Whether she was happy to see me or not, there was only one response I could give.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you, Your Majesty the Empress.”

I couldn’t show any displeasure in front of the other noble ladies. Bertisha smiled brightly at my words and invited me to sit next to her.

Unable to refuse, I sat down beside her and thought for a moment.

Just now, something about what Bertisha had said felt off.

‘Why does it seem like Bertisha doesn’t like me?’

The eyes that stared at me while talking about the times when the three of us used to hang out together looked as if they were regarding a stone that didn’t belong.

It might be an overreaction, but it also seemed like she was blaming me for distancing her from him.

Even when Bertisha had been sending one-sided letters to Yezar, I wondered if she really didn’t know about his feelings.

In fact, wasn’t she pretending not to know about his affection, keeping him close and using his emotions as she pleased? But when those feelings, which seemed like they would continue even after marriage, were poured out to some unknown woman, did she come to meet me like this? My thoughts continued to build upon each other.

‘My mind is in chaos. I wish I was just being overly paranoid.’

Bertisha was a kind and wise female lead in the original story. When incidents occurred, she used her brilliant mind to resolve them refreshingly and viewed those of lower status equally without discrimination.

Readers loved the lovely, intelligent, and kind female lead just as much as the male leads. I was one of those readers who liked such a female lead.

So I didn’t want to be disappointed.

Instead of looking at Bertisha, who was still staring at me without taking her eyes off, I turned my head to the side.

After all, I hadn’t properly greeted the hostess of this tea time, Marchioness Yekert.

Fortunately, she seemed to be in a good mood, listening to the praises of the noble ladies with a satisfied face.

Soon noticing my gaze, the Marchioness turned to me.

“I’m late with my greetings. Thank you for inviting me to this tea time, Marchioness Yekert.”

As I expressed my gratitude, the corners of her mouth turned up.

“Not at all. Actually, I wasn’t expecting you since I heard the Duchess was visiting other places first. I’m pleased that you came here and even thanked me.”

As expected, she knew everything. The fact that I had first attended Lady Stemun’s tea time, who wasn’t on good terms with her.

But she didn’t seem to want to say anything more than that. She appeared to be in a generous mood after receiving so much praise from the noble ladies.

Besides, she couldn’t display any malicious behavior in a place where the Empress of the Empire, who said she wanted to meet me, was present.

Considering how scared I was when I entered, Marchioness Yekert wasn’t such a formidable opponent. The real challenge was Bertisha sitting next to me.

“You’re so different from me, Duchess. Your fiery hair, fresh green eyes, and upturned eyes make you look very haughty.”

“Is that so?”

Even I thought Bertisha and I were complete opposites. Not just in appearance, but in personality too. Unlike the gentle and elegant Bertisha, I was the type to be busy running around energetically.

“Yes, you’re very different from me. I wonder if that’s why. The reason Duke Perhaem was attracted to you.”

It was a comment whispered so quietly that I wouldn’t have heard it if I hadn’t been listening closely. I wondered why she was saying that Yezar was attracted to me because I was the opposite of her. It didn’t seem to be said with good intentions.

“You know, Duchess. Would it be too selfish of me to ask about your love story before marriage?”

At this, the noble ladies’ eyes lit up with interest as they looked in our direction. I suddenly felt like all the attention had shifted to me.

I don’t understand why everyone is so curious about others’ love stories. They must have already seen it splashed across the front page of the newspapers.

“Not at all. I’m just worried that the story of our romance before marriage might be too trivial to be interesting. I’m embarrassed to say, but we were caught having a secret date and it ended up in the newspapers… We often had dates like that before marriage. The problem was that we acted boldly because we hadn’t been caught until then.”

As I spoke sheepishly, Marchioness Yekert, who had been listening, interjected.

“So what was written in the newspaper was true. Well, if you were meeting outside in your usual attire, surely someone would have noticed. Still, you bravely enjoyed your dates mingling among the commoners.”

I thought she would just listen quietly, but it seemed the Marchioness’s bad habit was starting to show. I responded to her with a flushed face and a dreamy voice.

“It was the Duke’s idea. He didn’t want me to be the subject of people’s gossip. At first, I was taken aback, but now I find it enjoyable. After all, the Duke is so skilled with a sword. I’ve never felt scared.”

This elicited strong reactions from the noble ladies who had been quiet until then.

“As expected of the Empire’s most eligible bachelor.”

“To think of his wife first like that. How caring.”

“The Perhaem duchy is famous for its swordsmanship. How reassuring that broad back must be. I don’t think I’d be scared either.”

The response was good when I put Yezar at the forefront. There seemed to be some complaints mixed in about their own indifferent husbands, but the atmosphere was cheerful.

Unable to resist the momentum, even Marchioness Yekert didn’t say anything more. It seemed Yezar was quite popular among the ladies.

‘Yezar, I’m riding on your reputation. I’ll be sure to thank you when I get back.’

As I smiled, thinking of him who wasn’t here, I suddenly remembered his words about coming to pick me up. I had said I would come out at the right time, not knowing what was ahead.

But Bertisha was here now. Yezar, who had struggled even with receiving a letter, would see Bertisha’s face.

I snapped to attention. It was an emergency.

‘What should I do? I haven’t been here long. I can’t just jump up and leave.’

Cold sweat started to pour down my back, and one of the ladies who noticed my strange behavior asked with concern.

“Duchess, are you alright? You don’t look well.”

“Ah, no. I’m fine.”

I tried to pretend I was okay, but I felt like I was sitting on pins and needles. More than anything, I was anxious and worried about Yezar.

“If you’re not feeling well, would you like to get some fresh air with me?”

If only another lady had made that offer, it would have been great. But it was Bertisha who was making that suggestion to me. I was about to politely decline when the other ladies stepped in to help Bertisha.

“We’ll be fine here. Go get some fresh air with Her Majesty the Empress.”

“That’s right. Some fresh air will make you feel better.”

No, it won’t make me feel better at all! The very person who caused my complexion to worsen in the first place was offering to go out together. There was no way I would feel better.

“The ladies are right. Let’s go out together, Duchess.”

Pushed to the point where I couldn’t refuse, I answered like a cornered mouse.

“Yes, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Power was indeed a bully.

I entered the room guided by the servant and felt the breeze coming from the window. It was thanks to Bertisha’s suggestion that instead of going for a walk, which might be tiring, we should rest in another room.

Because of that, only Bertisha and I were in the room. Alone in a room with my husband’s first love. What kind of situation was this?

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

Her voice was incredibly kind, but I felt like I had a thorn in my throat.

“Thanks to you. Thank you. Let’s go back now.”

It seemed more comfortable to return to where the noble ladies were gathered. So I tried to get up, but she stopped me.

“Just a moment. Actually, I have something I want to talk to you about, Duchess.”

No wonder she suggested going to a room where we would be alone. She had something she wanted to discuss without the other ladies present.

“I’m not sure what Your Majesty the Empress would want to talk about with someone you’ve never met before.”

“That may be true for you, but not for Yezar. I wanted to ask you something about Yezar. As you probably already know, we were childhood friends. We were very close.”

I couldn’t help but sigh. Even if Bertisha, who knew Yezar well, was suspicious of our marriage, I was still Yezar’s wife.

The current situation was a wife listening to another woman talking about how close she was to her husband. And from the woman who was her husband’s first love, no less.

“I’ve heard about it, but Yezar only mentioned Your Majesty very briefly. He said you were once close friends. So I didn’t realize you were still close.”

It must have been quite a while since Yezar last replied to Bertisha’s letters. She might feel hurt by her childhood friend’s one-sided distancing, but it was rude to come to his wife and talk about how close they were while asking about Yezar.

And the intelligent Bertisha must have known this too. She must have known exactly how I would feel.

“If it’s Yezar, he probably didn’t tell you much about me. He’s always the type to consider others’ feelings and care for them.”

I didn’t like her tone, which suggested she knew him better than anyone. Even though I knew that Bertisha had shared more time with Yezar than I had, I still felt that way.