“I heard that the earl’s daughter was in charge of entertaining at the wedding. And that Marquis Rowe helped her up when she fell.”

“Why are you suddenly mentioning that……”

“Just in case, I’ll give you a warning.”

Princess Cassandra whispered softly in my ear.

“Even if Marquis Rowe is kind to the earl’s daughter, it would be better not to have any misunderstandings.”

“Misunderstandings?”

Princess Cassandra smiled gently, her eyes narrowing.

“Wasn’t the earl a cousin of the late Duchess Belaste, who had rumors with the marquis long ago?”

“……That’s right.”

“They look similar, and even if the marquis is kind to her, don’t harbor false hopes due to misunderstandings.”

Princess Cassandra brought her fan to her lips.

“In any case, Marquis Rowe will end up marrying me, a noble member of the imperial family.”

I couldn’t bring myself to speak in the face of Princess Cassandra’s confident attitude.

“The reason he broke off his engagement with Lady Sharlin Winst must be to propose to me, right?”

She continued talking, unconcerned with my reaction.

‘What is this woman saying now?’

In our brief conversation, Princess Cassandra seemed extremely self-centered.

Her self-esteem was higher than the pride that comes from being royalty, making her difficult to deal with.

‘She’ll end up marrying Jade?’

It was fascinating how she thought she was connected to the broken engagement with Sharlin.

‘He said he got engaged to Sharlin to avoid Princess Cassandra in the first place.’

I didn’t know how Jade felt about her, but he had no intention of marrying her.

‘Does she really think she can marry Jade?’

He wasn’t the type to accept Princess Cassandra just because she was royalty when she couldn’t bear an heir.

‘Who’s the one misunderstanding now.’

She even mentioned that the emperor couldn’t force it since she couldn’t continue the Rowe lineage.

“Anyway, Countess. Don’t forget that your daughter is just a substitute for Duchess Belaste.”

“Did you just call my daughter a substitute?”

Substitute.

It was a word that irritated my nerves, which had been numb with amazement.

I was already furious that Duke Belaste saw Blanche as a replacement.

“Countess, really. Why get so worked up? It was just a metaphor. Well, thank you for your time. Take care.”

Princess Cassandra examined my cold face before returning to the greenhouse garden first.

‘……How arrogant. I should just ignore it, but why does it keep coming to mind?’

It was truly an exhausting day.

As I wanted, the engagement ceremony and gift exchange were postponed until Blanche’s debutante.

In return, I met Duke Belaste and received a warning from Princess Cassandra.

‘I didn’t suffer any actual losses, but I’m more tired than ever.’

Fatigue was piling up, and I wanted to go back and rest soon.

‘I hope today passes uneventfully without any more incidents…….’

I returned from the palace and immediately shut myself in the study without time to rest.

I frowned while reading the merchant guild report Aaron had written from Le Carh.

“They say they’ll double the price of raspberries for the next transaction……”

The item that brought in huge profits for the merchant guild was raspberry wine.

However, it was written that the orchard supplying the raspberries, the main ingredient of the wine, had notified that they would raise the supply price.

‘Without any discussion, so suddenly…….’

There were many places that cultivated raspberries if one looked.

However, when initially choosing a supplier, we carefully examined the quality of all options. Naturally, raspberries from other places were all of lower quality.

‘And if we use different raspberries, the taste of the wine will change.’

This was likely to cause complaints among regular customers who enjoyed the existing wine.

‘But it’s also difficult to accept all of the orchard’s demands.’

If we gave in to the orchard’s demands as they wished, there was a high possibility they would make even stronger demands next time.

‘This time, I’ll have to tell them we’ll raise the price, but ask them to sign an agreement freezing it for the next 5 years.’

I tapped my fingers as I sought a solution.

I took out the communication device from the drawer to relay the message to Aaron.

I carefully rubbed the cracked spot from when I had dropped it before.

‘It’s already been a few months since uncle passed away.’

Time seemed to flow quickly, not waiting leisurely.

When I was staying in Le Carh, I didn’t feel this rushed sense of being chased by something.

‘It’s probably because uncle is no longer by my side.’

Learning as the heir to the merchant guild and being in a position of full responsibility were completely different.

‘If I make a wrong choice, it will affect the livelihoods of those working in the guild, and further impact Boston.’

Unable to shake off the anxious thoughts, I sighed involuntarily.

“……Young lady!”

“Mary?”

Mary rushed in, breathing heavily. It was strange, as she wasn’t the type to enter without knocking.

“Mary! Did something happen to Blanche?”

I panicked, thinking something might have happened to Blanche, who should have been with Mary.

“Ah, no. That’s not it……”

“If that’s not it, calm down a bit and speak.”

Mary made a pitiful face and bowed.

“This morning, when Marquis Rowe was leaving, he said he’d make a lunch reservation at a restaurant and told me to tell you to come!”

“……Jade did?”

“I forgot to tell you, what should I do? Lunch time has long passed……”

The clock was already approaching 3 o’clock.

“It wasn’t a pre-arranged appointment, and so much time has passed, he probably left already.”

“Um, about that. The marquis said he would wait until you arrive……”

Of all things. Why would he wait until I come.

I stood up, leaning on the desk.

“What’s the name of the restaurant?”

“It’s Cierip near the square…… I’m really sorry, young lady.”

It was uncomfortable seeing Mary constantly apologizing and being cautious about her mistake.

“We can go now and explain the situation. If I say I met with the emperor, he’ll understand. Don’t worry, Mary.”

“But, young lady……”

“It’s fine, I said. Mary, can you go get Jade’s jacket? I’ll wait in the carriage.”

When Mary and I left the study, Blanche was nearby.

Mary went upstairs to get the jacket.

“Mama, are you done with work? Let’s play with Shu Shu!”

“Oh no, what should we do. Mama has to go out again.”

I felt sorry, as it seemed she had been waiting for me to come out of the study.

“……Hmph. It can’t be helped.”

Blanche admirably didn’t throw a tantrum and accepted it.

“Shall we draw pictures together when Mama comes back?”

“Yes! Shu Shu will draw first, so let’s color together later!”

“Alright, thank you, darling.”

As I went outside with Blanche seeing me off, dark clouds were gathering in the sky.

‘It was clear when I left the palace…… why is it like this.’

I felt uneasy about Jade waiting in this bad weather.

Mary approached the parked carriage with the jacket in hand.

“Young lady, I brought the jacket. I’m really sorry. Please tell the marquis it was my oversight……”

I took the jacket from Mary and placed it beside me.

“He did wait a long time, but Jade isn’t the type to get angry over something like this.”

Jade would usually understand and move on quickly if there was a valid reason for being late.

“Well then, have a safe trip. I’ll look after Lady Blanche.”

“Alright. I’ll be back, Mary.”

Mary closed the carriage door for me.

‘It’s not like I was late on purpose, but I feel bad for keeping him waiting so long. Why did Jade suddenly tell me to come to the restaurant?’

Pit-pat pit-pat.

Clear raindrops were falling on the window.

‘No wonder the sky looked ominous, it’s raining……’

The rain gradually intensified, then stopped as quickly as it had started.

The sky was still dark, but it was fortunate that the rain had stopped.

‘It must have been a sudden shower.’

Shortly after, I got out of the carriage that stopped at the square.

“Countess. I’ll be waiting nearby.”

“Alright.”

After a brief exchange with the coachman, I found the restaurant with ‘Cierip’ written on it.

“I apologize, madam. The first and second floors are fully reserved for today……”

As I entered the restaurant, the waiter looked troubled.

“Is Marquis Rowe not here?”

“Ah, are you perhaps with Marquis Rowe’s party?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I see, my apologies for the discourtesy. The marquis is on the second floor. I’ll escort you up.”

I followed the waiter up to the second floor.

‘I can understand the second floor, but to reserve the entire first floor as well……’

From a quick glance, the restaurant was quite large and had an elegant atmosphere.

‘I wonder how much he spent to be this extravagant.’

If he had rented the entire restaurant for a day, he must have paid quite a sum.

“Jade!”

Jade was sitting in the center, drinking champagne.

On the table, two empty bottles were already lined up.

“Then, I’ll bring out the food.”

The waiter pulled out a chair for me, bowed politely, and went downstairs.

“I’m sorry for being late, Jade.”

“……I thought you wouldn’t come. But you did.”

“Countess Escaliff visited this morning, so I went to the palace with her. I didn’t intentionally come late.”

It wasn’t even a face-to-face appointment, but a unilateral notification to come because he had made a reservation on the same day.

‘He should have discussed it with me in advance to make an appointment, or just told Mary……’

I felt uneasy about Jade waiting alone all this time, even though I hadn’t been late on purpose.