“It’s an earring made of pink diamonds.”

Prince Tesler pushed the jewelry box he had placed on the table in front of me.

“To present it to Her Majesty the Empress, I specially commissioned the most famous jewelry designer in the kingdom to craft it.”

“Pink diamonds… they would match well with the Empress’s eyes. Why don’t you open it?”

Linel wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pointed to the jewelry box with a chin gesture.

My hand didn’t move.

I just stared at the jewelry box as if it were tainted with poison.

“Please open it, Your Majesty. It’s a specialty representing the motherland, and I hope you would personally wear it.”

Prince Tesler spoke as if blocking my objection.

The prince already saw through what I was afraid of.

Could it be that, as the prince mentioned at the party yesterday, this time, it’s about Bonis’s ears…?

No.

I closed and opened my eyes.

I wanted to erase completely the bad thoughts that had just crossed my mind.

Although I knew there was no way Prince Tesler would have brought something strange in front of everyone, my hand hesitated to reach the jewelry box.

However, there was no excuse to avoid it, so I had to pick up the jewelry box.

Sigh…

Fortunately, inside was only a pink diamond earring.

The jewelry box itself looked identical to the one made of ambient magic stone.

“It’s so beautiful, Your Majesty!”

Logi withdrew her head and twinkled her eyes, admiring the pink diamond earring.

“Yeah…”

After checking the earring with an indifferent gaze, I immediately closed the lid of the box.

“Now, try wearing it. It will look good on you, Your Majesty.”

Linel opened the jewelry box again, took out the earring, and held it close to my ear.

I had no choice but to take off the earring I had been wearing and put on the pink diamond earring.

“How wonderfully it suits you!”

Logi applauded, putting her hands together.

“Thank you.”

After briefly smiling at her, I looked at Prince Tesler.

“Your Highness, for the gift… I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it. Next time, I’ll prepare a pink diamond necklace.”

What? A necklace?

I sensed a warning in Prince Tesler’s words.

Could that lunatic be planning to do something to Bonis’s neck…?

Even the thought made me nauseous.

“I’ll accept it with gratitude.”

My refusal sounded colder than I had thought.

I felt Linel next to me giving me a sidelong glance.

“Let’s return to the previous topic.”

Linel changed the subject.

I continued to stare intently at Prince Tesler.

I felt the need to break free if I continued to be led along like this.

The prince would keep threatening me while holding Bonis hostage.

The threat was obvious.

Walking into the trap he had set and being expelled from the position of empress.

I didn’t want to give up on both Linel and Bonis.

I couldn’t just stay still and let it happen. I wouldn’t.
While looking at Prince Tesler’s sly smile, I strengthened my resolve once again.

If there were a quiet way to resolve this, I would have chosen it. However, no matter how much I thought, confronting the cunning Prince Tesler seemed to be the only solution.

“Just a moment, Your Majesty. Before that, I have something to ask the prince.”

I unexpectedly brought up the topic before the conversation shifted back to Logi and Prince Norton’s issue.

“Please speak freely, Empress.”

Linel sent me a lenient gaze.

Showing him a slight smile, I shifted my gaze to Prince Tesler.

Direct confrontation.

I openly brought up the topic with Linel present.

“Where is Bonis now? Oh, staying in the Star Palace, I suppose?”

First, I needed to confirm if Bonis had really come here.

Prince Tesler, seemingly unprepared for me to mention Bonis in this way, widened his eyes and repeatedly pressed and released his lips several times.

“Your Majesty, that’s a matter to discuss separately…”

Prince Tesler tried to change the subject, looking at Linel.

“Who is Bonis?”

However, Linel showed curiosity and alternately looked at me and Prince Tesler.

“She used to be a maid who got along well with me in the royal palace. We were like sisters. We were discussing Bonis yesterday at the banquet with the prince, but the conversation was cut off…”

I deliberately responded to him with a gloomy expression.

“Why? Is there something wrong with that maid?”

After observing my complexion for a moment, he asked Prince Tesler.

“Oh, no, Your Majesty.”

Prince Tesler responded awkwardly with a troubled expression.

I gently grabbed his arm and pretended to be on the verge of tears.

“I thought that when Bonis arrived here, she would come to greet me, but there’s no news. I want to meet her right away.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice for the Empress and Bonis, who lived together like sisters, to have dinner together tonight?”

At his suggestion, Prince Tesler’s face turned muddy.

“Sure, Your Majesty.”

Alright.

Perhaps I could extract Bonis from Prince Tesler more easily than I thought.

As much as I wanted to rush to the Star Palace right away to see Bonis, I tried to maintain composure.