“In the bedchamber.”
“Open it.”
When the head maid of the Emerald Palace hesitated, Consort Isabella nodded as if to say it was fine.
She opened the bedroom door and entered.
Mikael was sitting on the edge of the bed with a ferocious expression.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Consort Isabella sprayed the asta flower perfume that Liliana had given her and approached Mikael.
“Mikael, Mother is here.”
Only then did Mikael lift his head and look at her.
“Mother?”
“Yes, Mother. Come here.”
Mikael approached.
Consort Isabella pulled him into an embrace. At that moment, a sharp fragrance seeped into Mikael’s nose.
Amazingly, the moment he smelled that scent, the thirst seemed to subside.
“Do you feel more clear-headed now?”
Consort Isabella looked at her son’s face and confirmed that the madness in his eyes had cleared.
“Mother… What happened to me?”
Consort Isabella sighed.
“You were affected by the scent of the fiora flower.”
“What?”
“It means you fell victim to what was meant for Estevan.”
“…!”
Mikael looked at her with a shocked expression.
“That brazen girl used that scent to addict you.”
“You mean that maid did it? That cannot be…”
He couldn’t believe it.
There was no way Elisha would addict him instead of Estevan. That couldn’t possibly be true, because she was completely devoted to him.
“Fortunately, we were able to restore you with the perfume the Young Lady brought.”
“Lady Liliana?”
“Yes. She obtained this perfume and brought it to me.”
Mikael looked at the perfume in Isabella’s hand.
“She truly has a kind heart. It is a real pity that you let her slip away.”
Mikael couldn’t say anything. He only stared intently at the perfume that Liliana had given.
It felt as though a small hope had appeared. The thought that perhaps Liliana might also like him.
‘Yes, my brother must be holding something over her.’
Otherwise, there was no way Liliana, who liked him, would become engaged to Estevan.
‘Maybe she pushed me away because of my brother.’
She must have done it because she was afraid he would get hurt.
And so Mikael once again fell into the swamp of misunderstanding.
***
After recovering, Elisha, still resentful, held the communication orb and went into the toilette room to speak with Mikael.
She activated the communication orb, but Mikael didn’t answer.
“Why is he not answering?”
She waited anxiously, biting her nails, but Mikael never responded.
“This won’t do. I have no choice but to go see him myself.”
After turning off the communication orb and leaving the toilette room, Elisha headed to the meeting tree in the Emerald Palace.
That place was the only location where she could secretly meet Mikael.
She waited under the tree with the yellow ribbon for the maid to come. And finally, the maid she had been waiting for appeared.
Elisha looked at the maid with an expectant expression, believing she would be able to meet Mikael.
“I am sorry, but you cannot meet him today.”
“What do you mean… why?”
“His Highness said that if you ask the reason, you should already know the reason better than anyone.”
“What?”
“He said that the reason he will not meet you is something you should know better than anyone.”
Elisha was dumbfounded.
“What did you say? So… he is saying he will not meet me?”
“That is all I can tell you. Then.”
When the maid left, Elisha remained standing alone under the tree with a blank expression.
“Did he not say he loved me?”
If he loved her, how could he treat her like this?
“No, His Highness would never do that to me. Something must be wrong.”
Trying to hypnotize herself into believing it, Elisha returned to the detached Palace.
When she arrived at the detached Palace, Liliana was waiting for her.
“Elisha, let’s talk for a moment.”
“…Yes.”
Liliana took her to the garden.
“Elisha, a letter arrived from your father.”
“A letter?”
“It seems he heard about the hardships you experienced in the Palace, so he sent me a letter.”
As she said that, Liliana handed the letter to her.
After reading the letter, Elisha let out a sigh.
“I think it would be best for you to return to the Baron’s mansion for a while and recuperate.”
Elisha looked at Liliana with an uneasy expression.
“I have not even completed my maid training yet. Is that still alright?”
Liliana smiled brightly and held Elisha’s hands in both of hers.
“Don’t worry about that. I will speak with the head maid, so go rest well and come back later.”
“…Thank you.”
After sending Elisha away and returning to the bedroom, Jennifer came in.
“My Lady, Prince Estevan asked that you come to the Sapphire Palace.”
“Alright.”
Liliana straightened her clothes and headed to the Sapphire Palace.
When she arrived at the Sapphire Palace, Leon greeted her.
“Welcome, my Lady. I will guide you.”
“Thank you.”
Led by Leon, Liliana entered the reception room and widened her eyes at the sight before her.
“Your Highness, what is all this?”
On a large table in the reception room, various jewels and dresses were displayed.
“Come this way.”
When Liliana stepped closer, Estevan picked up a brooch made of platinum and held it against her chest.
“I was thinking about what to prepare as the engagement gift, so I brought everything. I have no idea what would suit you, my Lady”
“You brought the entire boutique? Your Highness must have a lot of money.”
“His Majesty gave me an engagement budget large enough to cover this much. He told me to buy whatever the Lady wants.”
“I see.”
Liliana took hold of the platinum brooch Estevan had chosen.
“I will accept this as the engagement gift.”
“Are you really going to take only that one?”
“Yes. And I would like to convert the rest into cash and add it to the relief fund for the slums in District J.”
Estevan looked at Liliana with a surprised expression.
“I did not expect you to be interested in helping the slums.”
“It is also something Your Highness should pay attention to.”
“Very well. As you wish, the engagement gifts will be used as relief funds for the slums.”
“That is an excellent decision.”
Estevan hadn’t expected Liliana to want to receive the engagement gifts in such a way. It was completely unexpected.
To be honest, he also wondered if it wasn’t an extremely calculated decision.
‘I don’t know.’
The more he looked at Liliana, the more she seemed like an unfathomable woman.
After coordinating the overall preparations related to the engagement ceremony with Estevan, Liliana returned to the detached Palace.
“I need to visit the ducal estate for a moment.”
“Of course.”
Liliana made preparations and headed to the ducal estate. Cedric’s entrance examination for the Knight Academy was just around the corner.
This time, she decided to give him some special intensive tutoring.
“Sister, it’s really hard to see your face.”
When she changed into training clothes and came out to the training ground, Cedric, who had been waiting, complained.
“That’s why I made time and came. Come here.”
Liliana removed the weight magic she had placed on him.
“How does your body feel?”
“It feels somewhat lighter.”
“Then shall we start right away?”
“Alright. This time I will definitely defeat you, Sister.”
It was a bold ambition, but he was still far from being able to defeat her.
“Hah, hah…”
Cedric breathed heavily as he looked at Liliana.
Not a single attack had landed. Liliana had avoided every one of them by the narrowest margin.
“Your speed seems to have improved compared to before, especially your thrusting speed. At this rate, you should have no problem with the exam.”
Cedric looked at her with an exasperated expression.
“How is this even possible?”
“Hm?”
“I am improving, right?”
“You are. Compared to before, you have made tremendous progress now.”
“But how come I still cannot land a single hit!”
“That only proves that I am still above you.”
Liliana slung the wooden sword over her shoulder and smiled brightly, and Cedric grumbled.
“Damn it, Sister, you are really a monster.”
At those words, Liliana struck the top of Cedric’s head with the wooden sword.
“Ow, that hurts.”
“I hit you because it was supposed to hurt. Calling your sister a monster? Choose your words more carefully.”
“Tch!”
“The exam is the day after tomorrow, right?”
Instead of answering, Cedric nodded.
“I will spar with you until then.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
After that, Liliana became his sparring partner. Cedric was beaten by her until he was drenched in sweat.
As the sparring went on, Cedric’s skills continued to improve, and Liliana smiled with satisfaction.
‘There should be no problem with the exam.’
Unless the difficulty was unusually high, he would pass the exam safely.
***
Two days later, Cedric set off for the Knight Academy.
Although he had received special training from Liliana, he couldn’t help feeling nervous.
“Don’t be too nervous. Just do it the way you usually do.”
As Liliana encouraged him, Duke Dayan smiled with satisfaction and patted Cedric’s shoulder.
“Believe in your skills.”
“Yes, Father.”
Cedric nodded, thanked Liliana as well, and then climbed into the carriage.
