I shouldn’t have talked about the imperial family to someone who works at the imperial palace.

Perhaps due to this situation where he treated my wounds and the cocoa in my hand, my brain seemed quite relaxed.

I fidgeted with the cup in my hand, contemplating my answer.

The man watching me went “Hmm……” and brought a chair from nearby to sit in front of me.

“Honestly, the imperial family is quite boring.”

He began answering in place of what I wanted to say.

“There are many who seem nice but stab you in the back…… Above all, they’re people who care most about keeping up appearances.”

Indeed, most of the imperial family is like that, except for the current Emperor and Crown Prince.

“Honestly, isn’t the current Crown Prince quite unlikeable?”

I stared at him with disbelieving eyes, startled by his words.

But he just shrugged his shoulders while looking at me.

I opened my mouth with difficulty towards him.

“The current Crown Prince isn’t unlikeable, he just values principles. And such behavior of his will continue even after he becomes Emperor. But I can’t honestly say that my father’s business is completely clean. Though I have no intention of inheriting my father’s business or wealth…… I’m avoiding it because there’s a high chance of getting into trouble if I catch the attention of the Crown Prince or Emperor.”

The man who heard my words stared at me as if surprised…… no, more precisely, seemed to stare through the cloak covering most of his eyes, then nodded.

Since that man also talked about the imperial family being unlikeable and such, I thought it would be okay for me to say this much too.

“But… did you start speaking informally again as soon as you became certain I wouldn’t report to the imperial palace?”

At his words, this time I shrugged my shoulders at him.

“As I keep saying, you’re the one who spoke informally first, remember?”

Hearing those words, the man subtly avoided my gaze.

I unconsciously let out a laugh at his behavior, and after I finished drinking all the cocoa in my cup, we left the cabin.

“Sigh…… what should I tell Mylene……”

The man tilted his head at my words.

“What do you mean, what to explain?”

“My family obviously won’t care about me…… The only one who would be worried is Mylene…… Should I say there’s no way to explain why I suddenly jumped out of the carriage?”

Then the man went “Hmm—” and nodded.

“I’ll take care of that.”

“How will you?”

“You go roll around in the grass where you jumped out of the carriage. I’ll make it look like the carriage door accidentally came off and you were thrown out.”

With that, he disappeared instantly to the opposite side of the mountain.

I was half-skeptical as I took the horse I had left at the bottom of the mountain back to the stable, then went to where I was supposed to have fallen, covered myself in dirt, and made myself look injured. 

 Come to think of it, the wound on my leg……

He had disinfected it completely, but now I’ve rolled around in the mud, so hasn’t that made the disinfection meaningless?

After I sat on the ground waiting for about 5 minutes, someone came running towards me at an incredibly fast speed, kicking up dust.

“……What?”

How can a person run at such speed in this world……

“Are you Miss Rowenloa Masipacius?”

I nodded reflexively at his question.

Then he said a carriage would arrive soon and suddenly put his jacket over my head.

……Am I going to be arrested for insulting the imperial family?

No, but that guy…… I mean, that person was the one who spoke ill of him first.

While I was trembling and letting my imagination run wild about what might happen next without knowing what was going on, a familiar voice reached my ears.

“Miss Rowenloa!”

It was Mylene.

I was startled and struggled to remove the jacket blocking my view, but the man firmly held me down with his strength.

“Oh my, aren’t you the one who guards His Highness the Crown Prince……”

“Yes. I am Erian. His Highness saw Miss Rowenloa fall and sent me urgently after receiving reports that the fire had been extinguished.”

I could only blink in bewilderment, my body frozen at the man’s words.

His Highness the Crown Prince probably didn’t see me fall……

And I didn’t fall, I jumped out……

Could it be that man had some connection to His Highness and asked for help?

While I was frozen in confusion, the man called Erian who had put the jacket over me whispered:

“Just agree with everything I say.”

I nodded reflexively at his words, and the man removed the jacket that had been blocking my view.

Only then could I see Mylene’s face, who had run all the way here looking for me with tears in her eyes.

“Miss, how could you suddenly jump out of the carriage…… I thought my heart would stop! After you jumped out, we immediately stopped the carriage and searched everywhere but couldn’t find you! Where on earth were you……”

As I let out an awkward “Haha……” in response to Mylene’s words, Erian spoke up.

“She didn’t jump out intentionally.”

“……Pardon?”

“His Highness the Crown Prince says he saw a fireball from the back mountain hit the carriage door and break it.”

Both Mylene and I rolled our eyes in confusion at those words.

“But I clearly saw Miss next to me opening the carriage handle herself……”

“His Highness the Crown Prince says that’s what he saw.”

Erian looked at me then, and I quickly nodded to confirm his words.

“The carriage was shaking so much, and while I was holding onto the door, it suddenly opened…! Why would I jump out of a moving carriage…? And I’ve been here the whole time…… Didn’t you search in strange places?”

I made a tearful face and slightly lifted my dress to show Mylene the wound on my leg.

Then Mylene, who had been questioning with “But that’s not……” quickly forgot about the carriage incident and began to be alarmed at the wound on my leg.

“Oh my goodness, Miss…… Your leg…!”

“I’ll help support you.”

Erian lifted me up, and we got into the carriage that had arrived behind us and returned to the marquis residence.

After safely delivering me to my room, Erian bowed and said he would leave only after confirming I received treatment, saying His Highness had returned to the imperial palace for urgent business. 

 ***

 Peace returned once again to the Masipacius marquis residence.

Outside, the servants could be heard decorating the mansion interior, saying it was such a shame that Miss Leila’s welcome party had been interrupted.

They were planning to continue the party inside the mansion, probably because the garden still smelled of smoke from the fire.

Meanwhile, not a single Masipacius came to my room to check on my condition.

Instead, the chef sent a maid to check on me because he was worried.

I laughed bitterly at the irony.

In contrast to the silence in my room, the house was busy celebrating Leila’s entry into the Masipacius family again, and it was much later when someone finally came to my room.

“Miss Rowenloa.”

It was none other than Mollin who came to my room.

Until she opened her mouth again, I thought that Father had ordered the head maid to take care of my meals.

But what came out of her mouth was……

“You are invited to join dinner together with Miss Leila’s celebration party.” 

 At those words, I felt my rational mind snap.

“Madam Mollin! Right now Miss Rowenloa’s leg……”

I raised my hand to stop Mylene from confronting Mollin.

“I’ll go.”

Still in my nightgown without changing clothes, I slowly went down the stairs towards the dining room.

When I opened the dining room door dressed in my nightgown, all the people who had been chattering noisily suddenly froze and stared at me.

I could only let out a hollow laugh at their expressions.

“Rowenloa, what is the meaning of this behavior?”

My father’s low voice reached my ears.

Instead of answering him, I lifted my nightgown skirt to show them my bandaged leg.

People looked at me with shocked expressions.

“What is this now…!”

Undaunted by my father’s thundering voice, I unwrapped the bandages to show the wound that was still bleeding because it was too large to properly clot.

At that, my father closed his mouth that had been about to shout.

I swept my empty gaze over them.

“Why? Why don’t you say it’s my fault for getting injured this time too? Since Leila entered this marquis residence, you’ve said everything that happens in this mansion is my fault, haven’t you?”

I made eye contact with each person — my father, my brothers, and Leila — as I spoke.

They avoided my gaze with uncomfortable expressions.

Right, they won’t even apologize.

“Please continue enjoying your party. I only came down to prove I’m sick, since sending word through a maid that I couldn’t come down due to illness might cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”

With that, I turned around and left the dining room.

Then I returned to my room, packed some simple food and clothes, and turned my back on the noisy residence.

“Miss…… Where are you going in this cold……”

Mylene tried to stop me but released her grip on me when she saw my expression.

I wonder what expression she saw on my face.