Chapter 11 Part 9

It feels like I’ve discovered a tremendous treasure in an unexpected place. Just until this morning, completely unforeseen stories were pouring out, and now an opportunity incomparable to anything else has been presented to me.

I never imagined that something I merely wanted to do, driven by my own greed, would have such a significant impact, nor did I think there would be someone who attributes such great meaning to it.

“Your words today are more than enough for me, Your Majesty. Since it was something I wanted to do, I am simply grateful that you view it favorably.”

“I meant everything I said today, you know. I hold your abilities in high regard, and that’s why I’m paying close attention to you. I’d also love it if you joined me and Roxana for tea.”

She produced that ostentatious palace envelope—the one practically announcing “I am gold!”—as if she’d been waiting for just this moment, flashing an expression that said, “You know what happens if you don’t come, right?” Leaving me no choice but to respond mechanically. If I refused, she looked about ready to scatter the invitations all over my front entrance… Maybe I’m imagining things? I hope so.

The conversation dwindled, and it felt like the meeting would soon end. The maids who had left earlier when Daisy Queenie departed returned one by one. Just as I began to look forward to finally going home to rest, Her Majesty, wearing that same benevolent smile from the beginning, called me back.

“Oh, right. I’d like it if you treated me as comfortably as Roxana does. What do you think? I’d like you to call me Anemone…”

Her tone was very gentle, but the mischievous smile on her face looked anything but soft. For a moment, I wondered if Her Majesty might have been the original source of Roxana’s playful streak and talent for veiled threats, as the similarity was all too familiar.

I politely refused her suggestion with humble words, but naturally, it had no effect at all. Insisting that if I was Roxana’s friend, I must also be her friend, Her Majesty even enlisted the maids’ agreement to pressure me. Only after making me say ‘Lady Anemone’ three times did she look satisfied. Of course, it took even less time for her to start calling me ‘Rose.’

“The Crown Prince was utterly against it, but thanks to that, I got to know Rose, so I’d call it a satisfactory selection.”

Setting aside how she treated the selection process for a daughter-in-law as a mere social gathering, I was surprised to learn the Crown Prince’s reaction to the event. It was the exact opposite of the original story, where he fell for Daisy Queenie, hosted the selection at her behest, and treated her like the star of the show.

“Did His Highness the Crown Prince oppose this selection…?”

Could it be that Daisy Queenie hasn’t made enough progress with the other male leads yet? I’d assumed that, out of jealousy as he watched Daisy Queenie enjoy parties with them, he’d hold a selection, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.

“The Crown Prince has a lot on his mind. All the power is converging around Lady Queenie, who’s the most likely candidate.”

“…….”

“If, at such a time, they hold a selection that empowers Lady Queenie, that power will only accumulate. The Crown Prince wanted to prevent that, so of course he’d be against the selection.”

In the original story, there was no mention of such complex power dynamics. All it showed was the Crown Prince—and not only the Crown Prince but every male lead—falling for Daisy Queenie, unable to wait to pave a flowery path just for her.

The selection was merely a device to showcase the Crown Prince’s possessiveness toward Daisy Queenie and his jealousy toward the other male leads, not a story riddled with complex politics.

I felt quite pleased, as though I were watching Daisy Queenie’s perfect path get sullied in real time, but at the same time, a certain unease settled in my chest about whether I should be hearing all this. After observing the nobility for so long, I’d come to realize that knowing too much isn’t always a blessing. I silently vowed never to share this story with anyone.

“His Highness the Crown Prince also well understands just how much responsibility the position of Empress entails, and how significant a role it is. That must be why he’s so anxious about who will sit beside him.”

“…I see.”

“Hearing about Tornado and the Knight Company’s Endeavor branch, the Crown Prince also showed some interest in you, my lady. Now I find it a bit of a shame.”

“I’m not worthy of such a position at all…”

“If you ever change your mind, please let me know at any time. I don’t think it’s likely, but who can say.”

With my firm response that it would never happen, that day’s tea time ended. Though I was flustered at first, once I regained my composure, I found I could enjoy it comfortably, sensing Roxana’s characteristic refreshing demeanor. At the moment of parting, Her Majesty clearly felt reluctant to let me go, and I too ended up promising three times that I would definitely return.

***

As Her Majesty the Empress predicted, factions began to form among the nobles. They began watching each other’s moves with me and Daisy Queenie in mind. As invitations poured in day after day, and nobles sent gifts under the pretext of connections we’d never even heard of, the handling of documents started to slow. Unable to bear it any longer, I decided to take action.

“…So, how about holding a party?”

“Hmm, it’s been quite a while since we last held a party at the manor.”

“Holding a party isn’t a problem, but until people understand the purpose of it, it will attract even more attention. There might even be more who misunderstand our intentions this time.”

“But remaining silent like this doesn’t seem helpful to the situation. If rumors are going to spread anyway, I think it’s better to get ahead of them.”

Father appeared lost in thought for a moment, then simply shrugged. It wasn’t exactly approval or denial, so at this rate, we would hold the party according to my suggestion. Mother, who had agreed with me from the start, merely sipped her tea with a gentle smile.

“Do as you wish, Rosie. If that’s how you feel.”

“Thank you, Father. And you as well, Mother.”

“If our Rosie wants to do it, why would we stop her?”

Having received my parents’ permission, I was about to go ask the butler about what would be needed for the party when Mother subtly approached me, linked arms with me, and whispered in a conspiratorial tone:

“There’s just one thing I’m curious about, dear.”

“Curious?”

“Our Rosie… isn’t interested in His Highness the Crown Prince at all?”

“…Pardon?”

There’s no way she’d suddenly want to know my type in this situation, so she must be asking if I have any interest in the position of Crown Princess. Tilting my head, I asked again

“‘Have I appeared interested…?”

“Up until now, you didn’t seem interested at all. That’s why I’m asking. You attended the selection recently, so you must have seen His Highness, right? I was wondering if you might have, well, developed any feelings”

“No, not at all.”

As I stared, flustered, at Mother, who looked noticeably disappointed, Father approached us with a discreet cough and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“Our Rosie will find a match of her own in due time, dear. Don’t worry.”

“Of course she will, but I just want to see little ones who resemble our Rosie as soon as possible. The lads who’ve been rolling around with swords in the knight order keep insisting they’re married to their blades, so Rosie is our last hope…”

I’m not even thinking about marriage or romance…? Besides, marrying a sword—when did they say such a thing? I can’t take sides with either my brothers who drove a nail into Mother’s heart before leaving, or Mother, who immediately gave up on them. While I was just looking around for a cue, Father let out a hearty laugh and hugged Mother.

Somehow, it felt like the right time to excuse myself, so I quietly offered my farewells and left Father’s office without letting them notice. Hoping to discuss the party, I went to the butler’s room, where I found him still sighing under the endless pile of invitations he couldn’t manage.

In truth, I’d been handling those invitations one by one, but I used my work for the trading company as an excuse to foist them on the butler. Stuck with that sudden bomb of extra tasks, the butler looked like he’d aged years in a matter of days, making me feel all the more guilty.

I had been dealing with the invitations until recently, but the gifts had always been the butler’s responsibility from the start, and now I’d added more to his workload…

“You seem really exhausted. Should I take the invitations back again?”

Noticing how hollow his eyes looked—worse off than a zombie just out of the grave—I asked carefully, but the butler firmly refused my offer.

He insisted he couldn’t possibly hand over such a minor task as organizing invitations to a busy lady like me, though I’m not sure if he realizes he’s almost collapsing from that very work. Or perhaps he’s saying it so I’ll feel guilty…? Either way, watching him makes me feel bad all the same.

“Why have you come all the way here, my lady? If you’d called for me, I would have gone to you.”

“Oh, I just left Father’s office and decided to talk with you about this and that regarding hosting a party at the mansion.”

“A party, hmm… What kind of party are you thinking of, and about what scale?”

Because there hadn’t been a party at the mansion for several years, the budgets, final accounts, and purchase orders related to such events were all organized in the butler’s office. I stopped by to get those documents, but I was at a loss for words at his sudden question.

I’d never held a party by my own hands, so I hadn’t thought at all about what kind of party would be appropriate or how large it should be. The butler let out a brief sigh upon realizing the situation as he watched me blink in confusion.

“Come to think of it, my lady has never…”

“…held a party, right…?”

Seeing the butler’s bewildered expression made me feel like a terrible employer. …Perhaps I should just take back those invitations, Butler? As if his earlier firmness had been a lie, he silently agreed.

After dinner, I sat on the sofa for a short break, when Garnet approached with a meaningful smile and began massaging my shoulders. I let out a relaxed sigh as I felt the tension melt away. Sinking languidly into the sofa, I noticed Garnet bringing an envelope right up to my face.

“My lady, what do you think this is~?”

“Huh? Why the sudden letter?”

I had already dealt with all the invitations, so what Garnet was holding had to be a letter. But if it were just an ordinary letter, Garnet wouldn’t be wearing that triumphant look, as if she’d seized an opportunity.

“How could you secretly exchange letters through Tornado all this time without my knowledge? I was wondering why I’d never seen a letter from Ten, and now you’ve gone so far as to hide it from me… My heart aches so terribly…”

But, Garnet, you look way too excited right now…? Rather than pointing out that fact, I decided to snatch the letter from Garnet’s hand. Otherwise, Garnet would keep teasing me forever before handing it over, so I had to make the first move.

Just as Garnet pretended to cry and playfully complained about how I could treat her this way, I quickly grabbed the letter and fled to my study. If I’d left the letter in Garnet’s hands any longer, I’d have been stuck enduring her teasing until I finished a cup of tea.

Garnet, who noticed the subtle tension between Ten and me even faster than we did while Ten was staying at the mansion, had continued to gently tease the two of us. Because I was completely defenseless in that area, I couldn’t do anything but just take it, which only amused Garnet further.

After double-checking that the study door was locked, I leaned against my desk and opened the letter. Seeing a common brown envelope and stationery you could buy in any shop, rather than Ten’s usual gold envelope, made me suspect that this letter might not be from Ten.

At first, I found Ten, who had become the Prince of Endeavor, unfamiliar. Now, could it be that the Ten of Tornado has become the unfamiliar one instead? But the name “Ten” written on the outside of the envelope stood out more clearly than anything else. As if Ten was always Ten, whether in Endeavor or Tornado.

The letter, which began with the still-familiar salutation “To My Lady,” spoke of his current situation in a detached tone. It recounted everything from everyday occurrences—like taking a walk in the garden or having a tea break—to being invited to the central palace for a banquet or dropping by the Marquess of Mayfield’s party. It felt almost as though I were reading his diary, filled solely with lists of his day-to-day activities.

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a repeat of something torn straight from his diary. Every passing day was described from the perspective of an emotionless observer, as if he were watching from a third-person view. Even I, who tried to rationally analyze whether there was value in sending such a letter through Tornado, felt unsettled by the stark indifference of this observational log.

Just when I wondered if I should stop reading due to that sense of dissonance, the final line—added almost as a postscript—caught my eye. Unlike the previous text, it bore traces of erasure here and there, as though he had agonized over writing it.

I have never spent a moment without thinking of you.

That was the most emotional part of his long letter.