“Wasn’t the fireworks display amazing, my lady? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life!”

On the way back, with the now-quiet sky behind us.

Betty, whom we met at the end of the street, seemed busy chattering about how amazing the fireworks she saw today were throughout the return journey.

Yet she kept glancing at me, making me wonder if I was that bad at managing my expressions.

It’s true that I was distracted, so I couldn’t ask or talk about how Betty and Sir Cedric were doing the whole way back.

But I thought that was rather fortunate.

How much I enjoyed being with him today.

How much I struggled to compose myself while being with him.

That I didn’t have to talk about how embarrassing it was that Lloyd saw him embracing me.

And that he didn’t notice Lloyd was there.

I thought it was truly fortunate.

* * *

“Welcome back.”

“Welcome back!”

When we returned to our lodgings, all the knights who had gone to Wayne Castle had returned.

Leoprick exchanged a few more words while receiving their greetings, and I gave a light greeting before returning to the room with Betty.

And Betty, who had been unable to hide her excited expression throughout the return journey, suddenly changed her expression and approached me once we were alone in the room.

“Your Highness. Did you see today?”

“You mean the fireworks? I just told you earlier…”

As I was taking off my earrings and looking at her wondering why she was acting like this, I froze at Betty’s next words.

“No, I mean Young Lord Alois earlier!”

“What…?”

“Fortunately, we didn’t run into him, but it was definitely the Young Lord.”

Lloyd Alois.

Did he appear before Betty as well?

“At first I wasn’t sure because he was wearing a robe, but suddenly he went into the crowd and took off his robe. That’s how I recognized him.”

There’s no way I could mistake that pitch-black color.

Betty muttered in a small voice, but I was so shocked that I didn’t even notice what expression she was making.

I just mumbled blankly.

“…So you saw him too.”

“Does that mean you saw him too, Your Highness?”

Your Highness, don’t tell me…

Betty lowered her voice and asked with a suspicious expression.

Realizing the unspoken words that followed – asking if I had summoned him – suddenly made me feel wide awake.

So that’s why she had been chattering nonsense the whole way back.

“No, Betty. It wasn’t me.”

“If you say it wasn’t you, that’s a relief… but really, it wasn’t? I could help if you wanted, but it’s really not something I’m keen on doing.”

I shook my head firmly at Betty, who was asking again with a dubious face.

And I smirked as I saw her pouting her lips in dissatisfaction.

“If I ever wanted something like that, shouldn’t you stop me? You shouldn’t even jokingly say you’d help with such things.”

“What power do I have? If I couldn’t stop you before you got married, how could I stop you after you’re married? Even the Marquis couldn’t stop you.”

“Still. Who else is there to stop me besides you?”

I patted Betty’s shoulder with a faint smile, and she let out a small sigh.

I gave a bitter smile at that breath, which seemed to contain a hint of relief.

No wonder she was overly talkative on the way back; she was trying to hide such feelings.

I understood, and I felt even more sorry knowing how hysterical I was about meeting Lloyd before my marriage.

I gently stroked Betty’s back as she sighed in relief.

“Did Sir Cedric not see?”

“No. Only I saw him. I deliberately diverted Sir Cedric’s attention elsewhere. He didn’t seem to notice anything afterward either.”

“You’ve been through a lot, Betty.”

I’m always grateful to you in many ways.

As I added that, Betty’s eyes widened before she burst out laughing.

“Are you thanking me right now, Your Highness?”

“Why are you reacting like that? I’m not so stingy with words of gratitude, am I?”

“No, well, that’s true. But at least regarding this matter, you’ve never thanked me before.”

“Well, that’s because you only nagged me endlessly before reluctantly doing what I wanted.”

“Then should I not try to stop you? Even when it’s obvious to anyone that you’re going down the wrong path?”

When I shrugged my shoulders, Betty snorted with an exasperated look.

That seems a bit impertinent, but well, this is something only Betty can say.

I decided to let it slide today, speaking with a hint of playfulness.

“Then either do as I ask or don’t.”

“Your Highness, I’m just a mere maid.”

“For a mere maid, don’t you think you talk too much, Betty?”

“That’s because Your Highness spoils me too much.”

“At least you’re aware of it.”

I burst out laughing, and Betty also stopped pursing her lips and chuckled.

A comfortable conversation we could have because of the long time we’ve shared.

Ah. Why did I foolishly cling only to that stupid thing called love, putting even this behind me?

Talking with Betty made it even clearer.

That Lloyd Alois, and love, should never exist in my life again.

I completely erased Lloyd’s face from my mind, which had been full of regret, remorse, and inexplicable sorrow.

“Amelia, may I come in?”

And with perfect timing, Leoprick knocked on the door from outside.

‘…How long has he been there?’

That was the first thought that came to mind at the sound of his polite knocking.

I wondered if he had been listening to our entire conversation.

If he had, from where did he start listening? I retraced the conversation we just had.

Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like there was anything he could have misunderstood if he had heard.

That is, if he hadn’t been standing there from the very beginning, when Betty said she saw Young Lord Alois.

I briefly answered for him to come in, while quietly whispering to Betty to find out about Lloyd’s whereabouts.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Betty nodded, signaling that she understood my words.

At the same time, she exchanged places with Leoprick, who entered through the opened door, and closed it.

“Did something amusing happen?”

Leoprick looked at Betty leaving and then at me, smiling as he approached.

Was our laughter heard all the way outside?

I briefly considered evading, but since he had already heard the laughter, it seemed impossible to deny the fact that we had laughed, so I raised the corners of my mouth.

“We were talking about old times. Seeing today’s festival made me reminisce.”

“Have you been to such a festival before?”

“Yes. Though back then, it was more about learning than enjoying.”

Instead, I brought up a different topic.

Not about Lloyd Alois or how immature I used to be, but about what I experienced and felt at today’s festival.

“I went to the festival a few times with the guild’s assistant and Betty to practice identifying merchants’ characteristics.”

Leoprick quietly maintained eye contact as he listened to me.

“I don’t have memories of the festival itself since we just bought a few items and returned without time to enjoy, but I have enough memories to share stories with Betty.”

“It’s pleasant to have someone to share old stories with. I was curious about what was happening when I heard laughter all the way to the stairs.”

Fortunately, it seems Leoprick didn’t hear our earlier conversation and only heard the laughter that followed.

Seeing him smile with what seemed like relief, I smiled along, hiding my true feelings.

“Did the conversation with the knights go well? It seems all the knights who went to Wayne Castle have returned.”

“That’s right. Sir Daeon seems to still be at the castle, but the rest have all returned. Sir Daeon said he wanted to stay and confirm a few more things.”

“So the jewel still hasn’t been found.”

“That’s correct. He seems to feel responsible because of that, so I’ve let him do as he pleases for now, but…”

With any incident, the longer the search period, the more difficult it becomes to resolve the case.

Especially for kidnapping or loss cases.

It seems Leoprick ordered to end the search because of this, but Sir Daeon, who directly commanded the scene, doesn’t seem to feel the same way.

Well, since Isolde’s Tears disappeared without a trace, he must be feeling more devastated than anyone.

Leoprick seemed to understand this feeling and was generously accepting Sir Daeon’s stubbornness.

Even though no matter how much they search, there’s no way to find it here.

“We’re returning tomorrow anyway. I told Sir Daeon to search only until tomorrow.”

“I see. Sir Daeon must be very upset.”

“Being upset is one thing, but it seems like his competitive spirit has been ignited a bit.”

“Competitive spirit?”

“Yes. Sir Daeon is the type who can’t stand losing.”

Leoprick said with a small laugh.

Well, it’s probably that competitive spirit that got him to his current position as the Crown Prince’s guard.

I nodded lightly and then recalled one of the things he had said earlier.

“We’re returning tomorrow?”

“Ah, yes. We’re set to return tomorrow.”

Leoprick again looked apologetic at my question.

The itinerary for this honeymoon was quite different from what was planned, starting with the location.

Because of that, I wasn’t sure exactly what the schedule in Wayne was.

So if he said we had to return tomorrow, I would have just accepted it.

I shook my head at him as he wore an apologetic expression.

“There’s no need for that face. Don’t you know the schedule here better than I do, Your Highness?”

“Well, originally we were planning to stay a few more days. We haven’t even seen half of the recommended places yet.”

“There must be a reason. You don’t need to feel sorry about such things.”

He is the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince who will rule this country in the future, and who is already helping his father, the Emperor, to oversee every corner of the empire.

Such a person changed all his plans and came all the way to Wayne just to show me more things and spend an enjoyable time.

That’s enough.

The sincerity he showed me here was enough to convince me without any further explanation.

I spoke casually and smiled lightly.

“Just tell me when we’re leaving tomorrow. I need time to pack.”

“I’m truly sorry, Amelia. I wanted to show you many more good places…”

“I said you don’t need to worry about it. Are we leaving early tomorrow? Or in the afternoon?”

“In the afternoon, we plan to depart after lunch.”

“I see.”

I nodded, mentally considering when to pack.

It’s late now, so I’ll pack the clothes and accessories I wore today, and tomorrow morning I’ll tell Betty to pack the rest of the luggage.

As I was calculating the time, I suddenly became curious about why the schedule had changed so abruptly.

If it were before my regression, I wouldn’t have cared whether he felt sorry or not, and I wouldn’t have been very interested in the reason for the schedule change.

For now, I have my own actions to account for here.

“Did something happen at the Imperial Palace?”

So I asked.

Without any particular thought. Just out of simple curiosity.

And Leoprick, too, simply replied,

“His Majesty has summoned us. He said he has something to discuss.”