“Hello, everyone.”

In the midst of hostility directed towards her, Kisa tried her best to speak confidently and calmly as she opened her mouth.

“You’ve all arrived already.”

There was still clearly half an hour left before the time written on the invitation.

It was obviously strange. While it’s natural to arrive early for an audience with the princess, had they always moved this quickly before?

Thinking back, Kisa usually arrived about half an hour early in the past, and about half of them would arrive after her.

‘Moreover.’

Kisa’s gaze turned to the table.

Not only were refreshments already laid out, but some of the teacups were nearly empty.

It certainly didn’t look like refreshments for guests who had arrived just minutes ago.

In other words, they had arrived long before Kisa and had been drinking tea.

Seeing that the princess wasn’t here, it didn’t seem like the appointment time had changed.

Then, had they arranged to meet early among themselves? Excluding Kisa.

“Hello.”

“It’s been a while.”

At that moment, two or three young ladies awkwardly greeted Kisa.

Their tone was considerably colder than usual, and the rest didn’t even bother to do that much.

Most of them glared and quickly turned away.

Even the few who returned Kisa’s greeting probably did so only because they couldn’t entirely ignore the influence of the Hillan duchy, not because they were happy to see her.

“Now, now, what were we talking about earlier?”

Before Kisa could even take a seat, Lady Welf took the lead and they resumed their interrupted conversation.

Amidst the people who started laughing and chattering, Kisa had to silently sit in the only empty seat besides the princess’s designated one.

As luck would have it, it was between Lady Welf and Lady Clifford. The seating arrangement clearly showed a strong intention not to include Kisa in the conversation.

As expected, even after Kisa sat down and more than ten minutes passed, they continued their chatter on topics only they knew about.

It seemed to be about their conversation from when they had visited the princess without Kisa during her illness.

“Oh, speaking of that place, I’ve also been-”

“Oh my, my cup is empty. Here! Could you pour me another?”

Even when a familiar topic came up and she tried to speak, those sitting on either side of her somehow prevented Kisa from opening her mouth.

Tired, Kisa decided to just keep her mouth shut.

“My goodness! What an absurd man!”

“I know, right? I was so embarrassed I couldn’t even look up.”

As Kisa silently sipped her tea, the lively conversation continued.

To ostracize someone so blatantly – while the method was petty, if the goal was to hurt Kisa, it was a fairly good choice.

Although she had come fully prepared, being treated like an invisible person still dampened her spirits.

Above all, it was saddening that until their relationship soured, all of these people had been on friendly terms with Kisa, even if they weren’t extremely close.

If only they hadn’t been on good terms or had treated each other coldly, it would have been easier to bear than this.

While lost in such thoughts, her eyes met with Melissa, who was seated diagonally across from her.

Melissa looked at Kisa with a mixture of slight sympathy and greater hostility before stubbornly turning her head away.

It might have been her imagination, but there seemed to be a look in her eyes that said, ‘See, you should have listened to me earlier.’

Even if she didn’t make a single friend, Kisa had no intention of becoming close with Melissa again unless she sincerely repented, so there was no lingering regret.

Just as Kisa had been unable to utter a single proper word for over half an hour:

“Oh? It seems everyone arrived early.”

Princess Arta entered the reception room, opening the door with a welcoming smile.

“Princess!”

“Welcome.”

“How is your health now?”

Everyone jumped to their feet, greeting the princess with enthusiasm.

“I’m perfectly fine now. It’s all thanks to everyone’s concern.”

The princess replied as she sat in her designated seat, which today had Melissa beside her.

“Melissa, thank you so much for accepting my invitation and coming here today.”

“No, no, thank you for inviting me!”

Starting with the flustered Melissa, she called out to each person one by one, expressing her gratitude.

But just when it seemed the order was going clockwise, the princess nonchalantly skipped from Lady Welf to Lady Clifford. She didn’t even glance at Kisa.

“……”

Kisa just sat quietly, trying to contain her heart that was about to feel upset.

This is nothing. It’s fine.

“Kisa.”

But just as she was about to regain her composure, the princess suddenly called out to her.

It was right after she had expressed gratitude to the young lady sitting on the opposite side of Melissa.

“Yes, Princess.”

“Thank you for coming here today, Kisa.”

“I’m honored by your words.”

“But why didn’t you come with the other young ladies last time?”

It seemed to be about the sick visit that they had made without Kisa.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t receive the message.”

“Lady Doth said she definitely sent a letter. Isn’t that right, my lady?”

Lady Welf suddenly interjected, looking at Melissa.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

As Melissa nodded slightly, Lady Welf raised one corner of her mouth.

“Princess, so Lady Bransfelt’s claim that she couldn’t come because she didn’t receive the message-”

“Karinne.”

But the princess cut her off.

“It’s alright. That’s not very important. I was purely curious about why Kisa didn’t come that day, not trying to blame her.”

Lady Welf’s cheeks instantly turned red.

“I, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. Karinne, you said that out of concern for me, right?”

Arta smiled brightly and then turned her gaze back to Kisa.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came today. I actually had something I wanted to tell Kisa.”

Taken aback by her unexpectedly non-hostile attitude, Kisa replied.

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“Congratulations on your engagement to Duke Hillan.”

Was this an unexpected development for everyone here? It felt like people collectively drew in their breath. The same was true for Kisa.

“I’m sorry for conveying my congratulations so late. I’ve been rather busy lately. At Habetz’s charity party, I was quite flustered for various reasons…”

“Not at all. It’s an honor for our family just to receive your congratulations like this.”

As Kisa hurriedly replied, the princess’s lips curved into a smile.

“I’m glad to hear that. Oh, would you mind telling me how you met the duke?”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve heard bits and pieces, but I’d like to hear it from you directly. The love story of you two.”

“Well…”

“You’ll tell me, won’t you?”

There was no way to refuse when the princess asked like that while even offering congratulations.

Kisa had no choice but to start her story.

“As is known, the duke first saw me at the opera house. However, I wasn’t really aware of him at the time, but after my broken engagement, when the duke visited our mansion…”

The princess listened intently to the fake love story fabricated by Seyerd, as if genuinely interested, while others simply exchanged glances with confused faces.

Could it be that the princess had truly decided to let go of her resentment towards Kisa and Seyerd? Such a question flashed through Kisa’s mind as she continued her love story.

It was hard to believe such a surprising turn of events, but if it were true, there was no reason not to welcome it.

However, the change came at that moment.

“…Ugh.”

Arta, who had been listening to Kisa’s story, suddenly began to shed tears without warning.

“Oh my!”

“Princess!”

“Are you alright?”

Startled women rushed in from all directions, but the princess raised her hand to stop them.

“It’s nothing, please calm down.”

Wiping a few drops of tears with the handkerchief Melissa offered, she lowered her head.

“I’m sorry for ruining the mood. I tried not to, but listening to Kisa’s words, I suddenly felt strange and before I knew it…”

Then, after taking a few deep breaths, she continued.

“I know it’s a different person, but they’re so similar that I keep thinking of Bisek. We visited the opera house a few times together too.”

Indescribable sympathy spread across people’s faces.

While some young ladies comforted the princess, others glared fiercely at Kisa.

Their eyes were full of reproach, as if asking if she really had to inflict another wound on someone with such a painful scar.

“I’m fine. Let’s continue with the story.”

The princess, having stopped crying, looked at Kisa and said.

“Kisa, I’m sorry, but could you continue the story? I promise I’ll listen properly this time.”

She still spoke in a gentle voice with a smile on her face, but now Kisa could clearly feel the unmistakable hostility.

The princess strongly disliked Kisa.

“…Wouldn’t it be better to talk about something else?”

“Oh come on, I want to hear more. Please go on.”

To the extent that she absolutely wouldn’t allow any escape.

Kisa had no choice but to continue telling the love story that no one in this place welcomed.

It was truly an ordeal. Her voice trembled and her lips became parched.

Just when she thought she wanted to stop, she suddenly remembered what Seyerd had told her on the way here.

“Kisa, leave the aftermath to me. Come out, and I’ll take care of everything.”

Could she really do that?

While her mind was hesitating, her body reacted first.

“Princess, here.”

Kisa took out the item she had brought to give to the princess from her handbag and politely held it out.

“This is the invitation to my engagement ceremony.”

As she had been talking about the engagement preparation process, it wasn’t such an awkward flow.

“Oh, is that so?”

For a moment, Arta showed a subtle expression, but soon regained her smile and received the invitation.

“Well, let’s see how grand an engagement ceremony Duke Hillan has prepared for his lovely Kisa.”

She opened the envelope with leisurely hands and scanned the contents of the invitation.

But a few seconds later, the princess’s face hardened terribly.