Kelita was anxiously circling the empty royal banquet hall all alone.

Her forehead was deeply furrowed above the lips she was biting her nails on.

Beside the visibly anxious Kelita, Lady Rosie, the maid, was nervously playing with her hands gathered in front of her belly.

“Princess Kelita.”

At that moment, a voice came from the back of the hall with a gesture of acknowledgment.

However, Kelita showed no response, as if she hadn’t heard anything.

“Empress, have you come out?”

“Countess Rosie. It’s been a while.”

“Yes, Empress. Nice to see you after a long time.”

Having noticed Lawrence first, Rosie politely greeted him as she approached Kelita.

Then, she cautiously reached for Kelita’s arm.

“Why!”

“Princess. The Empress has come out.”

“What? Who came?”

The sharp voice slowed for a moment.

Having spotted the absent-minded Kelita, Lawrence smiled brightly, smoothing out the creases around his eyes.

“Princess Kelita. I seem to have disturbed you.”

“Ah.”

Kelita kept her blank face and bowed her head.

“Empress.”

However, there was no admiration in her eyes.

A pitiable woman who couldn’t find her proper place in the emperor’s court and couldn’t get her share from the imperial power.

Not only Kelita but most people in the imperial court neither highly regarded nor treated Lawrence well.

“Excuse me for a moment; I have something important to discuss.”

Looking at Rosie standing by her side, Lawrence added.

“An important conversation that needs to be done between the two of us.”

Kelita pursed her lips, then pointed outside to Rosie.

After fainting and waking up, she was too tired to think about too many things, and the thought of discussing matters with the Empress annoyed her even more.

However, she couldn’t express such feelings entirely.

After all, the Empress was the Empress.

Kelita fantasized about what it would have been like if she were the Empress.

In this land, the authority of the imperial family is so great that the kings and lords of the vassal states ultimately have no choice but to obey the orders.

If I were the Empress, I would have summoned Rakrah to the imperial court using the Empress’s authority and ordered him to marry me.

“Kelita, soon Duke Rakrah will come over from the North.”

Kelita’s head, placed inappropriately, shot up.

“What?”

“When he arrives at the palace, I plan to order the marriage of Princess Kelita and Duke Rakrah.”

At the unexpected words, Kelita’s mouth hung open.

She blinked and looked at Lawrence.

She simply couldn’t understand what was going on.

Did he perhaps read my mind?

“Suddenly, what are you talking about?”

“I came to ask about Princess Kelita’s feelings before that. Do you also want to marry Rakrah?”
Kelita barely managed to hold back the tears welling up and nodded her head.

The misfortunes she had endured so far flashed before her eyes like a lantern.

“I have lived thinking only of him as my husband since the engagement story with Duke Rakrah came up ten years ago.”

Lawrence clasped his hands in front of his chest with a regretful expression.

“Oh no.”

“But!”

Suddenly, Vercheria appeared and ruined everything.

Whether she was a goddess or whatever, she suddenly popped up and started meddling between Rakrah and Kelita, causing things to get complicated.

Tears welled up in Kelita’s eyes.

“I really wish that goddess-like Vercheria would just die.”

“Oh my. Princess, how difficult it must have been for you.”

Lawrence reached out and embraced Kelita tightly.

Then he patted her back, comforting her.

“Princess Kelita, I wish Vercheria would die too.”

“Really?”

“Of course. After that, if the princess marries Rakrah, there can be no better outcome than that.”

Kelita pulled away from Lawrence’s embrace and stared at her intently.

Then she tilted her head and asked, “Empress, were you always like this?”

Lawrence smiled and extended his hand toward Kelita.

“Here, this is a gift for the beautiful Kelita.”

In Lawrence’s palm, a pair of butterfly wings fluttered open.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.”

The small butterfly fluttered around, moving its iridescent wings as if bewitching a person.

“That’s right. It’s so beautiful.”

Empress Lawrence glanced at Kelita, who was enchantedly watching the butterfly.

“Young and beautiful. But the foolish self doesn’t know how to use that value properly.”

“…What?”

“If it were me, I’d make better use of it.”

Kelita’s gaze, fixed on the parallel butterfly, suddenly turned to Lawrence.

“…!”

Agh!

At the sudden scream from Kelita, Rosie, who was waiting outside the banquet hall, was startled.

“Princess!”

Without thinking, she opened the door and went inside.

There, in the center of the hall, Kelita’s back was visible.

Rosie approached cautiously and asked, “Princess?”

At the calling voice, both Kelita and Empress Lawrence turned their heads simultaneously.

The two of them grinned like perfectly painted faces.

“Yeah, Rosie.”

“It’s okay, Rosie.”

Watching the two people smiling widely, Rosie blinked her small eyes and closed them, then opened them.

Swoosh