As winter gradually drew to a close, the Typhonian delegation's day of departure from Cecil had arrived.
In the Autumn Palace, the farewell banquet had already been laid out. A band played gentle, cheerful music in a corner of the hall. Beneath the Magic Crystal Lamps, gleaming metal tableware and swaying wine cast an intoxicating sheen. A light, peaceful atmosphere filled the hall, lifting the spirits of everyone attending.
Matilda Augustus, dressed in a formal court gown, stood at the end of the long hall. Rebecca, also clad in formal court attire, ran up to the foreign princess with a plate of small cakes and greeted her brightly. "Matilda! You're going back today?"
Over the past many days, Rebecca and Matilda had not actually met often. But Rebecca was an outgoing person and could easily get along with others—or rather, she could unilaterally get along with them. In their few exchanges, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the Typhonian princess truly knew quite a bit about mathematics and the Magic-Conducting Domain. It was not merely an image she promoted to maintain the appearance of being intelligent, as others had initially guessed. Thus, they quickly found some good common ground.
And that common ground successfully brought them closer—at least, that was what Rebecca believed.
"I'll write to you," Matilda said with a smile, looking at the "Pearl of Cecil" before her, so entirely unlike many noblewomen she knew. They held equal status, yet lived in completely different environments and had developed wholly different personalities. Rebecca's boundless energy and carefree manner of speaking and acting had made Matilda very uncomfortable at first, but after several encounters, she found this lively girl not at all unpleasant. "Alderan and Cecil City are far apart, but now we have trains and direct diplomatic channels.