“You do realize how much you helped strengthen the Imperial family’s position with your stunt yesterday, right?”
How could I not realize that?
Prince Zeta, whom I had thought was simply a kind man, had treated me with such excessive kindness it was suffocating, and the Empress, fully aware that it would put me in a difficult position, still insisted on naming me the prince’s first dance partner.
I nodded at Sasha’s words.
He gave me a look of relief, glad that at least I understood.
“If you go out again, the same kinds of things will keep happening.”
The rumors the Imperial family had failed to completely quash even after twenty years of effort—I’d managed to wipe them away in an instant with a single, logical move.
In their eyes, I must now be the very embodiment of Mendelia’s blessing sent down from the heavens.
Just one evening had already left me exhausted. The thought of enduring that over and over again drained the color from my face.
Panicking, I grabbed Sasha’s sleeve.
“Then—”
“Then what?”
“How am I supposed to meet Armin!”
It was a small point, but one that felt monumentally important to me.
After things had gotten so strangely tense last night, if I couldn’t meet him again soon, things would just get more and more awkward between us.
“Ha…”
Sasha let out a deep sigh, pretending to brush goosebumps off his arms as he stared at me like I was hopeless.
“That’s what you’re worried about right now?”
Of course it was! I pouted, and Sasha gave another heavy sigh.
“If you have something important to say, just write a letter. I’ll deliver it for you.”
“Oh.”
I suddenly felt like there was still a ray of hope.
As Sasha turned to leave, saying he was busy, I called out quickly.
“Wait a minute! I’ll write it now, just wait!”
It didn’t take long.
After all, I had plenty of experience reading romance novels.
When it came to the first letter between lovers, impact was the key. It had to be short, bold, and unforgettable.
I scribbled out the letter in one breath, and Michelle, who was peeking over my shoulder, recoiled in horror.
“My lady…?”
“Hm? What?”
“You’re really going to send that?”
Instead of answering, I simply nodded.
I had helped friends craft love letters before, and this was always the line we proudly put at the top.
“Wow, I didn’t think you were like this…”
Michelle looked at me like she’d seen a ghost.
You want to know how much I love Armin?
Try drawing the tiniest dot you can imagine.
Now, everything except that dot is the size of my love for him.
Next to my dramatic love confession, I drew an uncountable number of hearts.
“Oh, heavens…”
Judging by how Sasha, who had snuck a look at the letter, started repeating Michelle’s words over and over, he must have been just as shocked.
“You’re going to make me come here every morning to deliver one of these, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
I nodded vigorously.
Since I wouldn’t have any other way to talk to Armin for a while, I wouldn’t be able to clear up what happened at the ball face-to-face.
But when logic fails, stubbornness wins.
Even if it seemed ridiculous, I didn’t care.
“I’m only going to think about making sure Armin doesn’t misunderstand my feelings.”
Michelle had been right.
Whenever I overthought things, they always ended up worse.
Hearing that it had been Armin who had brought me home while I was drunk gave me the final push I needed.
I made up my mind to do everything I could to express my feelings honestly.
So that Armin wouldn’t misunderstand, so that he wouldn’t feel anxious, or hurt.
I would give it everything I had.
From that day forward, I focused all my energy on crafting the most beautiful, dazzling love notes imaginable.
At first, I remembered a few good lines, but after a while, I ran out of ideas.
Even Michelle, who had initially cringed at how cheesy they were, soon got sucked in and started reading through the pile of love letters I had saved up.
“Wow, I was wondering why you were crumpling up all that paper…”
“What do you think?”
“This one… this one’s actually pretty good.”
The line scribbled on the crumpled paper was:
“This is my pride, crushed for your sake.”
It was something I had written down thinking it might come in handy later, or simply because I wanted to record it while I still remembered.
Hearing Michelle’s genuine admiration made me feel a little embarrassed — especially because, truth be told, it wasn’t even something I had come up with on my own.
Still, even if he grumbled about it, Sasha — my own flesh and blood — proved the old saying true: family always sides with their own.
Despite my sudden confinement to the house, he visited my room every morning to pick up the letters I had written for Armin.
Armin never sent a letter back.
According to Sasha, he had firmly instructed Armin not to reply.
When I pouted in disappointment, Sasha looked at me like I was pitiful.
“You don’t know the rules of romance novels?”
According to him, obstacles and hardship only made one’s love burn brighter.
He even flicked my forehead, telling me not to make things easier for the Empress, who was desperately trying to link me with Prince Zeta.
“But how long do I have to keep this up?”
Just as Sasha predicted, ever since the day after the ball, the Imperial Family had been sending invitation after invitation almost daily.
Nearly all of them were from the Empress — invitations to minor tea parties or gatherings of noble ladies.
Claiming that overexertion had worsened my frail health, I managed to avoid attending most of them.
For once, the old rumors of my sickly constitution, which had followed me since childhood, were actually useful.
Three weeks had already slipped by like this.
I knew perfectly well I couldn’t keep dodging forever, but no brilliant solution had presented itself yet.
Then, one day, a situation arose that I couldn’t easily back away from.
When Sasha returned home, I showed him an invitation.
Unlike the growing pile of Imperial letters with their flashy golden seals, this envelope was a deep green.
Frowning at the unfamiliar sight, Sasha turned it over.
“The sender is… Mikael Itaph?”
“Ack! What should I do? Is there any way I can not go?”
Mikael Itaph — the old genius artist who had been deeply moved by my speech at the ball where the Green Lady competition was held.
Rumor had it that ever since that night, he hadn’t stepped outside his atelier even once.
There were even whispers that the famed painter had started sculpting instead of painting — and judging by the letter, those rumors must have been true.
The letter invited me to the unveiling of his very first sculpture, offering me the best seat at the exhibition.
“Is it even possible to complete a sculpture in just three weeks?”
“Who knows. If he’s a true master, maybe it is.”
“Haah… What am I supposed to do?”
Mikael Itaph’s letter specified that the best seats at the event were reserved exclusively for the Imperial Family and for me.
The invitation also mentioned that I could bring one companion with me.
“So the rumors were true after all, huh.”
Sasha began sharing a rumor he had heard.
It was about the theme of the masterpiece the artist had supposedly created, inspired by my speech.
“They say it’s a work about a saint blessed by an angel.”
“An angel? A saint?”
Those words felt completely mismatched with me.
Staring at the letter for a long time, seemingly trying to organize his thoughts, Sasha eventually muttered:
“There’s no way you can excuse yourself from this by claiming to be sick. You’re probably the most important person at the event.”
If I tried to feign illness, Sasha said, Mikael Itaph would likely postpone the entire event rather than proceed without me.
He urged me to attend.
“But the Empress will be there too, right?”
“Which is exactly why you need to choose your partner carefully.”
Sasha said this while handing the invitation back.
“The Empress isn’t someone to take lightly. The fact that she’s maintained her position for over twenty years despite all the swirling rumors speaks volumes.”
Her face floated into my mind — gentle eyes, a seemingly naive and radiant smile.
Yet no matter how vicious the rumors grew around her and her son, she remained completely unshaken.
“You probably want to see Armin right away.”
Sasha gave me a hint.
“But there’s someone else you really like too, right?”
“Ah.”
Catching onto his hint, I immediately knew who I needed to give my second invitation to.
I scanned the letter again. The event was scheduled for three days from now.
Of course, I wanted to see Armin.
But bringing him along would only repeat the situation from the ball.
As for the Duke, it would be complicated to explain why I was attending with him.
“I’ll go pay my respects to the Duchess.”
The Duchess — she was the perfect card I could play.
Nobles had to show deference to royalty, but the Empress and the Duchess were cousins.
Moreover, the Duchess was about a year older than the Empress — and in family quarrels, an older sister always wins against her younger sister.
“Good idea. Of course, you’ll have to be careful not to run into Armin.”
Though it was almost as if he had given me the answer outright, Sasha praised me with a smile.
“Brother.”
“What now?”
“How did Armin react when he got my letters?”
Ever since my house arrest, waiting for Sasha to return and hearing about Armin’s reaction had become part of my daily routine.
Even if I acted cheerful on the surface, I couldn’t suppress my anxiety.
I knew better than anyone how popular Armin was in society, and this was the longest we had gone without seeing each other since we first met.
Even though I always asked with a casual, teasing tone, Sasha could see right through me.
Looking at me with pity, he patiently relayed everything he had observed about Armin.
“It’s always the same. He pretends to be indifferent in front of me, but I’ve caught him secretly rereading your letters several times. And he never leaves them lying around — he always keeps them tucked safely in the inside pocket near his chest.”
“Really?”
I nodded slowly.
Even if things weren’t going well, Sasha probably couldn’t bear to tell me the whole truth.
Still, even hearing the same things over and over gave me a little bit of comfort.
