I think I mostly cried when I was despairing or angry.
In that sense, the single tear I shed after receiving Xenon's surprise gift was, by any measure, an excessive reaction.
'I was too emotional.'
The only saving grace was that Xenon was the only one who witnessed that unsightly display.
Though perhaps I showed my ugly side to the very person I should have been most careful not to....
Xenon, who saw my tears, said nothing. He simply wiped my cheek carefully with an invisible hand.
His hand was warm, and in that moment, I found myself unconsciously wanting to feel more of that warmth.
Of course, it was merely a fleeting thought that brushed by in an instant.
That was all. That day.
Our conversation was cut short because the banquet participants, who had been standing there stupidly frozen, finally came to their senses and rushed toward me.
When the imperial mage explained that the garden's magic was 'a gift from the Magic Tower to the Resurrected One,' they belatedly exclaimed in admiration and praised me.
"Indeed, the dignity of the Resurrected One!"
"Being a mage of the Magic Tower, they've implemented quite unique magic!"
"I've never seen such magic in my life!"
Seeing the participants blushing with delight, I felt somewhat embarrassed, but decided to endure it.
As Xenon said, they would remember my end, together with that beautiful garden. They would no longer have any reason to see me.
Gazing quietly at the garden that had suddenly become bustling, I quietly turned away.
Anyway, everything ended well. My final banquet concluded more fantastically and beautifully than I had imagined.
Of course, it didn't seem like everyone would have a beautiful ending.
"These damn imperial bastards, why do they have to be so bothersome?"
This was because the imperial mages had rushed at Xenon the moment he released his transparency magic amidst the crowd.
At a glance, he seemed to be in a difficult situation, but... that wasn't something I could do anything about.
'Should have only shown off in front of me.'
Xenon, who had said he would come to my palace today, ended up being detained by the imperial mages, and Samuel couldn't come because he was helping the priests leave the palace.
Thanks to that, right now, I was alone, peacefully preparing to leave this imperial palace.
The work of selecting only precious items and tossing them into subspace was monotonous, making it easy to do without thinking.
"Ah, it's full."
I, who had been moving my hand unconsciously, only came to my senses after the subspace was filled.
"Too bad, but it can't be helped."
The subspace wasn't small to begin with, so what I had gathered alone would be enough to live in luxury for a lifetime.
Smacking my lips as I looked at the full jewelry box, I let go of my lingering attachment and moved to the dressing room.
"Clothes... are all useless things."
The gifts I received were all dresses, and the only pants that were somewhat wearable were riding clothes. Even those prioritized appearance over practicality, so essentially, there were no clothes suitable for traveling.
I'll probably need to buy travel clothes in advance, so I'll have to ask Xenon later.
'Ah, to do that, I'd need to tell him my measurements.'
I stopped rummaging through the wardrobe.
In society, when a woman directly tells a man her measurements, it was interpreted in various ways.
Purely speaking, it meant trusting the other person enough to reveal intimate details, and harboring affection for them.
'...From a more adult perspective, it was an overt suggestion of wanting to spend the night together.'
Xenon wouldn't know the unspoken atmosphere of society, so it wouldn't matter.
However, knowing all of that, the thought of telling him my measurements myself made me feel somewhat... flushed.
'But if I just tell him to buy whatever and the measurements are wrong, it would be uncomfortable.'
I tried to rationalize it as no big deal, but the burning in my cheeks wouldn't easily subside.
This is all Xenon's fault. He went and drove it home, saying something about commemorating our first kiss.
'Even making it so I can't shake it off....'
[If you're hot, shall I open the window?]
Minte, who was sitting on the sunlit windowsill looking outside, spoke to me.
Good heavens, my complexion changed enough for Minte to notice?
"I'm fine."
I gave a short reply and buried my head completely among the clothes. I intended to stay like this until my complexion settled.
I have to meet Heinrich in a little while, so I must calm down.
* * *
Only after a light wash was I able to regain my composed and cool-headed self.
After confirming several times that my face was normal, I met Heinrich in the backyard. Fortunately, he didn't notice anything strange about me at all.
When I answered that preparations were already complete at his words to prepare to leave the imperial palace, he clicked his tongue.
"You finished preparing faster than expected."
"Is there much to prepare? I just needed to gather some valuables."
At my answer, a mix of hurt and bitterness faintly settled on Heinrich's face.
Did the statement that the only things worth taking from the imperial palace were valuables sound that depressing?
"I see."
Heinrich's dark complexion looked somewhat pitiful, so I almost said it wasn't completely terrible, but stopped.
The good memories created within the imperial palace were made by Xenon, after all.
Instead, I picked up my teacup and calmly changed the subject.
"Have you received word from Father?"
"I have."
Fortunately, Heinrich quickly composed himself and returned to a calm demeanor.
His explanation to me was brief.
Tomorrow at midnight, after the security magic is lifted, if I arrived at the designated location within 30 minutes, a guard who had been waiting in advance would take me away.
Roam apparently believed that after I disappeared, Heinrich would persuade the Emperor. Since Heinrich had also contributed to smuggling me out, they seemed to assume he would naturally participate in damage control as well.
And to ensure Heinrich's voice would carry weight with the Emperor, the administrative faction was also throwing their support behind him.
"There's a back path where guards come and go near the prison. It seems they intend to use that path."
"Ah, so they're treating me like a criminal."
'I had expected covering my face and pretending to be a palace servant, but I never thought they'd tell me to disguise myself as a criminal.'
The idea of pretending to take me to prison to smuggle me out likely came from my mother's mind.
How obvious. She must have judged that she needed to humble me a bit to make the conversation go smoothly after I returned to the mansion.
Right now, the Resurrected One's momentum was higher than necessary, and this could make my future actions arrogant.
'In the past, I was imprisoned in the imperial palace dungeon, so perhaps she believed that reminding me of that time would make me somewhat more docile.'
Moreover, my mother wouldn't have forgotten the insult of being treated like a seamstress when she visited the imperial palace to see me. She was always that kind of person.
"I tried telling them there would be other methods but...."
"No, actually this works out well."
At my nonchalant words, Heinrich's face frowned strangely. He seemed to be interpreting that I was enduring humiliation for the sake of revenge.
"If there's an image recorder available in the palace, please use it to record this."
"Record?"
"Yes. Me being dragged away like a criminal."
Humiliation? Far from it, I actually felt pleased.
I couldn't let such a good opportunity slip by.
'I had no intention of persuading the Emperor anyway, so I'll record everything and use it later as evidence that they mistreated the Resurrected One.'
Heinrich, who had caught on to my intention, let out a low exclamation and nodded.
"His Imperial Majesty will be furious."
"Yes. They should be grateful I'm voluntarily providing evidence."
Heinrich parted his lips as if to say something, then closed them again. Then he nodded, agreeing to do so.
"Originally, the palace servant who maintained your bedchamber suddenly had an accident and took medical leave. Clothes will be handled by a temporarily assigned servant, so you should be able to check them in your bedchamber this evening."
Presumably, the one handling the clothes would be a spy planted by Roam. The accident involving the original palace servant would also have been intentional.
I nodded as I listened attentively to his words, then slowly parted my lips.
"Then is this the last time I'll see Your Highness?"
"It seems it will be so. Tomorrow, even to create an opening for you, I'll need to divert the attention of the palace people elsewhere."
At his appearance, sighing like someone facing an unpleasant task, I smiled faintly.
"Thank you for everything during this time. Thanks to Your Highness's help, palace life was manageable."
"The one who should be grateful is rather me. Thanks to you, my long-cherished wish has been advanced by several years."
"You haven't achieved it yet. Please don't forget that Roam still remains."
Since Heinrich's help was essential to bring down Roam, I couldn't help but repeatedly emphasize this.
'Once I take over my sister's office, I'll need to find useful documents and send them to Heinrich.'
I was wondering whether hidden businesses and assets would be better, or illegal matters would be better, when I fell into brief silence. At that moment, Heinrich spoke to me quietly.
"Are you really planning to go through with it?"
"With what?"
"Erasing Roam's name."
He had a worried expression.
"Will that not bring harm to you?"
"Since it's not a place where I would make enemies, it's not a problem at all."
"It won't be easy."
"Roam erased my name so easily, is there any reason I couldn't do the same?"
Heinrich still had a dark expression.
At the imperial palace, his influence reached, and he could step forward to help if needed, but with Roam he couldn't do that, so he seemed quite uneasy.
I looked at him and gave a faint smile.
"It will be easier than you think."
There was no way it would be difficult.
"Roam's history is long and fierce. When history is long, many people become entangled, and the existence of high-pride direct descendants means there are numerous collateral branches who couldn't join there."
The higher Roam's honor rose, the more there were those who coveted it.
Until now, the family including my father had kept them suppressed from absolute positions, but with Roam's honor in danger like recently?
"They may be holding their breath now, but given the opportunity, they will try to overturn Roam's name at any time."