The atmosphere of the tea time gathering was becoming increasingly lively.

Adeline laughed among the young ladies, occasionally glancing at Larière sitting across from her.

“Hoho. I’m so glad Her Majesty the Empress likes it. It’s leaves from a hard-to-obtain Eastern tree. My father personally imported it. They say it’s very good for insomnia too.”

“What is the name of this tea?”

“It’s tea brewed from jujube leaves.”

In response to the Empress’s question, Larière gave the most affectionate smile in the world.

“I prepared it after hearing news that you’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.”

“I’m pleased that the young lady of Count Estillen thinks of me so.”

The two continued their conversation without giving others a chance to interject.

It was as if only the two of them existed at the tea time.

“Steep the tea leaves for about 5 minutes and add honey to taste. I’ve been falling asleep early since drinking this tea myself.”

“Oh. Very good. I shall try it tonight.”

“I’m honored by your words. I’m even happier that it’s of help to Your Majesty the Empress.”

Seeing her converse so intimately with the Empress, it seemed they were already quite close.

“Though distant, aren’t we related through my mother’s Treviso family? Blood is thicker than water, they say.”

Adeline finally recalled the Marquis Treviso family of Larière’s mother.

Though a distant relative of the Empress, it seemed they were quite close, perhaps due to frequent interactions between the two families.

But seeing her so openly flaunt their connection, it seemed the other young ladies were already well aware of their relationship.

“Huhu. That’s right, young lady. Please visit the palace often to chat with this lonely person.”

Larière covered her mouth at the Bergamo Empress’s following words.

“The Empress truly cherishes the young lady of Count Estillen.”

“Indeed. You must be so pleased, young lady.”

Larière, who had received envy from the surrounding young ladies all at once, responded with a smile.

“It’s a great honor for me to be able to have tea with Your Majesty like this. No, it’s an honor for all of us young ladies, isn’t it?”

“Of course!”

The atmosphere was heightened even further by Larière’s eloquent speech.

“By the way, I thought the Duchess of Torpeo would be busy with the wedding preparations, but she came to the tea time.”

One young lady who had been quietly sipping tea spoke up, addressing Adeline.

It was a baroness’s daughter who had been quietly listening to the conversation from the edge of the table where Larière was sitting.

When Adeline looked at her in confusion, the baroness’s daughter smiled casually and added:

“Ah. I’m close with Madame Violetta, you see. I heard you were so busy you even postponed your capital debut party.”

“……”

“It’s just that it’s been quite a while since you returned to your townhouse, but there hasn’t been a single invitation, so I was saying.”

There was clearly a barb in the words of this young lady whose name Adeline didn’t even know.

It was a rebuke directed at Adeline, who had been in the capital for quite some time but had not yet shown her face in society.

“I hear you’re so close with Baron Levrance’s son. It’s quite disappointing to put off social gatherings with women. It doesn’t look good publicly either.”

“……”

“Ah. Please don’t take it too badly. I’m just saying this out of concern for you, Duchess.”

The baroness’s daughter waved her hand at Adeline and smiled with her eyes curved in an irritating manner.

It was proper for a noble who had been living in their territory to show their face and greet other nobles when they came to the capital.

Adeline had only been postponing it because she couldn’t show herself until now.

‘You’re going to bare your fangs like this?’

A small crease formed between Adeline’s brows before disappearing as if it had never been there, replaced by a smile.

And just as she was about to open her mouth.

“Patricia. Surely the Duchess wouldn’t have come here without a single invitation?”

Larière, who had been quietly sipping her tea, continued speaking on Adeline’s behalf.

“Of course you’ll mingle with us as well. Her Majesty the Empress is watching too. Isn’t that right, Duchess?”

Larière met Adeline’s gaze as if demanding an answer.

The look in her eyes as she gazed at her was quite fierce, rather than friendly. As if the hostility Adeline had felt when she first appeared here wasn’t a misunderstanding.

‘Was the scandal related to Hailo their doing?’

Adeline had heard from Becky about the ridiculous rumors surrounding her.

“Madam. There are absurd rumors circulating about you in the capital.”

“Rumors about a married noblewoman?”

“They say you sent letters to the Baron’s son… and that you tried to elope. There’s talk that your relationship is unusual.”

A scandal with Hailo, whom she had been close to like siblings since the academy.

She knew it was a scandal aimed at targeting the commoner ‘Del’, but to bare their claws like this even knowing that commoner ‘Del’ was Adeline Credion.

‘Is it because she’s the Duke’s former fiancée?’

Perhaps it bothered her that Adeline had married the ‘former’ fiancé that Larière couldn’t have.

Having finished assessing the situation, Adeline felt the gazes of the young ladies converging on her. The same was true for the Empress sitting with them.

The Empress seemed to be quietly savoring her tea while waiting for her answer.

In the suffocating silence, Adeline swept her gaze around before letting out a small laugh.

“I had no idea the young ladies thought of me this much.”

“……”

“When I left the capital and was missing for a long time, no one wrote to me, so I thought I had been forgotten.”

At Adeline’s barbed words, the atmosphere suddenly cooled as if cold water had been thrown on it.

Larière, Patricia, and even the Empress who had been quietly sipping her tea turned their gaze to Adeline.

“But since you’re so concerned, I should repay you.”

She had been thinking of postponing the party anyway, given the atmosphere of rejection in high society.

It was only grateful that they were being so cooperative.

“How about three days from now? I trust you’ll all drop by. Right?”

Adeline smiled. More radiantly than anyone else.

The Bergamo Empress tapped her teaspoon against the side of her teacup as if to draw attention.

“Come now. This old woman feels quite lonely when you young ladies get along so well without me.”

“We apologize, Your Majesty.”

At the Empress’s intervention, Larière quickly offered an apology. And she did not miss that moment to continue speaking.

“Would it be alright if Larière visited Your Majesty’s quarters after the tea party to relieve your loneliness?”

“Do so. I truly like this lovely heart of yours, Larière.”

The Empress was very fond of Larière, who acted like a tail-wagging puppy in front of her while her eyes remained intense.

Originally, the Empress preferred those who clearly expressed the desires she wanted.

It was because she could give them what they wanted and get what she desired in return.

‘As for the Duchess…’

The Empress glanced at Adeline with a suspicious look. She was a young lady who rarely showed her face in high society. She didn’t raise her nose haughtily even at the blatant favor the Empress had shown.

But she also didn’t just sit there and take the provocation that Larière and the surrounding young ladies were throwing at her.

She was a woman not easily understood.

‘Well. She is of the Marquis’s bloodline. I can’t underestimate her.’

The Empress, who had been pondering deeply what kind of person Adeline was, smiled gently at Adeline as she raised her head.

“The Duchess must still have much to attend to in organizing the interior of the duchy, so I’d like to hold a welcome party on the Duchess’s behalf.”

“Ah.”

The tea party members let out exclamations at the favor the Empress showed once again.

“Indeed. Your Majesty the Empress is truly so considerate.”

“How fortunate you are, Duchess.”

“It’s because I’m very concerned that the Duchess’s health might suffer. The empire’s only ducal house has found its mistress to build its foundations, so shouldn’t the imperial family step in?”

The Empress gracefully placed her hand on the back of the Duchess’s hand and gently pulled it.

“I truly care for the ducal house. Duchess, if you ever have difficulties in building up the duchy, come find me.”

Adeline was well aware that these were words subtly telling her to become the Empress’s person, just like her father the Marquis.

“Yes. I will not forget Your Majesty’s consideration.”

Adeline only left a faint word of assent, as she didn’t know how the Empress would react if she uttered something akin to a rejection now.

The Empress seemed satisfied with even that much for now, showing a relaxed smile as she patted the back of Adeline’s hand a couple of times.

Larière was very displeased that Adeline was monopolizing the Empress’s attention.

“Your Majesty, I’ve brought honey from our marquisate, and its bitter aftertaste goes really well with the jujube tea.”

“Oh. Honey with a bitter aftertaste. This is the first I’ve heard of such a thing.”

“Since only a very small amount can be produced, we prepared it as our family’s specialty product to offer to Your Majesty the Empress…”

As Larière trailed off and looked around at the tea party attendees, the Empress smiled slightly.

“Well, quite some time has passed, so let’s end today’s tea party here.”

As she rose to conclude the tea party, the Empress turned and spoke as if remembering something.

“Ah, Larière. You said you’d relieve this person’s loneliness, didn’t you?”

At the Empress’s quiet voice as she was leaving, Larière brightened her expression and quickly followed.