In the past, whenever Lady Kasha displayed such strange behavior, everyone would have whispered that she was unladylike.

However, after it became known that the playful drawings she always scribbled were actually magic tool blueprints, and that she was in fact an outstanding magic tool developer, no one laughed at her anymore.

‘Could she be coming up with ideas for new products in her head right now?’

‘I heard the payment for the magic tools delivered to the Marquis of Renomer recently was astronomical.’

‘Thanks to having a good adopted daughter, the Lyuschino family’s fortunes will soar.’

Everyone paid attention to Lady Kasha’s every move and tried to get into her good graces.

But Lady Kasha herself didn’t seem particularly interested in anyone.

Of course, Lady Kasha was always generous and appropriately kind to everyone around her, including Sena.

But separately from that, Lady Kasha’s mind always seemed full of something, leaving her no energy to pay attention to others.

Even the young Count, the heir to the Lyuschino family, had a hard time having a single meal with her.

‘But I thought there was one person she opened her heart to.’

Sena felt disappointed as she thought of Leon, whose mere sight made her heart flutter.

As she brushed Kasha’s glossy dark blue hair, she asked cautiously.

“My lady. Why haven’t you been seeing Sir Leon lately?”

Leon had been checking in at the Lyuschino estate every day. But Lady Kasha had not shown her face to him even once.

“It’s not that I’m not seeing him, I was busy and tired.”

Sena found it hard to agree, but Kasha’s answer lacked energy, so she couldn’t probe further.

‘It was strange that she returned from Elor Bay several days earlier than planned.’

The young Count, who had been secretly renovating to create a personal library for Lady Kasha while she was traveling, was startled by her sudden return.

Putting aside the failed surprise, he interrogated Lady Kasha with fiery eyes, wondering what was going on.

But her lifeless answer was disheartening.

‘The sea breeze was too strong and made me fatigued. I’m going to rest.’

Lady Kasha immediately shut herself in her bedroom. The young Count redoubled his efforts on the library construction, saying he needed to cheer her up, but that soon hit a roadblock too.

‘Kasha, Kasha! Did you hear? Marquis Malopis has died! Now we can properly proceed with the marriage talks with Lady Margaret!’

The young Count excitedly ran into the mansion upon hearing the news that the rival with whom marriage talks were being exchanged for Lady Margaret had been murdered.

But for some reason, Lady Kasha’s face looked very conflicted as she faced the young Count, and he immediately backed down.

‘Ah, well… it’s not that I’m happy someone died… I’m just glad Lady Margaret won’t have to enter an unwanted marriage…’

‘I know, elder brother.’

After calmly reassuring the young Count with those words, Lady Kasha entered her bedroom and closed the door. Her face had looked unusually troubled, causing concern.

So it was a relief when Leon knocked on the mansion’s door first thing the next morning.

‘Why is Kasha refusing to see me, young Count?’

‘I’d like to ask you, Sir Leon! What in the world happened at Elor Bay to make the child so depressed as soon as she returned?’

‘…At least let me see her face for a moment.’

‘No, she doesn’t want to, what do you expect me to do! These days I’m lucky to see her once a day myself!’

It was terribly heartbreaking to see his dignified shoulders slumped as he left the mansion.

But the refusals of his visits continued after that.

One day she wasn’t feeling well, another day she had fallen asleep early… She even deliberately made plans to leave the house at the times Leon visited.

‘There’s definitely something going on.’

As she pondered, Sena muttered to herself while artistically and delicately braiding Lady Kasha’s hair.

Then Lady Kasha, who had been silently entrusting her hair to Sena, suddenly spoke.

“Right. I heard the dress for the picnic arrived?”

“Yes. They said it was made with the design you and Lady Margaret chose. The size should fit you well.”

The imperial picnic was being held in 3 days. Sena was excited to beautifully dress up Lady Kasha again after so long.

“But why did you choose gray? You should have gone with a more lively color.”

“…At this picnic, I can’t stand out.”

“Pardon?”

“This time, I’m not the one being observed, but the one who needs to observe.”

Hearing Lady Kasha’s mutter, Sena suddenly stopped her hands.

‘It seems like some strength has returned to Lady Kasha’s voice.’

Glancing down, Lady Kasha’s fists were clenched tight. Different from how she had been listlessly slumped the past several days.

Could it be that Lady Kasha had thought of a way to get closer to the answer she had been searching for all this time?

With a happy feeling, Sena’s hands automatically sped up as she finished styling her hair.

Clop clop

Sir Leon Aranias, riding a white horse, was getting farther and farther away from the Lyuschino estate.

He glanced back at the receding estate. Among it, one tightly closed window on the second floor seemed to enlarge enormously.

‘Kasha. What in the world is going on?’

Today marked a week since Kasha had refused his visits.

On the day of Eve’s attempted kidnapping, Leon finished his investigation in the village and wrapped up work as quickly as possible before returning to the villa.

He had hurried in his desire to see Kasha, to the point that his horse was exhausted by the time he arrived. But.

‘Elder brother. Lady Kasha suddenly left.’

The only one waiting for him was Eve, her eyes brimming with tears.

‘What do you mean she left, Eve?’

‘She said urgent business came up in the capital, that she had to return quickly. She asked me to tell you she was sorry.’

Kasha hadn’t even left a single letter for Leon.

What matter could have arisen for her to return to the capital alone in such haste?

Even amidst that, it was just like Kasha to instruct Anthony and the butler several times to protect Eve well and to triple the number of guards before leaving.

‘I’ll go too.’

When Leon said without hesitation that he would return to the capital, Eve enthusiastically raised both hands to welcome it, but Anthony strongly blocked him.

‘Brother. You’re going to leave Eve and Father like this?’

‘…They failed once in targeting Eve, so they won’t attack again right away. You should prepare and return to the capital as soon as possible too. And I’ve contacted the temple. They’ll probably arrive tomorrow morning to take Father. He’ll participate in the Mallofi Temple’s recovery program.’

‘Mallofi Temple? That’s where lunatics are housed. Are you saying our father is crazy, brother?’

‘Anthony. Father is in urgent need of treatment.’

‘Brother. I know you’re in love, but isn’t this too much? Do you not care about our family anymore?’

‘Watch your mouth.’

‘It’s true. Mallofi Temple, really. What will happen if this reaches the ears of the nobles? Our family is finished.’

‘If we leave Father in his current state, that will be an even more terrible catastrophe.’

‘Brother!’

Anthony had always been a stubborn child, but he was unusually more adamant and irritable that day. But Leon couldn’t back down either.

His mind had already set its top priority, and he had no choice but to do his best to protect it.

Leon meticulously checked the security system protecting Eve and perfectly prepared for the process until his father’s arrival at the temple, then immediately mounted his horse.

Anthony’s face, distorted as he glared accusingly at Leon, caught his eye, but even that couldn’t make him hesitate in his departure.

To be honest, it was the first time in his life he had ridden with such conviction.

But.

‘Kasha. Why are you pushing me away?’

Leon’s eyes flashed with a persistent and firm resolve as he looked back at the receding estate once more.

‘Right. You must have a reason you can’t tell me the truth. Then protecting that is also my duty.’

The reins tightened in his grasp, bulging the green veins as if they would burst.

But it was no longer a symptom of the curse, so it was neither painful nor confusing.

‘Until you open your door to me again, I’ll do my part to protect you, Kasha.’

People by the roadside gaped in surprise as they turned to look at the knight riding the white horse at tremendous speed. But he didn’t slow down.

‘Then I should eliminate your enemies that I know of first.’

A smile returned to his lips. It was far from a knight’s solemn air, but it suited his beautiful face fiercely in its own way.

“So why doesn’t the dress fit, I’m asking! You made it according to my size, right?”

Crash.

The tailor bowed his head even deeper, startled by the shattered glass that flew and smashed in front of him.

“Y-Yes. That’s right, my lady. I, I’ve been making clothes at, at this dressmaking shop for you for years, how could I dare make such a mistake!”

“Then why doesn’t the dress fit! Are you saying I gained weight or something!”

“No, I… that’s…”

The tailor kept his head bowed, unable to continue speaking.

Looking down at him, Odette, the only daughter of the Tyrot ducal family, seethed with anger.

‘How many times has this happened?’

It wasn’t the first or second time she had suffered from dresses not fitting when the maids tried to dress her these days.

‘Oh my. This dress was fitted a month ago, why is it so tight?’

She immediately fired the maid who had tactlessly blurted that out, but the foul mood wouldn’t dissipate.

No, actually everything around her had been grating on her nerves lately.

Some time ago, she had gotten so angry at how disgusting the smell of boiling pork from the kitchen was that she had ordered all the chefs to be fired, only to be scolded by her father, the duke.

“It’s annoying me, so take that away immediately.”

After glaring at the tailor who was trembling prostrate, the maids quickly dragged him out at her words.

“How can they not cater to my whims? Useless things.”

Muttering to herself, Odette lay on the long sofa and looked at the ceiling, then suddenly gestured to a servant.

“Bring Simon Blanche.”

Playing with her designated toy seemed like it would improve her mood.

Simon Blanche was the man most frequently entering Odette’s bedroom these days.

What Odette liked most about Simon was that he never put on pretenses of flimsy pride. He prostrated himself completely before her.

‘Knowing your place. That’s a skill too.’

As Odette thought that and hummed to herself.

“My lady. His Grace the Duke urgently summons you.”

At the servant’s words as he knocked on the door, Odette’s well-groomed eyebrows twisted again.