/
Dorothea asked carefully, and Clara laughed.
“It’s tricky, but it’s an easy question.”
“Easy?”
“Yes. You can choose the bird that you want to raise.”
It’s up to Dorothea to decide whether she is attracted to the first bird because she has an old affection, or whether she is attracted to the second bird that she is close to.
“But the first bird needs me.”
“Aha, so you mean you want to raise a second bird?”
Clara’s eyes narrowed to a sharp light.
At that, Dorothea flinched.
‘Is that so
?’
“If you really like it, find a new owner who can take care of the first bird. No law says the princess must raise it, right?”
“Don’t you feel sorry for the first bird?”
“I feel sorry for the second bird, too
”
How painful it is for you to come every day and give flowers and songs, but you didn’t get any attention!
With that kind of sincerity, she should have accepted it a long time ago.
“What’s important is the princess’s happiness. In my experience, it’s never easy to take care of a sick person with only a kind heart. One day, you will get tired, and I’m sure you will miss the second bird’s song and affection.”
“
.”
Dorothea couldn’t refute Clara’s words.
‘Even if I choose Theon, Ethan will still remain in the corner of my heart.’
“If the two birds truly like the princess, they will wish you happiness. Otherwise, they were trying to take advantage of the princess.”
Clara rolled her eyes and added that she wouldn’t forgive a bird who would take advantage of Dorothea’s good heart.
At Clara’s advice, Dorothea was lost in thought.
“Follow your heart, princess, especially when it comes to love.”
“Love?”
‘I never said it was a love issue.’
Dorothea widened her eyes and looked at Clara, and Clara smiled.
“Oops, look at my mind! I forgot to give you a letter!”
Clara spoke skillfully and handed Dorothea the letters that had arrived in the mail.
“These are the letters and invitations that arrived to the princess today! Oh my God, there are so many people who want to see the princess!”
On one side of Dorothea’s desk was a pile of invitations she had already received.
Most of them said something like, “We’d love to have you at a party or gathering we’re hosting,” or “We’d love to meet you and hope you’ll find the time to visit us.”
Sending a rejection reply every time is also a problem. She wasted two or three hours writing replies.
Dorothea opened the letters, hoping to get it done quickly.
The first letter she opened was about a hobby of music a nobleman was organizing at the salon.
Nobles often organized music clubs for their hobbies, and this was apparently a recital.
TL: Recital are performances of a program of music by a solo instrumentalist or singer or by a small group.
Dorothea immediately picked up a pen to write the rejection letter.
A recital is a typical event that Dorothea doesn’t attend. This is because Nereus always attends music-related gatherings.
Again, Nereus’s name was on the list of members of the club.
‘There is no place that is suitable for me.’
She tries not to get involved with Nereus as much as possible, but he is a socialite and attends most of the big events.
Dorothea skimmed the invitation to write a rejection letter.
‘I wanted to write down just two letters of “I can’t attend,” but I couldn’t, so I had to take a look at the contents and write a long sentence.’
Then

[Special invitation: Ethan Bronte’s solo violin Recital.]
Ethan’s name, written in the schedule of the music performance on the invitation, caught her eye.
It seems that Ethan was invited to attract people.
‘Ethan is doing really well without me.’
Going on a date with Monica, going out to social gatherings, and showing off his brilliant violin performance.
It’s only natural for him to live well without her.
Dorothea shook her head at her childishness and raised her quill.
And without hesitation, her hand went down to write a reply to the invitation to the music performance.
‘I am willing to attend.’
* * *
“Prince Nereus, long time no see.”
“Marquis Dmitry. Long time no see.”
Nereus sat down to welcome the nobles of Ubera.
Nereus welcomed the nobles of Ubera and took his seat.
In front of them was a generous spread of food on silverware.
Nereus used to invite the nobles close to him to give them a generous dinner.
It was part of diplomatic and information warfare that he spent the money of the Hark royal family on the Ubera nobles.
“I hear that Ubera is planning to raise customs taxes on the Hark borderlands this time around. I assume the treasury is not good?”
“To run a large empire, the state treasury is always insufficient.”
Nereus sipped his wine and chatted with the nobles.
“This decision is not pleasant because it feels like a check against Hark. Until now, Hark has supplied the Empire with a significant amount of wheat.”
“Hmmmm
 But, hasn’t the customs duty applied to Hark been lowered so far? Now, it must be His Majesty’s intention to treat other countries on an equal footing.”
“Why did he suddenly change his decision?”
“It’s more about time than suddenly.”
“Is he going to strengthen border security and merchant customs procedures?”
“It seems that there are a lot of cases where the wheat from Hark is being sold as an imperial product, so it seems to be a problem.”
To prevent this, Carnan was planning to raise customs duties and restrict the incoming hark’s wheat to some extent.
Nereus had no intention of letting that happen.
This was the reason why he had to leave Hark to study in Episteme in Ubera.
“If the ministers oppose it at the next meeting, won’t the Emperor reconsider it? When the price of wheat rises, the livelihood of Ubera becomes difficult.”
“But the wheat coming from Hark has a lot of chaff, so there are complaints here and there
”
“The poor people need cheap goods even if the quality is not good. There are people who have been complaining for years, and there are people who need it.”
Nereus smiled and held out the golden mermaid statue in front of Marquis Dmitry.
The Marquis laughed as if he was confused, and then slipped the statue into his inner pocket.
Nereus’ servants presented gifts one by one in front of the other nobles.
They smiled and looked around, but finally put them in their pockets.
“That’s also true. The people welcome low-quality things with open arms as long as they are cheap.”
After all, the customs tariff at the border only went to the imperial family, and it was not a policy that directly benefited the nobility. So they didn’t have to actively support it.
Nereus smiled as he watched the nobles of Ubera pack up their mermaid statues.
‘Ubera is already rotten to the core.’
It is an empire that has continued for more than a thousand years since the first Milanaire and Fried.
No matter how great a country was in the beginning, it couldn’t defy the laws of time.
Emperor Carnan tried not to admit that Milanaire was on the decline, but he couldn’t resist the tide of the times.
For this reason, Karnan established his authority more strictly for nothing and tried to show that the Empire Ubera was still alive and strong.
‘But it was all a bluff.’
Nereus traveled through Episteme and saw the narrow insight of the Ubera nobles.
There are a lot of smart people, but not a lot of challengers, and they are trapped in tradition and justification that has dried up and hardened so long ago.
It wasn’t that they didn’t understand. The tradition has allowed aristocrats who can only use their brains to reign.
‘Moreover, the power of the spirit, the root of that tradition, has now run out
’
Nereus secretly clenched his fist.
Dorothea Millanaire’s awakening had defied all his expectations.
‘Didn’t the Emperor and Raymond help her?’
He remembered Dorothea running out of the Debutante ballroom with a startled look on her face, in a spirit of light.
‘The lights suddenly went out, and
 It was most likely a trick.’
Nereus shook his head for a moment and then opened his mouth again.
“Marquis Dmitry, I heard that Princess Dorothea has been stuck in the palace even after her debut.”
Nereus turned the subject lightly and asked Dmitry.
“That’s because she’s such a weird person.”
“Have you ever seen her wield a light spirit after that?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to see her In person.”
Dmitry said in a rather dissatisfied tone.
He added that even the servants of Dorothea had never seen the spirit before.
Nereus’ eyes narrowed and the corners of his lips rose.
“Is that so? That’s weird. She shows her spirit like that in her debut, and then she stays quiet again.”
“We were thinking the same thing. Still, won’t she show it to us during the Light Ceremony?”
At Dmitry’s words, the nobles nodded their heads.
Every year, on the day of the founding of the empire, the imperial family holds a ceremony of light to express gratitude to the spirit of light.
At that time, the imperial family showed off the spirit of light and showed the authority of the imperial family before the people.
However, Dorothea, who couldn’t handle the Spirit of Light, had not attended the ceremony.
But now that she has awakened the power of the spirits, she will rise to an important position along with Carnan and Raymond.
“I am really looking forward to this year.”
Nereus smiled and nodded.
* * *
The day the music performance is held.
Dorothea stood in front of the mirror and fiddled with the spirit stone brooch on her chest.
‘Is the necklace a bit excessive
?’
She was troubled as she stared at the colorful necklace with jewels like berries.
The necklace wasn’t the only concern.
Her hair with a hair tie in a braid after a long time didn’t look pretty either, and she was worried about whether a dress with the sheer fabric would look too sheer.
“Clara, isn’t it strange?”
“You are so pretty, Princess! if there were a goddess of beauty, this is what she would look like right now!”
“Don’t you think the necklace and the dress don’t go well together? Should I change it to pearls?”
“No. It’s perfect now. You wore all the necklaces you had and chose it.”
Clara nodded her head resolutely.
Dorothea, who didn’t pay much attention to her debutante dress, had a lot of worries about her dress today.
She looks pretty no matter what she wears, but Clara, who knows Dorothea’s troubles, did her best to help Dorothea.
“You will be late, Princess. Master Ethan’s turn might be over!”
“Clara
!”
Dorothea stared at her, startled by Clara’s dubious threat.
Clara laughed.
“Not only Master Ethan, but everyone will love the princess.”