After all… Cesia thought. She made a fleeting glance, and her gaze settled on Marcus, who was greeting Juliette. They were engaged, so it was perfectly normal for them to greet each other if they happened to meet, but the sight made Cesia feel a flash of anger in her chest.
When she thought of how she would see them like that all the time once they were married, she felt sincerely irritated.
She wasn’t like the heroine of some story, who trembled with jealousy and cried into her pillow at night. If she had any chance of getting something, she used all her energy to take it herself. However, her opponent was just too remote, too far away for her to reach. No matter how much she struggled or exerted herself, the day of Marcus and Juliette’s wedding was approaching, moment by moment.
In a move unlike her, she felt like she was about to retreat, not wanting to see anymore. No matter what the future held for her, though, she had her current duty as an enforcer. Even if her love for Marcus went unrealized, she wanted to carry out her role as his subordinate properly.
For a tea party in a drawing room in the innermost part of the castle, there were fewer guards than Cesia had expected. There was also the bare minimum of servers; in short, it felt understaffed for a gathering with five royals. However, even if Juliette was the mastermind of a criminal syndicate, there were several points where she and her belongings would have been searched, so it would be fairly difficult for her to cause harm to any member of the Emeroade royal family.
Cesia had accompanied Juliette, and Mavis had brought Anita. Edith had two lady’s maids and three bodyguards. There were more servants and guards outside, but that was everyone in the room. The wet nurses had been dismissed, and Marcus had only stopped by on a break in his duties, so he was about to leave. Cesia knew she and the knights on duty could stop anything Juliette tried to pull.
“Then, I’ll take my leave. Excuse my interruption,” Marcus said.
“Not at all, thank you very much,” Edith replied.
Marcus left the room, and the peaceful tea party continued.
Mavis was enthralled by her nephew, whom Edith was holding, and she constantly played with him. When the crown princess asked Juliette if she wanted to hold Ronald, Cesia suddenly felt a chill. But the princess refused, saying, “I’m not good with children, and I don’t think I’ll be able to do it well.” Cesia felt relieved.
After a time, Ronald sulked. It was time for milk and a diaper change. Though Edith left the day-to-day role of caring for Ronald to the wet nurses, she was more or less capable of ordinary motherly duties.
Still holding the baby, she smoothly stood up. “I’ll have to excuse myself a bit early. Apologies for how frantic everything is, Princess Juliette,” she said, bending her knees in replacement for a curtsy.
Juliette shook her head. “The baby comes first. By all means, go take care of him. There’s no need to rush,” she said, smiling.
Who is this person? Cesia thought, puzzled. She had never seen Juliette behave so pleasantly before. Could she be someone else in disguise, using magic to change their appearance? She discarded that thought. No, it’s too difficult to magically change your appearance to look exactly like a real person. You have to alter your whole skeletal structure; if you make any mistake, the discrepancy would be too much, and the disguise would fail.
Cesia often used disguise magic in her position and frequently observed people’s faces, so there was no doubt about it; the person sitting before her was none other than Juliette Lani Gwyllt. Still, her friendly act was impeccable. It was as if her insides had been swapped out for another person’s.
It felt creepy. Cesia tightened her guard by yet another level.
When Edith and her lady’s maids left to retire to a separate room, Ronald wouldn’t let go of Mavis’s finger, so she, too, left with them. Their guards followed right behind. The only people left in the room were Juliette, Cesia, and Anita.
Anita probably hadn’t received combat training, so she could shout and call the guards outside if anything happened.
Cesia nervously stood at the ready as she waited for the time to pass.
Then, out of nowhere, Juliette stood up, raising the hot pot of tea above her head.
“Lady Juliette, what are you…?” Cesia mumbled, bewildered by the princess’s odd, sudden movement.
Juliette looked at Cesia and grinned nastily, then cast the teapot toward herself. Cesia jumped in surprise, but Juliette had purposefully missed; the teapot landed on the floor right next to the princess with a loud crash, breaking and scattering bits and pieces everywhere. Then, Juliette deliberately sat on the floor and made a scream rivaling the sound of the pot shattering.
“Aaahhh! Cesia! What are you doing?! Stop it!”
“Huh?” Cesia froze in surprise. She didn’t understand what Juliette had begun. The princess was sitting in the fragments of ceramic, the pool of tea on the floor slowly soaking the hem of her dress. As she watched the stain spread, Cesia thought, What would it look like if someone else saw this? And, as if struck by lightning, trembled. She quickly raised her head, and her eyes met Anita’s, standing by the wall across from her. But the lady’s maid at once averted her eyes.
Anita is the spy!
Cesia’s heart raced at the stunning realization. At the same time, having heard Juliette’s scream, guards from the corridor barged into the room.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“Your Royal Highness, are you all right?”
“Help! Cesia…this maid tried to hit me with a teapot!” Juliette begged for help, clinging to the guard who had rushed to her aid.
Cesia shook her head, but without anyone else to back her story, it was painfully clear that nobody would believe her.
“No! Princess Juliette threw the teapot at herse—”
“What reason would I have for doing that?!” Juliette shouted, her echoing voice drowning out Cesia’s explanation.
“What’s this all about?!”
Another shout came from Mavis, who had just appeared from the inner room, accompanied by two lady’s maids and guards. Seeing the spectacle before her, she grimaced. Without missing a beat, Juliette called out to her in a pitiful voice.