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“Madam, these are invitations from the ladies.”
“Again? They’re really flooding in.”
Letting out a sigh, I looked at the stack of invitations Warren had brought in. Ever since I safely returned from the tea party, invitations from noblewomen and young ladies had increased significantly. There were already plenty stacked on my desk, and more kept arriving, to the point that there was barely room left for other documents.
“I’m happy they’re inviting me, but I can’t go to all of them… How do I even choose?”
I looked through the invitations, each stamped with the crest of a different noble house. More families had sent invitations than I expected. Not only from aristocratic factions, but also from neutral ones—and even several from the emperor’s faction.
It made sense that the aristocratic faction would invite me, and perhaps the neutrals did so because I sided with Angelica… But to think even families aligned with the emperor would reach out?
I thought I would’ve earned their resentment after driving out Lady Huizette, but apparently not. Could it be that I made a good impression at the tea party?
As I was carefully opening each invitation and deliberating, Warren spoke with a soft chuckle.
“It seems it’s because your reputation was very favorable at the last tea party, Madam.”
“I was so nervous, I was worried… but judging by the number of invitations, I guess it went okay.”
“Her Highness the Princess was also very pleased. Despite the incident at the tea party, she praised your response as excellent.”
“I didn’t do anything that big. Her Highness is just giving me too much credit.”
“Even so, it’s probably because you left a good impression on the ladies and young misses. That’s why all these invitations are coming.”
“That’s true.”
Given the results in front of me, I couldn’t deny it. While my actions had left an impact, it was also thanks to the rumors being managed well. Marquis Calvino’s behind-the-scenes work was finally paying off. I was right to prepare in advance.
The old rumors about the former Tiana had faded, and new stories about the current me had spread effectively. On top of that, even though it wasn’t intentional, the incident at Sinadelli and the events at the tea party had added flavor to my reputation.
“Perhaps next time, you should try attending a slightly larger party?”
“For now, I think I’ll stick to smaller tea parties. I’ve just started socializing again, and I have other things to handle too.”
Warren nodded and asked, “By the way, have you spoken with Viscountess Garnet?”
“Yes, thankfully, we had a good conversation at the tea party. I’m thinking of inviting her and Sub-Baron Evit to the ducal residence soon. We’ll need to keep it quiet for now, though.”
“I’ll make the preparations.”
“Please do.”
After Warren withdrew, I continued looking over the invitations, lost in thought. Though there were many, I needed to choose which ones to accept. Just as I had told Warren, I still wasn’t ready for grand parties, so I began sorting through the ones for smaller tea gatherings.
I was grateful for the data Lucious had given me on the nobles. Tiana’s original memories had some information, but thanks to the detailed documents he provided, I could easily recognize the family names and crests.
Most of the families in the invitations matched those in the materials, so selecting them wasn’t too difficult.
“Huh? This one…”
As I picked up the next invitation, a crest caught my eye. A pale blue lark. If I remembered correctly, it was the crest of Count Werner’s family—Angelica’s family.
Opening it quickly, I saw I was right. It was an invitation from Angelica. Written in neat handwriting, it expressed gratitude for what happened at the tea party and mentioned she wished to return the favor.
“I’ve prepared a gathering in honor of Your Grace and Her Highness. If it isn’t too much trouble, I would be honored if you could attend and receive my gratitude in person.”
Her sentiments came through clearly in the tidy script. An invitation from the female lead… I was genuinely touched.
“Seeing she sent this, it must mean her new product launch went smoothly.”
I had heard it was delayed due to family issues, so I assumed it would take longer—but it seemed the product issue had been resolved. In that case, there was no reason to refuse this invitation.
Feeling uplifted, I took out my stationery and began writing a reply.
Two days later…
“Welcome, Alexandra.”
Early in the morning, on the day of Angelica’s tea party, Alexandra arrived. Sitting down in the drawing room with a slightly apologetic expression, she said:
“Sorry for coming so early, Tiana. Has Lucious already left?”
“Yes, he left right after breakfast. He went to Sinadelli today.”
“I see. They said restoration work is underway after the accident. I guess he’s gone to inspect it. Since he somehow ended up in charge, he must have a lot on his plate.”
“It seems the restoration is progressing well. He was just at the scene by coincidence and ended up responsible, but he wants to see it through properly, so he’s working hard.”
“That sounds like him.”
Knowing Lucious’s personality well, she nodded with a smile. After sipping the tea the maid brought in, she quietly began.
“I came early today because I wanted to go to Count Werner’s with you later—and I have a few things to talk about first.”
“Something to talk about?”
“Just a heads-up—but it seems people were really impressed by how you handled things at the tea party. Driving away Lady Huizette and protecting Lady Werner.”
“Driving away, huh…”
That made it sound like I defeated a villain or something. True, it did turn out that way, but she was the one who stormed out. I let out a sigh, and Alexandra smiled gently.
“She wasn’t someone I liked, and I didn’t want to get involved. Honestly, I ignored her out of convenience. But at the tea party, I thought she was going too far, and I was unsure how to intervene. You stepping in really helped.”
“My body moved before I even thought about it…”
“Either way, you stopped her. And what you said to her left quite an impression. It seems I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. You’ve been getting a lot of invitations lately, right?”
“Yes, a mountain of them every day up till yesterday.”
“Just as I thought.”
She nodded knowingly.
“The events of the tea party have spread. Honestly, people talk so fast.”
“But how much did it spread for this many to come? I only stopped that lady from causing trouble.”
“That’s exactly it. Think of your position. You’re the representative of the aristocratic ladies, and you just took down one of the emperor’s faction’s young ladies. That’s a big deal politically.”
“Took down, huh…”
“I don’t want to delve too much into politics, but it matters. That was your first public appearance as the Grand Duchess, and you confronted someone from the emperor’s faction. Of course it left an impression.”
Now that she mentioned it, that really was my first return to society. Given how many rumors already surrounded me, and that I was now appearing publicly as the Grand Duchess, it would have drawn attention no matter what.
I didn’t regret standing up for Angelica—but perhaps I should have been more cautious about the situation.
“It’s a good thing. You might get busier and more annoyed, but you’ll be able to establish yourself well in society.”
“That would be great… but it feels strange. Oh, by the way, something I’m curious about—some of the invitations were from emperor-aligned families. Why is that? I thought they’d be upset after what happened to that young lady.”
“Lady Huizette caused trouble all over. While the count family had some prestige because of its business, they weren’t particularly respected. And she had a bad reputation. People saw her as a thorn in their side.”
“I see…”
“To the noblewomen and young ladies of the emperor’s faction, this was probably satisfying. The troublemaker finally got what she deserved. Even the few who followed her have distanced themselves. I doubt she’ll return to society anytime soon.”
Apparently, her behavior had been worse than I’d imagined. Judging from how she treated Angelica, that made sense.
It was her own doing. No one had stepped in to help her then, and even now, she was being shunned. This was the consequence of her actions.
“And this is something all the noblewomen agree on, regardless of faction.”
“What is?”
“Society hasn’t had a proper center for a while. The empress seat is vacant. There’s the crown princess and me, but we can’t really act as leaders. I’m not even sure I’ll remain here in the future.”
“Because of marriage?”
“Exactly. Ideally, I’d marry within the empire, but if not, I might look abroad.”
“You’re looking far and wide, huh?”
“The world is big and full of men, isn’t it? I just want to find someone who truly suits me—like you and Lucious.”
“I hope you do. I’ll be cheering you on.”
“Thanks.”
Alexandra smiled with a blush, and after clearing her throat shyly, continued.
“Her Highness the Crown Princess also occasionally participates in society, but like me, she can’t become its center. She helps keep balance, especially without an empress, but she’s slightly biased, so she can’t be the core.”
“Then that disqualifies me too. I came from an aristocratic family, and now I’m married to Lucious, who represents them. The Crown Princess is my mother-in-law. I’m obviously biased as well.”
“You’re different, Tiana. You’re just getting started. Depending on how you act moving forward, you still have the potential to become the center. Everyone saw that during the last tea party. They’re hoping you can unify everyone.”
“Unify… huh.”
“Most people want a more comfortable, enjoyable society. We can’t remove politics from it completely, but at least we want to tone it down. Heavy, dark things don’t suit a women’s social world.”
“That’s true.”
To summarize, Alexandra was saying that society was tense and factionalized due to current imperial politics, and someone needed to calm and balance things—and she hoped I could do that.
It was necessary, and I might be in a position to help… but could I really handle something that important? Wouldn’t things settle naturally once Angelica became empress?
I was already receiving enough attention, and it felt like people had expectations of me… What should I do?
As I frowned in thought, Angelica smiled gently and said:
“Don’t take it too seriously. There’s still time. Think it over slowly.”
“Yeah… I’ll do that. I’m a bit conflicted for now.”
“Of course you are. It’s not an easy thing. But if you ever need help—anything at all—just let me know. I’ll always listen.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
As our conversation wound down and my throat felt dry, I called for another cup of tea. A moment later, as we sipped the warm drink, she spoke again.
“Oh, right. There’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“It’s about Count Werner’s daughter, who we’re going to see today…”
“About Lady Werner?”
A story about Angelica? What could it be? Other than the tea party, we hadn’t interacted much. Curious, I looked at her, and she cautiously said:
“Tiana, have you heard… the rumor that Lady Werner is His Majesty’s lover?”
“…What?”
Wait, what?!
