Chapter 48.
In the original story, she didn’t have much significance. It ended with the scene of her being executed alongside Anton.
‘If she’s going to become the prince’s consort, how ambitious must she be? I need to push her, pull her up, and elevate her to make her the queen of high society.’
Since I couldn’t openly support Anton, the plan was to empower Adelina instead.
Of course, a straightforward approach would arouse suspicion, so I had to use my head wisely.
‘I need to become a thoughtless, simple extra villainess to make Adelina stand out even more.’
Before, I’d tried to salvage Rene’s image a bit, but now there was no time.
‘Friedrich seemed so disappointed.’
I remembered his expression turning childlike right at midnight not long ago.
A look of despair so profound it was hard to believe it came from a child.
He seemed to have had high expectations, which made my heart ache for him.
I’d tried my best to comfort him, but he noticed that too and sank even deeper into self-loathing.
‘I need to divorce him quickly and send him off to meet his first love.’
Once I retire as a princess anyway, I’ll fade from people’s memories—so who cares about some image!
“Will you accept other invitations as well?”
“No, just that one.”
Of course, to avoid looking suspicious, it would be better to respond to more invitations…
“I just have a feeling that Lady Weiss will become the prince’s consort.”
Looking at the mountain of invitations, I couldn’t muster the energy for that.
Even though I didn’t engage in social activities, as a princess, this was the result of nobles’ concerns about potential grudges.
“It’s just about selection and focus. If she’s going to become family in the future, there’s no harm in getting close ahead of time, right?”
“……While you don’t even get close to Her Majesty the Empress, who is already family?”
Elsa asked with an expression that showed she truly didn’t understand. I shrugged and replied.
“There’s a generation gap with her.”
“What about Prince Anton?”
“He’s a different gender, so it’s uncomfortable.”
She seemed to accept my somewhat logical answer.
“Understood. High society will be abuzz.”
“Why?”
Elsa looked at me as if to say, do you really not know?
“It’s been ten years since you last attended a social gathering.”
“Ah… Right. It was probably Countess Rubendorff’s tea party?”
I briefly recalled the memory and then closed my mouth.
Countess Rubendorff was the name Gisela used when she was the Emperor’s mistress.
Right after Rene’s mother died, Gisela invited even Rene to a tea party to announce her marriage to the Emperor.
…She shouldn’t have done that. Because she ended up getting filth thrown at her by Rene there.
High society was in an uproar for a while over the unimaginable scandal between stepdaughter and prospective stepmother.
Rene avoided any real punishment by enlisting in evasion right after and achieving military merits.
Of course, Rene wouldn’t have apologized to Gisela even if it meant giving up her princess status.
“……They won’t misunderstand, right? I’m really going with good intentions.”
“Well… You can’t avoid social activities forever.”
Then Elsa fell silent for a moment, bowed her head, and withdrew.
Faced with the reaction of my honest maid who couldn’t lie, I pondered.
Hmm, how can I dispel the suspicion? Should I prepare a gift or something?
However, such worries became completely useless due to what happened just a few days later.
***
I sent a reply to Adelina saying I’d attend the tea gathering, and within a day, I received a response back.
She was so, so delighted and honored by my attendance… and she’d prepare everything well! The content was stretched out politely over about ten sentences.
‘I was worried, but fortunately, she doesn’t seem averse to it.’
For the next week starting the day after, it rained nonstop. By the time the gloomy weather was making my mood depressed too, bright sunny skies arrived.
Finally, we could have an outdoor teatime.
I didn’t usually enjoy such things, but after being cooped up inside for a whole week, I really wanted to.
– You are invited. Rene Stade’s Teatime. Today at 3 PM in the rose section of Rene Palace garden.
I even sent informal invitations to Friedrich and Mari, and it started to feel like a proper party.
The time when the sunlight was bright but not too hot to enjoy—3 PM in the afternoon.
At the round table shaded by an awning, Friedrich, Joachim, and I were seated.
“Is it not too hot for you?”
“It’s fine. What about you?”
“I’m fine as well, Your Highness.”
“……I wasn’t asking you.”
I replied incredulously to Joachim, who had chimed in promptly.
“Isn’t it time for the finance ministry’s policy meeting right now?”
“I postponed it to tomorrow. When I said I was anxious about losing favor with Your Highness’s consort, everyone understood.”
Huh, weren’t they just pretending to understand because office workers wanted a break?
…I was about to retort that but decided against it, thinking it might hurt him too much.
“More importantly, you seem to know every detail of my schedule?”
“I at least know that all administrative departments meet at 3.”
“I’m overjoyed every time I see how well Your Highness knows about me.”
…Let’s not even go there.
“Anyway, Mari’s late. Is she napping?”
“That can’t be. Whenever she has an appointment with Your Highness, she starts two hours early…”
Joachim trailed off mid-sentence. Why stop talking?
“…She seemed expectant, haha.”
“Well, she might have fallen asleep while waiting.”
“I saw Princess Mari heading out earlier.”
At that moment, Friedrich, who had been listening quietly, spoke up. My eyes widened as I asked.
“Really? Do you know where she went?”
“Hm…”
For some reason, Friedrich looked thoughtful for a moment before answering.
“It seemed like she was going to the central garden.”
The central garden was the vast park at the very heart of the imperial palace.
She must have gone with a maid, but seeing her uncharacteristically late made me worry if something had happened.
“I think I should go look for Mari myself. Can you two wait here together for a bit?”
“……With the prince? I’d rather go with Your Highness…”
“I understand, Your Highness. Take your time.”
“Sorry to both of you. Go ahead and have some tea first.”
“Not at all. Please go slowly.”
Seeing Friedrich like that, Joachim wore a dazed expression for a moment, then smiled brightly when our eyes met.
“Don’t worry and go. I’ll have a pleasant time with the prince.”
“Thanks. Don’t fight, you two.”
I headed straight for the central garden. Maybe I’d run into her on the way.
“Ah, there she is!”
Soon enough, I spotted Mari hurriedly running toward Rene Palace from afar.
She was dashing so urgently that I was about to shout for her to slow down, worried she’d fall.
“Ah!”
Suddenly, a carriage cut in front of Mari. Startled, she fell backward, landing hard on her bottom.
The horse neighed long and loud, apparently startled too. Fortunately, the coachman braked abruptly, avoiding a major accident.
“Mar…!”
I started running toward where Mari was, but someone alighted from the carriage. I narrowed my eyes to see who it was.
A woman with light, soft hair that was brown verging on blonde approached Mari.
I assumed she had gotten out of the carriage to check on Mari’s condition or help her up.
But she just stood there motionless, watching as Mari got up with the help of her maid.
Soon, I saw Mari bowing deeply and fumbling in apology to the carriage’s owner. What was even more bewildering came next.
The woman suddenly slapped Mari’s cheek. It happened in an instant.
In that moment, the traces of abuse I’d seen on Mari’s body flashed through my mind.
I sprinted at full speed toward Mari.
“…because of you, I almost got hurt… Ah!”
As soon as I got close to the brown-haired woman, I spun her around and slapped her cheek.
Mari, who had been on the verge of tears, looked at me with wide, shocked eyes, and the slapped woman stared at me in dazed confusion.
“Your High…”
Then, confirming my identity, she flinched in surprise. I glared at her and asked.
“Regretting it now, I see?”
Adelina Weiss. Realizing the woman’s identity at last, I let out a hollow breath.
‘I need to revise the plan entirely.’
Becoming a thoughtless, simple extra villainess…
‘I have to stop this woman from ever becoming the prince’s consort.’
Yeah, actually, this was Rene’s specialty, wasn’t it? Trying to do things you’re not used to always leads to trouble.
