The capital’s finest jeweler couldn’t stop marveling at the gems brought from Astel.

Even though the Astel duke who gave them was indifferent and didn’t even mention it, according to the jeweler, it was hard to find such high-quality gems even in the empire.

“Well, I’ve finished writing the instructions, so please check them.”

When Serena nodded to Anna, she carefully checked the jewelry instructions on her behalf and nodded.

“I’ll see him out.”

Serena, who was already tired and didn’t want to get up, nodded again at Anna’s words and gestured a greeting to the jeweler.

“Really, really… it’s so beautiful!”

Laura exclaimed with sparkling eyes, seemingly tireless.

“I’ve seen my mother’s jewels a few times, but they’re completely different from the duchess’s. And… high-class jewelers are this meticulous.”

Serena had thought meeting the jeweler would be easy.

When making dresses, there was no time to rest with Madame Hailey and her assistants coming to take measurements for the whole body, hat, gloves, fan, and checking which fabric matched her natural skin tone with thick sample books.

“Yeah, I didn’t know that either.”

She had planned to just leave the jewelry to them and ask them to handle it, but it seemed that meeting the empire’s best always made her tired.

The jeweler admired the gems Serena brought, showed various design sketches, and made notes while placing each gem against the back of her hand.

“Thanks to the duchess, I get to see precious things often today. I’m really grateful.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Serena was very tired, but she hadn’t forgotten her purpose yet.

“My friend Elise would have liked it if she saw this.”

As she casually brought up the topic again, Laura stared at Serena, seemingly itching to speak.

“Oh, you said you didn’t like the Elise you knew, right?”

“Yes. I don’t want to gossip, but…”

“It’s not gossip, it’s just what you felt, Laura. What’s wrong with that? It’s our secret.”

A girl at such a sensitive age was weak to sharing secrets.

“It’s a shame her parents passed away and she lives in the countryside, but whether it’s because of that or not, she was such a rude child.”

“That’s sad at such a young age.”

Laura nodded and lowered her voice slightly.

“Actually, there’s a reason why the Sherwood marquis family didn’t take her in.”

“Well, it’s our secret time.”

Serena had always thought Lucas was shameless, but now she had nothing to say.

“The reason I vaguely said she was my cousin or second cousin wasn’t because I didn’t know the family tree well.”

Ah, a young lady of this age wants to boast about how smart she is. And adults could get the information they wanted by just slightly encouraging that psychology.

“Elise was originally born in a branch of the Sherwood family. She’s from the bloodline continuing from my grandfather’s brother… that is, the previous marquis. When I met her, I was 11 years old and the adults were in a meeting about what to do with her.”

“You remember so clearly even though you were 11? Laura, you’re really smart.”

“While the adults were making a decision, I was playing with dolls in the room. With Elise.”

Serena looked at Laura and nodded. As if to say, go on, tell me more.

“The adults said she was a pitiful child, so I wanted to be kind to her, but she suddenly said she would take all my dolls. I’ve never seen such a greedy child.”

Whew, Laura shuddered.

“In the end, I said I absolutely wouldn’t give her my favorite doll, and when I came back from the bathroom… she had cut up all the dolls with scissors.”

If Laura was 11 and Elise was 10 at the time, it was an unsettling story.

“When I told the maid while crying, she said Elise had asked for colored paper and scissors, saying she was going to do paper cutting.”

Now it was understandable why Laura remembered Elise so clearly. Having experienced such a thing at the young age of 11, it must have left a strong impression.

“That’s too much.”

What Elise did wasn’t something a normal 10-year-old would do. Suddenly, it felt stifling to think that the real protagonist of this story had mutilated someone else’s dolls at such a young age.

“That day, Elise became my cousin.”

“Huh?”

“The adults’ meeting was about what to do with Elise, and my uncle decided to adopt her.”

Now it all made sense why she said cousin or second cousin.

“My uncle has a chronic illness and is recuperating, and he had no children, so it worked out well for both sides.”

From Elise’s perspective, it was hard to say if that was a good thing. At just 10 years old, she went from being treated as an orphan in a branch family to being responsible for nursing a sick relative for life.

“So Elise is still helping with the recuperation?”

Laura nodded indifferently.

“I don’t know. After that doll incident, I completely lost interest in Elise.”

It seemed this was all the information that could be obtained from Laura. But this was enough.

Just knowing that Elise was a blood relative from a branch of the Sherwood family and currently adopted by Laura’s uncle was sufficient to investigate the rest separately.

“I wanted to hang out with you when you stayed at the capital mansion… I’m so disappointed.”

Serena’s engagement ceremony was held at 20. There was a 6-year age gap between them, and at the time, Laura was a 14-year-old lady who hadn’t even had her debutante ball, so there was no point of contact even though they were relatives.

In fact, if Serena’s marriage hadn’t been delayed so much, they wouldn’t have even lived under the same roof.

“A royal marriage is such an honorable and joyous occasion… but it feels like I’m losing the sister I just got, so I’m a bit sad. You’ll keep this a secret too, right?”

Serena smiled at Laura’s cute, sulky face.

“Even if I go to the imperial palace, you can come visit.”

“Really? Will you invite me?”

“Once I get used to life at the palace.”

Laura’s face shone brighter than ever. If she were to be invited to the imperial palace as a guest of the crown princess, she could already imagine how envious the surrounding noble ladies and young ladies would be.

“Really? It’s a promise!”

“Yes, alright.”

Serena felt sorry for Laura, who was purely delighted, but her intention was to hear about Elise and the marchioness’s movements in the future.

“I’ve always admired you, it feels like a dream.”

Laura said, clasping her hands together. If only this girl were the real protagonist, everything would have been easier, but Serena had to be grateful that she could at least get this information.

“There’s not much time left… but can we spend time together like this again?”

“Of course. We’ll have lessons with Lady Abigail and have tea.”

Laura nodded repeatedly, her cheeks flushing with joy. However, Serena’s mind was filled only with thoughts of the real protagonist who had mutilated dolls at the age of 10.

If this were a story, the protagonist would be the being with the greatest influence on this world.

Even if Elise was currently helping with a relative’s recuperation, even if Serena’s status was much nobler, the fact that she was the protagonist wouldn’t change.

As Lucas entered the empress’s quarters and paid his respects to Adeline, she put her index finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. She probably didn’t want to wake Luana, who was sleeping soundly with her head on Adeline’s lap.

“Aubrey.”

When Adeline called quietly, the waiting nursemaid came and skillfully carried the child away without waking her.

“Lucas, sit down. Isabel, bring us some tea.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

They say the bond between parent and child is strong. As mother and son faced each other, Lucas felt as if the six-year gap had become meaningless.

“She’s already three, but she’s quite the spoiled one.”

“Are you talking about Luana?”

“Yes. I was lonely after you left, but when she was born, His Majesty was also overjoyed. That’s why she’s a bit spoiled.”

“It’s okay for her to be a bit spoiled since she made you both happy while I was being unfilial.”

Lucas’s way with words was still the same. Adeline smiled warmly at her son, who had already turned twenty.

“Don’t worry, all the preparations for the royal marriage have been made.”

It was as if she had read Lucas’s mind, answering before he even asked.

“When I said I would marry the duchess, was it you who persuaded father?”

No matter how long he had been away, he couldn’t not know his parents’ nature. The emperor would have hesitated to proceed with the engagement that had been postponed for six years, and as always, Adeline would have gently sorted out the situation.

“Yes. I thought you might never get married if it wasn’t that lady, since you had made up your mind.”

Indeed, a mother knows her child.

“Above all, you resemble His Majesty very much.”

“That’s a bit…”

In Adeline’s eyes, the two men looked exactly the same, but the two in question strongly denied it.

“It’s true. His Majesty also immediately agreed when I brought up the story of how he proposed to me.”

Their marriage wasn’t smooth either. However, the emperor never gave up on Adeline. Just like how Lucas now had no intention of turning his heart away from Serena.

“You mean the year you sang serenades?”

“Yes… if you can call such dissonance a serenade.”

Adeline smiled strangely. Although she now loved her husband and children more than anyone, she didn’t want to hear such serenades ever again.

“Anyway, don’t worry about the royal marriage. I’ve had the crown princess’s quarters renovated, and I’ve personally prepared all the furniture.”

Preparing for a new family member in the imperial palace was naturally the responsibility of the empress, the head of the inner court. But beyond such principles, Lucas felt greatly relieved thinking of Adeline’s kindness and discernment.

No matter how passionate his feelings were, he couldn’t match Adeline in preparing such aspects.

“With your help, mother, what do I have to worry about?”

Adeline smiled warmly at Lucas’s proper response.