The ball at the House of Ferze was sooner than expected.

I picked up a sandwich on the table while examining the date on the invitation, which was only a few weeks away.

Usually, it was customary to set a date a few months in advance, send out invitations, and include the concept of the ball so that other visitors could understand the intent of the party.

However, this ball at Ferze’s had a slightly different meaning than the usual balls.

It was because it was an impulsive party held by the Duchess of Ferze, who was famous for being a party enthusiast, to celebrate the union of Leoprick and me.

Needless to say, Duke Ferze, a moderate aristocrat and a friend of my father, welcomed his wife’s opinion with open arms.

Why do they usually bicker, but only at times like this do they get along so well?

“So they still live together.”

I chuckled, recalling my father looking at my mother’s portrait with a tired face whenever Duke Ferze visited.

Along with his grumbling remark that he didn’t know he would suffer this much just because they had the same swordsmanship instructor.

Anyway, I had no choice but to attend this banquet.

“I’ll have to ask Betty to send a reply saying I’ll attend when she comes tomorrow.”

It was when I finished one sandwich and reached out for another.

Among the piled up invitation envelopes I was casually browsing through, a flashy envelope that was distinctly different from the others caught my eye.

Unlike the envelopes of other families that mainly used elegant and calm colors, this envelope stood out at a glance with its brilliant pink color and even had gold foil to make it shine.

I didn’t even have to look inside to know who sent it.

When was the banquet of the Duchess of Alois?

I took out that flashy envelope from under the others while munching on a cookie.

And as expected, the sender was the Duchess of Alois.

Duchess Flora Alois.

She is Lloyd’s mother and the younger sister of the current emperor.

She is also Leoprick’s aunt.

As the youngest daughter of the previous emperor, unlike her elder brother, she received all the love from her parents.

However, after the previous emperor passed away, she was just a troublesome noblewoman who indulged in past glory.

When the previous emperor was alive, she acted as if she was the emperor herself, stirring up the entire empire.

Now, her spirit has been somewhat dampened.

It was because the emperor, out of respect for his father’s will and affection for his only sister, indulged her whims only to a certain extent.

Yet, she was a immature person who crossed the line from time to time, unable to forget the days when everything went her way.

……That’s why she readily nodded her head to my proposal to make her son the emperor.

Not remembering at all what she had received from her father and elder brother.

This invitation was probably sent because she wanted to show off to other noblewomen that I was once desperately clinging to Lloyd.

No, in fact, when I attended this tea party, she treated me as if I were her daughter-in-law.

Despite being of a higher status as the crown princess, she ordered me around, telling me to come here and go there.

She kept bragging about her son until her mouth went dry, and she mentioned the names of the families she was considering as Lloyd’s marriage partner, as if to say that if I didn’t please her, she could marry Lloyd off to a daughter of another family.

In reality, Lloyd wasn’t accepting any of his mother’s thoughts at all.

In a way, Lloyd, who was dreaming an absurd dream, and his mother, whose head was full of flowers, were quite similar.

So this time, I’d be happy to attend and shatter that nonsensical dream a bit.

It would be better for both Lloyd and the Duchess of Alois to wake up from an impossible dream quickly.

I placed that splendid envelope on top of the invitation from the Duke of Ferze.

Tomorrow, I would tell Betty to send a letter expressing my intention to attend, on top of that envelope.

The next morning.

I had a good night’s sleep for a change and was in a very good mood.

It had been a long time since I had such a refreshing morning.

I gave Betty the necessary instructions and had a light and comfortable breakfast.

The weather was nice and the sky was clear, especially today.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Until suddenly an attendant from the Imperial Palace visited my residence.

“Your Highness, someone has come from the Imperial Palace.”

It was an unscheduled visit.

When I entered the palace yesterday, the Imperial Palace and the Empress’s Palace each sent a message saying that they must be tired, so they would let me rest first and receive greetings later.

Leoprick had also said not to worry and rest, saying that they would let me rest for at least a day.

I got up from the sofa where I was lying down, wondering.

“Please show them to the reception room.”

“Yes.”

What business could the Imperial Palace have to send someone?

As I left my seat and headed to the reception room, I tried to recall if I had received such a visit before regression.

However, since the honeymoon itself was different from before the regression and the date of return to the palace was also different, there wasn’t much to compare.

“Greetings, Your Highness. I am Matthew, an attendant from the Imperial Palace.”

“Welcome. Did His Majesty send you?”

“Yes, Your Highness. His Majesty has a message he wanted me to convey to you.”

The attendant got straight to the point before even sitting down.

Thinking that he must be quite busy, I didn’t invite him to sit either.

I didn’t know what message His Majesty wanted to convey, but I thought it would be best to keep it brief and nodded my head. That’s when it happened.

“His Majesty wishes to see you.”

“Me? Now?”

The visit was sudden, and so was the purpose.

A disorganized sentence spilled out in surprise.

Barely coming to my senses at the attendant’s affirming voice, I quickly racked my brain.

There must be a reason for calling me so suddenly.

However, hesitation to the emperor’s summons could be rude.

I stood up from my seat and asked the attendant.

“Should I go right now? Would it be impolite to go like this?”

“His Majesty said he would be grateful if you could respond to the invitation in any form.”

“Those are kind words.”

Then there’s no reason to hesitate any longer.

I glanced down at my dress, which was not too casual but a bit lacking to be considered formal, and took a step.

As I walked, I wondered if Leoprick had received the same invitation, but I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind.

Whether Leoprick was summoned together or not, it wasn’t really important.

What mattered was why the emperor, who was content with just having a meal with his son and daughter-in-law once in a while before the regression, suddenly called for me.

I followed the attendant who offered to guide me, coming up with various hypotheses in my mind.

The palace where I resided and the Imperial Palace were not very far apart.

In the first place, the separate palace was called a separate palace, but it was actually located next to the main palace where various departmental offices were gathered, the Imperial Palace, and the Empress’s Palace.

It was called a separate palace to distinguish its name from other palaces, but it had been a place where the crown prince or princes and princesses who could not become the crown prince had lived for generations.

Fortunately, there was already a guest present at the Imperial Palace, which I reached after walking a not-so-long distance.

I’m not sure if I should call it fortunate though.

“Ah. Our daughter-in-law is here.”

As I entered the room the attendant guided me to, an unfamiliar title flew at me.

A title I had never heard before, both before and after the regression.

“……Greetings to Your Majesties.”

Perhaps because of that, I had to greet them a beat late.

It was because the unfamiliar title was startling and I was also nervous because of the person with the emperor.

“Welcome, Crown Princess. I insisted on seeing you alone, but His Majesty was stubborn.”

“No, Your Majesty the Empress. I should have come to see you and paid my respects earlier, but I failed to do so. I am just sorry.”

The unexpected guest, the empress, smiled kindly and offered me a seat.

“We were the ones who said we would see you after you rested. But His Majesty couldn’t hold back and called for you, so I came along to see you as well.”

“Thanks to your consideration, I was able to rest sufficiently.”

And please speak comfortably.

As I spoke while taking a seat, the empress smiled like a young girl.

“Then shall we do that? I was worried because Leo made such a fuss before leaving, but I’m grateful that you told us to treat you comfortably.”

As the empress even clapped her hands slightly in delight, the emperor also gently smiled.

“We just asked a little because we missed our daughter-in-law, but that boy Leo told us not to make you uncomfortable. Still, as a father, I got greedy and sent someone even though I knew it might be uncomfortable.”

“No, Your Majesty. It’s not uncomfortable at all. I will gratefully come whenever you call for me.”

“Our daughter-in-law is kind.”

The emperor laughed softly.

Seeing that, the empress also seemed to smile warmly.

I wondered if they called me simply because they were curious about the crown princess.

Thinking that, the tension I had been feeling seemed to ease a bit.

Then, I noticed the smiling faces of the two of them, and somehow…….

“You two really resemble each other.”

I thought that.

Do couples who get along well even come to resemble each other when they smile?

So when I spoke out the words that came to my mind, Your Majesties looked at each other and then grinned.

“Originally, married couples come to resemble each other.”

“Perhaps the Crown Princess and Leo will also gradually resemble each other more in the future.”

The emperor and the empress spoke in turn.

I nodded my head at the emperor’s words, but had to raise the corners of my mouth awkwardly at the empress’s following words.

They probably meant it as a nice thing to say, but, well.

In the first place, our personalities are different, the way we think is different.

……Can we, who are even thinking of breaking up, come to resemble each other?

I struggled not to smile self-deprecatingly and barely managed to express my gratitude.

“Actually, when Leo first said he would marry Vermerian, we were very worried.”

“We told him not to do it if it was a choice for imperial power, but to marry if it was truly because his heart was drawn to it.”

“Although imperial power is important, we cared more about our son’s heart.”

“Yes. But even so, when he said he would marry, we were actually worried about the Crown Princess’s feelings as well.”

“But seeing you like this today, I feel relieved.”

As the Empress began to speak, the Emperor also joined in, taking turns with the Empress’s story.

It didn’t seem awkward or strange at all, as if one person was speaking.

Is this what a couple who has been together for a long time looks like?

I focused more on the appearance the two of them showed rather than the story they were telling me.

Thinking that if I were to build a family with someone whose heart connected with mine, it should really be like this.

While thinking that it’s not strange for Leoprick, who grew up seeing this, to keep asking me to get closer to each other.