“Your Highness!”
Ignoring Masid’s cry, Eren spoke to Ail with quiet certainty, as if to confirm his decision.
“Ail, send a letter to the Eastern side by today. I’ll attend the coordination meeting together with the Grand Duchess.”
“Wow, thank you for trusting me!”
‘Got it!’
Unlike her cheerful exclamation, Eren turned his head aside with the documents still in hand.
Masid’s shoulders trembled finely as he watched.
‘That rice-cake-faced woman! What kind of disgrace is she going to bring to the North now…!’
There wasn’t a single person who didn’t know that Lady Gloria and Liselotte were sworn enemies.
Just from how House Gloria had demanded ten thousand gold, loaded with personal spite, under the pretense of cooperation—it was clear enough.
With Liselotte’s usual temper, she would storm in and cause a commotion, shouting that she was being looked down on.
He had to stop her.
Masid instinctively took a step toward Eren, but then suddenly halted.
‘Wait. If she goes and the negotiations go wrong, couldn’t I use that as an excuse to push for the divorce they postponed?’
If that thorn in his side, Liselotte, brought harm to the North with her own hands, things would go even more smoothly.
After all, even the Imperial Family had abandoned her.
What use was a Royal bloodline when no one in the Capital treated her like a Princess anymore?
Having reached that thought, Masid barely suppressed a grin as he quietly stepped back.
***
After the events at the training grounds—
Masid, who had loudly opposed the trip to the East, had gone unusually quiet, as if he’d given up.
Thanks to that, Liselotte could spend her free time carefully studying the law books without anyone interfering.
During that time, another letter arrived from House Gloria— an official demand urging them again to hurry with the coordination.
[To proceed with the coordination, please provide the payment date for the ten thousand gold your esteemed House has agreed to supply.
We request a reply within the following week.
Thank you.]
Every single word of the letter oozed arrogance, and Liselotte frowned as she read it.
Sitting at the table in her room, she wrinkled the bridge of her nose in irritation.
She turned directly to Ail, who had delivered the letter, and asked bluntly,
“So they think the North is just keeping money for them? They really assume we’ll just hand it over?”
“His Highness has already replied that he’ll visit the East for negotiations, so there’s no need to worry.”
“What did the East say?”
At her question, Ail cleared his throat and continued in a serious tone.
“When I came to see you, everything was already…”
He lifted his hand and made a circle with his thumb and index finger.
“There’s a reason for it.”
“…Every time I see that circle, all I can think of is gold now.”
Was that gesture supposed to mean money, or something else?
As she looked at him uncertainly, his beautiful smile brightened, and his voice turned cheerful.
“The meeting for the negotiation has been arranged. His Highness sent word that he’ll be visiting House Gloria today and told you to prepare.”
‘Alright, then. Let’s go and see for ourselves.’
Determined, Liselotte moved to her dressing room.
She gave a firm order to Marsha, who had followed her to assist with dressing.
“Today’s dress code — make it look wealthy.”
“…Yes?”
Marsha blinked in confusion.
“I-it’s a negotiation meeting, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. That’s why I’m doing it. Make the main color pitch black. Got it?”
When one went to borrow money or demand a refund, they had to look the most intimidating — that was rule number one.
And what did those two situations have in common?
Money was involved, and the one who was going had to be the one in need.
There was no reason for the North to bow its head just because it was at a disadvantage.
At least in this area, the original Liselotte had laid some excellent groundwork.
The jewels she adorned herself with were enough to cover her entire body — the kind of jewels she probably had never personally bought in her entire life.
Watching Marsha lay out the accessories on the table, Liselotte spoke solemnly.
“Prepare just one — the most expensive one.”
“Leave it to me.”
Perhaps because it was something she always did, Marsha nodded firmly, full of confidence.
By the time her skillful hands finished changing Liselotte’s clothes, her movements tidying up the spacious room stood out vividly in the mirror’s reflection.
Liselotte, now ready, asked the busy figure in the mirror,
“You seem unusually busy today?”
“I have to finish cleaning quickly and go report to His Highness.”
Turning her head directly toward Marsha, Liselotte widened her eyes.
“Why are you doing that? You could just have another attendant handle it.”
A troubled look crossed Marsha’s face as she finished cleaning up neatly.
She fiddled awkwardly with the ends of her short hair and replied,
“Well… we’re short-handed right now. It’s fine, it won’t take long anyway.”
“It’s because I fired them, isn’t it?”
Only then did Liselotte realize why the room looked so much larger than before — there were no servants left.
Marsha quickly waved her hands.
“No, no, Sir Ail said new hires will be brought in soon.”
“It’ll take some time to interview and replace them, though.”
Liselotte slowly rose from her seat and began to walk.
Marsha’s eyes followed her in alarm.
Liselotte turned and smiled.
“Since I’ll be going to the East with His Highness anyway, I’ll tell him myself.”
“I can go instead!”
Marsha hurriedly finished cleaning the dressing table and shouted, but Liselotte opened the door and waved a hand.
“This way’s more efficient. I’ll be back!”
Before Marsha could stop her, she was already striding away.
Click, clack— her heels echoed down the corridor.
The now-empty grand manor felt even larger.
‘They really did lose a lot of staff.’
It was a stark contrast to when she’d run off before to protest the divorce.
Standing before the door, Liselotte knocked lightly.
Knock, knock.
It was her first time coming to his room, and for some reason, she felt awkward.
“Ahem, Your Highness. It’s Liselotte.”
For some reason, no answer came.
Knocking again — knock, knock — Liselotte felt a sudden unease when Eren still gave no response.
‘He didn’t… leave without me, did he?’
She had never gotten along well with Diana Gloria of the East in the first place.
The fact that he had so readily agreed to hold a negotiation meeting had been surprising from the start.
‘It’s possible he only said that to appease me. Considering Liselotte’s behavior so far, that would make perfect sense.’
More than anything, Eren was a man whose face betrayed almost no emotion, making him hard to read.
It wouldn’t be strange if, behind that calm expression, he was thinking something entirely different.
With that uneasy thought, Liselotte carefully opened the door to his room.
Surprisingly, it creaked softly as it opened.
Inside, she saw a dark silhouette sitting on the bed, elbows resting on his knees.
Eren, who had been murmuring something to himself, straightened when the light from the corridor stretched across the room.
“Who is it?”
“Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were inside.”
“I forgot to stay cautious.”
His indifferent eyes swept past her lazily in the dim light.
Blinking, Liselotte pointed over her shoulder with one hand.
“I knocked, didn’t you hear?”
He ran a gloved hand wearily down his face and muttered,
“Forget what you just saw. Liselotte, you’ve only just entered my room.”
His voice, calm yet firm, sounded more like an order than a statement.
It was rougher and harsher than the way he usually spoke.
The atmosphere was entirely different from the composed Eren she’d seen at the training grounds.
Liselotte listened quietly, then blinked and replied,
“Even if you tell me to forget, it’s not like memory obeys on command. What exactly am I supposed to forget?”
In that instant, the golden light of his eyes, caught by the sliver of light through the open door, fixed sharply on her.
It was a cold, piercing gaze — utterly unlike the indifference he’d shown when she first opened the door.
He stood and crossed the distance between them in just a few steps.
His large hand slammed the slightly open door shut behind her with a thud.
Pressed with her back against the door, Liselotte found herself staring up at Eren’s twisted expression.
Though he made no sound, the air around him bristled like that of a great beast baring its fangs.
Already taller by a head or two, he loomed over her so closely that she had to tilt her head even farther back to meet his eyes.
At such a close distance that even a slightly deeper breath would cause their bodies to touch, his throat moved as he swallowed.
With one hand, he gently grasped her chin and met Liselotte’s gaze.
His eyes, fixed intently on her as if to examine something, trembled faintly — clouded with confusion.
Slowly lowering his head, Eren’s eyes traced the lines of her face — her eyes, her nose, her lips — finally lingering at her chin.
After a long pause, a low, husky voice quietly asked,
“…Why does it not respond?”
