“Oh my, miss- I mean, Your Highness. Why are you back so early?”

As I returned to my room with the contract in hand, Betty, who had been busily moving around organizing luggage, approached me with a surprised look.

At that, all the maids who had been moving in coordination stopped and bowed their heads to me.

I lightly nodded my head to acknowledge their greetings.

While it was important to get to know the maids who would be serving me from now on, right now I wanted to speak with Betty alone.

“We’ll do proper introductions later. Betty, I need to borrow you for a moment.”

“What? Miss- I mean, Your Highness. But the luggage still needs to be…”

“It’ll just be for a moment, Betty.”

It was Betty who seemed more startled by my words.

But I lightly ignored her and led her to a corner of the room, passing through the maids who had started moving again.

“Oh dear, Your Highness. I’m the only maid from the estate here right now, so I really need to get back to work.”

“I know. I know, so when you’re done organizing, send this to Hayley at the trading company. Tell her it needs to be notarized.”

“Notarized? What is this?”

Betty’s eyes widened as I handed her the neatly folded contract.

It made sense for her to be surprised, since I was asking her to contact Hayley, who we rarely reached out to unless it was important.

Not to mention, it must have seemed strange for someone who had just returned from their wedding night to suddenly present a contract.

But I just shook my head and pushed the folded contract into Betty’s pocket.

“Make sure no one else sees the contents. Tell them to keep it in my office for now.”

“But wait, you should have had a romantic night! Why are you suddenly talking about work?”

“Forget romance, this is a secret from everyone else. Got it?”

“Alright, I got it. Goodness, now you need to hurry and get ready for your honeymoon, Your Highness.”

“I know. Please keep the assistance to a minimum.”

“Of course, of course. Don’t worry, this Betty has already spoken to the head maid of Your Highness’ palace.”

Betty nodded as she pushed the contract deeper into her pocket.

Then she turned around and pointed at a few of the busily moving maids.

“Mary, Tilda. Her Highness would like to bathe – is the tub ready with warm water?”

The maids called Mary and Tilda nodded and hurried off to the bathroom.

Although they had served me in my past life as well, right now the three of us should have been complete strangers.

I wonder what methods she used overnight to become so familiar with them already.

When I looked at Betty with a face demanding an explanation, she just shrugged her shoulders with her typical “What’s the problem?” expression.

That face was so familiar and nostalgic that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

* * *

“Amelia.”

“…”

“Lia.”

“…”

“Amelia Reinhart.”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness? Did you call me?”

I was startled out of my daze as I stared blankly out the window.

Whether it was because the previous night had been too tiring, or because the temperature of the bath water had been too pleasant, my whole body felt languid.

After almost falling asleep during my bath, I finished getting ready in a somewhat drowsy state and boarded the carriage for our honeymoon.

I was so out of it that even while carefully checking on each of the maids helping with the luggage, I got into the carriage on my own without waiting for Leoprick to come escort me.

His face looked displeased when he arrived afterwards, but I quietly avoided looking at him.

And so, without asking where we were going or making any other conversation, I just kept staring out the window.

Leoprick’s face looked somewhat sulky when I turned to look at him with dazed eyes, as if he was dissatisfied with that silence.

“Is the outside that interesting?”

“…Pardon?”

“I’m saying, you haven’t made eye contact with me even once since we departed. What’s out there that’s so captivating you can’t take your eyes off it?”

“Ah, well…”

It wasn’t that I couldn’t take my eyes off it, I just hadn’t thought to look away.

But I couldn’t just tell him I was tired when he seemed somewhat upset.

I forced a smile and shook my head.

“It’s not particularly interesting. I just don’t get to leave the capital often, so I suppose it feels novel.”

“Are you saying you’ve never left the capital before?”

Leoprick’s eyes widened in surprise when I casually replied.

His extremely shocked expression surprised me instead.

“Is it really that shocking that I’ve never left the capital? I imagine most noble ladies are the same.”

“But you run a trading company, don’t you?”

“A trading company can be operated just fine without going to those places in person, as long as you have capable assistants and the ability to gather relevant information.”

If you’re not smart, your body suffers.

Having been taught by my father from an early age, I handled social affairs in the capital and dispatched reliable personnel to each region to receive reports.

“There’s plenty to do in the capital, so it’s not possible to visit every place personally.”

Of course, I knew that properly grasping the local situation was necessary to give proper instructions.

But due to my father’s concern about me getting too absorbed in the trading company work from a young age, we had agreed that I would leave matters outside the capital to my assistants until I got married.

“I was short-sighted. I thought you would have traveled to various places, so you’d know better than me about good locations.”

“I understand. Most people think that way.”

I nodded nonchalantly as I brushed it off.

Leoprick wasn’t the only one.

In fact, many people thought that since I ran a trading company, I must have seen and heard more good things than others.

But unfortunately, as I hadn’t met my father’s conditions yet, I was still just a frog in a well.

Well, that was about as far as most people’s comments went.

So I tried not to pay it much mind, but his next words made the remaining drowsiness disappear completely.

“That’s why I thought Waynes would be better than nearby Hameln, since there’s more to see.”

“…Wasn’t our honeymoon supposed to be in nearby Hameln?”

Waynes? Why suddenly Waynes?

The honeymoon was one of the things decided before the wedding by me and his assistant, who came in place of the busy Leoprick.

Leoprick’s opinion was to go to a city as close as possible, since work was busy but appearances had to be kept up.

The past me, who didn’t particularly want to spend much time with him, had just nodded without complaint.

The assistant said he would like it too, and I replied that it didn’t sound bad, and that was the end of it as I recall.

Why suddenly now?

“Well, Hameln and Waynes are only a few days apart anyway.”

He smiled awkwardly and met my eyes as I blinked in surprise.

“Hameln is all fields with nothing to see, so I thought going to the port trading city of Waynes would be better for you too.”

“But Your Highness, this trip was planned since before the wedding. Surely the lord of Hameln is expecting us?”

“I’ve already sent Arnold to him. Arnold will explain well.”

What? He even sent his assistant to change the destination, when he said he had so much work to do?

Waynes is at least three more days from Hameln.

It takes four days total to get to Waynes from the capital.

It takes four days just to get there, and four days to return, so there won’t be much time to stay.

Even if it’s a honeymoon, this person is the crown prince and must be in the capital.

Until just before the wedding, he had insisted that anywhere more than a day from the capital was difficult due to his busy schedule. What’s with this sudden change of heart?

…Or perhaps some inspection work came up in Waynes?

As I pondered the reason for the sudden change in destination, I came to my own conclusion.

There must be some political reason he can’t tell me about, or hasn’t told me yet.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to change the destination so hastily.

I sighed softly as I accepted that explanation.

“Still, it would have been nice if you had told me in advance. I don’t think I packed enough.”

“I already told your maid beforehand. You don’t need to worry too much.”

And we can buy anything you need in Waynes.

Leoprick tilted his head slightly with a small smile.

It looked just like he was saying “I have a lot of money,” which made me laugh.

Do all men want to show off like this?

I chuckled softly, recalling a nameless young noble who had boasted of his wealth to me at some ball in the past.

“If you told Betty in advance, it’s fine. Betty probably prepared everything already.”

“Still, you might find something you like once we get there, right?”

He smiled again.

The golden hair shimmering in the sunlight streaming through the carriage window, and those red eyes gently curved as he looked at me.

It seemed like he was deliberately trying to seduce me, so I shook my head.

“I’m not the type to make impulsive purchases. And we may not have time to leisurely stroll around the streets anyway.”

“Buying something that suits you isn’t impulsive. And it’s a trip after all, why wouldn’t we have time to leisurely walk around?”

His voice became even calmer.

No, I should say it got lower again.

It sounded just like last night when he was trying to unsuccessfully seduce me, giving me goosebumps.

“Isn’t it obvious, Your Highness? You are the crown prince after all.”

When I casually replied, a look of confusion appeared on Leoprick’s face for the first time.

“Are you saying nobles will come all the way to Waynes to see me because I’m the crown prince?”

“Yes. I think once we arrive, there will surely be a stream of party invitations and dinner invitations from various families.”

It’s always like that.

Wherever you go, there are always people who never fail to seek out those above them in status.

Moreover, though I’m not sure of the situation in the capital, there are surely nobles eager to make connections who are already waiting for us in Waynes.

I remember that in my past life too, from the moment he became crown prince, there were always people around him.

Why does he suddenly look like he hadn’t expected this at all?

And this is someone who even changed the destination for political reasons he didn’t tell me about.

As I looked at him in bewilderment, he let out a small groan.