As expected, the nobles were anxious because they couldn’t greet us. As a result, we had to receive people as busily as during the wedding reception.

Even amidst the chaos, it felt refreshingly new.

In the past, I used to watch people swarm around Reus from a step away, or I was the subject of gossip in a different sense from Reus.

But after the contract with Reus, everything changed.

Those who would normally not hide their scoffing were now smiling kindly, and everyone was eager to catch a glance.

“Your Highness, how have you been?”

The woman with orange hair standing in front of me now.

She was the one who always bet a large sum on Casien’s infidelity, calling Roel Ibel “a pitiful woman bound to be abandoned before marriage.”

“How beautiful you are today.”

“Will you participate in the upcoming salon? If Your Highness attends like before, the salon will be more enjoyable.”

The woman in a sky-blue dress of the same shade as mine always elaborately praised her fiancé’s perfection in front of me, and the woman with green eyes invited me to the salon to enjoy seeing me ignored.

And this woman, smiling innocently…

“Your Highness. It’s been a while.”

Veronica, who was the last to have an affair with Casien and tormented Iris terribly in the original story.

I hadn’t forgotten Casien. It wasn’t that I had lingering feelings. But that didn’t erase the fact that Veronica had deceived me.

‘I knew it already, but…’

It was still surprising to see her act the same without changing her expression.

“Your Highness? Is there something wrong? You look a bit unwell…”

Veronica’s worried hands grasped mine.

As I wondered how to react, the previously gentle melody began to grow louder, turning into a lively tune.

Simultaneously, the doors of the Britian Palace opened, and a woman walked into the banquet hall, escorted by knights. Everyone knew the identity of the woman approaching the hall.

The unexpected princess at the palace. Iris Aren Asilite.

A naive girl with nothing but the emperor’s favor.

Watching Iris’s entrance, the nobles might have had their opinions, but to me, it meant something different.

After all, this was my first time seeing Iris in this world.

The protagonist of this world.

I had never encountered her before, but she had always occupied a corner of my life simply by being the protagonist.

Iris’s hair, like golden threads, fluttered beautifully in the gentle breeze. I watched her, slightly lost in thought.

Her impeccable posture exuded royal dignity, her crimson eyes showed a resolve rare for her young age, and her every step radiated an unapproachable aura.

Even if someone tried to belittle her, Iris was already the protagonist of this world by her mere existence.

Even the nobles, who usually sneered at Iris, couldn’t take their eyes off the new princess at this moment.

But there was one more person here who had a different view of Iris.

I subtly observed Reus’s expression. As expected, Reus showed no emotion at the arrival of the new princess.

‘He’s a strangely upright man in odd ways.’

I seriously wondered if there was anything other than rebellion that could capture Reus’s interest.
Iris soon stepped onto the stage above the lake at the center of the banquet hall and took her seat. The lake, adorned with the colors of the evening twilight and sparkling moonlight, seemed to sanctify Iris, creating an illusion of her purity.

At the moment the orchestra’s music changed, the nobles’ spellbound silence briefly surfaced.

Only then did the nobles realize their state, clearing their throats and starting to murmur.

“If it were me, I would have requested to minimize the banquet just to avoid notice. Is it boldness or foolishness?”

“Exactly. Who would recognize her as a princess now, after living outside the palace her entire life?”

“Sadly, it seems she inherited her mother’s inability to understand her place, not her father’s wisdom.”

“With her lack of palace upbringing, it’s up to us to be forgiving, isn’t it?”

The powerful ladies of the Empress faction laughed heartily together. The other nobles in the hall shared similar reactions.

Their exclusionary attitudes were quite blatant, as if they had never been captivated by Iris.

Given Iris’s background, the nobles’ behavior at the banquet might have been expected.

Iris was undoubtedly royal blood of the imperial family but was also the first child born outside the palace to her mother, the Third Empress Avinoa.

A powerless daughter of an empress born outside the palace.

That was a significant flaw for a princess, and Iris had spent her life outside the palace due to her mother.

Avinoa lived outside the palace as a refuge from the excessive harassment of the Empress, a decision made in fear for her life.

But to the nobles, she was nothing more than a weak and useless Baroness, unworthy of her Empress title.

So one can imagine their view of her daughter.

“She dares to hold her head high as a princess without proper royal etiquette training.”