/
The disturbance in the garden attracted the imperial guards. Demimore appeared to have been nearby the garden as well and was moving swiftly in this direction.
Demimore paused on his way to Lausanne when he noticed Cameron nearby. His gaze shifted to me.
When his eyes appeared to inquire as to why Cameron was present, all I could do was shake my head in response.
“How could you do this?”
“Sofia ,please stop it!”
The imperial soldiers stopped Sofia when she attempted to jump at Cameron. Sofia extended her hand to Cameron while wearing a dejected look.
However, Cameron completely disregarded Sophia and held Lausanne’s shoulder while pleading for forgiveness.
“I’m so sorry, Lausanne; please forgive your despicable brother.”
“So, you’re saying that you, Brother, and Sophia started everything because you wanted to exact revenge on Mary Conler?”
“I don’t know what came over me, Lausanne. I’m sorry.”
Lausanne wriggled her shoulder free of Cameron’s hold.
She moved away from Cameron and gave him a distinctive smile.
“I see. It makes sense now. I was wondering how Sofia knew about the novel.”
It was such a fresh voice that it reminded me of a flower that bloomed to herald the arrival of spring
Lausanne stopped Cameron when he tried to approach her again. Her movements were graceful and elegant.
“But it’s surprising because Brother has always been such a great and impressive figure to me; I had no idea he had this side to him.”
“Lausanne
”
“This experience taught me that not everyone I like is a good person.”
The jabs at Cameron that Lausanne makes while grinning had bones.
As he continued to hear Lausanne’s words, Cameron’s face once more twisted. He spoke while sporting a defeated expression.
“I made a mistake
.”
“No, I’m happy I was able to restore your dignity. You made good use of it, so why are you making that expression?”
At Lausanne’s ambiguous tone, Cameron froze once more. Lausanne approached Sofia after heaving a long sigh.
“Princess, please hear my side of the story.”
Sofia seized Lausanne’s arm as she drew near.
The imperial soldiers by her side attempted to stop Sofia, but Lausanne stopped them.
Sophia used Lausanne as a rope to cling to. In contrast to earlier, she didn’t appear to be as at ease.
“What story should I listen to now?”
“His highness said he would marry me. I trusted that and helped him! Your highness knows that too. I’m really
!”
“Oh, I know something. You made me look like a fool.”
She gracefully removed Sofia’s hand, which was firmly holding her arm, just as she had restrained Cameron earlier.
Sofia bit her lips because she had nothing more to say.
Sofia’s lips were exquisitely painted prior to arriving at the palace, but they turned pale.
“What would you like to do, Mary?
“What?”
“What sort of sanctions do you want to impose on these two?”
The subject abruptly changed. When Lausanne questioned me, Demimore looked at me and blinked slowly.
My intuition told me what his look was trying to say. My cheeks puff up.
“No, I feel the same way.”
“What
?”
“I didn’t know that His Highness kept the incident from when we were young in his heart. If I had known, I wouldn’t have tried to win the hunting game. It was my fault.”
At my response, Demimore stomped his right foot. It was fortunate that he was standing behind Cameron. Demimore’s frustration was understandable.
I also wanted to put Cameron in some kind of underground prison.
But could I really give Cameron such a harsh punishment? Perhaps only the Emperor could do that.
The emperor, however, continues to favor Cameron. In order to protect Cameron, the emperor has also forfeited trade benefits to the Kingdom of Lacom.
My wish will be useless. The emperor’s faith in Cameron will erode if a little more time passes, so I’ll just have to shoot for it at that point.
Cameron’s punishment wouldn’t be easy to administer, so for the time being, I opted to maintain my honor.
“Is that so, Mary,
.”
Lausanne smiled bitterly. It seemed that she understood my intentions. I glanced at Demimore.
He looked like he had mixed feelings. I remembered Demimore’s words asking me if that was enough punishment.
“Sofia, I don’t think we’ll be seeing each other at the salon again. Go back to the mansion for the time being.”
Please, princess!
“Do you want things to get bigger? The other noble ladies will be here soon.”
The imperial soldiers seized Sofia by the arm to drag her out of the garden, but Sofia escaped their grasp and vanished into the garden.
She kept glancing at Cameron, but he didn’t even bat an eye.
No matter how hard I try to think about it, Cameron is the worst.
I was secretly glancing at Cameron when he came over to me. I didn’t bother hiding the contempt in my eyes.
“Mary, I’m sorry. Doing this with Sophia made me realize how childish I was.”
“Oh, I see..”
“Well, you might not believe it, but I’m not going to do anything foolish like this again.”
Cameron apologized sincerely to me, even though he had heard all my sarcasm earlier. It came as a surprise.
I anticipated that he would glare at me once more and demand something of me, but instead, he displayed this humble demeanor.
“Oh, well, I believe you

.”
“I have a lot of things to apologize to the Lady for, so may I offer you some advice?”
Apologize and advice? That seems to be at odds with one another.
But Cameron’s dreary voice made me swallow my saliva. Cameron pressed his lips close to my ear.
With an unpleasant feeling, I shrugged my shoulders. I was the only one to hear Cameron’s low voice as he spoke.
“Do you know who Sofia despises more than you?”
Astina’s face flashed through my mind. The tension in my tense shoulder relaxed.
“Astina
”
“Yes, Astina.”
“Why does Sofia despise Astina?”
“That’s because
”
Cameron’s voice was more piercing, gloomy, and moist than ever.
“Because I and Astina might get engaged.”
“Why would Astina be engaged to you? Astina is Demi
!”
I closed my mouth, which was about to say more. Demimore and Lausanne, who couldn’t hear Cameron’s conversation with me, turned their gaze to me.
Cameron squinted at me as I was looking at them.
“Uh
 what do I really know?”
“What
”
“Well, Mary, you’re the only one who knows, right?”
“

.”
“Well, thanks to you, I did a good job. I had a hard time because I didn’t know much about it.”
After saying that, Cameron’s expression changed and his elongated eyes drooped.
“So sorry again. I don’t know if you’ll feel better, but I’ll send you a big present soon as an apology. Don’t be alarmed, it’s not like the immature gift I sent when I was younger.”
Cameron left in that manner. I kept looking at his back, thinking of Astina.
Actually, I haven’t seen Astina at the salon in quite some time. Lausanne adored Astina and had no reason not to call her.
“Mary, are you okay?”
“Princess, did you not send Astina an invitation to the salon recently?”
“Ahhh, Astina. Astina declined my invitation because she claimed to be unwell.
I made a mistake by ignoring my best friend because of my busy schedule.
Mary shouldn’t worry too much because “she said it wasn’t that serious.”
I added quickly, standing dejectedly. Lausanne was staring at me restlessly, and I had to calm her down, but I was dejected.
Cameron’s last words to me weighed heavily on my mind.
As I lowered my head, trying to decipher Cameron’s meaning, someone came up to me and grabbed my cheeks tightly with both hands, making me raise my head. It was Demimore.
“You heard him, Mary.”
“What?”
“My brother promised he wouldn’t act foolishly.”
I also nodded. I had a rough idea of what Demimore was trying to say.
“He won’t do any childish actions, that’s what he meant.”
This time Demimore nodded.
“Mary, I won’t just stand here like a fool, unable to say a word like I did today. I’ll become stronger. I’ll climb even higher.”