“Oh, that is…”

Rosie scratched her throat and laughed bashfully again.

Then, Katherine, who had been quietly sipping juice, raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth.

“Yesterday… it seems the Emperor did not visit your quarters, Melanie?”

“What are you talking about? His Majesty visited my quarters yesterday.”

Melanie rebutted Katherine, her chin up.

“A lie.”

Katherine said with a small, mocking smile.

Her eyes were certain that the Emperor, who did not come to her quarters, would not have gone to the quarters of Melanie, his second concubine.

“A lie…? There are witnesses right here!”

Melanie crossed her arms in front of her and parried Katherine’s dismissive tone.

“Witness? Your servants?”

Katherine’s mockery escalated a notch.

“I do have my servants as witnesses, but more than that!”

Melanie kept looking at me as she raised her voice.

“Here, Empress Your Majesty, is the witness!”

At Melanie’s confident outcry, Katherine widened her eyes and rolled them towards me.

“Is that… true, Your Majesty the Empress?”

Just as I was about to part my lips slowly, Melanie hastily interrupted.

“It really is, His Majesty did come… Well, Her Majesty the Empress also came with him.”

“Together?”

Katherine’s expression became even more confused.

After taking a sip of my black tea, I calmly said.

“Yesterday, Melanie said she was sick so the Emperor and I went to visit her together.”

“Sick? She doesn’t look sick at all. Melanie looks much better than Rosie who is sitting next to her.”

Katherine looked at Melanie and Rosie’s faces in turns with an unpleased gaze.

Whether she did or did not, Rosie, who seemed to have no interest in this conversation, continued to rub her dark circles with her hand.

“It is true!”

Melanie said with a voice filled with confidence and looked at me, and I had no choice but to nod towards Katherine.

“So… both of you came to Melanie’s quarters together and left together?”

Katherine was not curious about why Melanie was sick.

Her interest was only in whether Rinel stayed in her room, or if he left with me.

“Yesterday, His Majesty…”

As I was about to tell the truth, Melanie again blurted out.

“I! I told the two of them to go back together… I thought Your Majesty might be scared on the night road. I asked His Majesty to go with you…”

Her words weren’t entirely wrong, but Melanie’s words contained a sweet lie.

It’s true that he and I went back together, but you didn’t send him like you were conceding him because you were worried about my night road, right?

“Is Melanie telling the truth?”

Katherine glared at Melanie and asked me.

“She did. She pleaded with His Majesty to do so.”

As I backed up Melanie’s lie, she sent me a grateful look.

Still, Katherine’s eyes were filled with doubt.

It was a very reasonable look that Melanie couldn’t have made such a consideration.

Thus, the fun of deceiving each other was coming to an end at the luncheon.

However, there was one person who didn’t participate in the conversation until the meal was over.

That was the concubine from the Marquis of Asto’s family, Pecilini.

While listening closely to the conversation between me and the concubines, she didn’t talk about herself.

She seemed to be intently observing the situation as if she was an audience who came to watch an opera.

As if she had to remember all the conversations well and report them to someone.

Of course, it’s probably my misunderstanding.

“Is Pecilini usually quiet?”

I spoke to her for the first time.

“Ye, yes? Ah, I usually like to listen.”

Even though I didn’t raise my voice, Pecilini was startled and shuddered greatly.

“So that’s why? Pecilini, you seem to have good observational skills.”

“Me, me?”

She dropped the fork she was holding upon hearing my compliment.

For some reason, I had a peculiar feeling and from that moment on, I observed Persilini’s face attentively.

Thinking about it, she had been intentionally avoiding my gaze since earlier.

“Does Persilini find this place uncomfortable?”

“No, Your Majesty. I’m just quite shy…”

Persilini responded, bowing her head deeply.

“Oh, surely not.”

Then, Rosy, sitting in front of Persilini, said with a teasing smile.

“Your Majesty, Persilini’s family leads one of the largest trading groups in the Lafion Empire.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and because of that, Persilini has traveled a lot since childhood. But shy, you say?”

At Rosy’s words, I once again turned my gaze towards Persilini.

“I do have a lot of experience visiting various countries and cities following my father. But it’s just that I’m nervous in front of Your Majesty.”

Persilini answered, blushing.

Traveling to many countries, did she say?

“Have you ever visited my homeland, the Kingdom of Chatoneil?”

“Ah, the Kingdom of Chatoneil is…”

Why is she flustered with a question that’s not even difficult?

Persilini closed her mouth tight as if she was tense, and then started speaking again.

“I did stay there briefly.”

“Really? In the royal palace?”

I asked again, smiling happily.