Carinne, with her remarkable resilience, quickly regained her energetic self in just a few days.

She also sorted out her thoughts easily.

If Archen didn’t appreciate her until the end, she thought she could find love with another man. There was no law that said she had to be in a relationship, so if there wasn’t a man she liked, she could live alone.

Upon reflection, she realized that a life spent freely and extravagantly with money wasn’t so bad. It was a bit bittersweet that she couldn’t win Archen’s heart despite all her efforts, but she knew that people’s hearts didn’t always follow one’s desires, so she couldn’t help it.

The experiences she had gone through would become valuable lessons. Her heart ached a little, but she was okay.

Truly.

“Not being able to love doesn’t mean you have to die. Love isn’t everything in life,” Carinne muttered to herself, and her gaze met the statue of a saint on the table.

The saint statue had a compassionate smile and open arms as if saying, ‘Isn’t love everything in life?’

Well, they can think as they wish.

Carinne sarcastically smiled towards the saint statue. If someone were to ask why she had a saint statue when she didn’t even believe in saints, it was because she had received it as a reward for helping Marta.

It was an imitation made of gold, modeled after the original statue.

Come to think of it, the saint’s memorial day was just a few days away. There was a story associated with it as well.

According to legend, in the chaotic era of wars before the founding of ancient Esmeril, a saint appeared riding a dragon. The saint established a stronghold in the current capital of Esmeril with the people who followed her.

As the number of her followers grew, the saint had many responsibilities.

She led people with outstanding leadership, cared for the sick, and even acted as a chief of justice, judging right from wrong. Esmeril seemed to enjoy peace and tranquility, but nothing lasts forever.

As the saint was originally a celestial being, she couldn’t stay on earth for long.

When the time came for the saint to return to the heavens, the people cried, saying they couldn’t live without her. Feeling sorry for such people, the saint said not to worry and that she would descend every year on a specific date to look after Esmeril and leave her blessings.

That designated day was the saint’s memorial day.

There were records in ancient documents claiming to have witnessed the descent and books interpreting the blessings, though it was ultimately a matter of belief.

The last time the saint appeared was five hundred years ago.

“Lady, are you ready?”

At that moment, a young maid opened the door and entered, dispelling Carinne’s wandering thoughts.

“Why aren’t you coming out quickly? What are you doing?”

She was a maid who joined after Marie returned to her hometown. While her tone of voice was somewhat cold, Carinne didn’t say anything, thinking that it might be her natural personality, just like Marie’s.

As she walked through the corridor and descended the stairs, she sensed the other maids passing by were momentarily surprised when they saw her.

‘Are they still afraid of me?’

She realized that she hadn’t really interacted warmly with any other maids since possessing this body, except for Marie. The other maids in the mansion still seemed to regard her as the terrifying Carinne from before.

There was no need for them to see her differently. Carinne paid little attention to the maids’ behavior and continued down the stairs.

Today was the day of the meeting.

It was the meeting to decide whether to accept the Prince of Irita into Esmeril… and Carinne had prepared meticulously to lead the meeting to success.

* * *

Five minutes before the meeting was about to start, the meeting room was filled with a silent stillness. As always, the King was slouched in the central chair at the table, surrounded by nobles crowding around.

Suddenly, a cheerful voice shattered the silence, jolting everyone’s ears.

“Excuse me, may I squeeze through? Yes, thank you. Just a little to the side, yes, perfect.”

It was a woman with long, red, curly hair dragging a portable panel that seemed fit for an academy into the meeting room.

The panel was covered in white cloth, so the writing on it couldn’t be seen.

“Why is the Princess here again?”

“She must be here instead of Duke Tricia.”

“What is that panel the Princess is bringing in?”

Carinne had carefully placed the portable panel in a corner of the meeting room and took her seat. Although murmurs of people questioning could be heard, she ignored them.

The next moment, someone suddenly tapped the table, making a sound. As she glanced in the direction of the noise, she found Duke Lucas gesturing towards her. He must be curious about what that panel was.

Carinne raised and lowered her eyebrows, implying that she would explain later. He had always been so impatient, but he would probably find out soon enough.

“Now, let’s begin today’s meeting.”

As the time came, the meeting facilitator gathered everyone’s attention by tapping the table with a stack of documents.

“The agenda for today is regarding the monsters in the northern region. Monsters keep appearing in the north, and…”

The meeting progressed slowly, to the point of being boring. As long as it didn’t concern her, Carinne let the voices of the nobles wash over her, hearing with one ear and letting it pass through the other.

She couldn’t help but feel a twinge of annoyance at Duke Lucas’ enthusiastic participation. Whenever she was forgotten, he would subtly stare at her, and the cold gaze of an enemy stared at her as if asking, ‘If you’re going to stay silent, why did you come here?’

“…Next agenda. We’ve received an official letter from Irita. It’s a request to allow the entry of the third prince into our country. They want to travel here.”

Finally, what she had been waiting for had arrived.

“Why bother asking so many questions? Just grant permission.”

“Yes. Let’s move on to the next one.”

As expected, the nobles tried to move on from this agenda as if it didn’t matter, even though it was the most important one in today’s meeting.

“Wait!”

Everyone’s attention shifted to Carinne’s outcry. All eyes were fixed on her.

“No matter how friendly Irita may be, we shouldn’t casually welcome royal family members. Especially in the current circumstances.”

Suddenly intervening, Carinne left everyone bewildered. Now that she had their attention, she needed to explain what the current circumstances were. Although they might find it outrageous, she had to explain what the current situation was.

She looked down at the thick stack of documents she had brought.

Well, she just had to persuade them somehow, right?

However, an unexpected obstacle emerged. The nobles who had kept quiet until now started to raise objections.

“Why have you been silent all this time and suddenly…?”

There was nothing she could say to that.

“Attending a social gathering and a meeting are completely different occasions…”

So, if a woman attends a social gathering, does that mean she can’t attend a meeting? It was obvious what their intentions were, and it made her extremely annoyed. Carinne made a mental note of the noble who made the problematic remark.

She then stood up, forcefully dragging her chair, intending to silence the nobles. However, they seemed determined not to close their mouths.

“It’s not your place, Your Highness.”

“If you came instead of Duke Tricia, you should have stayed quiet.”

The nobles had been taking turns expressing their grievances towards Carinne as if attempting to vent their anger.

She didn’t expect the opposition to be so strong.

Her position has become quite difficult.

Despite the fact that she had tried not to go this far in front of the King, she had no choice. Just as Carinne was about to quietly request the last resort, in the midst of the clamor, a faint voice was heard, capturing everyone’s attention.

“I called her here.”

It was Duke Lucas.

“You called her?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

—