“Hello, Lady Welph.”

Kisa first greeted the person who had spoken to her, then turned her gaze to the one standing next to them.

“And Lady Clifford. I didn’t know you two would be here today as well.”

Lady Welph, still wearing a smile that seemed almost like a sneer, replied.

“Indeed. I too didn’t expect to see Lady Banspelt in a place like this.”

Was it just her imagination, or did the phrase ‘in a place like this’ sound particularly emphasized?

Well, these two, including Melissa, were among the members of the tea party who followed the princess more zealously than others.

Even though they had all laughed and chatted together the last time they met, it was only natural for them to harbor resentment towards Kisa now.

To them, Kisa was a traitor who had stolen the man who was to be the fiancé of the princess they so admired.

This had become troublesome. Their sharply raised eyebrows showed they had been stewing over this for quite some time.

Kisa glanced around, but couldn’t see the hosts of the concert, Duke and Duchess Darion.

It seemed they were greeting guests in the banquet hall, the venue for the gathering, rather than at the entrance of the mansion.

‘If the Duke and Duchess were nearby, I could have used greeting them as an excuse to escape this situation…’

But with only the Ducal household’s servants out to guide guests to the banquet hall, that was impossible.

There was no choice. Although the conversation didn’t seem to be over, she had to force her way through.

“In any case, it was nice to see you both. I hope you enjoy yourselves and have a pleasant evening. Well then, until next time.”

Kisa had quickly bid farewell and was about to pass by the two women when:

“Just a moment, Lady Banspelt.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Let’s finish our conversation.”

They joined forces to block Kisa’s path.

Strictly speaking, it was a breach of etiquette, but since Kisa and they were, at least nominally, childhood friends, it was hard to be too strict about it.

“But the concert will be starting soon.”

“Don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time left. Enough to catch up on what we’ve missed.”

Lady Welph grinned as she pulled out her pocket watch necklace to show Kisa the time.

Damn, if she had known this would happen, she should have stayed in the garden with Seyerd a bit longer.

She regretted her past self for being unnecessarily sensitive about time appointments and politely declining Seyerd’s suggestion to stroll a little more.

“By the way, why didn’t you come last time?”

Kisa’s eyes widened at Lady Clifford’s question.

“Didn’t come?”

“When we all visited the palace to pay our respects to the princess a few days ago.”

Pay respects? While Princess Arta had been bedridden for a while due to the death of her fiancé, the context didn’t seem to refer to that time.

Moreover, there had been no occasion then when the tea party members had gathered to visit her together.

“Is the princess ill?”

“Oh my! Didn’t Lady Banspelt know?”

Lady Welph made a fuss, putting her hand to her mouth.

“She took to her sickbed again not long after resuming her social activities. Given that she had already been through such a difficult time, I suppose it’s only natural, considering there was another shocking event after that.”

There was no need to hear what that shocking event was. What else could it be besides the announcement of Kisa and Seyerd’s engagement?

“Ah, poor thing. Why do misfortunes keep befalling the princess?”

“Indeed. She’s such a kind and caring person.”

Faced with the two who looked as if they might burst into tears at any moment, Kisa was at a loss for words.

“It’s a bit awkward to say this, but Lady Banspelt, you seem quite cold-hearted.”

The arrow was bound to fly in this direction even if she hadn’t spoken first.

Lady Welph asked in a somewhat sharp tone.

“How could you not visit the princess even once? That’s going too far.”

“I didn’t know. I didn’t know the princess was ill, nor that you all went to pay your respects together.”

There hadn’t even been such rumors circulating, nor had she received any special notification.

Above all, she still hadn’t received a reply to the greeting she had sent to the princess earlier.

However, Lady Clifford tilted her head as if that couldn’t be true.

“That’s strange. I’m sure Lady Dos said she had passed the message to Lady Banspelt. She even urged you to join us in paying our respects.”

“No. I never received such a message.”

While Melissa’s letters had come in mountains, making it daunting, Kisa had eventually opened and skimmed through all of them.

But most of them were filled with excuses for her own mistakes and inquiries about how on earth Kisa had ended up in such a relationship with Duke Hillan.

If there had been words like ‘princess’ or ‘paying respects’, Kisa wouldn’t have failed to remember.

There was, however, one thing that bothered her.

Due to the numerous unwelcome letters from Melissa, Kisa had decided not to accept any more letters from her in the future.

“I did return some of Lady Dos’s letters unopened, so perhaps it was in one of those.”

Kisa, after a moment’s hesitation, admitted this fact.

After all, if the other ladies of the group had met once in the meantime, they would likely know that Kisa and Melissa’s relationship had soured.

As expected, the two showed no signs of surprise upon hearing that Kisa had returned Melissa’s letters.

Lady Welph merely shrugged.

“Well, we only heard from Lady Dos that she had tried to contact you but was ignored.”

“Did Lady Dos really say that?”

“Yes, something to that effect, I believe.”

If that was true, it reeked of malice.

Even if the letters were returned, Melissa had plenty of other means to convey urgent news to Kisa.

Couldn’t she have sent someone to relay a message?

But Melissa hadn’t done so, and moreover, it seemed she had left these people to misunderstand as they pleased.

“Come to think of it, is it true that you ended your relationship with Lady Dos over this engagement issue?”

“Pardon?”

“When we asked why your relationship had soured, Lady Dos said there were differences of opinion regarding the princess.”

At this point, it was so absurd it was almost laughable.

“No. The reason Lady Dos and I fell out has nothing to do with the engagement.”

“Really? Then what about the story related to the princess?”

Certainly, one of the things that had disappointed Kisa about Melissa was her action of arbitrarily spreading the news about Daniel to the princess.

But the fundamental reason was different.

Melissa knew about Daniel’s close relationship with Hazel but hid that fact from Kisa.

Moreover, even after her mistake was discovered, she never once offered a sincere apology.

Kisa conveyed her thoughts as they were.

“The princess isn’t really involved. Regardless of her, we were bound to end up like this eventually. I considered Lady Dos a true friend, but she didn’t.”

Lady Welph’s eyes widened.

“Are you saying it’s Lady Dos’s fault?”

“I won’t deny it.”

“…Lady Banspelt, I’ve greatly misjudged you. I thought you’d at least be too ashamed to face us.”

Lady Clifford chimed in from the side.

“How can you be so shameless? Do you truly feel no remorse towards the princess?”

As their voices rose, the gazes of guests still heading to the banquet hall turned towards them.

In fact, many had been glancing at Kisa, who had become a celebrity along with Seyerd, but now they openly stopped to watch the three women.

‘This is why I wanted to avoid this…’

Faced with those loudly condemning her, Kisa had to swallow a sigh of exasperation.

Generally, it was embarrassing for nobles to openly argue in front of others.

But these two had the justification of acting for the princess. In other words, loyalty towards royalty.

Even if it was excessive loyalty, there was enough room for it to be accepted as a virtue.

The two seemed upset that Kisa, whom they probably thought wouldn’t offer much rebuttal, was denying each of their claims one by one. However, Kisa couldn’t just silently listen to what they were saying either.

If she had, Kisa would have become a shameless person who knew the princess was ill but didn’t visit her, and abandoned her friend because she was blinded by a man.

It was truly a dilemma. As she spoke, she found herself responding to each absurd statement, and she regretted not having feigned illness to avoid the conversation altogether.

While she had resolved not to avoid problematic situations after the incident with Daniel, this wasn’t just a matter of her own honor.

As long as she was engaged to Duke Hillan, any damage to Kisa’s reputation would also negatively affect Seyerd.

Moreover, hadn’t she come here with him?

“Um, everyone. The concert will be starting soon-”

Just as Kisa was trying to calm them down, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Excuse me, ladies.”

Seyerd, who had somehow approached them closely, put his arm around Kisa’s waist.

“May I have my fiancée back now?”

While Kisa stiffened at the sudden contact, Seyerd naturally led her towards the banquet hall.

“Come, let’s go. We’ll be late at this rate.”

He hadn’t even waited for a response from those he had just asked for permission.

“Wait a moment, Your Grace!”

But Lady Welph called out, and Seyerd only slightly turned his head to look at her.

She seemed a bit nervous, but bravely spoke her mind.

“Isn’t there someone else you should be concerned about right now?”

Her tone was desperate, as if hoping that the princess’s foolish match would finally come to his senses.

Kisa couldn’t predict at all how he would respond to this startling question.

Would he ignore it? Express his displeasure? Or calmly refute with logical words?

However, Seyerd Hillan was someone who rendered all such predictions useless.

“Well…”

He lowered his head to drop his lips on Kisa’s hair and said in a sweet voice:

“As a man born into this world, is there anyone I should be more concerned about than the woman I love dearly?”

It was a moment when Kisa’s body stiffened even more.