"Princess, today we're going to..."
Sigaoxin entered the study and saw Yelena sitting at the desk with her phone in hand, lost in thought.
"Princess?"
"Hm?" Yelena snapped back to her senses. "Oh, Sigaoxin, you're here."
"I'm here to take you to the pre-inauguration council meeting. You seem distracted. Is something else bothering you?"
Faced with Sigaoxin's question, Yelena glanced at her phone and answered frankly.
"I was just wondering whether I should call my teacher."
"...After your father's announcement yesterday, if he follows the news, he must already know about this."
"You misunderstand, Sigaoxin." Yelena shook her head. "I don't want to talk to him about becoming Consul. I just want to thank him. Without his training at the academy, Rieka's scheme might have succeeded."
Sigaoxin's expression turned serious. "Princess, you may not like what I'm about to say, but I still have to say it."
Yelena vaguely guessed what she was going to say and frowned slightly.
"Your status is different now. Before, you hid your identity and addressed Guan Tong as teacher and student. There was nothing wrong with that. But on January first next year, you will become Xisiya's new Consul. I think—"
"You mean that once I become Consul, I should act like some arrogant asshole?" Yelena interrupted loudly.
Sigaoxin froze, not expecting such an intense reaction from Yelena.
"I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's go."
After saying that, Yelena stood and left the room. Sigaoxin silently turned around, but caught sight of something on the desk from the corner of her eye.
It was a picture frame lying face down on the table.
Sigaoxin remembered that it contained a group photo of the Konia Family.
Only then did she understand a little.
Inside the car.
After they had been driving for