Eshika scrutinized her appearance.

A dress with a design reminiscent of what she had seen in Basquere, with silver hair that had a slightly ashy tone.

Although her face was concealed by a mask, the violet eyes revealed through the mask were squarely directed this way.

It felt like she could shout at any moment that the missing princess of Solti was here.

Eshika glanced slightly with her eyes towards the entrance.

‘Can I navigate through this crowd and safely escape to the entrance?’

Her fingertips began to tremble slightly, but Eshika, while scanning the route to the entrance with her eyes, tightly grasped the hem of her dress.

Just in case she stumbled and fell over the dress while trying to escape.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

With the determination to leave this place, Eshika maneuvered through the crowd, heading towards the entrance.

Finally, when the exit was almost within reach, someone touched Eshika’s shoulder.

“…!”

Startled, Eshika gasped in surprise.

“Young lady, you forgot something here.”

In no time, a slightly lower but calm voice reached her ears.

‘Forgotten item?’

Eshika couldn’t bring herself to turn around and just swallowed her dry saliva. She did not answer, but the person spoke again.

“It looks like a young lady’s accessory… or not?”

‘An accessory?’

Eshika quickly lowered her gaze.

Contrary to what the person said, both the ring and bracelet were in their place.

“It seems you have a misunderstanding over there. That’s not mine…”

Before she could finish her reply, Reneve touched her wrist. Startled, Eshika looked down.

Kindly, Reneve placed a pearl earring in Eshika’s palm and smiled.

Only then did Eshika hurriedly touch her ear.

Indeed, there was only one pearl earring.

‘But what’s this? Is it possible that… she doesn’t recognize me now?’

Even though her face was covered by a mask, it wasn’t to the extent that they couldn’t recognize each other. With their walking style, posture, and usual attire, they could identify each other.

However, judging by Reneve’s reaction, it seemed like she didn’t recognize who she was.

Suppressing the urge to burst into laughter, Eshika twisted her lips.

“You are very kind.”

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to return the lost item to its original place.”

“…?”

Although the words she gave while finding the lost item were a bit suspicious, Eshika didn’t delve into it deeply.

“Then, I have something urgent, so I’ll be on my way.”

With a slight nod of farewell to her, Eshika turned away.

She was about to leave when Reneve suddenly grabbed her wrist. Startled, Eshika looked down.

Reneve smiled as she kindly placed the pearl earring back in Eshika’s palm.

Now, Eshika quickly touched her ear.

Indeed, there was only one pearl earring.

‘But, could it be… is she pretending not to recognize me now?’

Even though her face was covered by a mask, it wasn’t to the extent that they couldn’t recognize each other. With their walking style, posture, and usual attire, they could identify each other.

However, judging by Reneve’s reaction, it seemed like she didn’t recognize who she was.

Suppressing the urge to burst into laughter, Eshika twisted her lips.

“You are very kind.”

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to return the lost item to its original place.”

“…?”

Although the words she gave while finding the lost item were a bit suspicious, Eshika didn’t delve into it deeply.

“Then, I have something urgent, so I’ll be on my way.”

With a slight nod of farewell to her, Eshika turned away.

She was about to leave when Reneve suddenly grabbed her wrist. Startled, Eshika looked down.

Reneve smiled as she kindly placed the pearl earring back in Eshika’s palm.
As a result, it became known that the consort Lucius keeps by his side is a concubine of the Croft Marquis.

‘Now, are we returning to each other’s places like before the regression?’

At that time, instead of addressing Eshika by her family name, everyone referred to her as Lady Eshika or Madam.

Since the title did not reveal the family or nobility, some people smirked, but Eshika seemed to quite like that title.

‘But why does everyone call her Lady Eshika without any nobility or family name?’

There was a time when a young consort attending a tea party with her mother raised an innocent question.

It was a question befitting a young consort just entering high society.

‘…There is something like that. You’ll find out eventually. It’s better not to know for now.’

An experienced lady dismissed it in such a way.

Usually, the status of noblewomen in the Paradion Empire followed the titles of their fathers or husbands.

Instances where a woman directly inherited a title, like Melita, the chief physician of Ikarr, were extremely rare.

So, when the emperor was unmarried, the government would attach a suitable man from a noble family to be his husband.

As a cover-up.

Of course, Reneve was shocked when she first learned about this fact.

A legally married woman becoming the emperor’s consort.

But Lucius did not follow conventions.

He did not place Eshika into another man’s family.