In the end, things went wrong.

Whitney was sweating coldly as her indigestion wouldn’t go away. Even taking medicine didn’t help. Would vomiting make it better? But she couldn’t force herself to empty what was inside.

‘Ah… I shouldn’t have eaten.’

Given how uncomfortable she felt despite not eating much, that gathering must have truly been unpleasant. She groaned on the bed while wiping her cold sweat with a handkerchief.

‘I’ll be bedridden before even going to the family meeting.’

A doctor came to examine her, but she remained in the same state for hours, as if the discomfort was firmly lodged.

There was a knock, but Whitney answered in a crawling voice.

“…I’m fine, please withdraw.”

In truth, even if a maid came, nothing would improve. She kept telling them not to enter, as the coming and going was more bothersome. However, the door opened, and Whitney painfully lifted her head.

“Are you alright?”

“…No. The indigestion won’t go away. I’m glad Your Highness seems to be fine.”

“My thinking was short-sighted. I didn’t consider that the gathering would be uncomfortable.”

He apologized for not realizing something so obvious due to his familiarity with the situation. In fact, everyone except Whitney seemed composed, as if used to such situations. Even Violet continued eating comfortably, so from their perspective, Whitney might seem overly sensitive.

‘The royal family is truly eccentric, the more you know them.’

She couldn’t leave early and had to endure the uncomfortable gathering until the end. As a result, she became seriously ill and was now one with the bed.

“It’s alright. I should have gotten used to it, but I couldn’t.”

“Bear with it a little longer. There won’t be many such uncomfortable dining occasions.”

He handed Whitney some medicine.

“What is this?”

“I don’t fully trust the royal doctors, so while they won’t give you poison, they also won’t provide medicine that works quickly. If you become the head of the family, the queen will find you troublesome in many ways and try to prevent it. Even if she intervenes, nothing will change, but…”

“That’s right. Nothing will change even if Her Majesty the Queen steps in. We’ve prepared so thoroughly, so you don’t need to worry about that part.”

“Worry?”

“Yes. This play will end once I become the head of the family, right? I’m saying this in case you’re concerned that I might not become the head due to Her Majesty’s interference.”

“…”

He nodded slowly. Thinking she might have given an unsatisfactory answer, she hastily added:

“I’m also Your Highness’s weakness right now. If our engagement is broken off, both Prince Karl and Her Majesty will be less concerned. Too many people are focusing on Your Highness and me right now.”

“There are good points too. The queen has been cautious lately, so I’ve had fewer swords pointed at my neck recently.”

Can that really be considered a good point? His expression was truly peaceful as he uttered words about threats to his life and fewer swords at his neck. Whitney gave up trying to understand this situation.

It would be easier in many ways to just accept it.

“Ah, open.”

“Pardon?”

Whitney unknowingly opened her mouth at Cheston’s words. The medicine in her hand entered her mouth. He held a cup of water to her lips.

She naturally swallowed the pill and made a bewildered expression.

‘Huh?’

Her eyes widened in surprise at the lack of bitterness.

“Fortunately, it seems you like it. Is it because it’s not bitter?”

She nodded vigorously. If she had known such a thing existed, she would have taken it much earlier! The thought that Cheston had known about this alone made her feel betrayed.

“Yes, this is the first time I’ve taken such medicine. If it were commercialized, I think everyone would love to buy it.”

“…I hadn’t thought about commercialization. I just developed a way to make it like candy because I had to take a lot of medicine. There were times when I couldn’t let others know I was taking medicine to heal.”

Her heart ached at his words, that he had developed it just to survive. And she felt calculating for thinking about it in terms of money.

“You don’t need to make that expression. I also thought it was a decent item.”

Whitney nodded and spoke to him again. This would really make a lot of money if commercialized.

“Consider it. It could be quite profitable. It would be good for Your Highness to accumulate funds too, right? Hmm, or we could even go into business together.”

Of course, from Cheston’s perspective, he might think she was being unscrupulous, but Whitney had also thrown the words out in jest.

“Well, that wouldn’t be bad. I have many restrictions after all.”

“…Really?”

“You seem like you’d be a conscientious business partner, so I feel at ease.”

“Of course! Let’s talk about it sometime. Children will love it. Although the buyers will be adults, in the end, it’s the children who need it, so adults’ pockets will open to feed them medicine.”

“I didn’t know the Orlean duchy was so capable in commerce.”

“I’m not in a position to worry about such things right now.”

Whitney shrugged her shoulders. Cheston responded positively to her words, and an unexpected business conversation ensued, but it wasn’t bad for her. After all, she needed funds to fill the empty coffers of the duchy.

“Seeing your improved expression, it seems you’re feeling a bit better.”

“…Oh? You’re right. This is really effective.”

She only then realized that she had been chattering despite being sick.

“Since you seem better now, go to sleep.”

Cheston walked towards the door as if he had done his duty. Then he turned his head and said to her:

“Don’t get sick while you’re here. I brought you in, so I have no end of things to worry about.”

“Ah…! I’m sorry!”

He stared at Whitney for a moment, then left, saying only “Rest.”

Time passed quickly. In fact, Whitney spent peaceful days due to the calm palace. Violet didn’t come to bother her, and her mother and Melissa also stopped sending letters.

Whitney finished preparing to go to the duchy and left the annex. Since her aunt had sent a carriage, she could travel comfortably. Actually, the royal family had offered to prepare a carriage, but she declined.

After all, her engagement with Cheston would end after today, so it wasn’t right to receive help. She gazed at the annex for a moment before taking steps to board the carriage. The door opened, and Leo appeared.

Leo, who had just turned five, got out of the carriage and extended his hand to Whitney. She wanted to laugh but held back and took his small hand like a daisy. In fact, it was closer to Whitney picking him up and putting him in rather than an escort.

“Really, you’re incorrigible. How stubborn you were about wanting to escort.”

“Leo can do it too! I’m a gentleman, so I have to escort!”

Whitney stroked Leo’s head and smiled. Leo’s legs dangled from the high seat. His feet were wiggling, seemingly in a good mood.

“Leo, you’ve grown taller again in the meantime.”

“I’m gonna grow fast!”

“Then you need to eat well without being picky.”

Leo nodded and clenched his fists. Her aunt shook her head at her son’s behavior and said to Whitney:

“Don’t say such things. He says he’ll grow up quickly and marry you.”

“Oh my. It’s alright. He’ll realize when he grows up. Above all, I won’t even catch his eye by then.”

“No! Big sister is the prettiest in the world!”

“What about Mom? Leo, am I second then? I didn’t raise you like that.”

“Uh-uh. Uh-uh… Mom is out of the question.”

“I wonder where he learned to say such things. The older the child grows, the deeper my worries.”

Her aunt sighed, resting her chin on her hand. Whitney put down the documents she was holding onto her lap. Thanks to her aunt and Leo, her tension eased.

“By the way, are you ready?”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for this day to come. I need to return to my place. I’m worried that the territory management seems to be a mess, but I plan to restore it as soon as possible. More than that, I wanted to ask you something, Aunt. Did you tell Princess Violet that there was an agreement between me and Prince Cheston?”

“…I had no choice. To save you and Prince Cheston, I needed her power. Did she threaten you with that?”

“Something similar happened, but I managed to get through it for now.”

“I’m sorry if it put you in a difficult position.”

It was pointless to question it now, as what had already happened couldn’t be undone. She shook her head as if it was fine. Then she smiled brightly, and her aunt patted her hand comfortingly.

“For now, let’s just focus on this task. I’m sure you’ll do well, but I hope you don’t get hurt.”

“Don’t worry. There won’t be anything to get hurt over.”

Despite saying this, Whitney felt heavy-hearted.

To think that all of this was evidence of corruption and embezzlement, others would curse the Orlean family if they saw it. She was proceeding with the resolve that everyone would talk about it. If left as is, they would end up in a worse situation than just being talked about, so she had to prevent that at least.

She couldn’t let the honor of Orlean fall further into the hands of swindlers.

The sound of the carriage wheels heading to the duchy from the palace seemed particularly cheerful. Whitney opened the window to look outside. The clear summer sky made her feel even better.

The particularly sparkling sunlight seemed to speak of her victory.

“This is nonsense! Suddenly demanding repayment of debts now!”

Loud voices started in the duchy. Whitney frowned as she watched her agitated relatives. They had the audacity of thieves to protest even when asked to repay only the principal after using money without paying interest until now.

“Ignoring contracts like this shows you’re unfit to fulfill the role of family head!”

“Hmm. I’m sorry, but was it the Baskins family? The child of the child of great-aunt’s child… Hmm. About eighth cousins, I guess. Mr. Baskins, we call that being strangers. Mother, you’re really something. I wonder how you managed to find all of these people.”

Whitney said as she put down the documents on the table.

“Just the circumstances of Mother using the Orlean duchy’s money as she pleased while serving as interim head amount to this much. Above all, you used the family’s assets without even writing proper debt contracts. Besides that, you insulted the Orlean duchy under false identities.”

“What are you saying! Is it wrong to help struggling relatives?”

Cecilia raised her voice in objection. Everyone nodded and raised their voices at her words.

“Mr. Baskins squandered the money on gambling rather than reviving his family, and the Baron Alibon family poured it into pleasure almost daily. There’s plenty more evidence besides this. As the heir to the Orlean duchy, I can no longer stand by and watch the family crumble. Especially not to swindlers.”

Whitney looked at Cecilia as she put down the wanted posters on the table.

“Isn’t that right? Mother? Or should I call you Louise Ann?”