Laila told Mel to take care of the basket and then change her clothes.

At Laila’s words to bring a dress instead of a uniform—a very rare occurrence—Mel wondered what was going on, but when she relayed Eustar’s message, she suddenly became flustered, blushing.

“Oh my, Lady Kristrad!”

Mel, who had let out a single cry, suddenly ran back into the toilette room.

“This is no time for that. Come over here quickly!”

“You can just pick something, Mel.”

Laila said, poking her head out.

“There’s no need for me to go specifically.”

However, Mel practically dragged the blank-faced Laila and pushed her into the toilette room. And then she brought out dresses that Laila had never worn before, not even touched, and laid them out neatly.

Laila suddenly found herself surrounded by mannequins wearing dresses. Turning her head to look around, Laila said,

“This is what you do when bullying children, Mel.”

“Don’t say that and please hurry and choose, Lady Kristrad. I think this peach-colored dress would be nice. It’s still a bit cold, but it’s much warmer than mid-winter, isn’t it? How about wearing a light rabbit fur shawl over this dress?”

“I’ll just take anything…”

“Or this purple dress is good too! It really suits you, Lady Kristrad. Is it because you have black hair? Anyway, there’s a cloak that goes very well with this. Or if you want to really surprise Lord Eustar, how about this? Wearing this rose-colored dress with ruby accessories would make you look so beautiful, don’t you think?”

Mel’s last words sounded more like ‘Don’t you think!’ rather than ‘What do you think?’

It was almost like she was scolding… For the first time since meeting her, Laila was overwhelmed by Mel’s vigor, her eyes wide open.

“Well, Mel. I’m not sure…”

“Lady Kristrad, you need to listen to me. Listen very carefully.”

Laila swallowed dryly and nodded. Mel’s eyes were sparkling so brightly they looked like they were on fire. It wasn’t the kind of pressure a human could emit… Surely Mel wasn’t not human?

Laila tucked that strange question away in her mind, and it was a wise choice.

Mel passionately argued that Laila should think about what Eustar meant by wanting to be together ‘from morning till night’, and that it might be a monumental day where the two of them spend a whole day together for the first time since becoming husband and wife.

On the other hand, Laila, who had thought of ‘from morning till night’ as just a figure of speech, was rather flustered by Mel’s passionate speech.

“Mel, I don’t think Eustar really meant to be with me ‘from morning’ and ’till night’. Don’t you think?”

Mel didn’t listen to Laila’s objection. And then she urged her to quickly choose a dress as they needed to pick out accessories… Laila eventually chose the light peach-colored dress from the very beginning.

It was such a pale color that it could be called a dusty pink, but in every fold where shadows fell, a warm color subtly appeared.

After choosing the dress, Mel took care of everything else.

She sat Laila down, who almost always went without makeup, and lightly applied shimmering powder, drew her eyebrows using ink, and then dabbed rouge that matched well with the dress on her cheeks.

Lastly, she had her briefly hold a piece of paper dyed rose-pink between her lips.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror after the makeup was done, Laila said,

“It doesn’t seem like my face.”

“Everyone feels that way when they put on makeup. But look! I only did it very lightly. To me, it doesn’t look much different from your usual appearance. You have clear skin and bright eyes, Lady Kristrad. Just think of it as your cheeks being slightly flushed.”

Laila didn’t comment further. Because sometimes Mel would enter a state where no one could stop her… Laila instinctively knew that now was one of those times.

“Is His Highness the Prince coming to pick you up, Lady Kristrad?”

Laila shook her head. The delicate hair ornament draped over her shoulder-length hair swayed.

“No, I agreed to meet him in the north corridor. He said he would have a carriage waiting there, but I don’t know where he’s planning to go.”

“The north corridor! Maybe he wants to take you to see Lake Benalis. In that case, you might get cold, so I’ll prepare a thicker cloak for you. And hand warmers too.”

Mel moved efficiently, accomplishing the work of ten people by herself. There were other employees, but Mel didn’t entrust any of Laila’s preparations to them, only using them for small errands like finding things.

“Have a good time, Lady Kristrad.”

“Alright… Though I’m already a bit tired. Mel, don’t forget to boil the contents of the basket together with the willow root and indigo. Fill a large pot with water and boil it for 3 hours, then leave only a very small fire for another 3 hours. And don’t forget this.”

Laila placed something cold in Mel’s hand.

“A crystal?”

“Yes, it needs to be boiled together.”

“Understood, Lady Laila.”

Mel tilted her head curiously but seemed to accept it as it was an order from none other than Laila.

Laila, wrapped in a long cloak, headed towards the north corridor, occasionally glancing at herself with an awkward expression. She worried about encountering something strange along the way… but fortunately, nothing appeared today.

However, it wasn’t that she didn’t meet anyone.

“Lady Kristrad.”

Duchess Himierd, standing in one corner of the corridor talking with officials, called out to her in a surprised voice. Not just her, but others also seemed quite surprised by Laila’s appearance.

“Duchess Himierd.”

Laila nodded slightly to greet the duchess, then gave a light eye greeting to the others as well.

Himierd said,

“Let’s decide on this matter again at the next official meeting. I will have a brief word with the Princess Consort and follow after.”

“As you wish. Then we shall…”

They bowed once more in court style towards Laila before leaving the corridor, muttering in low voices. Laila gently clasped her hands inside her hand warmers and gazed steadily at Duchess Himierd.

“Do you have something to say, Duchess Himierd?”

Duchess Himierd’s eyebrows raised slightly. Come to think of it, this was the first time Laila had called her ‘Duchess Himierd’.

She had always been accustomed to calling her ‘Lady Duchess Himierd’. Of course, Himierd had never shown formal respect to Laila when they were alone either.

But now is not the atmosphere for that. Himierd thought.

“I just wanted to inquire after your well-being. It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve seen your face, Lady Kristrad.”

Then, Himierd looked closely at Laila once more and said,

“Are you going out?”

Laila momentarily hesitated whether to mention Eustar or not.

She knew well what feelings Duchess Himierd harbored for Eustar. And there was a promise between her and Laila.

—I won’t become his real wife. Once he achieves what he wants, I will leave. To a very far place, where no one can find me.

Laila had once said that to Duchess Himierd. The duchess asked if it would be alright to monitor her through Mel, and Laila replied to do as she wished.

But she realized at some point that Himierd wasn’t really monitoring her. Whether it was Mel’s will or the duchess’s, she couldn’t be sure.

“Yes.”

“Are you going alone?”

At Himierd’s persistent question, Laila closed her mouth for a moment before blinking.

“No, I’m going out with Eustar.”

Contrary to Laila’s expectation, Himierd showed no particular reaction upon hearing her words. Only her ice-like expressionless face trembled slightly.

“I see.”

Himierd finally said briefly.

“Since you still need to act as a married couple, it’s good to show others a harmonious appearance. If people see with their own eyes that the Prince doesn’t mistreat you… Their trust and affection for the Prince will deepen even more.”

Laila responded with silence. Each of her words felt like needles pricking her skin.

She wanted to say not to use Eustar in that way. And that she had no intention of being bait for Eustar’s coup…

But you said so yourself. She heard someone whispering. That your heart wasn’t real.

At that voice, Laila felt as if she had been doused with cold water.

“Yes, I suppose so.”

As Laila answered indifferently, various emotions quietly disappeared from her gaze. Only after confirming this change with her eyes did Himierd step aside and bow.

“Take care, Lady Kristrad.”

Laila walked past Duchess Himierd with her eyes wide open.

Like someone whose vitality had suddenly drained away, there was no blood in her face and the light in her eyes had vanished. Just as thin sunlight is helplessly obscured by heavy clouds.

Himierd stood there watching Laila’s retreating figure until it became a small dot.

This isn’t because of jealousy.

She thought. Thought and thought again. This wasn’t jealousy. It shouldn’t be.

Eustar, who had arrived at the corridor first and was waiting, was surprised once to see Laila dressed more brightly than usual, and surprised again at her empty expression that didn’t match it.

As he approached, Laila looked around as if she had just realized where she was. She had walked aimlessly, forgetting even her destination.

“Laila, what’s wrong? Let me see.”

Eustar gently cupped Laila’s cheek with his fingertips.

Seeing his blue-green eyes that matched the bright morning sky so well, a faint blush returned to Laila’s wax-like cheeks. The rouge that Mel had carefully applied also regained its color.

“Did you see something?”

It was suddenly amusing yet pleasing to realize that Eustar was worrying about the same thing she had been concerned about.

And then came the following guilt… For the first time in her life, Laila wished she could see emotions with her eyes. How comfortable and nice it would be if she could classify and organize them accurately like arranging books.

“I didn’t see anything.”

“Really? Then why…”

Laila, who had been moving her lips, said,

“I just came while looking at you. Was my expression that strange?”