my parents passed away.”

“But this is too much. Why should our lady step down! Sob, sob.”

Meia slightly turned her body and held Yudy’s hand. Yudy also gripped her hand tightly, venting her frustration.

“Our lady worked so hard since childhood… I saw it all from the side… Sob, sob, sob.”

“I don’t blame anyone. If I start blaming, there’s no end to it.”

The maids standing behind Meia knelt and bowed their heads, sobbing.

“This is unacceptable.”

“It’s too much.”

Comforting the crying maids, Meia spoke.

“Stop crying and prepare for the tea party.”

“Yes.”

The maids wiped their tears and moved according to Meia’s words.

“Make me more graceful and elegant than usual today.”

The concept of today’s tea party was ‘gratitude.’ The flowers were to be arranged with carnations, lagunas, and saffrons.

It would be the last tea party before leaving for the Mage Tower. So she prepared it beautifully and meaningfully, so it would be remembered among the young ladies who attended.

It would be very meaningful in many ways.

‘Thinking of my parents.’

Knock, knock.

“My lady, Lady Olivia of the Ferzen family has arrived.”

“Show her in. And everyone, please leave.”

“Yes.”

Meia had invited Olivia to her room an hour before the tea party.

Among her mother’s teachings was the advanced lesson of ‘making allies.’ That was ‘turning enemies into allies.’

<Mei, the difference between an enemy who hates you and an ally is as thin as a sheet of paper. But nothing is more reassuring than an enemy who becomes an ally, and nothing is scarier than an ally who turns away.>

She closed her eyes and recalled her mother’s teachings.

Hearing the knock, Meia opened her eyes and moved to the sofa. Then she furrowed her brow deeply, pressing her forehead with one hand as if she had a headache.

The door opened, and Olivia entered.

Seeing Meia pressing her forehead, looking unwell, Olivia was startled and quickly walked to the sofa.

“Lady Meia, oh my!”

Seeing Meia’s pained expression with her furrowed brow, Olivia’s heart sank.

The serene smile she always wore was nowhere to be seen. It was the first time Olivia saw Meia looking unwell.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh… I’m fine. I showed you an unsightly side, Lady Olivia.”

Meia awkwardly smiled and shook her head.

“Please sit down, Lady Olivia.”

Olivia carefully examined Meia’s face. Her eyes were slightly red.

There were even tear marks. Naturally, she thought something must have happened.

“Is something wrong? You don’t seem like your usual self. And why did you call me early?”

“I just cried thinking about my parents.”

“Oh.”

“Today’s tea party might be my last at the duchy.”

“What do you mean last?”

Meia spoke calmly with a sorrowful expression.

“I asked you if you would take responsibility for the rumors at your tea party.”

“Yes.”

“The rumors have become a reality.”

At those words, Olivia, who was sitting, stood up abruptly.

“Have you broken off the engagement?!”

Looking up at Olivia, Meia smiled bitterly.

“Yes, the engagement has been broken off.”

Meia, who had supported Crown Prince Patzraelli as his fiancée for ten years.

“This is unbelievable!”

“The reason I called you so early today is that now my cousin Meryl will have to lead the social circles, and I thought it would be great if you could help her, Lady Olivia… That’s why I invited you early to ask for this favor.”

Olivia felt suffocated at Meia’s words. To worry about the social circles of the Carpen Empire in this situation!

She couldn’t believe the rumors had become true.

Even though Meryl Hatzbellua had already spread the word, people thought it was unlikely that she would take her cousin’s place so soon after her parents’ death and before her coming-of-age ceremony.

Even if Luman had ambitions to make Meryl the Empress, why would the imperial family do such a thing?

How could they so easily sever a ten-year bond! What had Crown Prince Patzraelli done!

“I cannot help you, Lady Meia.”

Olivia’s hands trembled.

Meryl pretended to be innocent in front of people, but Olivia knew well Meryl’s true nature, who subtly looked down on her as the daughter of a marquis.

Meia, seeing Olivia’s displeased expression, added another decisive statement.

“I will soon leave the duchy.”

“What do you mean?”

In her ears, it sounded like, ‘I’m being chased out of the duchy as well as losing my place as the fiancée,’ on top of the sadness of losing her parents.

Olivia’s face turned increasingly pale.

It’s not that she disliked Lady Meia. It was just that she was so outstanding that she felt intense jealousy.

She had also coveted the position of Empress. But if the royal palace could so easily cut off Meia, who had been with them for ten years, she didn’t want it anymore.

No, her heart was growing cold.

She knew how much Meia had studied and worked hard as the flower of the social circles. She didn’t want someone she acknowledged to disappear in this manner.

Meia stood up and, holding Olivia’s hand, looked her in the eyes and spoke.

“Before I leave, I wanted to tell you something, Lady Olivia.”

“What is it?”

“I want to be friends with you.”

Meia continued with a shy smile.

“Would you like to be real friends? Before I leave, we could go see dresses and watch plays together.”

“Why do you want to be friends with me… I’ve been annoyed with you and jealous of you…”

“The more you acted that way, the more honest I became with myself. And I thought, ‘I want to put down my tiresome studies and have tea with Lady Olivia, look at dresses, and have fun’…”

Olivia’s eyes wavered at Meia’s words.

“Before I leave, I want to do that with you, Lady Olivia.”

Olivia’s face turned red, and she nodded at Meia’s words.

“What do you mean by leaving the duchy? You’re not being chased out, are you? You’re not, right? You can’t be.”

Meia shook her head from side to side.

“If there’s no place for a priestess in the temple, it’s right to leave.”

“This can’t be.”

“Before I leave, I wanted to talk to you like this. The position of Crown Princess was too burdensome for me. But I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.”

“Lady Meia.”

“Now that we’re friends, let’s call each other by our nicknames. My nickname is Mei. What’s yours, Lady Olivia?”

“It’s Via.”

“That’s a pretty nickname, Via.”

Seeing Meia genuinely happy and smiling, Olivia’s heart ached.

She had expected Meia to be distressed after the engagement was broken, but she seemed rather relieved.

“Now that my parents are gone, there’s no one to be happy if I become the Empress, so I feel rather relieved now.”

Meia spoke calmly, but Olivia’s feelings grew more complicated.

“The tea party will start soon. I’ll reduce the swelling around my eyes and get ready, so could you go to the tea party venue first, Via?”

Olivia nodded.

When Meia rang the bell with her long, white fingers, Kira, the maid, entered upon hearing the bell.

“Please guide Lady Olivia to the tea party venue.”

“Yes, my lady.”