“A royal marriage.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Weren’t you going to talk about our child and the appointment of the empress? Then of course I should come along.”

At those words muttered like a recitation, the Marchioness raised her chin.

That appearance, that attitude seemed to blame me for not being fully respectful, and a sneer escaped.

Who’s saying what to whom right now?

I had heard that Marquis Gilloyte had lost his wife early and taken a new mother for his young daughter.

I heard he deliberately brought in a daughter from a humble family to avoid gossip and had a son, but has she not learned even the basic rules of social etiquette while living as a marchioness all this time?

As my expression grew colder, Adela Gilloyte’s expression across from me was progressively dying.

She seemed to be trying hard to stop her mother with gestures and looks, but it was not enough.

That arrogant marchioness, who completely ignored her daughter’s restraints, was acting as if she had come to collect a debt from me.

When I haven’t done anything yet.

“When did I ever say I called the young lady about appointing her as empress?”

So I opened my mouth.

I’m not sure exactly how much she’s misunderstood, but at least that ridiculous misconception seemed to need correcting.

“I called the young lady because she’s intelligent and likeable, just to have a few words of conversation, but to hear such talk.”

“It’s no use trying to talk about something else. I already know everything.”

I meant to say don’t presume my intentions recklessly, but unfortunately, the marchioness continued her own story without grasping my intention at all.

As if to say don’t try to back out since everyone already knows anyway.

At the absurd and outrageous attitude, I felt Betty, who was standing behind me, take a step forward.

I raised my hand to stop her and turned my gaze to the young marchioness.

“Young lady, tell me. Did I ever say such preposterous things when I invited you?”

As I spoke, I saw Marchioness Gilloyte glaring at her as if telling her not to say anything.

But the wise Adela seemed to know how to overcome this situation.

With a pale face, she bowed her head deeply and answered calmly, trying to reduce the trembling in her voice.

“No, Your Highness. You just said to have a small cup of tea together.”

“Then why on earth does the young lady’s mother have such a misunderstanding? Would you explain?”

“…Yesterday, Marquis Vermerian visited my father. He came to seek advice on state affairs, but it seems my mother misunderstood it as something else.”

She answered in a posture that looked like she might prostrate herself flat.

Yesterday, Father said he would go to Marquis Gilloyte’s anyway and would deliver the letter inviting the young lady on my behalf. It seems the marchioness overheard the conversation they had then.

Is that why she’s acting so boldly?

But that doesn’t mean she can act like she’s come to collect an entrusted debt from me, the crown princess.

I sank into the sofa and opened my mouth in a low, subdued voice.

“Did you hear that, Marchioness? The young lady says you misunderstood.”

“That can’t be. Adela, you were there too. Don’t you remember they clearly talked about the empress?”

But this woman seems not to be a pushover either, as she maintained her arrogant voice and raised her chin even higher with composure.

It seems she’s not grasping the atmosphere right now.

As I let out a long sigh, I felt the young marchioness across from me flinch.

“The daughter is exceedingly intelligent, but the mother still can’t grasp the situation.”

“Your Highness, what do you mean…!”

I felt the marchioness flare up at my words.

Judging by her somewhat indignant expression and raised voice.

I looked at her and slowly opened my mouth.

“I don’t know what conversation my father and Marquis Gilloyte had, but was it a conversation that could be shared with someone outside the family like me?”

“Your Highness, you’re missing the point.”

“No. I’m pointing out the problem with this conversation.”

She overheard a conversation her husband had with a guest and recklessly set foot in the uninvited palace following her daughter.

Not only that, but a marchioness who tries to browbeat the crown princess with the contents of that conversation.

I looked straight at her, going over each point.

“Not only did you bring your husband’s conversation with a guest to the palace, but you also misconstrued my intentions in calling your daughter.”

And on top of that, even daring to try to intimidate me, the crown princess, with it.

As I slowly continued speaking, the marchioness’s face turned red and blue.

“You’re acting presumptuously as if you’ve read my mind, even though I didn’t say a word about why I called the young lady?”

With an expression that looked like she might jump up and shout at any moment, I was the one who spoke first this time as well.

“Mind your manners, Marchioness. The one before you now is the crown princess. Not some noble young lady who is friends with your daughter.”

How dare you. Not knowing your place.

As I spoke with a stern face, she bit her lip and rose from her seat.

“That wasn’t my intention, but if I’ve offended you, I apologize. I came believing Your Highness would speak frankly, but it seems that was my misconception.”

She bowed obediently, so it seemed she understood my words, but not at all.

I watched that arrogant behavior with a scoff.

With a person like that, I could easily imagine how recklessly she would act if her daughter became empress.

The Gilloyte young lady is quite nice, but her mother is holding her back.

I shook my head and let out a sigh.

“Betty. Escort the marchioness out. It seems she’s ready to leave now.”

“No escort is necessary, Your Highness. I can go with my daughter.”

And her outrageous behavior didn’t end there.

She grabbed her still pale daughter’s arm and forcibly lifted her, refusing the maid’s help.

On top of that, she gave a perfunctory greeting without even looking at me, as if I was the one who had done something wrong.

What on earth is she relying on to act like that?

Now I was not just angry, but confused as well.

I couldn’t hide the laughter that kept escaping as I watched the two of them.

Adela Gilloyte, who had risen as if being dragged, bowed her head with a flustered face.

“I’m sorry, so sorry, Your Highness. Let me apologize on her behalf…”

“Let’s go now, Adela. We don’t need to stay long in a place like this.”

The marchioness, who rejected even the apology offered by her more sensible daughter, committed the outrage of calling the palace “a place like this.”

At that level, it can only be heard as if she has something to rely on.

I waved my hand with a tired face, not stopping the marchioness who said she was leaving.

“I will contact you, Your Highness. I’m sorry.”

Adela left the room practically being dragged by her mother’s hand.

As the marchioness said, no one escorted them out.

Such rudeness, and in the palace of all places.

It’s truly unbelievable.

As soon as the two left the room, Betty, who had been standing behind me, began spewing all sorts of harsh words.

Letting the words I could hardly bring myself to say pass through one ear, I picked up the teacup that was still warm and drank the tea.

“That [expletive]…, Your Highness. Are you going to leave it at that?”

After pouring out every curse imaginable for a while, Betty turned her head towards me.

After finishing a cup of tea and nibbling on some snacks, I shrugged towards her.

“It’s fine. You got angry on my behalf.”

“That’s not what I mean, Your Highness. No, where did she get such guts from?”

Betty said, fuming.

Guts, guts.

Yeah. That seems right.

“She certainly seems to have something to rely on, doesn’t she?”

“Something to rely on is an understatement! If someone who didn’t know saw her, they’d think that woman was the Empress!”

As expected, it wasn’t just me who thought so.

Then is that lady acting like that because she has something to rely on, or is it simply her personality?

After pondering quietly, I raised my hand to beckon Betty closer.

“Could you go find out who the marchioness is close to? Also what my father said in the marquis’s office, and who was there when he said it.”

“I will, Your Highness.”

Betty nodded and left.

I watched her back as she left the room and thought.

Whether the Gilloyte young lady would really be a good choice.

“Anyway, that guy and this guy, there’s not a single one to trust!”

Adela inwardly let out a big sigh as she watched her mother fuming inside the carriage.

It was a meeting the crown princess had invited her to.

With a handwritten letter, no less, using her father as a messenger.

Recalling Marquis Vermerian’s words that they would probably discuss future matters when she went to the palace, she had gone with her own expectations.

But her mother ruined it all.

Adela looked at her mother with much calmer eyes than before.

“That’s enough.”

She knew she was a rash person.

Rash, short-sighted, and someone who knew nothing but her father and son.

They weren’t particularly close usually, and it’s not like she treated her exceptionally well either, so they had just maintained an appropriate distance.

But then she suddenly intervened and…

Adela looked at her somewhat indignant mother with cold eyes.

“What were you thinking? If the crown princess holds our family responsible for this, we could end up on the streets.”

“What are you talking about? I thought I was just saying what I heard yesterday, but it wasn’t! Is it wrong that I got a little angry and expressed it?”

“Mother, she’s the crown princess. She’s not someone you can just get angry at like that!”

Wrong.

There’s no point in talking to someone who doesn’t even know the difference between the crown princess and an ordinary noblewoman.

Adela ground her teeth and sighed, regretting the opportunity that had already flown away.

“What did I do wrong? She may be the crown princess now, but there’s no guarantee that power will last forever, and that woman doesn’t even have a son.”

“Having a son or not isn’t the point. That woman is the crown princess, I’m telling you!”

“Right! The crown princess. She may be that now, but later won’t she be the deposed crown princess?”

As the marchioness nonchalantly brought up the conversation she had eavesdropped on yesterday, Adela turned pale and jumped up.

“Don’t say such things anywhere. Ever.”

The content of what her father and Marquis Vermerian discussed yesterday was taboo.

A taboo that could hurt anyone if known.

After firmly restraining that taboo, Adela pondered when she could meet the crown princess next.

Additionally, she also considered how she could bring her down.