“Don’t worry about that, Your Majesty. I will compensate the Princess sufficiently.”

“In what way?”

“How about offering Her Highness a box of the finest emeralds produced in our Raska Empire and Elsi Castle?”

Hearing those words, the Emperor’s mouth opened slightly in surprise.

A box of emeralds produced in the Raska Empire was such a large amount that the capital could be operated for about two months without collecting taxes. Additionally, Elsi Castle was a territory of the Raska Empire located in the southern border region of the Empire, and it had been a source of various problems between the two countries due to all the surrounding territories being Imperial territory.

In other words, Prince Justin had proposed an amount of money and a castle that the Emperor could not help but covet as compensation. The Emperor’s expression, which had been hardened with anger, slowly relaxed.

The Princess, as if not wanting to miss this opportunity, spoke to the Emperor.

“A large quantity of emeralds followed by Elsi Castle. With that level of compensation, my reputation damaged by this incident will be more than recovered.”

“…Ella.”

“My dear Your Majesty, this Ella is fine. It’s regrettable that I can’t be engaged to the Prince, but hasn’t the Empire benefited from it? For the sake of the Empire, I can certainly endure my pride being hurt and my reputation being damaged.”

“…”

“So Your Majesty, please allow Evelyn Charrington, the Count’s daughter, to become the adopted daughter of our late Uncle Crested. Please?”

The Princess added in a pleading voice. The Emperor fell into contemplation with his chin resting on the armrest of the imperial throne.

After some time had passed like that, the Emperor slowly opened his mouth after much deliberation.

“First, I will send a letter to the Emperor of the Raska Empire to confirm his intentions. If after that, the Emperor agrees to accept the alternative proposed by the Princess, I too, as Evelyn Charrington’s guarantor, will agree to adopt her as the daughter of my late brother, Grand Duke Crested.”

The nobles in the banquet hall had two different reactions to the Emperor’s words. The nobles on Duke Haven’s side let out quiet sighs of relief and cheers, while the close associates of Duke Yusten and Duke Klein sighed in disappointment.

I twisted one corner of my mouth into a smile as I stole a glance at Duke Yusten, whose face was flushed red and blue.

‘There’s no need to feel so wronged, Uncle. It’s all your own doing.’

Indeed, those who disregard others’ misfortunes to satisfy their own greed should rightfully be punished.

Thinking thus, I stepped back. Having successfully ruined things according to plan, now Duke Yusten would blame me again and harshly drive me into a corner, while Danae would look at me with suspicious eyes by his side.

I needed to be alone to quietly immerse myself in thought and refine my words and thoughts in preparation for that.

I made an inconspicuous eye signal towards the Duke who was watching me from afar, then turned my back without hesitation and headed for the secluded terrace.

The ball ended in a fizzle.

That night, after returning to the mansion first, I sent a letter to the noble of the Raska Empire who had worked to make this royal marriage happen, along with the Duke. It was to prove that I had made efforts to somehow salvage this situation. Of course, that letter would never arrive on time.

The Duke had arranged for the Emperor’s letter to arrive in the Raska Empire before my letter. Upon receiving the Emperor’s letter, the Emperor of the Raska Empire accepted the alternative on the condition that the scandal and diplomatic discourtesy caused by the Prince would not be raised as an issue in the future.

Thus, Lady Evelyn Charrington became Grand Duchess Evelyn Crested and became Prince Justin’s official fiancée, and the Princess’s royal marriage was safely canceled.

Everything went according to my plan.

Upon hearing the news, Duke Yusten summoned me to his office.

And as always, he vented his anger by shouting and throwing furniture.

“Damn it! Failed, failed again! Again! Argh!”

The Duke drew a sharp blue-tinged sword and struck his office desk. The heavy oak desk collapsed ingloriously to the floor with a loud bang. The ink that had been placed on top of it shattered against the floor, dirtying the white carpet.

I stood before him with my gaze lowered like a criminal. The Duke shouted, pointing the tip of his sword at my nape.

“Have you become lax recently? Why are failures so frequent!”

“…I’m sorry, Uncle.”

“Damn it! We could have completely disgraced Princess Ella and that puppy-like Duke Haven this time! How did you work to end up in this state again! I’ve been trusting only you and proceeding with matters until now, but if you keep failing like this, I’ll have to reconsider seeking your advice!”

The Duke threw his sword as if flinging it away. In the process, the sword bounced up, hit my knee, and fell to the floor. I endured the pain while gritting my teeth. I couldn’t scream, nor could I shout to stop blaming me.

“Stop it, Dad. You’ll collapse if you keep getting angry like that.”

At that moment, Danae stepped over the open office threshold and entered. With her arms crossed arrogantly, she glanced at me mockingly before standing beside the Duke, whose shoulders were shaking with anger. She spoke with a constant smirk as if she was dying of joy at this situation.

“Anyway. Pretending to be the smartest in the world, pretending to be busy, and you failed again? Phew, sister, it seems your abilities have reached their limit now. Shouldn’t you step down from the position of strategist?”

“…”

“No. There might be a hidden reason why my usually thorough sister has been clumsy and failing tasks frequently lately. …Sister, are you perhaps leaking our information to the outside? Is that why you’ve been failing the tasks Dad gave you so often lately?”

I immediately raised my head and refuted.

“No. How could I do such a thing?”

“How can I believe that? You’ve been acting a bit suspiciously lately, you know. …Dad, you’ve seen it too, right? How Duke Haven has been approaching sister recently. They say it’s because the Duke is in love with sister and that’s why he’s acting that way, but how can we believe that? There are plenty of beautiful people around the Duke besides sister, so why would he be in love with sister of all people? It’s suspicious no matter who looks at it.”

“…Danae.”

“Be honest, sister. …You have something going on with the Duke, don’t you? You leaked our plans to the Duke, didn’t you? That’s why you failed, right?”

“Is what Danae says true?”

Danae pressed me, glaring fiercely as if to pierce me with her gaze. For a moment, I almost lost my words at her sharp observation. I struggled to maintain an expressionless face. Duke Yusten asked coldly, looking at me with suspicious eyes.

Gathering my sinking heart, I answered calmly.

“How could that be, Uncle? Why would I betray you and Danae? And I don’t know why Duke Haven suddenly changed his attitude and started courting me, saying he fell for me. I don’t want to know either.”

“…You don’t want to know? Sister, aren’t you being too complacent?”

Danae asked me with a snort. I looked straight at her and answered.

“That’s right. Do I need to know why Duke Haven is acting like that? And well, I don’t particularly want to step in and block the Duke’s approach either.”

“…What?”

“And if the Duke has really fallen for me, that’s even better. If I play my cards right, I might be able to get confidential information the Duke possesses. Right, Uncle?”

“…Ah, that’s right. That’s quite a reasonable point.”

I turned my head and asked the Duke. The Duke answered with an expression as if he hadn’t thought of that. Then Danae turned to the Duke and shouted.

“Dad! You’re not actually believing those words as they are, are you? That’s just an excuse! She’s just making up excuses because she’s being suspected!”

“You’re the one forcing things, Danae. Do you have any evidence that I’ve been colluding with the Duke? It’s unpleasant to be accused without evidence.”

“What do you mean there’s no evidence? Both the Duke and you keep acting suspiciously! That attitude is evidence!”

When I calmly refuted, Danae shouted angrily. I glared at her with a cold gaze. Then, letting out an “Ah” of realization, I spoke mockingly.

“…Ah. I get it. The reason you’re acting like this now. Danae, are you jealous of me right now?”

“…What?”

“Right? You’re envious because Duke Haven is courting me and not you? …Ah, come to think of it, you yelled at me with all your might at the ball. Saying things like there’s no way the Duke would sincerely court me, or how he wouldn’t give such a precious brooch to someone inferior to you. …Really. Even so, how could you harbor such suspicions about me?”

Danae’s pretty face twisted hideously. It seemed my words had hit the mark. I looked down at her with one corner of my mouth twisted up. Seeing me like that, she trembled all over with her cheeks flushed bright red.

At that moment, the Duke slammed his fist against the wall and shouted.

“Both of you, please shut your mouths! Raising your voices and having a vulgar argument in front of the head of the family! Aren’t you ashamed in front of the servants!”

“…I’m sorry, Uncle.”

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

Danae and I apologized. The Duke let out a deep sigh and collapsed into the broken chair, then spoke to us.

“I don’t want to see either of you, so go back to your bedrooms. Danae, apologize for suspecting your sister without evidence.”

“Dad!”

“And Christine, you can’t say you’re not responsible for how this situation turned out. For the time being, stay quietly in the annex and reflect on failing this task.”

Suppressing the urge to snort immediately, I said.

“Yes, Uncle.”

And at the same time, I thought.

‘The one who should be reflecting isn’t me.’

I glanced at the wall clock placed in a corner of the office.

‘If my prediction is correct, the letter sent to the Duke by the noble from the Raska Empire should have arrived by now.’

It was then, as I was growing anxious about the delayed letter.