Even after finishing her bath, she felt bewildered.

She didn’t know what exactly had been done, but the dress fit her body as if it had been custommade, and the maids had no leisure as they added this or that decoration over Odette.

After the lengthy dressing process, she finally left the dressing room and sat down at a wellprepared tea table, where Eli, who had been enjoying a vacationlike time being treated as highly as Odette, greeted her.

“Oh my, Your Highness! It suits you so well! The servants here were so confident, and indeed, they are quite skilled!”

Only then did Odette regain her sense of reality.

“…Eli.”

“Yes?”

“I think Ertman is… a scary place.”

The point that it mesmerizes people and completely steals their minds was what made it so.

Once you come to your senses, you find yourself enjoying luxurious things and receiving extravagant treatment.

The terrifying part was that you might become accustomed to these things without even realizing it.

Odette spoke quite seriously, but Eli and Emma standing beside her only burst into laughter, as if finding Odette’s reaction amusing.

“Ha ha! The guest is really an amusing person.”

“Her Highness is like that. She seems serious but also has a good sense of humor, you know?”

…It was sincere.

Odette sharply looked at the two laughing people, but her discontent quickly melted away in front of the sweet tea food.

She mumbled, enjoying a sweet éclair.

‘It really is a wonderful place.’

In fact, even if Balter had told her to leave as soon as he opened his eyes, Odette would have been grateful enough.

But to receive this extraordinary treatment, she couldn’t even fathom how much she would have to pay to repay the debt.

The dress could be paid for with money, but the kindness and effort of the servants couldn’t be easily quantified.

Moreover, Odette didn’t realize it, but the servants’ kindness had slightly thawed her feelings towards Balter.

‘I don’t know what the Duke of Ertman wants from me… but he doesn’t seem to have any intention of treating me badly.’

The attitude of the servants directly reflects the attitude of the master.

If Balter had despised Odette or didn’t think she was important, the servants wouldn’t have done so much.

In fact, even without considering the servants’ attitudes, it would be the same.

If Balter had only intended to use Odette conveniently, he wouldn’t have bothered to bring her into his house.

‘I need to properly find out what the Duke of Ertman really wants.’

At first, she didn’t even want to associate with him, thinking that whatever he wanted, it would only involve using her.

But now that she’s received such great help, and realized that Balter’s treatment isn’t as bad as she thought, it seemed okay to lower her guard somewhat.
Odette was about to lift her teacup, lost in such thoughts.

An unexpected figure appeared.

“You grace me with your presence here again, Your Highness, the 4th Princess.”

“……Elodie?”

Odette’s gaze slowly rose.

What was before her eyes was undoubtedly Elodie.

She was dressed much more modestly than yesterday, but her characteristic lively smile made her easy to recognize.

Odette had not heard of Elodie’s circumstances, so she thought Elodie was still staying at Ertman.

So she wasn’t very surprised by her appearance, but…

“I didn’t expect you to speak to me first. Your head doesn’t look dull enough to forget what happened just yesterday.”

“I’m truly sorry about yesterday. I was afraid that I might interrupt the conversation between the two of you, but if I had known the situation, I would have gone to help you right away.”

“You caught my eye, yet you didn’t know?”

“Yes. There was a distance, and you were barely visible. Still, I should have paid more attention. I’m truly sorry. It’s presumptuous to ask for forgiveness, but…… I was so uncomfortable that I wanted to apologize.”

“……”

Elodie had come on with this attitude from the beginning.

If Odette had sharply rejected Elodie here, it would have made an excellent setup for others to say that Odette had gone too far.

‘The tactic is blatant.’

But she couldn’t deny that it was effective.

“……Since that was the situation, there’s no room for further blame. You may stop asking for forgiveness now.”

At Odette’s words, a color returned to Elodie’s face, as she realized her ploy had worked.

But Odette also had no intention of falling for it easily.

“But apart from that, it is still a little hard for me to see you. The incident keeps coming to mind. So would you please move? My friend and I would like to enjoy our conversation a bit longer.”

“Oh…… If you say so, I can certainly step aside. Since you’ve been generous in understanding, that much is not difficult. But……”

Elodie nodded gently, then trailed off her words.

And then, she whispered softly.

“I didn’t know that Your Highness would covet someone else’s belongings.”

“……!”

The words were just loud enough for Odette and Ellie, who were sitting at the tea table, and not for Emma or the other servants who were at a slight distance.

Ellie’s face turned red, and she scowled.

“What is this impudent speech? Have you forgotten that the person here is Her Highness the Princess?!”

“Oh, of course not. But it’s not only that you’re using the space I arranged while I was away…… you’re even wearing my dress.”

Elodie slightly narrowed her eyes and smiled forlornly.

“Was I…… that much envied by you? Your Highness.”

It was a mocking smile.