Tea time mostly consisted of Lora chattering and exclaiming while Serena occasionally nodded her head and calmly replied.

Anna carefully packed and gifted imperial refreshments for the excited young lady, and Serena generously gave her a rose.

“Today felt like a dream. Will I… be able to meet Your Highness the Crown Princess again?”

Although just listening to her chatter was exhausting, for now, Lora was the only thread connecting to Elise.

“Of course.”

Whether staying at the Sherwood Marquis’s residence or now, Serena was the same person, but with the changed background, to the eyes of a young lady easily influenced like Lora, she simply shone.

“It is truly an honor. Please call for me anytime.”

“Yes, I’ll call for you often once I’m a bit more settled.”

Lora repeatedly bowed and couldn’t contain her overflowing smile. Serena didn’t stand up to send her off as if to show her noble status, but Lora was already beyond caring about such things.

“Phew, it’s like a tornado just swept through.”

Serena made a tired expression as Anna returned after seeing Lora off.

“She’s overflowing with energy. It’s amazing how she chatters nonstop without resting for a moment.”

Anna also stood by the door and heard all those words, so she sympathized a hundred times over. Above all, it was most amusing how Lora blankly stared at her and treated her condescendingly at the marquis’s residence, but now politely bowed to her as the palace’s head court lady.

“Indeed, she is the daughter of the Marchioness of Sherwood.”

Those words were spot on. Serena nodded and gestured for Anna to take a seat. After being so worn out by Lora, she missed Anna’s calm and kind voice.

“She’s a very annoying guest, but you did well today.”

“I couldn’t even ask what I wanted to hear.”

To be exact, Lora didn’t give her a chance to. Moreover, suddenly bringing up Elise to Lora, who was admiring everything about the palace, would have been awkward for anyone to see.

“Your Highness the Crown Princess has the right to serve only Her Majesty the Empress as your superior and to govern the noble ladies. Considering the Marchioness of Sherwood’s personality, the young lady will boast about the honor she gained from today’s invitation throughout the capital.”

“Yes, the rumors will spread within this week.”

“This week? Tomorrow should be enough.”

Serena couldn’t help but chuckle at how much she agreed with Anna’s words. However, to think that such a cunning woman was a leading figure among the noble ladies – things would not be smooth going forward.

“Fortunately, Her Majesty the Empress has not yet brought up social affairs.”

“Yes. It’s out of consideration for Your Highness the Crown Prince who has just entered the palace.”

“Yes, she is a kind person. But… I’ll have to take on duties soon as well.”

The Empress was very fatigued from caring for the young Luana. She was the one who prepared for the royal wedding and the arrival of a new family member, so Serena also had to live up to those expectations to some extent.

“Ah, I looked into the matter you ordered yesterday a bit more.”

Serena’s expression changed as Anna carefully brought it up.

“Peter was a great help. So we were able to investigate the family tree spanning 500 years.”

“And?”

Indeed, was the question Serena had yesterday mere coincidence?

“There was not a single one. The princesses born under the heir to the throne all passed away young. The ones who grew up safely were all born before the heir to the throne.”

Anna’s expression was meaningful. At this point, she must have also realized that she was approaching a very strange secret.

“As I thought… it’s odd.”

“Yes. But I don’t think it’s wise to rashly show curiosity.”

Serena immediately nodded.

“I know. It seems this will turn into a serious matter.”

The reason this secret had not been revealed so far was partly due to the empire’s tendency to not pay much attention to princesses, and partly because there was no one to question it like Serena.

Above all, the very existence of princesses was rare, so naturally, the Tern imperial family was just recognized as a family with few offspring.

“Were there any other peculiarities?”

“Peter is still examining the exact records, but there was one more thing in common.”

“What is it?”

“In the case of the princesses, those born before the heir to the throne grew up safely. However, in the very, very rare cases where they had siblings… whether older or younger, they all passed away young.”

For a moment, Serena held her breath. Putting together the story so far, all the Emperor’s children who were not heirs to the throne died young, and the only exception was an elder sister born before the heir.

“But there are too few examples in any case to be certain. Especially the existence of siblings in the imperial family was so rare that you could count them on one hand even in 500 years.”

There was a reason for a family with unusually few offspring. However, there was no way to interpret this case.

If there was a genetic problem in the Tern imperial family, why did only the heir to the throne survive for so long and the lineage never once broke off?

“I dug into some other records as well, but there was no mention of the imperial family’s early deaths.”

“Not even the cause of their deaths?”

“Yes. There were only the years of birth and death, no cause of death.”

Then it wasn’t the same illness repeating itself.

Moreover, even if there was a genetic factor affecting only women, it didn’t make sense since those born before the heir to the throne survived.

“Peter is still investigating, but he said it would be difficult to find out more. Despite the records being so vast, there is surprisingly no mention of what Your Highness is curious about.”

“Yes. As if someone deliberately hid it…”

As Serena trailed off and became lost in thought, Anna showed a worried expression.

“Don’t worry. I know I shouldn’t get too involved in this matter either. I’ll be careful.”

“Yes, I just hope for Your Highness’s safety.”

Anna had neither the courage nor reason to uncover this imperial secret. Above all, the wives of the heir to the throne did not die out in the family tree, so it was not her immediate concern.

And to put it another way, this phenomenon meant that Serena, the only wife of the heir to the throne, would definitely be able to produce an heir.

“There’s one more thing bothering me about the princess.”

Serena hesitated before spilling it out. She knew she couldn’t say that she came from another world and this world was inside a story, but she might be able to talk about the princess.

“She said something strange to me. That I came from far away. Her Majesty the Empress said the princess is slow to speak, but sometimes she says mysterious things and accurately predicts the weather.”

“Ah… there was such a story among the records Peter mentioned.”

Could it really be true?

“What did it say?”

Lucas mentioned it casually, but weather was something even modern weather stations couldn’t accurately predict. And no matter how young, having even a bit of prophetic ability was also beyond common sense.

“It’s said that the daughters of the Tern imperial family can sometimes sense mysterious things. Not all of them, and as you know, princesses are rarely born, so the records aren’t exact.”

“Still… there are records of them sensing mysterious things, right?”

“Yes. As Your Highness said, in childhood, they could predict the weather or the private lives of nobles they met for the first time. At those times, they were so accurate that everyone was surprised.”

Why wouldn’t they be? Even Serena’s heart trembled when she faced Luana’s eyes that seemed to see through where she truly came from.

“But it mostly disappears as they grow up, and unfortunately…”

“Is it because it disappears as they grow up, or because many princesses died before growing up?”

There was a moment of silence at Serena’s meaningful words.

Either way, it wasn’t strange, but the more one thought about it, the more bizarre and eerie the family tree felt.

“Your Highness, please forget about this matter for the time being. I have a bad feeling it’s dangerous.”

“Yes…”

“And absolutely do not let it show in front of His Highness the Crown Prince. Okay?”

“I understand.”

In fact, she had already asked about Luana, but couldn’t get a satisfactory answer. Rather, Lucas only left her puzzled, saying there were more imperial secrets and she would find out when the time came.

“This is just a feeling, but it seems like both Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince… are used to secrets.”

They didn’t hide the existence of secrets and just calmly said they would let her know when the time was right. As if the existence of secrets was completely natural.

“There’s a saying that all the secrets of this continent are divided between the Holy See and the Tern imperial family.”

Secrets were bound to arise where power was concentrated. But somehow, the secrets of the Tern imperial family felt like they weren’t created by such principles.

“Anna, could it be that Princess Luana also…”

“Please refrain from ominous words.”

Anna carefully stopped Serena. Serena also realized what she was about to say and nodded.

Based on the records, Princess Luana, born later than Lucas, could only meet an early death. However, it was not something to say about a toddling child.

“Please find out how old the princesses who passed away young generally lived to.”

“I will tell Peter. I need to prepare to greet His Highness the Crown Prince who will visit tonight.”

Anna deliberately hinted that the Crown Prince would visit at night.

“Ah, that’s right…”

“Yes, it’s the most important fact right now.”

On the first night, the bedsheets of the two were clean, as Serena had predicted. But how long could a husband and wife sharing a bed maintain such a relationship? At least as far as Anna knew, there was no such relationship.