An imperial invitation to attend the banquet—essentially a royal command. Since this was an official event hosted by the royal family, the heads of noble households were required to attend.

I had already told Bertisha that I would attend with Yezar, and I’d even been threatened that they’d drag me there by imperial order if I didn’t.

There was no way I could refuse.

‘Though originally, I just said I wouldn’t go and that was that.’

Nowhere was more dangerous than an official banquet. Whenever my family tried forcing me to attend, I’d always find excuses using rather extreme methods—like dousing myself with cold water in the middle of winter or jumping from the second floor.

And now I was in a position where I absolutely had to go. What made it worse was that it was obvious Bertisha would immediately approach Yezar at the banquet and act overly familiar with him.

‘I really need to come up with a plan. I can’t just hide Yezar tightly in my arms forever.’

“What’s wrong, my lady?”

“Nothing at all. I was just wondering what it’d be like if Yezar were a tiny hamster that could fit into my pocket.”

If he were a cute little hamster, I could just slip him into my pocket and hide him away. How wonderful that would be.

“Huh?”

“I was just thinking out loud. Don’t worry about it.”

“I understand…….”

Looking at Yezar smiling at me, still puzzled but kind, I quietly thought to myself that I never wanted to see that face twisted in sorrow.

***

After finishing fencing practice and taking a refreshing bath, I returned to my bedroom after handling the duties of a marchioness—only to pause in momentary bewilderment at the sight before me.

‘What on earth is this?’

Red rose petals scattered across the pure white bed sheets, flickering candles decorating the room, a sweet fragrance brushing past my nose—and right in front of me, a flimsy piece of cloth that seemed utterly useless, offering no real coverage.

‘Did I enter the wrong bedroom?’

But the layout of the room was unmistakably familiar. Whoever did this, I wished they’d just return my perfectly normal bedroom to how it was.

I was about to move and try to restore everything as much as possible before Yezar arrived, when I suddenly sensed someone’s presence behind me—something I hadn’t noticed earlier.

Turning to look, I saw Ember and Lopi. Where had all the other maids gone? Why were only these two standing there, smiling suspiciously?

‘Something about that pair feels ominous.’

I’d felt it before when Ember eyed Lopi, but now the two seemed perfectly in sync. It crossed my mind that this whole scene might be their joint doing. As if reading my thoughts, Lopi confidently spoke to me.

“Hehe. I used my experience from working at the Eckert Marquisate to create the most romantic atmosphere possible, my lady.”

“This isn’t just romantic—it’s way too……!”

I trailed off, momentarily speechless. Yezar would arrive soon. There was no way I could stay in this kind of setting with him.

“This room is where both Yezar and I come after finishing our duties to rest and sleep, so… um… is it really necessary to create such an atmosphere?”

I tried to phrase my words as reasonably as possible, hoping she’d understand. I desperately wanted to fix the room before Yezar came. But Lopi tilted her head, puzzled by my response.

“But today’s your wedding night, isn’t it?”

“What?”

Wedding night? Today? The unexpected term left me momentarily stunned. Instead, Lopi asked me.

“You two get along so well. I just didn’t understand why you kept postponing your wedding night, so I took the initiative to prepare this!”

‘Ah… I see. No wonder the atmosphere feels so… suggestive.’

Come to think of it, I’d been in the marquisate for quite some time now. I’d been so busy I hadn’t noticed, but it had definitely been over six months.

In a typical household, couples usually had a wedding night once a month. It seemed Yezar had been postponing it out of consideration for me.

Now that I thought about it, the maids’ odd behavior today suddenly made sense.

‘No wonder they went all out with bath salts and flower petals floating in my bathwater.’

I’d wondered why they were so excited, cheerfully touching my hair and slathering all sorts of lotions on my skin.

It was all for this. I’d been so preoccupied with thoughts about Bertisha that I hadn’t considered this at all.

‘Ember must’ve used the new maid, Lopi, to set this up, trying to push Yezar and me together.’

If it were just Ember, it wouldn’t have mattered. But with Lopi, who didn’t know our situation, I couldn’t exactly explain and ask her to clean it up.

I stared at the flimsy piece of cloth lying before me, utterly defeated.

Was the intention behind giving me this cloth to change into it, lie on the bed, and seduce Yezar before he arrived?

‘Ember! You know our circumstances perfectly well! How could you expect me to wear this!’

The anxiety I’d felt about the banquet suddenly cleared from my mind. Of course, in the worst possible way.

I struggled to calm my burning cheeks as I spoke to Lopi.

“Th-thank you. Both of you worked hard. But I think I need a little time to prepare myself……!”

“Of course, we’ll know when to discreetly leave.”

Lopi grinned mischievously.

“I’d really appreciate it if you stayed as far away from the bedroom as possible…… Can you do that?”

“Oh, don’t worry, my lady. I’m not that oblivious. Otherwise, how could I do my job as a maid properly?”

How cheerful. It would’ve been better if she were perceptive enough to sense my distress.

And why was Ember standing over there, smiling so contentedly? After they left, I looked around the room with a complicated heart.

My gaze fell once more on the flimsy cloth. I carefully folded it and set it aside in a corner, then rummaged through the wardrobe for something decent to wear.

‘Huh…… Why is the wardrobe completely empty?’

Ember had clearly tampered with it beforehand. I understood she wanted Yezar to be happy and keep me close, but still—how could she expect me to wear that!

Then I spotted a robe neatly hung to one side. Apparently, they hadn’t removed the robe meant for after bathing.

‘Ah. Thank goodness.’

I’d almost started thinking I’d have to lie down without properly changing clothes. The robe was thick—tightly tied at the waist, it wouldn’t reveal a single inch of skin.

I took a brief breath and slowly circled the bedroom. At first, I’d instinctively panicked, but now that I understood the intent behind their efforts, I felt guilty just clearing it all away.

Ember knew my circumstances, but the other maids didn’t. They’d probably been excited, busily preparing and fussing over me.

‘When I think of it that way, I can’t just throw it all out.’

I lay down in the middle of the bed, petals scattered all around. Unfortunately, the event they were anticipating wouldn’t happen.

‘Maybe it’s the stress from the banquet, but I feel a bit tired. I’ll just lie here until Yezar arrives.’

Still, the fragrance filling the bedroom was quite pleasant.

***

I faintly heard the creak of the door opening while half-asleep. Apparently, my short rest had turned into a light nap.

Still dazed, I greeted Yezar, only to hear his trembling voice. He seemed just as flustered as I was.

“My lady, what is all this?”

I needed to explain. But first, a yawn escaped me.

“Yaaawn…… Just a moment. The thing is, this happened because……”

My words naturally dragged on. And as I shifted, the tightly tied sash of my robe had loosened. I needed to retie it properly.

But I was too groggy, my body slack.

‘Julietta. Get a grip. Yezar is clearly flustered.’

Finally snapping out of my daze, I decided to start with an explanation. I met his gaze—only to find his blue eyes fixed intently on me.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

Was there something on my face? I asked casually, but Yezar’s reaction seemed off.

“M-maybe my lady is… trying to… seduce me?”

‘Huh?’

I was suddenly wide awake. Well, no wonder Yezar was misunderstanding. The soft glow of scattered candles, red rose petals strewn across the white sheets, the sweet scent in the air—

To anyone, it would look like I’d thoroughly prepared for this.

“It’s a misunderstanding! The thing is… they said today was our wedding night!”

“Oh.”

He seemed to understand, and his shaky voice returned to normal.

“The maids prepared all this, saying it was our wedding night. I felt bad clearing it all away, but I couldn’t explain our situation either. So I just lay here like this and accidentally dozed off……”

Now that I said it out loud, I realized how utterly unprepared I was. As I awkwardly smiled, Yezar covered his face with his hand.

“I’m sorry. Your attire was revealing so much skin that I couldn’t help but misinterpret.”

“Hahaha. That’s understandable. Revealing skin? Wait, what did you say?”

Revealing? I knew the sash had loosened, but my eyes instinctively followed downward.

The robe had come undone, fully exposing the cleavage beneath.

‘Damn it!’

“D-don’t look!”

“I already covered my eyes……”

He was thorough. Too thorough. Which meant he’d already seen everything……

I wanted to vanish into a mouse hole. Now I completely understood why he’d been so confused. The room’s atmosphere was unlike usual, and upon approaching the bed, he found a woman with her clothes half-open.

It was completely understandable! I’m sorry, Yezar! This is all my fault! I screamed silently in my mind as I hastily retied the loose sash.

My face burned involuntarily. At least the room wasn’t brightly lit—that was a small mercy. Otherwise, Yezar would’ve clearly seen my face completely flushed.