Primrose cleared her throat softly, trying to break the awkward tension between them. "Ladies," she greeted with a bright smile once again. "I hope your trip to the palace wasn’t too troublesome."
Arabella was the first to reply, her tone sweet and polite. "Not at all, Your Majesty. You don’t have to worry." She smiled so gently, like a woman with no trace of ill intent in her heart.
If Primrose couldn’t read people’s thoughts, she probably would’ve been fooled by that smile too. But now, as someone who had often hidden malice behind a sweet smile herself, Primrose would never fall for that kind of trick again.
[If it wasn’t for the fact that I wanted to show off my wedding ring, I wouldn’t have bothered coming here.] Arabella thought lazily. [It’s such a pain to come all the way here, especially when the weather’s getting cold.]
[Tch. If only my useless husband had bought me a proper wedding ring, I wouldn’t have to waste time trying to look good in front of these annoying ladies.]
Primrose could only sigh in disbelief. Not only was Arabella’s heart rotten, she also despised her husband, the same man who had spent so much money on her.
Mirelle had told her before that the Duke of Cindralis had never once treated his wife harshly. But according to their maids, Arabella hated him because he had killed her secret lover.
Isn’t that normal? What kind of husband wouldn’t want to kill the man who had slept with his wife?!
Besides, Arabella had been with that man so many times that even some of the maids knew about it.
Isn’t it ironic? Arabella spent so much time in bed with another man, yet she was terrified that some other woman might try to steal her husband?
Every time Primrose heard another story about the Duchess of Cindralis, she swore there was never a single good one.
What was even stranger was that Mirelle knew all these things because the maids from the duke’s residence often came to her shop to buy stamina boosters for men.
Primrose had been stunned when she heard that. She thought all beastmen had incredible endurance in bed, but apparently, the duke had ... performance issues. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Well, it seemed like Primrose had truly hit the jackpot when she married Edmund. However, even if one day he somehow became impotent, she would still love him, though she hoped that day would never come.
"It wasn’t that bad," Naveer said at last. "But since it’s autumn, my carriage had a bit of trouble going through all the piles of fallen leaves."
[I hope coming here won’t be a waste of time,] Naveer thought to herself. [I really want to do something fun today.]
Mirelle suddenly clapped her hands, drawing everyone’s attention. "Well, ladies," she said with a grin, "I actually brought something exciting for today’s tea party!"
Everyone turned their heads toward Mirelle, who was grinning from ear to ear. Primrose could already sense that the woman was up to something unusual again.
Mirelle leaned closer to the table, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Now, don’t look at me like that, Your Majesty," she said, teasingly wagging her finger. "I promise it’s nothing too scandalous. Just something that might make your next evening a little more ... interesting."
Naveer raised an eyebrow. "Interesting in what way?"
"Oh, come on," Mirelle chuckled, pulling a small velvet pouch from her bag and placing it on the table. "You all know my shop isn’t exactly for children. But I thought ... why not make our tea party a little more educational?"
Arabella’s polite smile stiffened. "Educational?" she repeated, clearly suspicious.
Mirelle untied the pouch and poured out a few small, elegant glass bottles filled with pink and golden liquids. "Relax, ladies," she said, laughing at their expressions. "These are just perfumes from my shop. Each has a different scent and ... effect. Let’s say they’re designed to make your husbands more attentive."
Primrose blinked in surprise, trying not to laugh. "You mean these are—"
"Yes," Mirelle interrupted proudly. "A collection from my new Romance and Restlessness line. Completely safe, and perfectly suitable for married ladies like us."
"How shameless!" Brielle huffed, clearing her throat, though her eyes couldn’t seem to stop staring at the tiny perfume bottles. "You and Lady Naveer aren’t even married yet."
Mirelle looked away, pretending to adjust her hair as she muttered, "Well ... that doesn’t exactly mean we’re still virgins."
"What?" Brielle’s eyes widened in disbelief, but she didn’t dare say anything out loud.
[Goodness, are young women these days really this shameless? How could they give themselves to a man who isn’t even their husband?]
[My husband even sent his men to another kingdom just to find this gemstone! And yet, no one even bothers to look twice at my ring!]
[Everyone keeps saying, "Her Majesty’s ring this" and "Her Majesty’s ring that." Hers even looks ugly compared to mine!]
Primrose wasn’t so sure about that. No matter how you looked at it, her own ring was clearly far more stunning than the Duchess’s. The radiant glow of the Celestial Heart Gemstone was something no ordinary jewel could ever imitate.
"Come on now, don’t keep it a secret," Primrose said with a teasing smile. "Where did you find that gemstone? It’s really beautiful, maybe even more beautiful than my wedding ring."
[See? Even she said my ring is prettier than hers!] Arabella thought proudly.
[Ha! See? Even she admits my ring is prettier than hers!] Arabella thought proudly, her lips curving into a smug little smile.
Primrose, meanwhile, couldn’t help thinking that overly confident people often dug their own graves. Leah had once done the same, she was too sure of herself until fate turned against her, and it seemed Arabella was heading down that same path.
"The gemstone’s name is Aqua Seraphine," Arabella finally said, lifting her hand slightly so the gem caught the light. "My husband found it at the bottom of a lake. Or rather, he sent people to dive for it."
Her voice was calm, but her thoughts told a far more bitter truth.
[It cost us a fortune to get this stone. The lake was so deep that we had to hire divers from another kingdom, and many of them refused unless we paid them double.]
[In the end, it was so expensive that we had to sell part of our food supply to foreign merchants. But it doesn’t matter. It was worth it, as long as everyone knows how rare my ring is.]
Primrose only smiled politely, though deep down, she was now certain that the Duke and Duchess had indeed been embezzling funds, selling off their food supplies and then requesting compensation from the palace instead.
Others might accuse her of making baseless assumptions, but she knew better, and since her husband was fully aware of her ability to read people’s minds, Primrose was confident Edmund wouldn’t question her request to investigate them further.
Primrose leaned forward slightly, pretending to admire the ring with genuine interest. "It truly is beautiful," she said softly. "You should show it off to everyone so they can see your beautiful wedding ring."

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