The day after spending the evening with Sandes, he returned early in the morning.

Erina wanted to pin up her long hair by asking Heila to do it comfortably for her duties.

But she had no choice but to let her hair down at Heila’s dissuasion.

Erina, who was sitting in front of the mirror and talking, couldn’t ask why.

Erina just tugged at her hair for no reason at her neck, which was mottled like a blushing face.

As soon as Erina entered the office, Tenek, who had arrived at an unknown time, approached her and handed her documents as soon as he finished greeting her.

“Countess Jabel and Duchess Borbom have been sending news continuously.”

Connie and Sereni had been constantly sending news about the Small Kingdom Alliance since receiving the artifact from Erina.

The first page of the documents handed over by Tenek summarized the contents sent first.

It was about how Rose was poisoned by Zarham, but it was incomplete, and she was trying to approach Bellodi to obtain the last ingredient, the Tetenia herb.

“I wonder if Risky knows that Bellodi Anzel, the young lady of Count Anzel, has severe insomnia, so Countess Jabel is trying to approach her with the Muang herb she possesses.”

For convenience in communication between Connie and Sereni, they referred to Rose as Risky.

It wasn’t a particularly incorrect expression, so both Tenek and Erina used the same expression when communicating.

“You mean the herb that is rarely found in Trumto?”

“Yes, that’s right. Its main efficacy is to treat insomnia.”

Erina fell into thought as she stared at the documents quietly.

It was clear that Rose would never have imagined that she was hearing her news.

She pondered how to use this to push Rose to the edge of a cliff.

“What does the Muang herb look like?”

“It has a shape where five round leaves are gathered like a flower on a single stem. It looks like a common grass, but it is said to have a unique scent.”

“Are there any similar herbs or grasses?”

“Yes, there are. However, due to its unique scent, herbalists mainly find and pick Muang herbs by their scent.”

“Can you tell what kind of scent it is?”

“They say it’s a really subtle scent, but herbalists describe it as a mixture of cinnamon and orange.”

When Erina asked about the Muang herb in detail, Tenek figured out what she was trying to do.

“Are you trying to switch it with a different herb in the middle?”

“That’s right. As Bellodi is the only daughter of the Anzel Count family, she will know a lot about the merchant’s goods, so if Rose realizes that she has been deceived, it will be difficult to obtain the last herb.”

Erina knew early on that Rose had shaken Tanya and sowed discord at the auction.

On the day the auction ended and Tanya gave Erina a fierce look before disappearing, Duke Papia had sent a letter of apology in person.

In Duke Papia’s letter, politely apologizing and asking for understanding of his daughter’s childish heart, it was written that Rose had instigated her.

Erina was thinking of doing exactly what Rose had done.

Unlike Rose, who had fabricated lies as if they were the truth, Erina wanted to try turning lies into truth and sowing discord.

After all, Rose wasn’t the only one who could sow discord.

Seeing the sneer slowly rising on Erina’s face, Tenek spoke.

“Then I will try to find the most similar-looking herb and see if I can handle the unique scent.”

“Please secretly request someone famous in the fragrance field. We need to make it as similar as possible as quickly as possible for the plan to proceed.”

“I understand.”

Tenek agreed without a single complaint despite Erina’s unreasonable request.

Erina then turned a page of the document, read it, and asked Tenek.

“The number of witnesses who have seen Count Iolls and Rose meeting is increasing.”

“The villa that Count Iolls had prepared to avoid people’s eyes happened to be located on a road where carriages frequently passed.”

Peiron must have chosen the villa after carefully considering it to avoid the gazes of others.

The foolish man must have chosen it thinking it was a secluded place without even investigating what it was like normally.

He was a person who tried to act smart on his own, but when he saw one thing, he couldn’t see the two things hidden behind it.

“I think rumors will spread in the social world soon.”

“Hmm. When can the fake Muang herb be ready?”

“I will have it completed within 3 days. Countess Jabel said that Lady Asila is planning to approach Lady Anzel in about 3 days.”

“Please take care of it, Viscount Semul.”

Tenek, who accepted everything without a single complaint, pondered for a moment and then suddenly proposed to Erina.

“Countess, how about hosting a tea party at the Medelia mansion this time?”

“A tea party?”

“I think it would be more effective if we talk about the Muang herb to Lady Anzel at the Countess’s tea party after shaking the rumors about the two people in a state where the fake Muang herb has been passed.”

Erina’s eyes sparkled at Tenek’s pretty good suggestion.

Erina imagined it as Tenek said.

She thought that if she nailed down the rumor that Rose was Peiron’s mistress at the tea party Erina was hosting for the first time at the Medelia mansion and sowed discord between Bellodi and Rose, she could draw up a pretty good synergy.

“That’s good, let’s do that.”

“I will also hurry with the preparations for the tea party. You need to prepare to leave for the Smale Kingdom in 3 weeks, so I will prepare for it to be held next week.”

It was a bit of a tight schedule, but Erina nodded.

Originally, if they were to move to the Smale Kingdom, they would have had to leave a month in advance.

However, since the tower located at the northernmost part of the Asilium Empire was not far from the Smale Kingdom, they decided to use the gate.

When comparing the cost of magic stones required to operate the gate and the various costs incurred during the month-long movement of a large number of personnel, they were similar, so Enzo decided without hesitation.

Thanks to this, the travel time was reduced to a week.

“I’m not sure if it’s okay to prepare a tea party so suddenly.”

“If it’s the Countess’s tea party, anyone will come running.”

Tenek thought that Erina still didn’t fully feel her position, seeing her uncertain expression.

She was always a consistent person who didn’t enjoy social activities and had a strong personality of sharing rather than having many things.

That’s why Tenek still remained by her side.

“Don’t worry, Countess. The mail will be full for a while to get your invitation.”

Erina couldn’t fully believe Tenek’s words.

Although she had a magic stone mine, she thought the role of tea parties in the social world was a bit different.

The success of a tea party was solely determined by the host’s position in the social world.

Erina hesitated, wondering if they would look favorably upon her, who didn’t enjoy social activities.

But the hesitation was really just for a moment.

After deciding on the tea party and telling Heila and Bertrel to start preparing, as soon as the invitations were made, the social world was buzzing as if rumors had spread.

People were even more enthusiastic because Erina, who lacked confidence, had set the scale of the tea party to be not too grand.

To secure one of the few seats, mail flew to the Medelia Count family every hour.

The wordy words written in the letters that arrived by mail were ultimately asking to be invited.

The mansion where Erina stayed suffered for a while due to the constant arrival of mail along with the tea party preparations.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Connie.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

Rose, who was still struggling to regain her uneven prophecies, accepted Connie into her domain.

She liked Connie, who had no unnecessary words at all and silently showed through actions, so she allowed her even into her own room, which she hadn’t allowed anyone else.

Connie, who had been quietly watching the blood-offering ritual Rose was doing to regain her prophecies, silently offered a clean towel and bowed her head.

Rose wiped the wound that was newly carved on top of the scar with a satisfied face.

“So that wench is leisurely preparing for a tea party?”

“They say it will be held in 5 days. Here, this.”

After answering Rose’s words, Connie held out a bracelet.

The silver, rough bracelet didn’t look pretty as it had no patterns or decorations.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a healing artifact that I obtained with difficulty. I prepared it because I thought the Queen would need it.”

“What?”

Rose’s eyes trembled finely.

With the magic stone market being active, the most difficult thing to obtain was a healing artifact.

A healing artifact was what those who desperately desired the power of magic sought with burning eyes.

Count Asila had tried to obtain this artifact for Rose, but he couldn’t because there were no items available.

Rose carefully took the bracelet.

Not only was she suffering from the newly forming wounds, but she was also very distressed that she couldn’t expose her arms like before.

The stress from seeing the scars every time she checked her body was not insignificant.

“This, how……”

“Because you are my future, Queen.”

Connie said, bowing deeply at the waist.

With those words, Rose crumbled towards Connie.

The sweet words she had never heard from her father or lover melted her away.

“The scars won’t heal right away, but if you keep using it, they will fade. I will try to obtain as many magic stones as I can.”

“You……”

Connie dug into the cracks of Rose’s withered emotional ground and took root.

“When this matter is finished, I will revoke the knighthood of the King of Smale and bestow it upon you.”

“It’s an honor, my Queen.”

Rose used the magic stones Connie offered to use the healing artifact with crazed eyes.

She didn’t like the purple-tinged magic stones, but she thoroughly liked how the newly formed wound completely closed.

Not knowing that Connie’s bowed eyes were flashing darkly, Rose was simply delighted.