About a week had passed since the empire was turned upside down by the birth of the Hero.
“Lady, I brought tea and refreshments…”
“…Lady?”
As always, Clara, Meredia’s dedicated maid, brought the snacks to her master’s room at the designated time.
But today, she tilted her head, sensing something unusually quiet about her mistress.
“Is something bothering you…?”
—Saaa…
“…Eek?”
Startled, she flinched in shock at the sudden wave of killing intent that washed over her.
“Oh, it’s you.”
“Y-Yes! It’s me! Are you perhaps… not in the mood for snacks today?”
“No… Just leave them on the desk.”
Fortunately, Meredia, whose eyes had been gleaming coldly, quickly withdrew her hostility upon realizing the person before her wasn’t an enemy, waving her hand dismissively.
“Ah, understood!”
Though Meredia was known for her hysterical temperament, lately she had been displaying a slightly different, spine-chilling demeanor toward her servants.
For example, she would suddenly zone out in the middle of work, then fall into deep thought, or her face would randomly flush red as she muttered to herself.
Or she would suddenly interrogate maids—whom she had never spoken to in her life—about their love lives.
‘…It’s definitely because of that person.’
While theories abounded among the servants, veteran maid Clara, who had served Meredia for years, had her sharp instincts pointed at one person.
‘Whitney Lingard. He’s the one who changed her.’
It was the night Meredia and Whitney had been summoned to the palace for their merits.
Clara had clearly witnessed Meredia’s suspicious questions and red ears as she stepped out of the carriage.
At the time, she had thought Meredia was simply in a bad mood.
But when she pieced together the romantic confession incident that unfolded during the selection of rising talents, along with the flood of articles, there was only one conclusion.
According to Clara, an expert in romance novels, it meant that spring had finally come to the heart of the terrifying Lady Meredia.
‘…Of course, no one but me believes that.’
Naturally, anyone remotely close to Meredia wouldn’t believe such a theory.
Those who didn’t know better were simply gossiping over the sensationalized romance between the Lady and the Count’s son printed in the tabloids.
But those who knew how Meredia dealt with people who approached her with ulterior motives, and just how cold she could be, couldn’t possibly interpret her connection with Whitney as anything romantic.
Thus, among the Duke of Embergreen’s staff and Meredia’s inner circle, Whitney was already viewed as a political ally with whom she had formed a contract.
‘I’ve been by the Lady’s side the longest—I can see the difference.’
However, Clara, who had joined the household when she was young and watched Meredia grow up, could detect subtle changes in her mistress.
“Hmm…”
…Yes, that expression!
For example, right now—Meredia’s face, as she gently stroked a pet bird that flew in at the perfect moment, was undeniable evidence.
The platinum canary, which resembled the color of Meredia’s hair, was the only creature she had ever shown affection to since childhood.
And whenever she touched that canary, her expression always took on a dazed, dreamy look that didn’t match her usual self.
So Clara had realized that the recent dreamy look on the Lady’s face appeared whenever she thought of someone she had grown fond of.
‘If only she would open up about it, I’d help her with all I’ve got…’
But even after realizing that, there wasn’t much Clara could do.
Meredia was naturally wary and rarely interacted with the staff.
Even Clara, as her personal maid, couldn’t just march up to her and offer to discuss her love life.
“Then, Lady, I’ll be going now…”
So once again, Clara, clicking her tongue internally in frustration, was just about to quietly leave the room—
“…Hey, you.”
“Yes?”
“Sit down over there for a second.”
—when Meredia suddenly raised her head and stopped her.
“It’s nothing serious. I just have a question.”
“Please, ask me anything.”
Though she was stunned by the rare moment, Clara quickly obeyed and sat down to listen attentively.
“I heard you’re engaged, with marriage in mind.”
“Y-Yes! That’s right!”
“Then… have you ever dated your fiancé?”
And sure enough, the question Meredia threw at her was far beyond anything Clara had expected.
“Uh, well…”
Though she was currently serving Meredia, Clara was still a noble lady by birth.
And most noble ladies in the empire didn’t get to date—they were married off in arranged unions decided by their families.
“Of-Of course, Lady! I’m actually quite the expert in that area!”
Naturally, Clara was no exception.
But before she knew it, she was lying straight to her mistress’s face.
“Hmm…”
“If you’re worried about something in that area, I can lend an ear…”
The thought of possibly being punished for lying was quickly overpowered by the excitement of hearing about Meredia’s romantic struggles.
“A-Apologies if I’m being presumptuous…”
“This is purely hypothetical.”
Thankfully for Clara, Meredia didn’t pierce through the lie with her piercing gaze.
Instead, she averted her eyes and continued.
“…If, during a relationship, I feel like I’m being dragged around too much, what should I do?”
“Gasp. Cough, cough…”
Hearing that, Clara suddenly started coughing, barely stifling a laugh.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-No, I just choked a bit…”
She couldn’t possibly tell Meredia that she never expected such a teenage-girl-like worry to come from her mouth.
“Lady, do you know what the most important thing is when dating someone?”
“…What is it?”
Clara held her hand over her mouth, suppressing a grin.
Then she straightened up with a serious face and began her advice.
“It’s the push and pull.”
“Push and pull?”
“Yes! It’s the core of all techniques for winning over a man!”
“…Explain in more detail.”
“Of course!”
Though Meredia started out with a displeased expression, Clara’s confident demeanor slowly drew her in.
“The key is subtle psychological warfare. A sort of tactical battle to seize the upper hand.”
“…That alone doesn’t explain much.”
“Then let me give you an example. Let’s say the other person is your fiancé, Sir Whitney…”
“Why him, of all people?”
“It’s just… it would feel weird using someone else as an example?”
“…Fair point. Go on.”
Although she nearly upset Meredia mid-conversation, Clara managed to keep her explanation flowing.
“If Sir Whitney suddenly sent you a letter asking you to have dinner together tonight, what would you do?”
“…How rude. That’s audacious.”
“R-Right? So what would you do then?”
Clara asked, eyes shining, both hands clenched tightly.
Meredia paused, arms crossed, and answered calmly.
“I’d go confront him myself.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to confront him directly, scold him for his rudeness, and get an apology.”
Clara, momentarily frozen with a blank expression at that answer, asked again in a low voice.
“…And the dinner?”
“The dinner… I’ll have it.”
“……”
“Regardless of the rudeness, he prepared it for me. It would be a little awkward to just walk away.”
To Clara, Meredia’s expression as she said that looked oddly innocent—very unlike her usual self.
“Lady! If you react like that, you’ll never gain the upper hand!”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“You have to ignore him! That’s the ‘push’ part of push and pull!”
Thanks to Clara’s sudden and intense outburst, Meredia hesitated before opening her mouth again.
“But what if that hurts his feelings?”
“…Oh my. You’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?”
“What did you say?”
“N-Nothing. That’s why the ‘pull’ part exists.”
As Clara gently explained, Meredia’s expression gradually turned serious as she listened.
“For example, you ignore his invitations for about a week, and then suddenly, you send him a dinner invitation.”
“Hmm…”
“If you do that, Sir Whitney, who would’ve been anxiously wondering what he did wrong, would naturally accept that invitation in a heartbeat.”
“That’s probably true…”
“Then, all you have to do is treat him a little nicely. By using this psychological tactic, you can naturally gain the upper hand in the relationship.”
In truth, Clara had never even had a one-on-one meeting with her own fiancé, let alone played push and pull, but to Meredia, her words sounded oddly convincing.
“Of course, it doesn’t work if the relationship is heavily imbalanced. But you and Sir Whitney are almost equals, right?”
“…I did say this was all hypothetical. Whitney was just a convenient example.”
“Ah, um, yes. Sorry about that.”
“Still… it’s not bad advice.”
Clara, sneaking a side glance at Meredia nodding with a needlessly aloof expression, had to pinch her thigh to suppress a laugh.
‘So the Lady is human after all…’
To Clara, who had always served Meredia in constant tension, this new side of her sharp-tongued mistress was completely refreshing.
And the fact that this new side came from her being flustered over a man… well, that made Clara feel a creeping sense of unexpected closeness to her.
“Come by often, okay?”
“Hehe, thank you…”
Clara giggled to herself, bowing politely to Meredia, who had returned to her usual self as if nothing had happened.
– Caw!
“Goodness!”
Suddenly, something flew toward the window of the Lady’s room, startling Clara.
“L-Lady, is that one of your birds?”
“I don’t raise stupid-looking crows like that.”
“Th-Then, should I chase it away?”
“Do as you wish.”
Realizing that it was a slightly goofy-looking crow, Clara moved toward the window to shoo it away.
“Um… L-Lady, this… I think it’s a carrier bird.”
“…What?”
“There’s a letter tied to its leg…”
But the moment she discovered the letter attached to the crow’s leg, Clara’s eyes widened.
“Oh my, it’s a letter from Sir Whitney! It has the Lingard family crest!”
“…Bring it here.”
Meredia, who had been quietly observing the situation, gave her order in a calm voice as Clara raised her voice in excitement.
“Lady, remember! Push and pull!”
“………”
“This is a perfect chance to try it in real life!”
Clara, eyes sparkling, quickly untied the note from the crow’s leg and handed it to Meredia, bursting with excitement again.
“…I need to get ready to go out.”
“Excuse me?”
But suddenly, Meredia stood up and murmured quietly, leaving Clara blinking in confusion.
“My fiancé says there’s somewhere he wants to go with me.”
“B-But… what about push and pull?”
Clara hurriedly tried to remind her of the advice from earlier, but Meredia, already halfway out the door, only replied in a small voice.
“…I’ll handle it.”
With that, the door to the Lady’s room shut quietly.
“Haha…”
Left alone in the room, Clara blinked blankly, then turned her gaze to the window and muttered with a sigh.
“It must be nice…”
The platinum canary that Meredia cherished most had flown to the window, tilting its head curiously beside the clueless-looking crow.
“…Even the birds are rubbing it in now.”
It was the perfect reflection of the current situation.
*****
“…Push and pull, huh.”
Around the same time Clara was watching the two birds with dead eyes—
“Yes, it’s definitely good advice.”
Meredia, walking silently down the corridor outside her room, pulled out a magically sealed document from her pocket and muttered in a cold voice.
「Here is the information you requested on Lumen Ordo’s leader, Tiffany Astelaid.」
The document contained dozens of lines of potentially explosive political information, but Meredia’s focus was only on the final line.
「…And lastly, though it may be trivial, she used to be childhood friends with your fiancé, Sir Whitney.」
“…Especially in a situation like this.”
Had Clara seen Meredia’s expression as she reread that line, the emotional closeness she’d just developed after years might’ve melted away in an instant.
Cliche Novel 