Kisa looked at Sayered. It was the surprised face she had only glimpsed when he first visited the Vanspelt mansion before.

I see. This was the expression he made when encountering something unexpected.

Knowing that she had evoked such an emotion in the great Sayered, a strange sense of pride bloomed like a wildflower in Kisa’s heart.

“Kisa!”

However, there were too many people here besides the two of them to simply stand admiring his face.

“My, to see you in a place like this.”

The princess exclaimed joyfully as she grasped both of Kisa’s hands.

“Are you alright? Is it okay for you to be out like this?”

Kisa nodded, meeting the princess’s eyes.

“Yes, it’s all thanks to your concern, Princess.”

“Not at all. I hardly did anything. In any case, you must have gone through such a difficult time, but thank you for coming back like this, Kisa.”

Arta spread her arms and embraced Kisa. The scent of her favorite perfume tickled Kisa’s nose. Kisa hugged her back, feeling a slight awkwardness.

“Princess, you must have had a much harder time than I did… To welcome me so warmly, I’m truly grateful.”

The body in her arms felt like it had gained some weight since their last meeting, but it was still thin.

It was just a few days ago that the princess, who had stopped her social activities due to her fiancé’s sudden death, began to venture out again.

At that time, Kisa had entered a period of seclusion due to her broken engagement, as if trading places with her, and had only congratulated Arta’s return through a letter.

In any case, people praised the princess’s silk-like kindness for worrying about her friend first, despite having experienced an even greater tragedy herself.

“Oh, as expected of the princess.”

“How can she be so kind?”

“She just can’t ignore people in difficulty.”

“Her charm lies in being honest with her emotions.”

To Kisa, it seemed half sincere, half flattery.

Kisa suddenly wondered how this gentle warmth embracing her, these warm gazes, would change later. Would they turn into cold daggers after her engagement to Sayered was announced?

A moment later, the two women faced each other again. Even after their affectionate hug ended, Princess Arta gave her friend a tender look and said:

“I have so much I want to talk about with Kisa.”

“I feel the same.”

“But right now, I need to greet others…”

“I’ll come visit you separately later. We can’t keep all these people waiting.”

Behind Kisa, many people were eagerly waiting for a chance to exchange even a word with the esteemed princess.

Moreover, her companion was Duke Hillan. The chance to greet the two most prominent figures at this banquet was well worth the wait.

For a moment, Kisa wondered how she should react if Arta introduced her to Sayered. Should she pretend it was their first meeting in this public setting, or…

But in the end, it was a useless concern. The princess didn’t seem to have any intention of introducing Kisa and Sayered.

Hmm. After pondering for a moment, she pointed her index finger somewhere in the banquet hall.

“Instead, let’s talk in the lounge over there. After the banquet starts, right after Count Habertz’s opening speech, meet me in the lounge immediately.”

“Yes, I understand.”

At Kisa’s response, the princess smiled brightly and stroked her friend’s soft cheek with her hand.

“Anyway, I’m glad to see you like this. I was worried, but you look healthier than I expected. My lovely Kisa.”

“…I’m glad too, Princess. And I’m sorry for causing you concern.”

“Not at all. Then, I’ll see you in a little while.”

With that, their conversation ended. Kisa made way for the person behind her and then extricated herself from the crowd that had rushed to greet the princess.

“…”

“…”

In that moment, she felt as if her gaze had met Sayered’s, if only for a split second.

But it was gone in the blink of an eye, and his figure quickly disappeared from Kisa’s sight, obscured by the crowd.

“Young miss, did you exchange greetings well with the princess?”

Richard asked as Kisa returned to her original spot. Come to think of it, the moment she saw the princess and Sayered, she had left to greet them without even paying attention to her partner.

Embarrassed by this realization, Kisa apologized.

“I’m sorry, Richard. I should have gone together with you. To introduce you to the princess…”

Richard waved his hands in alarm.

“Are you joking? How could someone like me possibly… with the princess. If you had really done that, I might have died from my heart pounding.”

“But Richard, you’re my partner.”

“Well, even if it’s customary to introduce one’s partner at such gatherings, that only applies when the ranks match.”

“…Is that so?”

“It is. So you don’t need to introduce me to anyone. I prefer it that way, actually.”

Suddenly, her gaze drifted to Arta in the distance, still exchanging greetings with people.

The distance was too great to see her expression, but she was in lengthy conversation with some noblewoman and then gestured to Sayered standing beside her.

Following that, Sayered and the noblewoman exchanged greetings.

Because there were so many people wanting to greet Princess Arta and Duke Hillan, the charity banquet started about 10 minutes later than scheduled.

Of course, no one would blame the princess and duke for this, and Count Habertz rather delivered his opening speech with a delighted expression.

“I extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who has come here today…”

As the host of the banquet, what greater honor could there be than having the noble princess and the kingdom’s most talked-about figure of late, Duke Hillan, personally attend and grace the occasion?

The fact that many guests were desperate to greet them seemed to further elevate the count’s sense of pride.

As soon as the opening speech ended, Kisa immediately headed for the lounge the princess had indicated.

“I’ll wait here.”

“Alright, see you later.”

After parting with Richard in front of it, she entered the lounge and met the eyes of two middle-aged noblewomen.

Perhaps because it had just started, there were only two people in the fairly spacious lounge.

“Oh, Lady Vanspelt.”

“Hello, both of you.”

“Yes. How are you, Lady?”

“I’m well, thank you.”

As they were only slightly acquainted, the conversation dried up after exchanging perfunctory greetings.

Feeling somewhat awkward, Kisa sat down in one of the lined-up chairs to wait for Arta, while the two noblewomen whispered in voices only audible to themselves.

Though they weren’t particularly glancing this way, they were probably talking about Kisa. Perhaps they were clicking their tongues at her shamelessness for calmly attending a banquet hosted by her ex-fiancé’s relative.

As Kisa was having such thoughts, the door swung open and Arta entered the lounge.

“Kisa, did you wait long?”

At the princess’s sudden appearance, the two noblewomen, unlike before, hurriedly rose from their seats.

“Welcome, Princess.”

“Oh my, Lady Vanspelt was waiting for the princess.”

Both of them must have already made their introductions before the banquet started, as no lengthy greetings were exchanged.

“You two were here as well. But I’m sorry, what should we do?”

Arta said with an expression that didn’t look particularly sorry.

“I have something I’d like to discuss alone with my friend, Kisa. Could you give us some privacy?”

“What? Oh, yes! Of course we should!”

“We hope you have a pleasant conversation with your friend.”

Although their expressions suggested they were inwardly curious about what conversation the princess and Kisa would have, the two noblewomen hurriedly left the lounge.

With only the two of them left in the room, the princess approached Kisa and seated her back in her chair.

“Kisa, I have so many questions I want to ask.”

She must have many. In fact, even in her letters, she hadn’t hidden her desire to know how Kisa’s engagement had been broken off.

Kisa had vaguely avoided answering by making excuses that her father had handled the engagement issue, so she didn’t know much about it herself.

Since it was true that the count had taken care of it, she planned to evade in a similar manner if the princess asked this time as well.

“Yes, you can ask me anything.”

But the princess didn’t repeat questions she had already asked.

“Is it true that you might become the queen of Chamal?”

“…”

Melisa’s face came to mind. She was the only possible culprit who could have passed this bogus information to the princess.

To be honest, there was nothing new to be disappointed about with Melisa at this point.

It was just a little astounding that she had the audacity to leak unconfirmed information even to a princess of the country.

Of course, just because Melisa had done so didn’t mean Kisa could also give false information.

“No, Princess. There’s no such thing.”

“Really?”

“Of course. How could I dare lie?”

Arta gazed intently into Kisa’s eyes. As if trying to gauge whether what she had just heard was really not a lie.

“It’s really not true?”

“Yes, I can swear to it.”

How much time had passed? The princess finally withdrew her gaze and spoke in a cheerful voice.

“Alright. I’ll believe you, Kisa. That’s a relief. I was worried because I heard some strange things from Melisa.”

As expected, the culprit was the person I had anticipated.

“I don’t know why, but it seems Melisa had some strange misunderstanding. She even came to ask me before, and I clearly told her it wasn’t true…”

“Oh my, I wonder how such a misunderstanding arose?”

The princess tilted her head for a moment, then grasped the doorknob.

“Anyway, I should be going now. There are too many people looking for me unnecessarily. Let’s talk again next time.”

With those words, Arta left the lounge.

As the tension eased, Kisa let out a sigh. Then she felt a strange sense of discomfort.

It felt like she had forgotten something, but what could it be?

Achoo!

At that moment, a man standing absently in the garden of the Habertz mansion sneezed.

“Kisa…”

It had been forty minutes since he started waiting here. There was still no sign of the person he was waiting for.