The nobles praised the beautiful crown prince and crown princess consort.

As if Milia did not exist there.

Crack, her teeth ground together.

The low emotions and painful memories she had kept hidden overwhelmed her.

The days she had worried that the heart of her husband, who had been the crown prince, would change.

The moment when she was not recognized even after giving birth.

The days when her life was threatened.

“How did I get to this place?”

Every time she saw Jaina, the deceased empress came to mind.

The empress envied Jaina, who had been lucky to have a blessed marriage without difficulty.

She had only been able to enter the palace after going through those hellish times.

“You have to feel that life in the imperial palace isn’t easy.”

Milia drained her glass in one gulp.

The image of the two, looking friendly, came to mind again.

Suddenly, their image had transformed into that of the emperor and the deceased empress.

She recalled how much she had cried at the realization that the person standing next to him was not her.

“Go ahead, enjoy yourself now. That happiness will soon be thrust into the gutter.”

Nathaniel will place another woman by his side.

And she wanted to see Jaina’s anguished face watching it.

It seemed that was the only way to heal this wound.

A vengeful rage burned within her, without a place to go.

A few days later, Casian and Teresa came to visit.

It was the first time since the incident.

“Teresa, was it hard to come here?”

“Thank you. If it hadn’t been for the carriage you sent, I probably wouldn’t have even thought to come.”

After that day, Teresa never wandered outside alone.

She was hesitant to go out, so I purposely sent a royal carriage to her.

I called Casian, too, to put Teresa at ease.

“Have you had no contact with the Groban earl’s family since then?”

Teresa nodded at my question.

Perhaps recalling that day’s events, Teresa clenched her dress tightly.

Seeing that, I regretted not having stomped on the Groban earl more thoroughly.

“By the way, the rumors that the Groban earl’s line has been cut off are spreading very quickly.”

Casian said, smiling and raising his teacup.

It was all our joint work.

Such scandals typically lead to a family’s fall from grace.

The Groban earl had already become the world’s most worthless piece of trash, and he was buried in the social world.

“His younger sister’s a bit unlucky.”

“His younger sister?”

Casian had said that there was still an unmarried younger sister.

But since the Groban earl’s family was practically banished from society, her path to marriage was blocked.

She may have been unlucky, but that didn’t mean I was going to help. Teresa, who was still anxious at my side, was more precious than someone whose face I didn’t even know.

I looked at Teresa, still trembling in fear.

Certainly, here’s the translation for the given passage:

“Thankfully, nothing serious happened.”

“Yeah. I was lucky. But…”

Teresa hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“It’s about the person who helped me that day.”

Finally, the moment had come.

Casius and I secretly exchanged glances.

Teresa didn’t know that the man who had helped her was Maximilian.

She had seen someone before losing consciousness, but she couldn’t clearly see the person’s face.

Casius and I hesitated to tell Teresa the truth.

We were worried that she might be shaken if she knew that Maximilian had helped her.

“Maximilian helped you, Teresa.”

I hesitated, and Casius answered for me.

Teresa looked surprised at the unexpected name.

But she soon calmed down.

She took a sip of the tea in front of her and paused for a moment.

“Indeed, what I saw that day was not an illusion.”

“Teresa.”

“I thought I was just missing him so much that I was hallucinating.”

A shallow, long sigh.

Teresa slumped back deep into her chair.

“It’s fine. I don’t plan to cling to him anymore.”

Saying so, she smiled, looking much stronger than before.

As time passed, surely there would come a day when she could mention Maximilian’s name without any feelings.

While drinking warm tea, I suddenly wondered why Teresa was there alone.

She was clearly with Count Dmitri before.

“What happened with Count Dmitri?”

“What?”

Both Casius and Teresa looked at me with blank faces.

I specifically mentioned the Count’s name.

“Count Dmitri. Weren’t you with him all the time that day, Teresa?”

Teresa’s face clouded for a moment.

“Count Dmi…tri? It’s the first time I’ve heard that name.”

“What, what are you talking about? You two even danced that day.”

I looked at Casius as if seeking agreement.

But even Casius seemed not to know.

“It’s no use looking at me like that. How can I know the name of someone I don’t know?”

Casius looked at me seriously.

I rambled on.

“Teresa, you danced with Count Dmitri twice. You two exchanged letters, and Casius and I even talked about him…”

“Your Highness, are you really not sick?”

Teresa and Casius shook their heads.

‘What’s going on here?’

It felt like everyone was teasing me.

But neither Casius nor Teresa seemed to be lying.

Eventually, I had to keep my mouth shut.

After sending them away, I rushed to the study.

I immediately looked through the list of nobles who had been invited to the last banquet.

“No, it’s not here.”

But Count Dmitri’s name was not on the list.

I searched the study and found a book containing the genealogy of all the nobles in the empire.

I turned the pages in a hurry.

Finally, I reached the ‘D’ chapter, and I carefully checked the names.

“What, what’s this? It’s not even a ghost.”

I felt a chill down my spine.

Count Dmitri did not exist in this book either.

So who on earth was the person I met?