“Miss Iz!”

“Miss Lining, how have you been?”

The woman also greeted Magnolia with a friendly nod. Then, upon meeting Veronica’s gaze, she calmly offered a greeting.

“Pardon my late introduction. I’m Celia Iz.”

“I’m Veronica Hardness.”

“I’ve been wanting to meet you. I’m glad to see you like this.”

When Veronica returned the greeting, the woman, Celia, smiled sweetly. Veronica forced a smile in return.

“These are my spare gloves. Please use them if you’d like. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.”

“Ah… Thank you.”

Veronica accepted the gloves Celia offered. The stiff texture of the new fabric felt unfamiliar.

“If I had known Miss Iz would be here, I would have gone to greet you.”

“No, I didn’t know Miss Lining would be attending either.”

Seeing the two engaged in friendly conversation, Veronica asked,

“How do you two know each other?”

“We happened to go to a ball.”

“We ended up talking.”

“Our tastes matched.”

“And we liked each other’s personalities.”

They answered alternately and then smiled at each other.

Magnolia suggested that she take the empty seat. Celia gladly sat down.

Her face also showed joy at seeing Magnolia. They must be quite close.

“Magnolia, you seem to have quite a wide circle of acquaintances.”

“Hm? Is that so?”

Celia Iz. She was originally the fiancée designated for Cassian.

The imperial family designates fiancées early for those likely to succeed to the throne, preparing for any situation.

It’s also intended to distribute the power for future throne disputes in advance.

The crown prince had been discussed for engagement since he could barely walk, and the second prince went through a similar process.

However, the current emperor’s debauchery was famous even outside the country, and he had already spread his hands here and there at a young age.

As a result, the number of children born from his seed was considerable.

It was impossible and meaningless to designate fiancées for all of them from a young age, so they were guaranteed some freedom until they came of age.

Those in a hurry sometimes arranged their own political marriages.

Cassian also had a designated fiancée. It was a match proposed early on, but the actual engagement announcement was made about a year after Asher got engaged to Veronica.

It’s unclear why the engagement announcement was delayed, but it could have been Cassian’s choice to consider Asher, who had a leg disability and couldn’t find a suitable match, or there were rumors of the emperor’s indifference.

But until then, the two often appeared together as partners.

People took their engagement for granted. In other words, if Veronica hadn’t gotten engaged to Cassian, Celia Iz would have been by Cassian’s side now.

And now.

Veronica unconsciously looked over Celia, who was in conversation with Magnolia. Although it wasn’t the first time she had seen her face, she suddenly caught her attention anew.

She hadn’t paid much attention before due to lack of interest, but was it because her position was different now?

Celia Iz was just as Veronica remembered. Her proper posture, slightly shy expression, calm tone of voice, all of her behavior was the opposite of Veronica’s personality.

They say opposites attract, could it be that?

‘Was she not just a formal fiancée, but someone he really cared for?’

Is this an unexpected display of devotion? Veronica smirked secretly. Meanwhile, the conversation between Magnolia and Celia continued.

“Ah, I heard the news. About that marriage…”

“I’m fine! I’ve forgotten all about it now.”

Magnolia smiled calmly at the uncomfortable Celia.

Veronica, who had watched her lamenting that she would die alone until recently, inwardly clicked her tongue.

Celia, unaware of the situation, seemed relieved and offered bland words of comfort, saying there would be good news.

As she spoke, her gaze subtly shifted to Veronica. Magnolia, who turned to look at Veronica in response, continued speaking.

“Come to think of it, Miss Iz said she really wanted to meet Veronica. That she wanted to talk.”

“Is that so?”

“After all, you two are the imp…”

The lively atmosphere was suddenly doused with silence. Magnolia looked very flustered by what she had just said. Understanding her reaction, Veronica spoke first.

“I heard about your engagement. Congratulations, albeit late. I’ll send a congratulatory gift later.”

“No. That’s not necessary. Your words are enough.”

“I really want to give you a gift. Thanks to you, my heart is at ease too.”

Veronica smiled brightly at the uncomfortable Celia.

“I should congratulate you on your engagement to Lord Roel.”

After Veronica and Cassian got engaged, Asher also had his engagement ceremony. It was originally supposed to be Cassian’s engagement ceremony. And the partner was the woman designated for him.

It was something the emperor forced through to quell the rumors surrounding the three of them as Veronica held her engagement ceremony with Cassian.

Celia, who had lost her engagement partner, was a suitable candidate. Of course, the emperor’s thoughts and the public’s hearts were different, but.

Regardless of the circumstances, Celia Iz was currently Asher’s fiancée. She had taken the place Veronica had abandoned.

“I truly congratulate you, Miss Iz.”

You really are inseparable from him, aren’t you?

Once, I clung to that proper heart too, but now you stand in the place I turned away from in disgust. If this isn’t a terrible twist of fate, what should we call it?

Only their positions had changed, nothing else was different. Veronica, wearing the gloves Celia had given her, willingly extended her hand.

“I mean it sincerely.”

On the path of predestined tragedy, Veronica smiled more kindly than anyone else.

‘What is that now.’

Cassian furrowed his brow. He watched the person coming from across, arms folded.

It had been three days since they promised to meet. Cassian had no choice but to show up. As the sunlight wasn’t strong, he waited for her in the Glass Palace.

In fact, he had hoped Veronica wouldn’t come after the last incident, but she, lacking such consideration, showed up punctually. Today was no exception.

But what was this behavior?

Veronica Hardness was walking towards him very slowly with her eyes lowered.

Her steps were so slow that a servant who had entered after her had pulled out a chair and was waiting for her. Moreover, her appearance, wrapped up from head to toe, gave off a different vibe than usual.

It felt like an eternity had passed by the time she walked up to the table and sat down on the chair the servant had pulled out for her.

With both hands on her knees, Veronica smiled silently.

“It’s a pure afternoon, Your Highness Cassian.”

“…”

The servant turned Veronica’s teacup and poured tea.

Veronica hooked her finger on the cup handle, lifted it from the saucer, brought it to her lips, and swallowed, each movement painstakingly slow.

After lowering the cup, raising it again to drink, and then placing it back on the saucer, all in slow motion, she suddenly fell silent after finishing her tea.

Her posture was stiff, and she didn’t make eye contact, which was obviously strange to anyone watching.

Cassian’s head rang. It was a danger warning.

“What kind of act is this now?”

“What… do you… mean…?”

“I asked what you’re trying to do.”

“I really… don’t know… what… you’re…”

“Why are you speaking so haltingly?”

“…talking about. Is there… some problem… with me…?”

“…”

Cassian’s eyes narrowed. What’s wrong with her?

“Drop that manner of speech first. It’s frustrating.”

“I’m… trying to match… Your Highness’s… preferences…”

“I said stop it.”

When Cassian showed real irritation, Veronica closed her mouth for a moment before opening it again. Her voice was still slow, but she didn’t cut her words short anymore.

“I’m trying to match Your Highness’s preferences. You said you liked someone opposite to me, didn’t you?”

“So you’re moving and speaking like a turtle crawling now?”

“I thought you preferred modest people.”

“So you know you’re not modest yourself.”

The man, never missing an opportunity, sneered again this time. Veronica’s hand, which slowly rose to cover her mouth, trembled slightly. Outwardly, she feigned generosity.

“I’m reflecting on my own shortcomings. What a splendid lady I am.”

“You’re already mistaken in thinking yourself splendid.”

“…”

“Let’s drop what doesn’t suit you. It seems Miss Veronica doesn’t fit with being modest.”

Cassian calmly savored his tea. Veronica, maintaining her smile and ‘modesty’, also picked up her tea.

She tilted the teacup very slowly, put it down, and then sat quietly maintaining silence, all flowing like one continuous motion.

Cassian watched Veronica, twisting his body. Let’s see how far she’ll go.

“I’ve been thinking, Your Highness.”

“Oh really, what on earth have you been thinking in that head of yours?”

“I recently read a romance novel.”

“I told you not to read such strange things.”

“It said that assertiveness is necessary in love. I thought patience and waiting were the most important.”

“When have you ever been patient and waited?”

‘Patience’ and ‘waiting’ were words that suited her least, or rather, their very existence was doubtful for her. She had no patience or waiting, only charging ahead.

If she had been a person who knew patience and waiting, she wouldn’t have irritated him so much all this time.

“Listen, Your Highness. I think I lacked assertiveness no matter how I look at it.”

“What kind of creepy thing are you saying? Miss Veronica’s assertiveness is more than sufficient, overflowing to the point of being as vast as the lake in the imperial palace, so stop talking nonsense. And burn that book too.”

“I met Miss Iz recently.”

At these words added with a smile, surprise spread across his face.

“I heard a lot about Your Highness from Miss Iz. How you usually were, and how you treated Miss Iz. She even told me how cute Your Highness Cassian was when you were very young.”

“…Did Celia say such things?”

Cassian unfolded his arms and let out a long sigh. Veronica glared at the man in front of her without losing her smile. Were they close enough to call each other by first name so affectionately?

The Cassian that Celia described was a refined and quiet man. He didn’t easily express his emotions, conversations didn’t last long, and he was generally brusque, she said.

When she saw him as a very young child, she said he had such a sullen face and was so silent that it was awkward and she didn’t know what to do. At the time, she was young too and threw tantrums wanting to avoid the uncomfortable situation. Still, she said he treated her faithfully as a partner, and she didn’t spare her defense of him.

“You must know about the engagement, of course.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“You must be having a hard time with the pain of lost love.”

“What nonsense are you suddenly spouting?”

“I wonder how you feel about your beloved being taken by your dear older brother. Or maybe that’s the reason you’ve been so angry with me all this time.”

Cassian’s face crumpled. He felt his patience quickly reaching its limit. He took a deep breath and asked calmly.

“I asked what you’re talking about.”

“She was the person you loved, wasn’t she?”