The sweetness life gives, the pain, the comfort—all were hers to bear. So wasn’t it only natural that she should live for herself?

“My lady, I’ve brought what you ordered.”

Hannah placed several notebooks on a silver tray. While the ladies-in-waiting braided her hair and prepared her, Elia examined the notebooks she had been meticulously filling.

“Is this the recent summary?”

“Yes.”

Elia picked up a white notebook. Though the thick, luxurious cover had no title written on it, its contents were very substantial.

The blue, black, and red notebooks also contained different content according to their color and were quite extensive. The white notebook in her hand now was a brief summary of all those collected materials.

“You’ve already memorized everything, yet you’re still studying so diligently?”

“Yes. It’s become a habit now.”

As Hannah said, all the notebooks were worn out. If such high-quality items had become so tattered in just two seasons, it could only be due to Elia’s diligence.

“They’ve all been a great help to me.”

Elia said, as if talking to herself, while staring at the notebooks on the silver tray.

The blue notebook contained what she had learned from Alec, the imperial physician, and the black notebook compiled what Elia had learned from books and materials related to the imperial family, plus what she had learned from Victor and Marienne.

The red notebook was created last when the black notebook wasn’t enough, and it organized information about the imperial family and palace, especially matters concerning the inner palace and its budget.

“My lady, you are truly remarkable. You personally organized such vast amounts of information and tirelessly sought new knowledge every time.”

“I didn’t do anything special……”

“Even Sir Alec, the imperial physician, was so impressed by your intellect.”

Even the imperial physician Alec, originally a renowned scholar, was amazed by Elia’s attitude toward learning.

Every time he made his house call, she had discovered new facts and posed sophisticated questions to him, making him lament that she hadn’t become a scholar.

“For such a distinguished scholar and the empire’s finest imperial physician to say you’re wasted as anything but a scholar—as a woman, there’s no higher praise.”

“It’s a modest compliment. Don’t take it too seriously. I wasn’t pursuing a deep scholarship, just learning what I needed… it’s entirely different.”

Despite Elia’s modesty, Hannah’s proud smile remained warm.

“However, surely…… you don’t intend to bring these notebooks to your dinner with His Majesty?”

“Why not? That’s why I asked you to bring them. You know I’ve memorized everything and don’t need them anymore.”

Hannah briefly closed her mouth at Elia’s genuinely puzzled expression.

She thought the relationship between the emperor and Elia, though it began amidst various difficulties, was gradually flowing toward something close to a normal engagement……

“Well…… His Majesty is seeing you after a long time, and since this is your first official dinner together, wouldn’t he prefer to have deeper conversations with you rather than discussing such things?”

“Yes, I’ve also summarized what happened while His Majesty was away from the Imperial Palace, so it will be helpful.”

Elia’s intellect, which even Alec had praised until he ran out of saliva, was sometimes too dull in these matters.

Perhaps Hannah and the other palace servants had misjudged the relationship between the two.

“My lady, I’ve finished braiding your hair. Does it please you?”

Just then, Cyril finished her work and handed Elia a mirror. Mona then opened a box full of sparkling hair ornaments before Elia.

“They’re all so beautiful…… please choose, my lady.”

In fact, Elia didn’t seem particularly interested in her reflection in the mirror or the jewels. Only the ladies-in-waiting seemed secretly excited and pleased, admiring her radiant beauty.

“How about this blue diamond that matches the color of your eyes? The platinum decoration is also very delicate.”

Hannah tactfully stepped forward and placed the ornament in this indifferent yet beautiful lady’s hair. Whether due to her discerning eye that knew Elia better than anyone, or because Elia’s beauty was so radiant, the result was a picturesque, beautiful figure.

“As you said, my lady, makeup seems unnecessary.”

Hannah said with a satisfied smile. Her platinum blonde hair, delicately adorned, her blue eyes shining brighter than jewels, and her fair cheeks full of vitality. Her elegant nose and plump lips were so pure that it would be a shame to cover them with makeup.

“Still, I’ll apply some light rouge. To give your lips some shine……”

“I don’t want that.”

Elia, who had been looking at her notebook, suddenly turned serious. She had agreed to rouge earlier, but now her hardened voice made her true feelings unclear.

“My lady……?”

“I really don’t need…… something like shine on my lips.”

Elia’s expression as she added this after a pause was quite peculiar.

Had something happened when she was alone with the emperor earlier? The way her white fingers caressed her own lips seemed somehow meaningful, but Hannah didn’t dare ask.

“Yes, as you wish. You’re already beautiful as you are.”

The stoic Cyril had merely stated her thoughts, but it helped change the atmosphere.

“That’s right, you’re already dazzling.”

“Truly. How is it that your eyes shine even more brilliantly than these precious blue diamonds? You’re truly…… like an angel.”

With Mona’s girlish admiration added, the atmosphere softened again.

“Good. Now that the lady has finished her preparation, you may all leave.”

Hannah patted the shoulders of the two young ladies-in-waiting.

“Shall I bring some tea?”

“I’ll be having a meal soon, so that’s fine.”

Mona seemed to want to stay beside the sparkling Elia, who had dressed up as a woman for once, but it was to no avail.

“Then, we shall take our leave. Rest well, my lady.”

Cyril respectfully bowed and practically dragged Mona out of the reception room.

“There are still about two hours left, would you like to change your dress later?”

“Do I really…… have to change?”

Even though it was casual wear, being in the Imperial Palace meant maintaining a minimum level of formality. The issue was that her current dress was too plain and simple.

“It’s fine for your daily activities, but……”

“I already met His Majesty in this outfit earlier.”

“Once you leave your chambers, it becomes an outing. In the Imperial Palace, even the walls have eyes.”

Hannah’s point was valid. Even if it was just the two of them, dining with the emperor constituted an official dinner.

It meant that even if Elia didn’t want to give the impression she had dressed up for Rockfort, she still needed to maintain a certain level of dignity.

“We ladies-in-waiting might be punished for failing to properly attend to you.”

That was also a valid point. Looking beautiful and maintaining appearances were different matters.

“It would be better to wear something more formal than your current dress, and to bring a fan and gloves.”

“Then…… something not too elaborate.”

“The subtle blue dress that Lady Themis had made recently is elegant and refined even without major decorations.”

Elia didn’t remember it well, but she trusted Hannah’s taste and nodded.

“How long should the gloves be?”

For a woman of noble birth, the length of gloves was a measure of how one regarded the place or person.

“The longest gloves won’t be necessary……”

Though it hadn’t been even a few hours since Rockfort’s return, Elia suddenly felt that her daily life had become much more complicated.

“For formal attire, gloves above the elbow would be correct, but this isn’t an official banquet, and since you reside in the same Imperial Palace as His Majesty……”

“Too short would look undignified. Let’s go with gloves that reach the elbow.”

By rank, Elia as a duke’s daughter meeting the emperor should wear gloves that extended above the elbow.

But after already having committed the outrage of lying carelessly in her sickbed in front of him, wearing such gloves seemed ridiculous and pretentious.

“Since it’s a dinner just for the two of you, gloves that reach the wrist might also be appropriate.”

“No.”

She hated that because it would make her appear too close to Rockfort.

“Undecorated gloves that reach the elbow. Hannah, you choose the color.”

“Yes. As it happens, we have some beautiful white gloves with a subtle sheen and no additional decorations.”

Elia sipped the tea placed on the table.

“At least I don’t need to choose the shoes, thankfully.”

Hannah’s face darkened at this casually thrown joke.

“I’m joking, joking!”

Elia deliberately smiled more brightly.

“Looking at the imperial regulations, there are five different types of shoes depending on the occasion and situation.”

Phew, Elia sighed, frustrated. While the life of a duke’s daughter also required enduring complicated and suffocating etiquette, the protocol in the Imperial Palace was on another level.

“I hate wasting time just preparing my appearance. Dresses, hair ornaments, makeup, fans, gloves, shoes……!”

“You forgot handkerchiefs, my lady.”

At Hannah’s addition, Elia shook her head, apparently disgusted. It was increasingly absurd to think that more than half of a noblewoman’s life was wasted selecting such things.

All those things would fade with time anyway.

“I’m fortunate to have you, Hannah. You’ll continue to choose all those things for me.”

When Elia smiled playfully, Hannah wore a resigned expression. Though Elia had become more dignified than anyone, she was still lovable, as her pure childhood self sometimes remained unchanged.

“Oh yes…… when I go to His Majesty’s chambers later, bring my medicine at the right time, even during the dinner.”

“Pardon?”

The dinner was at 6 o’clock, and Elia’s medication time was 7 o’clock. This order would inevitably interrupt their private dinner.

“Now that you’re only taking tonics and medicines to help bone and muscle growth, even the imperial physician said you don’t need to strictly adhere to the schedule like before.”

In fact, when Elia was in deep sleep, they would sometimes postpone her medicine rather than wake her.

“Yes, but today, please keep to the schedule.”

Her enigmatic blue eyes stared at Hannah.

“……Yes.”

Hannah had no choice but to obey this command that clearly had some intention behind it.