“We don’t have time for this! Let’s go quickly.”

Hearing my urgent tone, Yezar followed along hesitantly. Then he carefully asked.

“My lady, did you perhaps cause some trouble?”

It was a question half filled with certainty. I wonder how my image is set in Yezar’s mind? It’s not like I go around causing trouble all the time.

“Of course not! I’ll explain later. Hurry, let’s leave this place!”

“I understand. But my lady, the carriage I came in is not that way.”

I stopped abruptly while pulling his hand. I had been heading towards the carriage with the ducal crest, which was the one I came in. It seemed it had been waiting in case Yezar couldn’t come due to some issue.

“Then, Yezar, please quickly take me to that carriage.”

“Yes, I’ll guide you slowly.”

My heart was in such a hurry. Not knowing my state of mind, Yezar was leisurely. Only after slowly boarding the carriage and departing did I catch my breath.

Fortunately, the misfortune of Yezar encountering Bertisha didn’t occur. The effort was worth it.

“What on earth happened?”

“Well, an unexpected person who wasn’t on the guest list appeared at today’s tea time venue.”

“An unexpected person?”

“Yes. Let’s talk when we get back to the mansion. There’s a lot to discuss.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it right away. The female lead I liked in the novel might have been a bad person only to Yezar.

‘Will I be able to tell Yezar the truth… I only have unconfirmed suspicions. What if I unnecessarily trouble his mind?’

Unaware of my concerns, Yezar smiled gently as always, taking me in with his eyes.

“Any conversation with you, my lady, is always enjoyable.”

I didn’t want to cast a dark cloud over that shy face with its faint smile.

Bertisha was mulling over what Julieta had said just earlier.

‘Your Majesty the Empress, so I have a request too. Please stop sending letters to my husband. He finds it uncomfortable.’

“Yezar finds me uncomfortable, she says?”

Letting out a hollow laugh, Bertisha looked out the window. There stood a all-too-familiar carriage and a man who was once as ordinary as being by her side.

He seemed to have come to pick up the Orbetian lady. Though she couldn’t hear what they were saying, the Orbetian lady took his hand and led him. He was being swayed by that lady as if it were familiar.

She almost bit her lip involuntarily. But she shouldn’t, as she needed to maintain her dignity as the Empress. Bertisha’s gaze turned back to them.

The man who used to smile every time their eyes met was now smiling at another woman. The person who seemed like he would never change since childhood had changed.

‘When you’re not even a real lover, or wife, or anything…’

When they were young, there were no secrets between them. They shared even trivial daily occurrences. So the claim of having a lover for several years was a lie.

She couldn’t know how it was fabricated, but there must have been some kind of deal in their marriage. It surely couldn’t be real love.

But why was Yezar blushing and smiling like that while looking at the Orbetian lady?

Even if it started as a deal, had he begun to give his affection? Yezar was weak to affection, after all. If it was like feeling sympathy for a pitiful animal, that would be better.

“…If you were going to leave, you should have left earlier. If you had confessed your feelings or cut them off, I wouldn’t be like this.”

Even if he said he would change now, Bertisha didn’t want change. She liked those moments the three of them enjoyed.

Laughing and chattering together, and sometimes sharing love. Even if every moment was trampling on someone’s feelings, she didn’t care.

Because Yezar still smiled in front of her. Because they were happy.

‘Seeing how they’re trying to keep us from meeting like this, his heart must be wavering anyway.’

Knowing that emotions melted into layers of accumulated time wouldn’t easily disappear, Bertisha wasn’t worried. She entered the tea room, masking her smile.

This would be the first and last time she attended this gathering.

“I’m sorry. I’m late. The Duchess Perhaem wasn’t feeling well and left early. Please understand with a generous heart, Marchioness Ekert.”

After all, she had already achieved what she wanted.

The night after visiting the Ekert Marquis residence. I was choosing my words while drinking my fourth glass of water that Yezar had poured for me.

He wiped my lips with a handkerchief and asked.

“So what is it that you have to say that you’re hesitating until late at night?”

Words were rushing through my head. There was a lot to say. That’s why I was more cautious. I was afraid that if I said something wrong, all his efforts to forget his old love by diligently removing and eliminating things related to her would go back to square one.

I knew that as the Empress of the Empire, they would inevitably meet face to face, but still, I wanted to give him more time to collect his thoughts.

“I’m afraid that if I speak, Yezar’s face will become sad again.”

Ember’s face, crying and pleading in front of me, was very painful.

‘Please help the Duke clear up his old love that’s troubling him. I beg you like this.’

If someone who had been watching by his side was suffering to that extent, it meant that the wound in his heart, as the person involved, was deep. But Yezar, not seeming to grasp this, said something irrelevant.

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere, my lady?”

“It’s not that I’m sick.”

He smiled brightly, relieved at my answer.

“Then, it’s alright.”

It wouldn’t be alright at all. I don’t know why he’s smiling like sunshine. I hesitated, then drank the last of the water in one gulp before speaking.

“I met Her Majesty the Empress today.”

“…So that’s why you were hesitating to speak.”

“Yes. It probably won’t be pleasant to hear.”

And I didn’t want to see the corners of his eyes drooping. I liked his smiling face.

“So she was the unexpected person not on the guest list. Did anything happen?”

I thought he would ask about Bertisha. I was surprised that he worried about me first, and my eyes wavered.

“Um… whether nothing happened. Maybe something did happen…”

As I spoke vaguely, he asked seriously.

“My lady, what kind of conversation did you have?”

I spoke about what happened with her based on objective facts as much as possible. That Bertisha attended this tea time because she wanted to meet me, and when my complexion wasn’t good, she took me out for some air and asked why Yezar was distancing himself from her.

And that she felt hurt that he, who used to be close friends, was distancing himself, so she asked me to tell him to attend at least the banquet, and if not, she might use an imperial order as it would hinder official duties. Of course, it was just a request in words, but it was no different from a threat.

After hearing everything, Yezar seemed to be lost in thought for a moment. I wanted to tell him he didn’t have to go to the banquet, but I had something I had said to Bertisha.

I watched him deeply pondering and tapped his fingertips lightly.

“What is it, my lady?”

“Well, there’s something I didn’t mention…”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Yezar might get angry, but I asked Her Majesty the Empress to stop sending letters to my husband.”

According to our marriage rules, I should have asked his opinion before interfering in such personal matters. It was also a basic principle that we had to follow to respect each other and maintain an enjoyable contract marriage.

I said it prepared for him to get angry. But Yezar casually asked back.

“Is that so?”

“That, that’s not all! Even though Yezar hadn’t heard anything, I acted as if I would persuade you well and we would attend the official banquet together as a couple, telling her not to worry…”

“As a couple, we would attend together. I would feel more at ease if Julieta is by my side.”

I hit his shoulder, not hard enough to hurt but enough to bring him to his senses.

“I told you not to say everything is fine! I’ve practically broken our marriage rules!”

“About those marriage rules. I’ve been thinking, wouldn’t it be alright to make some exceptions?”

“Exceptions?”

“Yes, I mean to be more flexible. Wasn’t the reason we set the marriage rules because we didn’t know anything about each other and needed to adjust? To get along better.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But now we’ve come to know each other, haven’t we? So as long as we respect each other’s wishes, how about changing it so we don’t have to adhere too strictly to the rules?”

I had become somewhat accustomed to living with him. I could now naturally accept being called ‘madam’ as a way of addressing me.

“That’s fine, but I still won’t stop trying to be an ideal wife! So as not to burden Yezar.”

“When have you ever been a burden to me? I don’t recall any such instances.”

He always lets things slide like this. I needed to pull myself together. He was too soft a husband.

“…Really, being too kind isn’t good either. You’re not pretending to be okay right now, are you?”

I firmly grasped the fingertips I had been tapping. To comfort him if he was trembling.