“Th-This way, please.”

Serendio arrived at Solar Palace and guided them to the reception room.

“Your Highness, are you staying at Solar Palace?”

Solar Palace was where the Crown Prince stayed.

‘It seems he wasn’t assigned a separate palace.’

It was common for those of royal blood to receive an independent palace from the moment they were born.

“Y-Yes.”

Imperial grandson.

‘Even if his birth mother is a commoner, still…’

The treatment Serendio received was terrible, especially considering he was the Crown Prince’s eldest son.

“Br-Bring some tea and snacks. Th-The tea the Crown Prince gave us.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

After instructing the maid, Serendio kept glancing at Blanche.

Quiet footsteps were heard.

“M-Mother?”

Serendio’s eyes widened.

“Oh, we have guests.”

The one who entered was a woman with pink eyes.

‘If Serendio calls her mother…’

I immediately recognized her as Erna, the female protagonist of the original work, and stood up.

“…I am Diane Boston. This is my daughter Blanche.”

“Oh, Countess Boston. Y-You don’t need to be so formal with m-me.”

Erna waved her hands nervously.

‘Well. Even now after giving birth to Serendio, Erna is still a commoner mistress.’

As Erna said, there was no need for me, a noble, to be formal with her, a commoner.

‘Still, seeing her so lacking in confidence makes it difficult to be informal.’

“You’re the mother of His Highness. Please don’t be so modest. May I call you Lady Erna?”

Transparent tears welled up in the corners of Erna’s eyes.

“…Of course. It’s nice to meet you, Countess Boston.”

She hurriedly wiped away her tears and greeted me.

“But why are you with Serendio, Countess Boston…?”

“H-His Majesty told me to s-serve tea to the Countess and young lady.”

“I see.”

Erna, who had been puzzled by my and Blanche’s visit, nodded at Serendio’s explanation.

An awkward silence fell.

The maid from earlier brought in a teapot, teacups, and a glass bottle filled with small flowers.

Erna dismissed the maid and poured from the teapot into the teacups. It was warm water with steam rising.

‘Not tea…? Are we supposed to steep the flowers in the glass bottle?’

Then she opened the glass bottle and sprinkled its contents over the teacups.

“Wow, the flowers bloomed!”

The small flowers fully blossomed and floated on the water.

“I thought it was just simple flower tea, but it’s not.”

“Hehe, His Highness the Crown Prince gave it to Serendio. It’s something Serendio cherishes, so if he’s serving this, he must like the young lady.”

Erna glanced at Serendio and smiled.

“M-Mother, th-that’s not it.”

Serendio squirmed and then lowered his gaze.

‘It really seems to be true.’

I was certain that Serendio had taken a liking to Blanche.

“Woof!”

Suddenly, a Doberman burst into the reception room.

‘Dobermans are used for luring during hunts, so they must be fierce…!’

I was already trembling because of its huge size.

“Wow, it’s so big.”

“Blanche, come here, it’s dangerous.”

I held out my hand to block Blanche, who was showing curiosity towards the Doberman.

“Countess. Don’t worry. It’s just big, but gentle. It won’t bite.”

As if to support Erna’s reassuring words, the Doberman approached Blanche and licked her cheek.

“Ah, it tickles!”

Then it suddenly showed its belly and even wagged its tail.

‘She said it was gentle, and it really is…’

I let out a small laugh, realizing there was no need to be tense.

“Woof!”

“Mom, Mom, pet it too!”

At the energetic bark that seemed to give permission, Blanche gently stroked it.

“Mom’s fine, Blanche.”

Even if that Doberman wouldn’t bite, I was still scared.

The memory of being bitten by Duke Belaste’s hunting dog was still vivid.

Just getting closer made my body tremble slightly.

“Serendio, why don’t you go play outside with the young lady?”

“O-Okay, M-Mother.”

At Erna’s suggestion, Serendio took Blanche and the Doberman out of the reception room.

‘She deliberately sent them out because I was scared.’

The crowded room became quiet.

“Are you alright, Countess? There’s usually someone taking care of it, but it often escapes like this.”

Erna explained why the Doberman had entered the reception room while observing me.

“Is it His Highness’s pet?”

“Yes, His Majesty’s mother dog had puppies, so he gave one to Serendio as a gift. He told him to raise it like its mother. Well… maybe because it takes after Serendio, His Majesty is displeased with it.”

Erna briefly revealed a hint of bitterness.

“…Lady Erna.”

“It seems Serendio is like that because of me, as His Majesty says.”

It appeared the Emperor believed Serendio’s weak nature was Erna’s fault.

‘Well. When I hesitated to answer about the engagement, he brought up the birth mother’s background.’

At this point, I had a question.

What was Oscar, the Crown Prince who was Erna’s husband and Serendio’s father, doing?

‘Why isn’t he protecting Erna and Serendio from the Emperor?’

Well. I should have known from the time he came and threw a teacup before the competition, when I was already designated as the Crown Princess.

‘Lady, don’t even think about touching Erna.’

‘Your Highness, if you want to protect your mistress, you should have persuaded me instead of threatening me.’

‘How dare you try to teach me, the Crown Prince of Langrangsha! Insolent!’

Oscar doesn’t know how to protect his own people.

‘I wonder what he thinks about the engagement.’

I intended to ask Erna to find out his thoughts.

“Lady Erna. His Majesty is trying to engage His Highness to my daughter. What does His Highness the Crown Prince think about this?”

“…Engagement? Between Serendio and your daughter?”

However, Erna blinked her eyes as if hearing this for the first time.

‘Oh no. She didn’t know.’

Erna was Serendio’s birth mother.

To bring up the engagement without asking the birth mother’s opinion…

‘Even if she’s a commoner mistress… this is too much.’

It showed how much the Emperor disregarded Erna.

Erna bit her lip.

“So that’s why you and your daughter were invited…”

I imagined Erna holding Serendio, who would die from the overflow of holy power, and grieving.

‘Should I hint that absorbing holy power when someone with it goes berserk can save them?’

I knew it was unnecessary meddling, but I felt sympathy for Erna.

“Lady Erna. Do you know anyone with holy power?”

“Holy power…?”

“My daughter has developed holy power, and I’m worried she might go berserk. I heard that if someone with holy power absorbs it, it can be calmed.”

Erna hunched her shoulders as she answered.

“His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t interact with the Great Temple. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of help.”

“…You don’t need to apologize, Lady Erna. Please don’t worry about it.”

When Serendio develops holy power and goes berserk, she’ll probably remember what I just said.

‘I hope nothing happens.’

Thinking that Serendio wouldn’t die like in the original story made me feel a bit lighter.

The sound of Blanche’s innocent laughter playing with the Doberman could be heard from outside.

Erna looked at Blanche through the window.

“You must be happy, Countess, to have such a lovely daughter.”

“You flatter me, Lady Erna.”

“Actually, I wanted a daughter more than a son. Preferably a lovely daughter like your young lady.”

Erna whispered softly and winked one eye. She was an interesting person.

“By the way, does your young lady have any vegetables she dislikes? Serendio can’t eat mushrooms.”

“Blanche hates carrots. Oh, last time she hid the carrots in her potage and made the excuse that she was covering them with a blanket.”

“A blanket? How cute. Children’s expressions are so adorable.”

Maybe it’s because Serendio and Blanche are the same age.

They had so much in common that time flew by just chatting.

Jade was keeping the Emperor occupied, so there was no call to return to the greenhouse garden.

“See you next time, Countess.”

“T-Take care on your w-way back!”

As we got into the carriage to leave at sunset, Erna and Serendio saw us off without going inside.

‘A grass leaf?’

There was a grass leaf on top of Blanche’s head as she waved to Erna and Serendio.

“Blanche, did you roll around somewhere while playing?”

“Yeah, I rolled around juuust a little bit.”

What does she mean ‘juuust a little bit’? It looks like she rolled around quite a lot.

‘Honestly.’

Trying not to get scolded, Blanche averted her gaze and pretended not to know.

“Mom, you know what? Can Shu Shu have a Doberman like His Highness?”

Blanche turned her head back and asked.

“…What should we do. Actually, Mom is scared of Dobermans. That would be difficult, I’m sorry.”

“Then it’s okay! His Highness said we can come visit the Doberman often!”

Blanche gave up quickly without insisting.

I pulled out the golden topaz necklace from Blanche’s neck.

It seemed to be as pale in color as Serendio’s platinum eyes.

“Blanche, did you have fun playing with His Highness?”

“I like him! He’s not stupid or noisy like Jenny and Ellie! And he’s kind!”

I was taken aback that her standard for liking someone was based on Jenny and Ellie, whom she knew from Rukah.

‘Well, at least she likes him… Then Blanche’s partner is more likely to be Serendio than Richard…’

It was a complicated issue connected to the engagement.