After Princess Chelsea and Prince Joshua returned from the Richter Duke's residence, the Emperor summoned them to ask how the Duke and Duchess were doing.
He inquired about the atmosphere between the two, when they might have children, and so on...
It was a question that blatantly revealed the purpose of this visit was 'surveillance.'
Chelsea responded with her usual warm smile.
"Contrary to your concerns, the atmosphere was quite pleasant."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. I was worried because both of them looked so gloomy at the wedding, but it seems that has been resolved."
"Then that's a relief. Hehe."
As the Emperor beamed with satisfaction, Chelsea gently continued.
"It seems the Duchess has decided to take her role as the hostess seriously. They appeared to be very harmonious together. They were always walking arm in arm, and there was no hesitation in their physical affection or calling each other... They looked like a couple with a strong bond, so I don't think there will be any worries about heirs."
However, as Chelsea's words grew longer, the Emperor's expression, which had been bright, strangely changed.
The slight furrow in his brow and the way his eyebrows subtly raised and lowered.
It was a sign that it was not a positive reaction.
Why is he acting like that?
Did I say something wrong?
Without showing it, Chelsea quickly reviewed her words to see if there was any mistake.
But no matter how much she thought, she couldn't find anything odd.
It was just a report that her father would likely appreciate.
‘Do you understand anything?’
She sent a glance towards Joshua for a signal, but Joshua, with his lips tightly sealed, merely shook his head slightly.
After a moment of contemplation, Chelsea decided to just ask.
"Your expression doesn't look good. Is there something bothering you?"
"No. No, that's not it..."
The Emperor trailed off, resting his hand on his temple as he leaned back in his chair.
"...We should be having children instead of indulging in useless romantic games."
Tsk.
The sound of his tongue clicking was louder than his murmured words.
Chelsea and Joshua quietly bowed their heads instead of adding any comments.
With the implication that they should leave, the two exited the audience chamber.
Once they were walking side by side and were sure no one was around, they opened their mouths.
"That was a bit strange, wasn't it? I thought he would be pleased, but he seemed rather displeased."
"Indeed. I was sure he would be happy."
"Hmm. Useless romantic games."
Somehow, it felt like there was an answer in that phrase.
Now that she thought about it, the Emperor's expression had begun to darken when she mentioned that 'the two seemed harmonious and had a strong bond.'
He had been pleased when she simply said, 'The atmosphere was good.'
That means...
"The atmosphere is good enough to have children, but too harmonious... No, does he dislike the idea of them indulging in romantic games?"
Oh. That sounds plausible.
Once she voiced it, it sounded even more like a reasonable guess.
Still, the question of 'why?' lingered.
There was something her father knew that she did not.
Chelsea's eyes narrowed.
* * *
"Hmm. The weather is nice."
Before she knew it, she had adapted to the cool early autumn weather and found it comfortable.
The bothersome guests had left, and she had made the gift for Dante as planned.
After finishing urgent tasks, she found herself with free time again, just like before.
In this regained leisure, she sat by the window and sipped her tea.
It was lavender tea.
She had brewed it with the leftover lavender from making the sachet for Dante.
She was glad she had dried a lot back then.
After all, it would all wilt when winter came, so it was better to use it in advance.
The fragrant scent of lavender lingered in her nose and mouth.
Hmm. Smelling this reminds me of that.
So, that.
Dante.
After she gifted him the lavender sachet, Dante had carried it with him everywhere.
Because of that, whenever she passed by him, there was always a scent of lavender.
The same scent as this tea.
Oh. My goodness.
〈...I like it to an excessive degree.〉
〈It's truly the best gift.〉
〈I want to drink it together. What do you think?〉
Cough, cough!
In an instant, the image of Dante smiling at her flashed through her mind.
The scene was so vivid that she choked. Unfortunately, there was still tea in her mouth.
Oh. My goodness.
Fumbling for a handkerchief, she found it unusually hard to grasp today.
Oh well, whatever.
She dashed into the bathroom.
The sudden movement caused her chair to topple over with a loud crash.
The sound masked the knock coming from outside, which she didn't hear.
"Lady, are you okay? I heard a loud noise. Oh, I don't know! I'm coming in!"
After barely managing to deal with the tea in her mouth in the bathroom, she was wiping her mouth as she came out.
Sienna rushed into the room with a pale expression.
She greeted her while wiping her mouth with the handkerchief she had finally found.
"Ah, you came."
"…I was worried because of the loud noise…"
Sienna, elongating her words, scanned the room with a flustered look.
The table was soaked with spilled tea, and the chair was on the floor.
Even to her, it looked like a mess.
Sienna would have to clean all this up. Oh dear, I feel so sorry.
As expected, Sienna seemed startled by the unexpected chaos, her eyes trembling.
"…I choked, ahem. It got caught in my throat while drinking tea."
As she casually revealed a truth that was not quite an excuse, her voice cracked.
It was due to all the coughing.
Sienna began cleaning without a word. Feeling sorry and embarrassed, Chelsea wandered around, but Sienna insisted, "Just sit and rest!" and led her to the sofa.
Well, it would be annoying if she hovered around while cleaning.
Chelsea gazed out the window, feeling embarrassed, sorry, and awkward.
Ahem.
I won't drink lavender tea again.
That was all she resolved.
* * *
As Sienna wiped the table and floor soaked with tea, she had to hold back tears several times.
However, when she stood the fallen chair back up, she couldn't help but turn away to wipe her eyes.
She must have vomited blood.
She must have rushed to the bathroom in shock from the sudden flow of blood.
The spilled tea and the fallen chair spoke volumes about how urgent the situation had been.
When she went to the bathroom, the sink was soaked with water.
It looked as if someone had just wiped something down.
This too was evidence of her suspicions.
What kind of feelings did the lady have while she was alone, wiping the sink?
〈…I choked, ahem. It got caught in my throat while drinking tea.〉
The image of her voice cracking while trying to act nonchalant came to mind.
Tears kept welling up, and Sienna had to press her hand against her eyes several times.
‘What a real fool.’
Recently, she had seemed quite fine, so she had unconsciously let her guard down.
The lady had only been hiding her pain all along.
To think she foolishly assumed the lady would be fine just because she didn’t show it.
Imagining the lady suffering alone made her heart feel like it was being torn apart.
There must have been times like this that they didn’t know about. Times when they were sick, shocked, and hiding it.
Sienna glanced at Serafina.
Today, her face looked even paler, and a faintly sad smile lingered on her lips.
* * *
After the choking incident.
Sienna subtly slipped some health cookies to Chelsea.
〈I was sorry about that time. It was such a mess, wasn’t it?〉
Sienna, receiving the cookies, looked at Chelsea with teary eyes, just like before.
〈No, thank you, my lady. I will clean your room as many times as it takes. So… please don’t worry. If the room gets messy again, don’t hesitate to call me. Don’t endure it alone… Promise?〉
Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t hurt emotionally. Moreover, she had strangely developed a strong sense of professionalism.
Could it be that she had experienced some kind of burnout?
She had been seriously contemplating her job, and then she had welcomed Sienna into a completely chaotic room.
But after several days of contemplation, she had overcome her burnout and developed a more dedicated sense of professionalism… or was that too far-fetched?
Whatever the case, she was relieved that Sienna seemed to have regained her spirits.
After taking care of Sienna's work, leisure returned once more.
Now, instead of drinking tea, let’s do something else.
The first thing that came to mind was the Hosan fruit. It seemed it was time to slowly resume the research that had been postponed due to esophagitis.
By the way, there had been no contact from Heterson yet.
Was there still no progress?
…Oh, thinking about it, Heterson didn’t have any Hosan fruit either.
She had forgotten to send a letter inviting him to visit when she was free because she had been busy with various tasks.
"I should tell him to come by soon."
She immediately wrote a letter to Heterson.
Under the pretense that 'the nutritional supplement I had before seems to be effective, so I asked for more,' she asked him to come by and match his schedule.
Not long after sending the letter, a positive response arrived.
After confirming the date and time of the appointment, she decided to prepare in advance.
"Alright. Then, the first thing to do is..."