Chirp chirp… tweet tweet.

“……”

Reina opened her eyes amid the cool autumn breeze on her cheek, the morning sunlight, and the sound of birds.

As always on mornings when she slept in a bit late.

Arthur was gone, Brody was there, and there was a knight in front of the door.

And Teacher Lorenson was sitting at the table, brewing tea while waiting for Reina to wake up.

It was a sweet morning.

“……”

It was surprising how her body had so quickly become accustomed to sleeping late in someone else’s clean and cozy bed, even though she had lived as a maid for over ten years.

She felt sorry for her body that wanted to be happy and stay buried under the covers a little longer, wanting to remain here even for just a moment more.

If she went back to a life of sleeping only three hours, she probably wouldn’t be able to adjust within a week.

If she returned to the damp blankets on a rotten wooden bed, she would miss this clean and cozy bed.

“……”

Reina stirred and sat up.

Normally, Brody would have approached and draped a shawl over her so she wouldn’t get up in her nightgown in front of the knight and doctor, but…

“…?”

Reina was wrapped tightly in a dress.

Come to think of it, last night…

The faint scent of wine lingering on her breath brushed her nose.

Memories of the previous night gradually returned.

·

·

·

What was it called again? Renaha or something.

They said it was a very rare and expensive top-quality wine.

It was the very wine that His Excellency Karl Klein, Her Majesty the Empress’s elder brother, had personally brought and shared with the three of them three days before Her Majesty the Empress and His Majesty the Emperor’s wedding.

“……”

After hearing such a story, Reina couldn’t bring herself to politely refuse the glass offered by the Crown Prince.

Because she could tell how much the Crown Prince cherished Arthur, and what meaning he was giving to this occasion.

Even if it meant drinking to her death.

She couldn’t refuse that glass in the seat taken in Christina’s name.

“This wine is the same age as Arthur.”

The Crown Prince said with a proud expression.

Apparently, the imperial family had a tradition of gifting wine made in the year a child was born when that child came of age and married.

He smiled, saying he had gone to great lengths to obtain that wine as a gift for Arthur.

It was said to be the most precious and expensive wine even in Renaha, the home of wine, and that for hundreds of years the old dynasty had hoarded it all and drunk it privately, so even most nobles couldn’t taste it.

Now, he said, the imperial family was buying up all of it every year from some famous vineyard.

I doubted whether such wine should even enter my mouth, but…

I don’t know. It was already too late to avoid it.

The Crown Prince poured a glass each for Arthur and Reina of this wine he said was extremely precious and historically significant.

After filling his own glass as well.

The Crown Prince smiled softly, raising his glass slightly and giving a short toast.

“To Arthur and the lady.”

The red wine in the crystal glasses looked like shimmering rubies.

The glasses clinked together with a clear sound.

And then the Crown Prince pulled his glass towards himself and added with a smile.

“And to Ryan Dalton.”

Arthur ended up chuckling and bringing the glass to his lips.

The tangy, fragrant wine shimmered beautifully in the crystal glass.

Reina, matching the tempo of the two, brought the glass to her lips and held the wine in her mouth.

A unique woody aroma and delicate, soft sweetness filled her mouth.

And that was the end of it.

·

·

·

“……”

Well, what can you do?

I did my best.

Reina just let it go.

Still, she had accepted and drunk that one glass.

She wasn’t sure if she should be proud of herself for fulfilling her duty and dying gloriously, or if she should find this awkward.

“Miss, are you alright?”

Brody approached and asked.

“Ah, yes.”

“You slept in all your clothes, it must have been uncomfortable…”

Brody said apologetically, looking a bit perplexed.

“Usually Lord Arthur tells us to change your clothes when you sleep in them… But he didn’t say anything today. I came late, so I didn’t know. I’m sorry. You must have slept uncomfortably.”

“Ah…”

Lord Arthur?

Come to think of it, Lord Arthur…

“Shall I help you change?”

“Oh, yes…”

Reina awkwardly took Brody’s hand and went behind the screen to change into a comfortable dress.

“……”

I wonder if Lord Arthur had a good talk with His Highness the Crown Prince yesterday?

I’m not sure if things were wrapped up well.

Since I fell asleep like that again yesterday…

“……”

He seemed to genuinely care about Lord Arthur…

I wonder if Lord Arthur is with His Highness the Crown Prince now?

Reina took off the dress she had been wearing since yesterday with Brody’s help.

…I wonder if I’ll meet His Highness the Crown Prince again today?

Conscious of whether she should do makeup to look like “Christina” because of the Crown Prince, she became concerned that the maid who came today wasn’t Marina.

Will Brody do my makeup today?

With Marina’s help, I could look a little more like the young lady…

As Reina slipped her arms into the comfortable indoor dress Brody was helping her put on, she asked softly.

“Where’s Marina?”

Brody lowered her voice slightly and whispered, mouthing the words:

‘With Miss Christina.’

Ah…

Well, if that’s the case…

No, wait.

Reina suddenly came to her senses.

Shouldn’t I insist on having Marina sent over since I might meet His Highness the Crown Prince?

This is an emergency situation.

All these urgent circumstances of the Crown Prince’s presence still hadn’t been conveyed to the Marchioness.

What should I do?

After brief consideration, Reina followed Brody’s lead and mouthed:

‘…Makeup. I need Marina.’

For a moment, Brody paused as she was tightening the dress strings.

Then, nervously rolling her eyes and watching Reina’s expression, she asked quietly.

“Why…? Is my makeup not good enough…?”

…Huh?

Taken aback by the unexpected response, Reina stared at her blankly.

Brody’s face, which had shown a hint of anxiety, soon turned pleading.

“I don’t want to go to the young lady… Seeing Marina suffering under the young lady, I thought I was lucky to be your attendant.”

“……”

Reina’s eyes glazed over.

Brody continued with a pitiful expression.

“Can’t you tell me if there’s anything you’re uncomfortable with? I’ll fix it. The makeup? Is the makeup not good? How and where should I change it to make you happy?”

“……”

Ah… honestly.

Understanding Brody’s feelings, Reina was at a loss for words.

Even she didn’t want to deal with Christina…

“The Crown Prince was with Arthur?”

Head butler Jim said with a flustered face, sweating profusely.

“Yes… They came out together from Lord Arthur’s private reception room this morning.”

The Marquis staggered, clutching his dazed head.

They say it’s darkest under the lamppost!

To think we didn’t know about an honored guest under the same roof, right under our noses!

To think the goodwill I sent through Lord Rembrandt didn’t even reach the Crown Prince!

“And now?!”

“They seem to have parted ways now. They left together, but Lord Arthur returned alone. I’m not sure where His Highness the Crown Prince is. I wonder if he might have gone back to the military…”

The Marquis stared at the head butler in disbelief.

He was speechless for a moment before bursting out.

“No, Arthur should have given me a heads up if he was with the Crown Prince!”

“……”

Yelling at the innocent head butler wouldn’t solve anything, but.

The Marquis shouted towards the head butler with an aggrieved expression.

“I held another victory parade for him just as he wanted last time! And the reward money for war veterans, and pensions for the bereaved families, I handled everything as he wanted! Do you know how much money that cost!”

Although I’ve been avoiding conversation with him lately because we seem to disagree on things like the scope of recognizing ‘war veterans’ and ‘bereaved families’, still!

This isn’t right, is it!

If I’ve done this much for him, shouldn’t he bend a little and show me something in return?!

I thought he would initiate conversation with me first after I did that much for him, so I was waiting!

“Even if he has grievances, with such a great opportunity! He should have taken the initiative to connect me! Then I would have been more willing to consider things! That’s what family should be like!”

How could he completely wash his hands of this!

The Marquis slammed his fist on the table in frustration.

The hair that had escaped from the Marquis’s pomade trembled.

Should I have worked more actively to improve relations with Arthur?

Even if it was a bit much, the money was already spent, should I have spent it more decisively while being generous…

Then Arthur would have somehow bridged the gap with the Crown Prince!

He regretted the missed opportunity for not resolving his relationship with Arthur sooner.

Because of buttoning the first button wrong, to think I couldn’t even be introduced to the Crown Prince who rolled into my own house!

“You!”

Finally, the arrow of his anger turned towards Christina, who was receiving makeup in front of the dressing table while smoking a cigarette in a holder.

“How long are you going to be like this! Not even showing your face to Arthur until now! What are you doing! Weren’t you supposed to improve Arthur’s mood!”

Christina coldly sneered at the Marquis.

“Father. If you hadn’t laid hands on Lord Arthur’s subordinate that day, wouldn’t I have had the decency to go see Lord Arthur earlier?”

What?

The Marquis, who had been speechless in disbelief, retorted.

“How dare you blame me!”

“Father, how dare you blame me? Shamelessly.”

The Marquis grabbed the ashtray, his eyes bulging.

“You little!”

Eek!

Marina, who had been carefully applying brush strokes to Christina’s face, shrank back in fright.

Christina stared coldly at the Marquis without blinking an eye.

“Do whatever you want. Didn’t you yourself teach me, your married-off daughter, who I belong to? You said I’m no longer your daughter but Lord Arthur’s possession.”

“You! This! How dare you!”

She elegantly lowered her eyelashes and tapped her cigar on the ashtray through the mirror.

“Are you going to throw that?”

“What?”

Christina looked up at the Marquis and smiled brightly.

“I was thinking that if I went to show Lord Arthur the wounds from the ashtray you threw, it might improve his mood a bit. If you’re going to throw it anyway, please aim for a spot that will be noticeable.”

“Hey!”

Crash!

The ashtray flew and shattered the mirror.

The Marchioness, who was entering, screamed in surprise.

Marina, her face pale, crouched down clutching her head.

She really wanted to disappear from this place right now.