Erina headed to the Marquis of Borbom’s mansion where the charity party was being held, along with Heila and Terik.

Although she knew it was of considerable size and well-established, Erina was momentarily surprised at the entrance by its unexpectedly grand and enormous scale.

Terik’s eyes sparkled as he surveyed the surroundings, then quietly said to Erina.

“It seems they’ve certainly expanded in scale compared to before.”

Erina nodded in agreement.

A party of this magnitude should have been the talk of high society long before it happened.

It seemed they had put in excessive effort, likely because it had only been a few days since the mention of the small kingdom alliance in the newspapers.

Upon reaching the entrance, there were knights and others checking invitations.

“I’ll verify your invitation.”

When Terik presented the invitation, the person checking it flinched for a moment.

“Verified. We sincerely welcome you to the party.”

The three entered the marquis’s mansion, receiving an exceptionally warm welcome.

After walking for quite some time inside, Terik, who had been constantly surveying the surroundings, once again quietly spoke to Erina.

“The knight who received the invitation has moved inside the mansion.”

By this point, Erina had a strong feeling that the marchioness had invited her with some intention.

The charity party was taking place in the mansion’s garden, not far from the entrance.

As if prepared specifically for the party, there was a well-maintained, spacious clearing in the center of the garden where many people could gather.

Surrounding the clearing, beautiful flowers and neatly trimmed trees created a harmonious atmosphere.

Between the flowers and trees, unique and beautiful objects were on display.

“It’s as if they’ve moved an exhibition hall into the garden.”

“I can see why this charity party has become famous.”

Heila and Erina conversed quietly as they moved.

Unlike at the imperial palace, there was no need to announce who had entered the party, so Erina could quietly join and view the displayed works.

Then, upon seeing the nearest painting, Erina stopped in her tracks.

It was a painting of a woman hiding in a crouched position inside a fully bloomed flower.

The title was “Fairy” and the artist’s name was listed as unknown.

Erina searched her memories from before her regression, finding the strangely unfamiliar painting oddly familiar.

In her memories from Rose’s perspective before the regression, there were a few paintings that had suddenly gained popularity and become famous for unknown reasons.

Most were paintings by nameless artists or newcomers, and for various reasons, they had eventually come into Rose’s possession.

The painting before Erina seemed to be one of those.

As Erina stood silently appreciating the painting, Heila and Terik also examined it, hiding their confusion.

“Terik, how much funds do we have available?”

Terik’s expression was peculiar at Erina’s sudden question.

“My lady, did you perhaps not see the list of assets I organized and left in your office today?”

When Erina widened her eyes and looked rather puzzled, Terik suppressed a sigh.

With the mana stone market becoming active, what changed most busily was none other than Erina’s wealth steadily accumulating in the imperial bank.

Not only was the price of mana stones high, but there was no limit to the quantity, so Erina’s wealth was piling up endlessly.

Moreover, the assets returned from the Iolls Count family were not insignificant.

Terik had sent a document summarizing the list of assets, along with a suggestion to hire someone who could professionally manage the assets.

It seemed Erina hadn’t checked it due to preparations for the party.

“For any charity party or shopping, you have enough to spend without worrying about money, my lady.”

At Terik’s words, Heila laughed freely and continued.

“It seems Erina doesn’t yet know how much she has. Why don’t you buy everything you want while you’re at it?”

Erina just rubbed her ears, which were becoming hot with embarrassment at the two’s words.

Just as the embarrassed Erina was about to move to see other works, a servant approached.

“Greetings, my lady. I am the head servant of the Borbom Marquis family.”

The middle-aged head servant bowed politely to Erina.

“Pardon me, but could you spare a moment of your time?”

Erina briefly turned her gaze to meet Heila and Terik’s eyes at the servant’s words.

Terik nodded, recognizing the face from the Borbom Marquis family’s banquet he had attended with Biana.

“At whose request?”

“The Marchioness of Borbom has requested to see you.”

It was as Erina had expected.

“Please lead the way.”

As Erina gave Terik a knowing look, he tactfully moved to a crowded area, while Heila followed behind Erina.

The head servant led them across the garden and into the mansion, guiding them to a reception room on the first floor.

Someone was already seated in the reception room.

“I have brought her.”

At the servant’s words, the woman inside the reception room stood and approached Erina.

She was a woman with deep auburn hair reminiscent of wood and sapphire-blue eyes.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Countess Medelia. I am Sereni Borbom.”

“I’m delighted to meet you, Marchioness Borbom. I am Erina Brill Medelia.”

Sereni and Erina exchanged polite greetings.

Sereni, with her snow-white and delicate figure, appeared fragile yet as sturdy as a deeply rooted tree.

“I requested this meeting because I wanted to have an important conversation with you.”

With those words, Sereni looked at Heila, who was standing close behind Erina.

It seemed Sereni wanted Heila to leave the room, perhaps desiring a private conversation.

“Heila.”

“I’ll be right outside the door.”

When Erina called Heila, she tactfully said she would wait somewhere she could move immediately if anything happened, and left.

As soon as Heila left, Sereni personally prepared a seat for Erina and invited her to sit.

As Erina sat down, Sereni took a seat opposite her.

A moment of silence fell between the two.

“What is the reason you requested this meeting?”

“Would you take a look at this item? It’s a newly acquired artifact.”

Sereni asked, taking out a wooden music box.

Erina quietly observed the artifact, unsure of its purpose as Sereni suddenly produced it.

Then Sereni looked at Erina and placed her index finger on her lips.

Erina could deduce that the artifact was meant to prevent words from leaking out.

“I wanted to show this precious artifact to you first, Countess. I thought you might be willing to pay a generous price for it.”

Erina noticed that Sereni, who spoke with a somewhat anxious expression while extending her hand, wanted to use the artifact.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Erina placed her hand on Sereni’s outstretched one, and Sereni, with a bright expression, inserted a small mana stone into the artifact.

Then the music box began to turn, making a sound.

At the same time, light emerged from the center of the music box, and a faint circular light enveloped Erina and Sereni.

“Thank you.”

Sereni expressed her gratitude with a wavering face to Erina, who had silently complied with her actions.

“This artifact prevents words from leaking out. I want to assure you first that it will not harm you in any way, Countess.”

“Is there a reason for this?”

“There are quite a few ears focused on you, Countess. There are already kingdom’s ears in this reception room, so I took the liberty of using this artifact despite the rudeness.”

Erina was quite surprised by Sereni’s words.

She had thought they would be more cautious since Enzo had deliberately warned them through public news articles, but she never imagined they would have a foothold even in the heart of the empire.

“As you may know, I was the third princess of the Kingdom of Tula. Also, my coming to the Borbom Marquis family was due to a political marriage between the empire and the kingdom.”

Sereni’s marriage was a perfect political union with clear exchanges made.

To maintain friendly relations between the empire and the kingdom, a marriage was arranged between Sereni, the third princess of the Kingdom of Tula, and the Marquis of Borbom, who was the nephew of the Empress Dowager.

“I didn’t want it, but I had no choice. The king wanted me to extract information from the heart of the empire.”

Sereni’s face darkened.

Erina silently listened to her story, feeling the cold tension in her fingertips.

“After living in the empire, I clearly felt that the Kingdom of Tula could never challenge the empire, no matter what. But the king left me here as a spy, telling me to wait for the right time.”

Sereni’s face, calling herself a spy who was passing information about the Asilium Empire to the Kingdom of Tula, looked more pained than anyone else’s.

“But I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Sereni looked at Erina with tearful eyes.

“Because I’ve fallen in love with my husband, who understands and embraces me even knowing what I am.”

Sereni smiled brightly even as she shed a tear, perhaps thinking of her husband, the Marquis of Borbom.

“And my parents-in-law who worry about me, fearing I might struggle living in a foreign land, and the child in my womb too.”

Though her face was contorted, it clearly showed the expression of someone in love.

“So I want to break free from the shackles of the kingdom that bind me. I want to stop the kingdom from making a foolish choice.”

Sereni’s hand, clasped with Erina’s, began to tremble slightly.

Sereni, who had lived in an environment where she couldn’t speak freely, trembled as she revealed her hidden feelings to someone for the first time.

“I know it’s shameless, but please, Countess, help me.”

Her desperate feelings burst forth and reached Erina.

Her sincerity was evident in her head, bowed so low it almost touched the table.

Erina gripped Sereni’s hand tightly.

“Marchioness Borbom.”

At Erina’s gentle call, Sereni slowly raised her head.

“I’ll help you. So take my hand.”

Through her tear-blurred vision, Sereni caught sight of Erina’s sparkling eyes.

Entranced by the beautiful and brilliant golden color, Sereni took her hand as if bewitched.