“I heard you’ve been away from the capital for a while. Did you go for some recuperation as the rumors say?”

The eyes that asked the question sparkled with anticipation. This is a question that’s asked when someone wants a specific answer, isn’t it? Wondering what answer I should give, I looked at the woman and briefly organized my thoughts.

“Yes.”

I don’t know. I can clearly see from her expression that this woman doesn’t like me very much, but since I don’t know exactly what kind of relationship she has with Celeste, I don’t have anything to say in response.

But I can’t ignore the question either, so the only appropriate thing for me to say is a short answer.

Perhaps upset by my curt reply that left no room for conversation, the woman’s face gradually turned red. What can I do? I’m sorry. I just don’t have anything to say.

“What part of your body was unwell? If your condition was serious enough to require recuperation, it must have been quite bad.”

“Just here and there.”

Why so many questions? I hoped she would get the hint and disappear after a certain point, but the woman showed no signs of leaving.

“Is your condition still not good? You’ve never been this rude before. You seem very unfamiliar somehow.”

“Was my way of speaking rude? If so, I apologize.”

“Oh my, you’re not usually one to apologize so easily either. You’re really strange today.”

“Yes. My condition is very much not good, unlike usual.”

If you don’t like hearing it, you can just go over there, but I don’t know why you’re deliberately picking a fight right in front of me.

“Hmm. Hmm. Why might your condition be poor? The lady I remember… no, the Countess was always in the best of health.”

“Who knows?”

What answer does she want to hear? Just as I was getting annoyed with the woman beating around the bush-

“With fatigue written all over your face, your complexion looks just like a woman who gave birth not long ago.”

I realized this was what she wanted to say all along with her roundabout words.

Instead of answering, I quietly looked up at the woman’s face. Even though I was sitting and the woman was standing in front of me, our eye levels weren’t that different.

The short-statured woman had a faint smile on her face, as if she thought I was finally shaken by her words.

Hey, if you’re going to hide it, do it properly. Covering only half with a fan, I can see everything.

“What is it that you want to say? Lady Teckla.”

“What is there to say? I’m just inquiring after your well-being.”

“Then you’ve inquired, so please be on your way now.”

“What? How can you be so rude…”

At my words telling her to leave, the woman’s face now flushed red all the way to the top of her head.

Her mental fortitude is nearly at the level of tofu? To get so flustered over just this much. I may not know well, but if the original Celeste was here, this woman probably wouldn’t even have bones left to pick.

Whish whish. I even waved my hand, telling her to hurry along. It’s a nice way of saying go, but it was actually closer to telling her to get lost.

Perhaps reading the unspoken ‘get the hell out of my face’ from my expression, the woman bit her lip, trembling.

“I heard you brought back a child whose father you don’t even know, so I thought I’d ask if you were alright.”

And then she delivered a strange blow. A child whose father I don’t know? Asking if I’m alright? My nerves, already on edge from people’s attention, were further sharpened.

“Lady Teckla. I think your words are going a bit too far.”

As I tried to respond, Hannah stepped in front of me.

“You stay out of this, assistant. You’re good at distinguishing where you should and shouldn’t intervene.”

The woman said, looking Hannah up and down from head to toe. In a very unpleasant way at that.

It seems I can’t leave this woman Teckla alone after all.

I tried to stay as quiet as possible to avoid drawing people’s attention, figuring it was for the best, but how could I just stand by and watch someone picking a fight right in front of my eyes like this? Just as I was slowly rising from my seat-

“The Lady Pulcheria enters!”

The resounding cry of the Imperial Knights was heard. Who is Lady Pulcheria now?

The people who had been sitting in their assigned spots all rose from their seats at once. They straightened their postures and turned their bodies toward the sound. Hastily following their lead, I also stood up and turned around.

A middle-aged woman in a black dress entered the funeral hall, escorted by the guard. Even from a distance, she strode in with huge strides, nearly as tall as any decent man. Her appearance somehow reminded me of someone.

Where have I seen her? Her face looks familiar.

Black hair and a black dress. White skin and red lips. Eyes that slant upward, giving a slightly intimidating impression. Even though I was seeing her for the first time, she looked strangely familiar, so I stared at her intently.

“Who is that person, Hannah?”

I whispered softly so only Hannah right next to me could hear, as it seemed unwise to move carelessly in this atmosphere. I unintentionally learned ventriloquism while confined in the mansion, but I never thought I’d be putting it to use like this.

“That is Lady Pulcheria, the eldest daughter of the previous Emperor, well, now the pre-previous Emperor. She is the aunt of the recently deceased Emperor.”

The aunt of the recently deceased Emperor.

It was said the deceased Emperor was Carl’s cousin, so this person would be Carl’s aunt as well.

Then, with the Emperor’s position vacant now, would Lady Pulcheria be the highest-ranking elder in the imperial family? It’s a name I should remember. Lady Pulcheria, Lady Pulcheria.

As I muttered Lady Pulcheria’s name, Hannah quickly arranged the hem of my skirt. She lowered the veil draped over my hat so it covered my face nicely, and she also picked up the fan I had set on the table and placed it in my hand.

Lady Pulcheria, who had entered the hall, took a seat in what appeared to be the highest position. As she sat down, the people who had risen also returned to their seats, following her lead.

“You’re still not gone? You must really want attention from me. Don’t waste your energy picking needless fights at a memorial service and go properly pay your respects.”

With Lady Pulcheria’s entrance, all the attention that had briefly focused on the woman named Teckla disappeared. Moreover, even though the ceremony was about to take place, the woman was blankly standing in front of my seat.

Only after I rebuked her did the woman return to her seat with a thud thud, her face red once more.

“The little thing barely the size of a fist, acting up.”

Hannah scolded me with a pale face, saying how could I speak so uncouthly, but I let it go in one ear and out the other.

I’m not well-versed in the order of this world or the etiquette nobles must uphold. But in this case, they were the ones who spoke rudely first with no semblance of decorum, so why should I have to treat them with courtesy?

They say stooping to the same level only makes you the same kind of person, but then I’ll just be the same kind of person, whatever. Rather than stupidly taking it lying down, I’ll sink to their level and give a satisfying retort.

Perhaps my thoughts showed on my face, because Hannah sighed deeply, realizing her words had no effect whatsoever.

And then followed the tedious but predictable procedures. As I didn’t know well how funerals were conducted in this world, I observed my surroundings with interest for the first bit, but when someone’s eulogy continued for over 30 minutes, my thread-thin interest quickly fizzled out.

“My lord, cover your face more with the fan.”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

Unable to resist the drowsiness that washed over me, I yawned, and Hannah opened the fan for me. It was because I couldn’t sleep properly the night before, as I had to check on Valerie who suddenly developed a fever.

Still, it would be truly impolite to show signs of fatigue at the state funeral commemorating the Emperor, so I fully covered my face with the fan.

Focusing my sleepy eyes, I looked at the old gentleman reading the eulogy, then shifted my gaze to Lady Pulcheria sitting grandly at the head seat.

Even just sitting there, dignity and refinement overflowed from her. Was it because of the explanation that she was the Emperor’s aunt?

As I quietly watched the lady like that, a woman busily moving about beside her caught my eye. Judging by how she was preparing things the lady needed on her behalf, she appeared to be Lady Pulcheria’s personal lady-in-waiting.

I heard the imperial family uses ladies-in-waiting, and those ladies-in-waiting are usually filled by noble maidens, and it seemed to really be the case. Amidst the black clothing, the lady-in-waiting’s bright golden hair sparkled dazzlingly, looking just like a noble-born person even at a glance.

“She’s like a squirrel…”

I muttered unknowingly while gazing at Lady Pulcheria’s lady-in-waiting. The small-framed woman couldn’t sit still for a moment and restlessly moved about, overlapping with the image of a squirrel busily searching for acorns.

“Yes? What is it?”

Hannah tilted her head, perhaps thinking I was calling her.

“No, just talking to myself.”

“Ah, Miss Topher?”

“Topher?”

“Yes. Layla Topher. Lady Pulcheria’s niece.”

Niece? Her husband’s brother’s daughter? But I’ve heard that name a lot somewhere.

“Ah…!”

Speak of the devil. I lamented why I could meet the male lead and the villain from the original work but not the female lead, and now I’ve encountered her like this.