“What? Rumors… you say?”

Yvette’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Rumors… I mean, there are rumors going around, but why suddenly… uh, what rumors are you talking about…”

Strangely, her voice echoed as if coming from two sources.

[Dash]What should I do? Did I just mumble to myself? What will happen if she heard that?

Rasilia’s eyes widened in shock.

“So, this is…”

“Your Highness the Empress? What’s wrong?”

Yvette, filled with concern, approached her.

‘What is this…’

The scene from the moment she woke up flashed before her eyes.

[Dash]This is what I hope you don’t resemble until the end.

Her eyes filled with worry as she looked at herself, just like the current Yvette.

[Dash]To peer into the human heart.

She questioned whether this was a bad thing.

Then her eyes became so warm they almost seemed sad.

[Dash]You will no longer trust humans. You won’t harbor affection or compassion, because the human heart is so murky.

What he had said just happened.

“Your Highness… aare you okay?”

“Princess, right now…”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Rasilia grabbed Yvette’s sleeve. Yvette looked back with startled eyes.

“What are you thinking?”

“What?”

Her wideopen eyes wobbled from side to side.

“Uh, well… You looked startled, Your Highness…”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, yes.”

“…”

Rasilia released Yvette’s arm and shook her head.

The surroundings were quieter than before. Only the sound of Yvette’s slightly erratic breathing was heard.

‘Did I get confused because of that dream?’

She kept looking at Yvette, but Yvette just blinked, seemingly clueless. No thoughts seemed to cross her mind.

‘Yes, that’s it.’

Rasilia closed the chaos that was entangled in her mind.

After all, there was no reason for that to happen to me. It shouldn’t have happened.

“Tweet?”

Pipi approached and gently pecked her hand. It wasn’t to hurt her; it was to get her attention.

“It’s fine. I was just a bit disoriented after waking up.”

Whatever Yvette had been mumbling about rumors must have been accidental.

Rasilia petted Pipi and turned her head back towards Yvette.

“Is this rumor going around among the palace people?”

“Uh, well, yes…”

“Tell me. If it’s a rumor about me, I should know. Is it about me still being hung up on Count Piellion?”

Yvette lowered her head dejectedly.

“Yes, that’s it… people are talking because you two seemed to have some friction yesterday… Everyone can see that the Emperor is smitten with you, but it seems like you are not… so that’s why the rumor started.”

Rasilia openly asked, making Yvette realize that she had mistakenly thought her mumbling was a slip.

“I apologize, Your Highness. I should’ve controlled my mouth… Disturbing your sleep and causing you unease with baseless rumors… Ah, why did I do that?”

“If you’re not the one spreading the rumors, then it’s not something I can blame you for. And as for waking up, it was time to wake up. Don’t worry about it.”

Yvette’s expression was slightly choked up.

“Every time you’re so generous, I keep forgetting my place. I thought everything was fine… I’ll be really, really careful from now on.”

“There’s no need to scold yourself like that. Anyway, such rumors are troublesome. If you hear anyone talk about it next time, bring them to… no, forget it. Consider it unheard.”

“No, why? We should correct the rumors! You haven’t even been meeting Count Piellion lately!”

Then something clicked.

“Did I meet him often before?”

“What? Ah, I don’t know about before I came to the palace…”

Seeing her hesitant face, it seemed to be the case.

“But other palace people would know, right?”

“Um, yes, that’s… that would be…”

“Understood.”

Rasilia’s calm demeanor seemed strange to Yvette.
“Your Majesty, if it’s not too much to ask… why are you leaving these false rumors unaddressed? After all, Count Pellion is family. I believe you would be quite upset… and you, Your Majesty, would be deeply saddened as well.”

“What if it’s true?”

“Excuse me?”

Ivette looked as though she had been slapped.

“Before I lost my memory, what if I truly had a deep affection for Count Pellion?”

“That… I cannot believe, Your Majesty. You are with His Majesty, so how could you”

“Since losing my memory, I have not felt any affection toward His Majesty.”

“Your Majesty…”

“It seems I am not a true companion, after all.”

Rasilia gave a bitter smile.

Though her earlier words were false, her latter words were sincere.

She wasn’t genuine, so she had to correct things.

“Stop worrying about the rumors. If it were true, it couldn’t be stopped even if we tried.”

“Peep? Pee!”

Pipi raised its head, seemingly confused.

If rumors were the issue, it would seek out the gossipmongers and punish them, Pipi declared.

Rasilia picked up Pipi with a smile.

“You want to rip faces like Lord Horsed? No, we can’t do that.”

“Peep?”

“If faces are ripped, people will get angrier.”

“Peepee. Pee.”

“People won’t get angry at you because you’re cute. They’ll get angry at me for cruelly ordering a small bird to suppress rumors.”