The feared incident that Chrisina worried about did not occur.

Maeri was consistently kind and polite. She expressed great joy in meeting people from the Ferny and Rutek families, sharing various knowledge related to art.

She did not subtly insult Lishi. When Maeri looked genuinely pleased to have met both of them, it seemed as if she sincerely enjoyed the encounter.

Chrisina and Erwel were held by Maeri for about two hours.

“Oh my. Get a hold of yourself. Shouldn’t we go now? The Countess must be waiting a lot. I told her to come here, but seeing that she hasn’t come, it seems I’m still uncomfortable.”

Chrisina did not know how to respond to that statement. Unexpectedly, Erwel was also quiet, possibly worrying about what Erwel might say.

“Sorry for suddenly inviting you like this. Oh, and sometimes I hope we can have various discussions about paintings. What do you think?”

“Yes, we will.”

Chrisina and Erwel came out into the corridor and walked silently. It wasn’t until they descended the stairs leading to the second floor, where Lishi’s room was, that Chrisina spoke.

“El, why so quiet?”

“You usually tell me to shut up and not even breathe, why? Are you suddenly sorry?.”

“It’s not that; it just seemed like you wouldn’t stay quiet with your personality.”

“Still, I have to stay quiet. What can I do? If I cause trouble for the Green family by accidentally offending the princess of the Minasari Kingdom, my father will kill me.”

“Well, it’s good you have that much sense.”

“Even if I do well, what would you say?”

“That’s praise.”

“Praise is nonsense.”

Erwel, who was walking with a grumbling tone, stopped before entering Lishi’s room.

“Sini. No matter how I think about it, it’s strange.”

“What is?”

“Haven’t you felt it? That girl… no, the maid beside the princess.”

Chrisina thought of Maeri’s maids.

Among the several maids, there was one with brown skin who was particularly close to Maeri. Maeri introduced her as her chief maid.

“Are you talking about the chief maid? Her name is…”

“Jane.”

Chrisina’s eyes widened. Erwel rarely paid attention to others’ names.

“That girl, she won’t be an ordinary maid.”

“Oh?”

Chrisina was too focused on Maeri to pay attention to the maid.

“If a lot of people around the princess have died, that girl is undoubtedly behind it.”

Erwel said so. Chrisina trusted Erwel’s eyes.

“Without a Countess, we have to protect the Countess. Get your act together, Sini.”

+++

At the dining table were Elde, Lishi, and Maeri.

Although it would be appropriate for Princess Maeri, the princess of a country, to sit in the main seat, she occupied the seat next to Elde.
Maeri seemed to boast about being close to Eldi since childhood, lightly placing her hand on Eldi’s arm, laughing, and sharing past stories that only the two of them knew.

Neither Eldi nor Maeri spoke to Lishi first, and Lishi didn’t initiate a conversation with them either.

After finishing the meal calmly, when Lishi stood up, Eldi looked at Lishi for the first time.

“Sister-in-law. See you later.”

“Sure.”

Lishi casually spoke and left the dining room first.

Maeri lowered her eyebrows.

“Oh my. How rude…”

“I’m not the type to be rude for just a day or two.”

“No, not you. Why does the Countess speak to you like that? You’re Kei’s brother, and she must know that…”

“That’s her feelings, sister-in-law. I do as I please.”

“But it’s not right, Eldi. We should observe etiquette towards each other.”

“What etiquette among family members.”

At the mention of ‘family,’ Maeri momentarily narrowed her eyes, then quickly relaxed her expression.

“Even if it’s family, shouldn’t we observe etiquette?”

“Hmm.”

“And Eldi, although I couldn’t say it in front of the Countess, I was honestly surprised.”

“What?”

“I thought you would oppose the marriage just being captivated by appearance. Did Kei forcefully proceed with the marriage despite your opposition?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Indeed. No matter how you look at it, the Countess doesn’t suit the Green family. I guess Lord and Lady Noble didn’t like it either? Not to mention Jerecien Yang.”

“Surprisingly, our parents and Zen are fond of my sister-in-law.”

“What?”

“They are. She treats Kei even better than I do. Our family would go crazy if she were my sister-in-law.”

Seeing Maeri’s face stiffen, Eldi watched with amusement.

“But… even though the marriage was so sudden…”

“That’s right. Even though it was so sudden, everyone went crazy. It’s unbelievable.”

As someone familiar with the Green family, Maeri found it truly unbelievable. That strict Lord and Lady Noble, and even the excessively cautious Jerecien, liking Lishi.

“It’s really annoying. I don’t know what my sister-in-law did.”

Fortunately, Eldi didn’t seem to be infatuated with Lishi.

“I wish she’d done something that would get her kicked out decisively, but strangely, she kept her distance. Even though she did many things worthy of being in the newspapers, she covered them up very well.”

“I saw it in the newspapers too. Did Lord Noble not say anything about it?”