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Rieta did her best to dress up in nice clothes.
At least while she is being scolded by the Duke, she can maintain the ‘good manners’ he has taught her all along.
After getting ready, when they arrived at the family room, she saw Noel frantically hurry to and from the door.
“Noel, don’t worry too much.”
Rieta approached and talked gently to him, feeling rather sorry.
“I’ll tell him that it was because of me. You don’t have to be so scared.”
“Don’t, don’t be funny. Who do you think is scared?”
Listening to Noel pretending to be strong, Rieta somehow remembered her childhood.
The two of them would stamp their feet in front of the door like this whenever they received the test results from the professors.
“I’m not scared at all. I didn’t do anything shameful.”
Noel, who said that, seemed somehow cute, so Rieta laughed.
For a while, she forgot the fear that she might get scolded by the Duke.
Noel went ahead and knocked on the family room.
The butler opened the door, and the two cautiously entered the room.
Inside, the Duke and even Darrell were together.
“Welcome.”
Darrell greeted first, and Rieta nodded quickly as well.
Soon after, the Duke got up and bowed to Rieta.
“I’m back. Princess.”
“I am glad you came back safely. Duke.”
“I apologize for being late.”
“Yes, you came back after some hard work because of me. But when you came back, I didn’t even come out to meet you properly
 I’m more sorry.”
“Didn’t you come all the way to see me off? That’s enough.”
After inviting the two to sit down, the Duke greeted Noel.
He said it’s been a long time since he has been at the mansion, and he was sorry that he couldn’t take care of them properly.
“It’s okay. I had a good time in my own way.”
“In your own way

.”
Noel and Rieta’s shoulders trembled at the duke’s short muttering.
Maybe they shouldn’t answer like that?
Noel wondered if he should be begging his father even now.
For causing trouble to the wizards in the storage room and for being able to escape safely only by relying on His Majesty’s generosity.
However, since it was something with the criteria of justice by Noel’s standards, he couldn’t bear to say that he was wrong.
“Noel.”
“Yees?”
“Darrell.”
“Yes, Father.”
“And Princess Rieta.”
“Please speak, Duke.”
“I just came from seeing the Emperor before returning to the mansion.”
Noel and Rieta exchanged glances for a moment, but soon looked back at the Duke.
“His Majesty has been meeting with the wizards in the storage room.”
The Duke’s expression when he said that somehow grew darker.
Of course, Noel was getting a bad feeling too.
“S, so?”
Rieta stammered, urging the following words.
“Well, it’s common for His Majesty to cherish Princess Gabriella, but
”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
The Duke sighed and shook his head. In fact, he witnessed his older brother’s pitiful appearance today.
After the emperor collected the letters from Princess Gabriella one by one, he ordered them to cast an immutable magic that would last forever.
Even if he was a daughter-fool, this is just too much.
“Anyway, we had a chance to read the letter from Princess Gabriella on the spot together.”
Fortunately, the Duke’s story seemed to be far from the accident that Noel and Rieta had committed.
“I heard that there was a commotion over the succession of a local noble.”
The issue of succession was a problem that occurred in almost every family, from the imperial family to ordinary families.
Of course, the higher the status, the bigger the scale.
The issue of the succession of the local noble also had a bad influence on the people living there.
However, as long as it was a family affair, it was difficult for outsiders to intervene.
“Did you say that Gabriella
..no, Princess Gabriella was directly involved in the succession issues of other nobles?”
Darrell asked the point with a slightly worried expression.
Because to him, Princess Gabriella was a precious cousin.
“Yes.”
The duke replied to Darrell.
“It seems that Princess Gabriella made a personal acquaintance with the lord’s daughter while she was moving alone, hiding her identity.”
“Hiding her identity?! Alone?!”
“Of course, the emperor was worried about that, but it has already happened.”
“

I should write a letter soon. Not as a subject, but as a cousin.”
Darrell sighed as he touched his forehead.
Yes, Gabriella was strong enough to take down a bear even if it was to appear, but the target for her might not be a bear, but an imperial unit.
If something happens to the one and only princess, they will immediately see the imperial family’s subordinates running amok to seize a chance, right away.
“So what happened?”