Velest and Riena exchanged glances, ultimately bowing their heads.

“I accept your apology.”

“Then it seems we’ve reached a resolution. I’ll take my leave.”

Ermedillin left, not giving Vallery—who still looked enraged—another thought.

“What’s your opinion, sir?”

Nearly back to his chambers, Ermedillin asked the servant.

“About what?”

“About Lady Vallery.”

Ermedillin, concerned his judgment might be biased, sought a thirdparty opinion.

“It’s dangerous for someone to wield violence out of anger, especially someone with power.”

A valid point.

Vallery was dangerously unstable, even for her young age.

‘It’s ominous that she seems to be consumed by a sense of inferiority…’

Just as Ermedillin was sorting out his thoughts, Velest’s voice rang out.

“Your Majesty!”

Velest and Riena had apparently run to catch up, as they were panting heavily.

“What is it?”

Ermedillin’s tone involuntarily stiffened, uninterested in conversing with them.

“There’s something I need to say!”

Velest, kneeling and catching her breath, looked genuinely innocent.

‘What’s with her? Is she bipolar?’

“Come inside.”

After inviting Velest and Riena into the reception room, Ermedillin offered them lukewarm tea.

Given their panting, he felt they needed to catch their breath first.
“It’s not someone else’s problem. If I want to live comfortably for a long time with this body, I need to start exercising.”

Velest, catching her breath, suddenly stood up from her seat and deeply bowed towards Ermedillin.

“I apologize for showing you such an unsightly side.”

“?”

Ermedillin looked at Pellio with a puzzled face, not understanding what was suddenly going on. Pellio, too, seemed clueless.

“However, there’s one thing you misunderstand. I didn’t belittle you based on your status in Valeria. My words slipped out in anger at an act of violence stemming from an inferiority complex. But I could have chosen my words more carefully.”

At Velest’s clean and straightforward apology, Ermedillin squinted her eyes, scrutinizing Velest’s sincerity.

‘Is she sincere? If she is, did I judge her too quickly?’

“Ah, is that so? To be honest, if I were in such a situation, it would be difficult for me to use polite language as well. So don’t worry about it.”

At Ermedillin’s generous response, Velest and Liena broke into bright smiles, revealing their girlish grins.

“I was there at Alhyun Palace that day. I saw you save the baby for the Empress! You were truly amazing!!”

“Huh?”

Velest let out an even more innocent smile than before. The gazes of the two women looking at Ermedillin sparkled as if they had just met their favorite idol.

‘What’s going on all of a sudden?’

“The fact that you could give mouthtomouth resuscitation to a baby, even when there was the risk of contagion… I couldn’t get that scene out of my mind for days.”

“Ah… is that so?”

It’s good that she thinks well of me.

‘But does this woman know that her sister tried to kill me?’

“Did you see me in the courtroom too? People said I looked pretty cool that day as well.”

Of course, by ‘people,’ she meant Loony and the friends who appear in Loony’s exaggerated stories.

Since aside from Loony and Pellio, there was no one she interacted with personally, it was obvious.

However, Ermedillin, pretending to have forgotten what her younger sister had done, slightly lifted her chin and mentioned the courtroom incident with a somewhat cold and dignified gaze.

“Yes, of course, I was there. It was an incident that happened in our house.”

“…….”

Ermedillin didn’t say anything, urging her on with her eyes.

“Bella will marry abroad next month. She’s having an arranged marriage, like me.”

‘What’s she talking about all of a sudden?’

“In fact, Bella had a fiancé she had been close to since childhood. She grew up believing she would marry him. But he died from curse magic 3 years ago, one year after you ascended to the throne.”

‘Ah, again…’

How far does this crazy woman’s misdeeds go? It seems I have quite a few karmic debts left to pay.

“The man she’s marrying now is a duke 17 years her senior. I was at least fortunate to have a husband my age. Though now that’s meaningless since he’s dead.”

Ermedillin noticed Velest’s face, which appeared emotionless as she laid bare her own tragedies, somehow looked desolate.

“The pressure of leaving for a foreign country soon and the death of her younger brother must have driven her insane. I also wasn’t in the position to pay attention to Bella since my husband had just died.”

It felt like her mouth was filled with bitter water.

In this damned world, even the daughters of wealthy ducal families couldn’t escape tragedy.

Ermedillin swallowed her complicated emotions.

The assassination attempt on the Empress at the funeral remained an unsolved case with no perpetrator caught.

So, Velest seemed reluctant to speak further and tightly closed her lips.
“Thinking about wanting to assault someone and actually throwing a book are issues of different dimensions.”

Ermedillin also gave an example using Vallier’s actions without directly mentioning Biella.

“I have no desire to sympathize with people who actually carry out evil thoughts.”

At Ermedillin’s cold voice, Belest lowered his head in disappointment and let out a sigh.

“But you are family, so do try to comfort your sibling’s feelings. And may peace come quickly to your heart as well.”

There’s nothing as exhausting as spending emotions by getting involved in other people’s affairs.

Especially in a situation where you’re struggling to solve your own responsibilities.

Without waiting for Belest’s response, Ermedillin went straight back to her own bedroom.