The first time she met the Duke of Valois was when their methods had started to gain some notoriety in high society.

Of course, it was a plan made together with Arianna Valois, but on the surface, it was a task that Arianna was solely responsible for, so it was natural that she was the one contacted.

However, why the Duke of Valois?

With that question in mind, Adela went to the agreed-upon meeting place and found that the Duke had already arrived.

At that first meeting, the Duke proposed a collaboration with her.

He asked if it would be alright to make requests from time to time, as rumors in high society could often be helpful in many ways.

At the time, Adela had been curious as to why he had come directly to her instead of going through his daughter, but since she knew that the Duke was helping Lloyd, she agreed without hesitation.

Who would have thought that it was all a setup for this situation?

“They say you never know what’s in a person’s heart unless you’re them. Today has been surprising in many ways.”

“Indeed. Who would have thought that ‘the’ Lady Valois would do such a thing?”

“I’m a bit disappointed in the viscount. Recently, there were strong rumors in high society that he was the top bachelor.”

The Duke of Valois seemed intent on completely burying his daughter’s reputation in high society.

Otherwise, there’s no way he would have asked Adela to spread such rumors himself.

But well, it wasn’t something that particularly concerned her.

Adela took a sip of her tea while watching the ladies busy inflating the rumors among themselves.

At first, helping Arianna and Lloyd wasn’t so bad, but as time passed, she began to have more and more doubts about what the two were doing.

Could this really be something that would succeed?

They said they would fulfill her wish, but there was no sign of things actually progressing.

Every day, they would just say this needs to be done, that needs to be done, all talk and no action.

The imperial support project didn’t seem likely to succeed no matter how you looked at it, and even though they had acquired a company, they weren’t hiring any relevant talent.

They claimed they could succeed with just Lloyd’s assistant and Arianna, but was that even possible?

Lloyd was endlessly arrogant.

He didn’t even consider his own flaws or shortcomings, and seemed to believe that anything was possible with the current personnel.

It was when Adela’s trust in Lloyd was steadily eroding that she met the Duke of Valois.

That’s why she actively participated in burying Arianna’s reputation like this.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken on such a complicated task.

Adela inwardly scoffed as she heard the story of Arianna, who had not only become pregnant but had secretly given birth.

“Truly, that was a close call. Recently, it seems my sister-in-law has fallen head over heels for Viscount Alois.”

“Oh my. Then it’s a good thing you came here today! Make sure to tell the young lady as soon as you get back. Understood?”

“I’ll have to. At first, I agonized over it a lot, but today has been really informative, making that agony seem pointless.”

Informative, she says.

Adela barely suppressed a laugh upon hearing that.

How informative could this gossip be?

Could it be that there had never been a single moment in their lives that could be called truly informative?

Hiding the derision filling her heart, Adela put on an amiable smile.

“I’m glad it was an informative time for everyone.”

Spouting words she didn’t mean, while pondering where to go next.

“Here. Ah, open up.”

“…Your Majesty. Can I eat this…?”

“Go on, Amelia.”

This is troublesome. Truly troublesome.

I rolled my eyes with a perplexed expression, unable to do anything.

How did it come to this?

I’m certain it started out as an ordinary tea time.

“I wanted to try it. Okay?”

When I only rolled my eyes and didn’t make any moves, he smiled slightly with narrowed eyes.

No, wasn’t it definitely an ordinary tea time at first?

Initially, we were each having a cup of tea while I talked about meeting Zero today.

Stories about how Lloyd was clearly behind it, about the wheels of the carriage Zero was riding in, about how Zero was really good at drawing, and so on.

We were spending time discussing the information I had obtained and my impressions…

‘Where did you meet him?’

‘At a cafe. You said that’s where you usually met Zero too, Your Majesty.’

The mention of the cafe was the trigger.

When I told him I had been there, wondering if Leoprick knew what kind of place it was, his face immediately stiffened.

He tried to call Arnold, asking how he could take the crown princess to such a place.

I barely managed to stop him, preventing the assistant who had done what needed to be done from getting scolded.

But since then, it’s been like this.

To comfort Leoprick, who felt sorry for not being able to show me only good things, I held his hand, and he intertwined our fingers, not letting go.

The distance that had somehow gotten closer at some point also contributed to creating this atmosphere.

“Ah…”

“Ah, yes. Is it tasty?”

Leoprick was holding a fork in his other hand, not releasing my hand that he was holding.

And he was constantly looking at me with a smiling face.

It’s not very comfortable to see him like this, his eyes fully focused on me, in addition to the distance where our heads would touch if I lowered mine just a little.

I nodded my head while chewing the cake he had pushed into my mouth.

And he gazed at me, chewing clumsily, with eyes that seemed to be looking at the most adorable thing in the world.

Seriously, it’s burdensome.

“Um, Your Majesty. Your gaze…”

“Hm? What about my gaze?”

As he asked, his face drew even closer.

I quickly shifted my gaze forward and swallowed the remaining cake.

“Well, I thought you might be looking only at me too much…”

“That’s the point of arranging this. Is it very burdensome?”

“A bit…?”

When I replied like that, sneaking a glance at him, Leoprick laughed softly.

“You’re cute even when you answer like that.”

Then he started saying things he wouldn’t normally say.

No matter how much more affectionate he had become compared to his past life, I don’t think he had ever been this blatant.

I took a sip of tea from my cup, pondering how to escape this situation.

As I was wracking my brain for an excuse…

“Wait a moment, Amelia.”

He suddenly reached out and approached me.

The distance is already close, so how much closer is he going to get?

A large hand cupped my face, and brilliantly shining eyes drew very close.

…At this rate, I might really fall into those eyes.

At that distance, it felt like my thoughts had stopped as well.

My breath, time, and even my gaze.

It was as if everything had come to a halt. He gently brushed his fingertips against the corner of my mouth.

In that fleeting moment.

I easily read the vivid emotion that surfaced in his eyes.

Perhaps even the situation that would unfold next.

Unable to handle the breathtaking tension and the bursting excitement, I remained frozen like that.

Leoprick brought the finger that had stolen the cream from the corner of my mouth to his own lips.

With his tongue, he licked his fingertip.

“It’s delicious.”

He grinned mischievously, curling the corners of his mouth.

His added words were a bonus.

At that moment, I felt like my head exploded with a pop.

“Did you enjoy the tea time?”

When I returned to my room, Betty was waiting.

I glared at her once and then threw myself onto the bed.

“Did something happen, Your Highness?”

When I flopped face-down on the bed without any reply, Betty knelt beside the bed with a worried voice.

And she gently patted my back as I lay there with my face buried.

“Did something upsetting happen, Your Highness?”

Her gentle voice tried to soothe me, but I didn’t raise my head.

No, I couldn’t raise my head.

Because earlier, after Leoprick had wiped the cream from the corner of my mouth like that and eaten it, I had pushed him away and fled from the scene.

But annoyingly, even as I returned to my room, his expression kept popping up in my mind, driving me crazy.

If I opened my mouth or lifted my head now, the excitement hidden within my flustered state would be fully exposed, so I couldn’t give Betty any answer.

“Could it be that you didn’t like the tea time?”

Betty must have thought I was upset about that.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. His Majesty said he really wanted to spend time with you. So without even asking you, I arranged such an event…”

“What?”

“Yes?”

She arranged it without even asking me.

Then does that mean it wasn’t Leoprick who ordered the tea time to be set up?

“You’re the one who arranged it?”

“Well, His Majesty called for me while you were out earlier. He asked me what you like, what your favorite color is, what desserts you enjoy, what would be a good gift, things like that.”

Hearing Betty’s words, I felt the heat that had filled my entire face rapidly cooling down.

So in the end, it was Betty’s doing.

And that’s why this mess happened?

“He said he wanted to spend time with you but it wasn’t easy, so he at least wanted to send a gift. That’s why I prepared this occasion. I thought you would just rest for a while once you came anyway.”

Betty spoke with an apologetic face.

She probably mistook that I had an unpleasant time there.

Well, I could understand her feeling responsible when the mistress who should have returned after a nice tea time suddenly lay down on the bed like this.

But the problem wasn’t the tea time.

So I waved my hand and sat up.

“No. It’s not because of you, Betty. I was a bit taken aback that you prepared the tea time, but…”

“What really happened?”

The problem was him, not her.

As I was sighing with my head in my hands…

“Amelia. Are you in there?”

He knocked on the door from outside.