‘Cayena had strongly warned me not to trust Vanessa.’

Natasha suddenly recalled their first meeting at the duke’s mansion. Cayena, who had returned from vacation, listened seriously to her plans and named one by one the helpers she needed and the enemies she should cast out, saying she would give advice.

…Although it was the opposite of the truth she knew.

While others were one thing, Vanessa and Meliana were people Natasha was meeting for the first time in her life. So she believed Cayena’s words a little and was wary of them, but.

‘They’re such nice people.’

Vanessa and Meliana turned out to be people with kinder hearts than expected. Although not as much as Cayena, they thought of and worried about Natasha sufficiently.

Of course, if asked what use it was to trust her own judgment when she had believed in someone like Sieghart Asthart for half a year, she had nothing to say.

‘Should I ask Cayena?’

As soon as she thought about it, a negative answer came down.

Yes, the truth doesn’t matter. In fact, whether or not she attended the festival didn’t matter.

What Natasha was worried about was rather something else.

‘His Excellency has already explained, isn’t the lady’s doubt ultimately a difference in heart?’

‘You’re anxious because you lack faith, my lady. If you love His Excellency, you should know how to endure and wait patiently.’

‘How will the imperial family react if you divorce, my lady? They will try to attack the princess of Charliee who has no place of protection.’

Cayena’s strange words and actions she had heard in her past life.

At that time, she thought the other person was absolutely right and followed, but looking back now, there were more than a few suspicious points.

If it were Cayena who loved Natasha, the Cayena she knew, she would have rather encouraged divorce to her who was slowly withering and struggling.

‘It can’t be. Everything is a misunderstanding. Yes, a misunderstanding.’

While brainwashing herself that it couldn’t be, Natasha’s feet were moving on their own. The destination was not the meeting place she had arranged with the butler.

A moment later, she stopped in front of the kitchen. Enjoying the savory smell carried nakedly by the wind, she opened the door.

After nodding lightly to the group greeting her, she walked out without hesitation.

Then she stopped abruptly at one point.

“I’ve come to collect a debt.”

“……”

“Shall we talk for a moment, Lady Tristana?”

It was in front of Charlotte Tristana.

For the conversation, the two left the kitchen for a moment. In front of the corridor, Charlotte looked around restlessly, examining her surroundings.

‘You’d better be grateful that your mouth is doing its job, Lady Tristana. I hope you never appear before the duchess again to prevent such a thing. Because then, I won’t look after my beloved wife and will act as I please.’

It was clear that if this scene were caught by the duke or his close associates, it would cause great trouble.

But she couldn’t refuse to meet the duchess, who was like a benefactor… This position she was in felt like sitting on pins and needles.

A little later, the duchess, who had been keeping her mouth shut all along, opened her mouth.

“Lady Tristana, you would agree that you owe me a debt.”

“Yes, of course. If you need me, I will help. Pl-please speak comfortably.”

“I would like you to monitor Lady Ten.”

“Excuse me, but by Lady Ten do you mean……”

Charlotte was suddenly taken aback.

Was the Lady Ten she heard correct?

The country bumpkin maid who she heard was the duchess’s closest person, who had been with her since the royal palace?

Charlotte, insisting she must have misheard, asked for confirmation again.

“Cayena Ten.”

Surprisingly, her hearing was fine.

“Monitor that child’s private life in detail and report to me if you see anything suspicious.”

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

There was strength in the hand that opened the door. Jenkins, the butler who had been looking at the grandfather clock on the wall, smiled kindly and came over to greet her.

“It’s alright. My job is to wait patiently for the lady.”

Jenkins, who had asked for understanding, moved his hand. The hand wearing a white glove tidied up the mistress’s shawl. It seemed to have become a mess from rushing over.

“Oh, my.”

She mumbled softly as if embarrassed.

“The wind has been quite cold lately, hasn’t it? I should tell them to close all the windows.”

Thanks to the other’s consideration in gracefully overlooking it, the embarrassment didn’t last long.

The two sitting in chairs discussed the party to be held a month later.

“I thought it might be helpful, so I made a guest list. Besides these, you can invite any families you want anytime, my lady. After you’ve written all the invitations, just let me know the maximum number of people.”

“It’s my job, but I’ve troubled you. I’ll gratefully refer to it.”

The list separately noted families that the Asthart ducal family considered important. Some were bigwigs who were the leaders of the noble faction in the Letius Empire, and some were high-ranking nobles from other countries.

Judging by the small number, it seemed to be a list of only important figures.

Natasha actively dug out information about them. Some were people who had been invited to unofficial tea times before, so she aimed to find out their preferred tastes and reflect them as much as possible. Information needed for casual conversation was also an essential element, so she didn’t miss it diligently.

“…The Callent Count family?”

Natasha murmured softly as she scanned through the list.

「ASHY CALLETE」

A familiar name caught her eye.

The Callent Count family was a family founded about 500 years ago by Osborn Callent, who was born in Baile. They rose to become the wealthiest family in the kingdom after the Charliee royal family by greatly succeeding in business, but about 20 years ago, before Natasha was born, they were wiped out on charges of treason.

“If it’s Callent, it’s a fallen family, so how…”

Jenkins glanced at the paper as the duchess was confused. After checking where his finger was resting, he continued his explanation.

“Ah, that is a family belonging to the Galonde Empire. Come to think of it, it coincidentally has the same name as the family from the Charliee Kingdom that fell several decades ago.”

As he said, it was truly a coincidental coincidence.

“Then who is this person?”

“We actually don’t know. It doesn’t seem to be a noble family, and we know her as a daughter of a commoner family. She seemed a bit old, but she’s someone who occasionally comes to have tea time with His Excellency.”

“…I see.”

After reviewing the entire list, they discussed more specific matters.

The first thing to decide was the theme, which was no different from the flower of the party.

These days, masquerade balls were popular at parties in the empire. Jenkins also suggested putting a large chandelier in the ballroom and hiring a famous troupe to perform.

It was certainly a good method. In fact, masquerade balls became popular in the first place to show off the wealth of families, so it was perfect for a party of the Asthart family.

“However, it doesn’t seem suitable as the family’s first party. People form deeper bonds when they talk face to face, after all.”

“That’s true as well.”

“Hmm.”

As she was thinking of other themes, Natasha soon looked at Jenkins as if she had a good idea.

“I’m thinking of making it a temple theme.”

“A temple? But isn’t a temple too sacred a place to use as a party motif?”

The other asked back as if surprised. It seemed more out of genuine curiosity than intent to object.

“It’s just a motif as I said, so we don’t need to act exactly the same. I was thinking we could just take the exterior and rituals. Both His Excellency’s and my marriage, and His Excellency’s achievements were all obtained under the grace of the temple, so it has deep meaning.”

“It certainly seems like a good idea. However, we’ll need the temple’s consent, and I’m not sure if His Holiness the Pope will allow it… Shall I contact them?”

“No, I’ll write a letter myself.”

She answered with a strangely confident face.

The knighting ceremony that happens once in a hundred years was already tainted by an unfortunate incident. Both the Pope and the temple would likely be displeased.

If we say we’re hosting the party with a heart of respect for them, they’ll probably view it positively. Going a step further, it would be good to ask His Holiness the Pope to conduct the party briefly.

“Yes, then I’ll leave it to you, my lady!”

Jenkins exclaimed in an excited voice, seemingly pleased with the mistress who was enthusiastic about the party.

After deciding on the main points, it was time to decide on the details. Jenkins relieved her burden by saying that the servants would take care of the very small things. Instead, he asked her to prepare a gift for Duke Asthart.

“A gift for His Excellency?”

“Yes, since the purpose is largely to commemorate His Excellency’s achievements. It would look very good if you prepared a congratulatory gift for His Excellency. Something meaningful would be good… Ah, how about an embroidered handkerchief to hang on the holy sword?”

She had been on cold terms with Sieghart since ‘that incident’. The man did not stay in the bedroom, citing busyness, and the only time the two faced each other was during meals.

Moreover, there were many onlookers in the dining room, so they only exchanged business-like conversations, pretending not to know about that day.

A gift for such a person. It wasn’t very appealing, but since rumors were even spreading that they were a show-window couple, she couldn’t simply refuse. In the current situation where Sieghart’s favor was Natasha’s position, there was nothing good about the truth being discovered.

“…I’ll do that.”

In the end, the task of preparing Duke Asthart’s gift became her responsibility.