As soon as I heard that everything was fine, a sigh of relief escaped me involuntarily. I swept my hand over my chest and relaxed my tense shoulders.
"His wrists and ankles were well secured, and the burned skin and severely injured back were treated very well. It seems they will heal cleanly with time."
Thank goodness. I was worried that something major might have happened because of me, but it's really a relief.
"…Huh? Wait a moment."
I was feeling relieved when I sensed something strange and tilted my head.
"How do you know Adeus's condition so well?"
Terdeo, who had merely said he received a report, knew Adeus's condition very well. In response to my question, Terdeo replied nonchalantly.
"I went to see him myself."
As soon as I heard his answer, my mouth dropped open.
"Theo, you went to see Adeus yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Why, why?"
You hated it so much, yet you went to check on him yourself. Why?
"I promised to look into Fortun's condition separately when we were in the carriage that day."
Only then did the memory of that day faintly come back to me. I thought he was just trying to gloss over the situation!
'You really kept that promise?'
I was continuously surprised. Looking back, he never spoke lightly. He always tried his best to keep his word to me, no matter how long it took. A warm feeling welled up in my chest.
"…Thank you, Theo."
With genuine gratitude, Terdeo's lips twitched slightly. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair.
"It's nothing."
Terdeo crossed his arms and shrugged confidently.
"It's my duty to eliminate the lady's worries."
Selphius, sitting opposite us, smiled contentedly, resting his chin in his hands as he watched us. The warm atmosphere continued. That's when it happened.
"Excuse me."
The butler, who had left to receive a report from a servant, returned. He held a vase in one hand and an invitation in the other.
"I apologize for interrupting your meal and conversation."
The butler first bowed respectfully to Terdeo and Selphius before approaching me.
"Her Highness, as you instructed, I confirmed that Lady Knights arrived safely at the main house. There seem to be no significant issues with her family or the estate."
I had instructed the butler to check if Rebecca arrived safely at the main house and if there were any problems with her family or the estate. Fortunately, Rebecca seemed to have returned to the main house safely.
"There don't seem to be any issues with her family, and the estate is in good order."
The butler placed the vase on the center of the dining table.
"And as you instructed, I brought flowers from the garden of the Knights' residence."
I had asked him to bring flowers from the garden of the residence where Rebecca was staying when he came back.
"I've never seen these flowers before."
"Yes, they were imported from a foreign country. The gardener said they were well-cared for and grew beautifully."
"…Good job."
I looked at the flowers blooming in the vase and then at the butler's hand. Noticing my gaze, the butler handed me the invitation.
"The invitation has returned."
I muttered softly, and Terdeo's face twisted in an instant as he interrogated the butler fiercely.
"Where did this invitation come from?"
"Yes, Your Highness. This invitation is…"
"If it's from that princess, I clearly told you to burn it, not deliver it."
I had noticed that Dodelea's invitations hadn't been coming lately. So they were being burned before they reached me? I quickly took the invitation from the butler to clear up the misunderstanding.
"This isn't an invitation I received, but one I sent. …To be precise, it's an invitation I sent that was returned."
"You sent it?"
Terdeo tilted his head in confusion.
"To whom? Is there someone you're inviting to this estate? I haven't heard of any party."
"It's not a party."
I waved the invitation lightly in the air.
"My stepmother."
Terdeo's face contorted in fear. It was understandable. He had suffered from a high fever for several days after taking a pill from my stepmother.
"I wanted to finish the conversation we started that day. I sent it just in case, but as expected, it was returned."
"What?"
As soon as I finished speaking, Terdeo asked with a cold voice. Selphius even stood up, slamming his hand on the table. They both shouted coldly at the same time.
"You mean your mother returned your invitation? I'll go right now…!"
"That woman dared to reject your invitation?"
They seemed upset that someone had rejected my invitation. Surprised by their strong reactions, I nodded with a bewildered expression.
"It's, it's fine. I expected her to reject it. No matter how foolish, she wouldn't walk into the mouth of the enemy."
I sighed in disappointment and crumpled the invitation in my hand with all my strength.
'Maybe I should wait in front of the Zahart residence and kidnap her without anyone noticing.'
I thought of all sorts of crimes I couldn't say in front of Selphius. Terdeo, who was watching me closely, stroked his chin and asked.
"What do you plan to do when you meet her?"
"Start with her fingernails and toenails… No, not that!"
The natural question made me almost blurt out the crime scene in my imagination. Shocked, I quickly shook my head.
"I'll have a gentlemanly and legal conversation!"
Looking at Selphius's innocent face, my conscience pricked. Despite my explanation, Terdeo still frowned. He tilted his head and tapped the table with his finger.
"Do you plan to kill her?"
"Are you crazy? Don't say such scary things in front of Selphius!"
Of course, in my imagination, I had already killed her in various ways more than fifty times. Strong denial is affirmation, they say. As I strongly denied, Terdeo nodded as if he had received a proper answer.
"That's not something that suits you."
The hand that had been tapping the table stopped. He lowered his gaze lazily.
"I said I'll have a gentlemanly and legal conversation!"
"But if you really want to."
His lazy, cold gaze felt menacing.
"Just tell me."
"Huh?"
"Getting blood on your hands is already familiar to me. Adding one more death to this hand won't make much difference."
He smiled bitterly. He was serious. It seemed he would go and kill my stepmother right away if I asked him to. While I didn't care if my stepmother died, I couldn't let Terdeo's hands be stained. I shook my head quickly. I didn't want his hands to be stained with the blood of my revenge.
"…If you really want a conversation, there's a way to meet her."
"There's a way to meet her?"
Gentlemanly and legally? Without kidnapping? Terdeo's face showed dissatisfaction as he spoke.
"…A few days from now, the royal hunting tournament will be held."
Ah, that's right. The hunting tournament is held around this time. I had forgotten about it because I wasn't interested before the regression.
"If you put her on the invitation list, she won't be able to refuse the royal invitation, so she will naturally attend."
"…!"
That's right. No noble would want to fall out of the emperor's favor by missing an event hosted by the royal family. I nodded with a brightened expression.
"That's a good idea! Is it possible?"
"It's possible, but there's one problem."
"A problem?"
"That crazy princess will also be there. If you go, you'll have to face her again."
Dodelea. Thinking of her smiling face as she said she had prepared a gift for me, my fists clenched involuntarily.
"It's fine. From her actions so far, it seems she's careful in crowded places. Besides, since it's a tournament hosted by the royal family, her reputation is at stake, so she won't cause a commotion or threaten me."
"If you say so."
Hunting tournament….
'…Huh?'
Come to think of it, I've never seen the Laphiellon family at a hunting tournament. As I was puzzled, Terdeo answered as if reading my thoughts.
"Originally, our family would not attend without special permission from the emperor."
"Oh."
"But for my wife, it's different."
Terdeo leaned forward with his hands clasped. He spoke with a lazy but firm voice.
"The Laphiellon family will attend this year's hunting tournament."
As soon as the meal ended, Terdeo and Selphius got into the prepared carriage. Selphius was heading to the academy, and Terdeo was going to check the invitation list for the hunting tournament. He had canceled all his scheduled activities for the day to check the list. Selphius, sitting opposite him, chuckled.
"Your Highness, you really hated the hunting tournament. You said you didn't want to kill innocent animals for no reason, remember!"
Selphius smiled brightly and playfully said to Terdeo.
"You're willing to attend the hunting tournament you hated so much for Mom."
"…"
"Your Highness really loves Mom…"
"Selphius."
Terdeo, who had been listening silently, cut off Selphius's words firmly. With his arms crossed and his long legs crossed, Terdeo's face was stiff.
"Just in case, Selphius, never mention what you were about to say in front of the duchess."
"Huh? Why?"
Contrary to the expectation that Terdeo would be embarrassed, the atmosphere was tense. Selph