Chapter 14
‘Ira, fight!’
I cheered inwardly with all my heart.
While I was stuck in the study, the only one I could rely on—no, the only familiar I could trust—was Rira.
We weren’t sharing vision, but if Rira was as smart as I believed, she would be able to recognize Cain’s food among the servants’ meals.
The only thing I was slightly worried about was when she would add the Cromlin juice into the soup.
‘The stealth magic confirmed that the bottle tied to Rira’s body with a ribbon is invisible…’
But I couldn’t be sure whether even the liquid inside the bottle would remain unseen by others.
Please, don’t get caught.
I focused more intently on the shared sense of hearing and prayed desperately.
“We’ll end the theory lesson here. I’ll have your meal delivered to your room, so please wait there.”
While I was concentrating all my senses on hearing and staring at the magic book, I suddenly heard Cain’s voice beside me.
I almost screamed from shock, but I suppressed it with superhuman self-control and steadied my expression from collapsing.
“…Alright.”
I responded a beat late as I calmed myself down, but he didn’t seem suspicious.
I stood up and quickly returned to my room before he could possibly grab me.
Since there was still time before the food arrived, I sat on the sofa and closed my eyes.
[Sense Sharing.]
The kitchen came into view—busy chefs, assistants, and maids moving around.
There was a pot of tomato soup—and an empty bottle beside it!
‘Stage one is a success!’
Now I just had to add it to Cain’s food, and it would be done.
Dodging the busy footsteps of people, Rira landed gracefully on the table where the meals were set.
‘Three trays.’
Probably mine, Ansharie’s, and Cain’s.
I thought I’d be able to identify it immediately by looking, but all three had different menus, so I couldn’t choose recklessly.
‘The seafood clear soup looks like my lunch.’
Seafood was more expensive than tomato soup in terms of cost.
As expected, a maid said, “I’m taking Lady Tiamia’s lunch!” and carried out the tray with the seafood soup.
The problem was that the remaining two trays still hadn’t been served.
—This one should be easy to digest for Lady Ansharie, but someone added meat!
—Sorry!
—We don’t have time, separate this and remake it!
—Yes, understood!
The kitchen assistant, now under strict discipline, broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly removed the food on the tray.
‘Ah-ha, so that’s Ansharie’s lunch.’
Rira also seemed to notice and waited in front of the other tray.
Ready to add Cromlin fruit juice into the soup whenever it appeared.
Knock knock.
“My lady, your meal has been brought.”
“Come in.”
I cut off the sense-sharing and opened my eyes.
The food was placed on the table. After the maid left, I slowly began eating, and Rira appeared from the half-open terrace.
“You succeeded. I knew I could trust you!”
I immediately stopped eating and scooped up Rira, spinning her around like an airplane.
“Kyiii!”
“You did so well! That’s my Rira! You’re amazing!”
“Kiing!”
Rira chirped happily at my praise.
“Do you want some bread?”
“Ki…”
I tried to offer her something as a reward, but she refused cleanly.
‘Right, Rira only eats sweets.’
She probably didn’t want plain bread without jam.
Instead of insisting further, I decided to bring her dessert from the tea party later and finished my meal.
I rang the bell in the room, and maids came in to clear the table. Some approached to fix my slightly disheveled outfit.
“Prepare the carriage.”
“Understood.”
After finishing preparations, I moved to the mansion entrance.
While waiting for the carriage, I looked up at the sky. It was unusually blue today.
Summer-signaling clouds were forming, and the wind was pleasantly mild.
‘Perfect weather for stomach trouble.’
Just as I was thinking that, the carriage arrived.
Normally I would depart with Cain, but since he wasn’t showing up, the servants waiting outside seemed to sense something was wrong.
As the time for the imperial tea party approached, the housekeeper appeared.
She was responsible for staffing and salary management.
Knowing she wasn’t involved in the Count’s secrets, I spoke without caution.
“Where is Cain?”
“Well… we are looking, but we cannot find him.”
Of course.
By now he was probably in the bathroom, clutching his stomach.
I felt a slight sense of satisfaction but didn’t show it.
“Have you informed Father?”
“N-no…”
She answered hesitantly, clearly flustered.
She had just realized she had failed the proper protocol of reporting first to the Count in case of internal incidents.
‘Cain disappearing and the urgency of not being late to the tea party must have clouded her judgment.’
That worked in my favor.
If the Count got involved, things would only become more complicated.
“There’s no time. I’ll go with another attendant. Inform my father.”
“Yes, understood.”
Before the Count could notice the commotion, I needed to leave immediately.
I quickly pointed at one of the visible servants.
“You. Come with me.”
“Yes, y-yes!”
A man with dull blond hair and a somewhat sloppy impression.
Without anyone stopping us, we boarded the carriage and departed smoothly.
Since the distance from the Serentia Count’s estate to the imperial palace wasn’t far, the silence inside the carriage didn’t last long.
“We’ve arrived.”
The carriage passed into the Empress Palace without being stopped, thanks to the Count’s emblem.
‘Good. So far, everything is going according to plan.’
Relieved, I followed the escort into the garden of the Empress Palace.
Because we were late, there were hardly any empty seats left.
While pretending to look for a seat, I scanned the area for Ishtar.
But there was no trace of silver hair.
‘Don’t tell me she’s coming next time… no, she’s just not here yet.’
Unable to stand for long, I forced away the negative thoughts and sat near the upper seats.
Someone greeted me.
“Lady Tiamia, were you well? You look especially beautiful today.”
It was the daughter of the Marad Count family.
Normally it would be improper etiquette for a lower-ranking noble to greet a higher one first, but she belonged to the noble faction aligned with the Serentia house and was familiar enough with Tiamia.
She was not an important figure in the story—just a gossip-loving noble girl.
“Lady Rona, were you well?”
She glanced around and lowered her voice.
“Did you hear? Lady Archelide is attending today’s tea party.”
Oh, great intel!
‘So today really is the day.’
Unlike me, who stayed shut in the estate, she seemed to gather a lot of rumors. She even told me Ishtar had become the youngest mage.
While I already knew, I nodded along appropriately.
Then the atmosphere changed.
Everyone’s gaze turned in one direction, and the chatter stopped.
At the center of attention stood the heroine I had been waiting for—Ishtar.
‘She’s really beautiful.’
Her silver hair and mysterious violet eyes made her look like something beyond human beauty.
If Ansharie was a fairy, Ishtar was an angel.
With every step she took, countless eyes followed her, but she remained calm and composed.
Soon after, the Empress and the First Prince Enkyrion arrived.
The Empress spoke.
“A new lady has joined today’s tea party, like the blooming Zinnia of early summer.”
Zinnia—a red flower that blooms for a hundred days in early summer.
Everyone was looking at Ishtar, but she calmly observed the red flowers decorating the table as if unaware of the attention.
‘This is quite different from the original.’
In the novel, there was no such level of attention in her first tea party.
Probably because it was told from a first-person perspective with misunderstandings layered in.
‘Well, that’s the charm of misunderstanding stories.’
I watched the scene like a reader for a moment.
Even the Empress was subtly trying to engage with Ishtar, and the usually bored First Prince Enkyrion was watching her with curiosity.
But surprisingly, the first person Ishtar spoke to at the tea party… was me.
