Inside the swaying carriage ascending to San Carlo, the Archduchess Lariesa observed Prince Alfonso’s carriage procession with eyes as anxious as the carriage’s tremors. Nothing would change by watching, but she felt she would go mad if she didn’t.

“Don’t act as if you have become something.”

“You are no more than a card brought to the negotiation table, not a monarch’s daughter.”

“Lariesa de Valois, not my fiancée.”

Lariesa had cried fervently when she returned to her lodgings that day.

‘I have upset Prince Alfonso!’

Would this marriage come to pass? This would be the typical mindset of a person involved in a political marriage. Either way, their relationship was closer to a transaction.

But Lariesa felt even more pain at the thought that Alfonso would dislike her.

‘What does Prince Alfonso think of me? Does he despise me? That I’m terrible, ugly, inferior to my sister? He must regret it too. ‘Ah, it would have been better if Duchess Suzanne came.’ Ah……’

After her thoughts reached this point, she simply could not bear it. The Archduchess Lariesa called for Count Lebiang and tormented him almost to death.

“Count Lebiang! What is happening with this marriage now!”

“Your Highness, your Highness, you should not worry so…”

“What if the Prince is repulsed by me?!”

Looking at Lariesa, who was on the verge of tears, Count Lebiang began to placate the daughter of his lord while letting out a deep sigh from the pit of his stomach.

“Your Highness, this marriage is, after all, a political marriage. The parties’ intentions are not important. The one you should cater to is not Prince Alfonso but His Majesty Leo III.”

“But when we get married, the person I’ll live with is Prince Alfonso! What if he snubs me? What if he sends in the legal wife immediately after the marriage and doesn’t come to see me?”

Considering the shenanigans of Leo III, Alfonso’s father, it was a very possible scenario.

But Count Lebiang was no amateur. As a skilled diplomat, he was becoming increasingly adept at comforting people while undergoing Lariesa’s harsh training.

One must not feed the anxiety.

“The Kingdom of Galico will never sit idle. I know what you’re going to say, but the Kingdom of Galico now is different from twenty years ago.”

There’s no way the horrific Duke Oud, who has a daughter, would sit idly by and watch his daughter fend for herself.

“Does the Prince have another woman he cares about and that’s why he’s treating me this way?”

Lariesa had deliberately pushed the blackhaired woman she saw at the masquerade far from her mind.

Naturally, Lariesa was not a complete fool either. And no matter how foolish a woman may be, a woman’s intuition is sharp. She definitely felt a sense of foreboding deep in her chest.

Yet she brought up in every conversation, ‘The Count of Cesare’s marriage partner is really lucky,’ ‘Isn’t that couple good to look at,’ to suppress that feeling.

She was so unstable that she couldn’t stop her impulse to want to believe it as a fact, even when her conversation partner was Leo III, by bringing up the story of the second daughter of Cardinal de Mare and Cesare.

“Archduchess Lariesa! Don’t think that!”

Count Lebiang strongly denied it. He had to break the cycle of Lariesa repeating negative thoughts and sinking into sadness.

Moreover, he was a rational person. Prince Alfonso had a high reputation for being cautious and thoughtful in diplomacy.

He did not think that such a person, especially a royal heir about to have a political marriage, would be so reckless. If he had a woman he liked, he could bring her in as a legal wife.

“Prince Alfonso is not someone without alternatives. And, this time, you did cross the line, Your Highness. Any man would be angry. It is the worst thing for a wife to criticize a man for his ability or situation. Especially if the wife is wealthier or more powerful.”

Lariessa shrank even further at her selfdeprecating words. Instead of getting angry, Princess Lariessa retreated deeper into herself, and Count Levian realized his mistake and hurriedly comforted her.

“Poor princess, don’t be too sad. Where in the world is there something that can’t be compensated?”

Count Levian desperately thought of the merits of Princess Lariessa.

“Isn’t the princess a kind person?”

The only thing he could say about a woman of marrying age was “kind,” a rather depressing reality. But in truth, she was full of compassion, at least towards those she loved.

“How about praising Prince Alfonso more and taking care of him attentively?”

The best strategy for a woman who cannot attract a man rationally is dedication.

The better the character of the man, the better this strategy worked. The moment pity turned into affection, a woman without rational attraction could find a place in a man’s heart.

“Anyway, marriage is a foregone conclusion. Stay by his side and treat him well for a long time. That’s usually how a husband opens his heart to his wife. Prince Alfonso is a good man. I’m sure you’ll make a good couple.”