There was no way she could forget that face that had stared at her intently on the day she was humiliated by Duke Balthazar.

Moreover, that piece was also the one he had specifically instructed to be purchased.

Viscount Clement gritted his teeth and raised his hand again.

“100 berang!”

As no bid had exceeded 100 berang so far, there was a commotion around.

The auctioneer, who had been watching the two women’s battle in a daze, excitedly shouted.

“Yes! The first bid of 100 berang today!”

Closet glared at Viscount Clement with an angry face.

Roselia thought it would be profitable to buy that piece even if it meant pushing a little, and whispered quietly to Closet.

Soon after hearing the whisper, Closet ambitiously raised her hand and shouted.

“200 berang!”

200 berang was an amount that could sustain a commoner family for years without working.

Although it wasn’t a large sum for nobles, everyone was surprised by the commotion as no one had invested such a large amount in this charity event.

And finally, Viscount Clement, unable to hold back, stood up with an angry face.

Even she couldn’t afford to invest such a large sum in a piece that would barely fetch 200 berang if well sold. The viscount’s burning gaze was now directed at Roselia.

“Yes, no more bids? No more? It seems there are none! The twelfth piece is sold to Lady Balthazar!”

Next to the smug Closet with her nose in the air, Roselia deliberately ignored the gaze of Viscount Clement, who was staring at her as if to devour her.

After the successful charity auction, a reception prepared by the count’s family immediately followed.

Closet, seemingly too excited from the auction, was fanning her flushed face.

“I think I got too heated up, I’m sweating. I’ll go to the powder room for a moment,”

“Yes, please do.”

As Roselia was left standing alone blankly, the sharp toe of a shoe stopped in front of her, accompanied by a strong perfume scent.

“What do you think you’re doing, interfering?”

It was Viscount Clement.

Roselia, judging that nothing good would come from clashing with a noble, lowered her head pretending not to hear and tried to pass by her.

But the viscount, with a venomous expression, blocked Roselia’s path.

“You, you saw me, didn’t you?”

Such rude language despite being a noble.

Despite it being their first meeting, Roselia responded indifferently to the viscount’s blatantly dismissive behavior.

“Are you referring to the day you were scolded by the duke?”

“Wh-what? Scolded? How dare you!”

It happened in an instant.

As if hitting someone was an everyday occurrence, the viscount raised her hand without hesitation and struck Roselia’s cheek.

Slap−!!

Roselia had to remain frozen for a while with her head turned, bewildered by the absurd situation.

“Hah……”

Even though she was dressed as a servant, she was still a servant of the duke’s household.

Moreover, putting aside her being a servant, it was outrageous that someone could hit another person like this out of nowhere.

Roselia, who had tried to pass by quietly, couldn’t hold back and slowly turned her head to look at the viscount.

Seeing Roselia’s gaze, which didn’t back down and looked at her with sharp eyes, the viscount seemed to get even more heated and raised her hand again.

“How dare a servant look at me like…!”

Thud−!

At that moment, Klaus, who suddenly appeared from somewhere, grabbed the viscount’s wrist.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The viscount, who was startled by the sudden appearance of the duke who hadn’t been seen during the auction, soon frowned and retorted.

“L-let go! This servant was rude to me first!”

Klaus furrowed his brow at the viscount’s words and replied coldly.

“If it’s your hobby to raise your hand so easily, you should do it to your own servants. Why are you touching the duke’s servant?”

The viscount’s expression soured at Klaus’s behavior of protecting the servant.

Again. Last time too, because of this servant, he had humiliated her…

Could it be… that Roselia was just a smokescreen, and in fact, the duke’s preference was…

As her thoughts reached that point, an unpleasant smile spread across the viscount’s face.

“Ha… Duke, could it be that you have feelings for this servant?”

“What…?”

Klaus, who like Closet had received an invitation from Count Blimund, had skipped the charity auction with the excuse of being busy and had just dropped by the reception to show his face.

But to encounter such an outrageous situation… He was at a loss for words when the surrounding nobles began to murmur while looking at him.

As Klaus frowned unpleasantly at Viscount Clement, she continued without backing down.

“What do you think it means to defend that male servant even at the cost of insulting me in front of all these nobles?”

“……”

“Make that servant kneel before me right now. If not, who knows what rumors I might spread in this circle. It’s a common thing for a mere servant to kneel before a noble, isn’t it?”

She’s getting out of hand by staying quiet. Of course, if rumors spread wrongly here now, it would be a huge loss for the duke’s family.

But he couldn’t just stand by and watch this woman who didn’t know her place and was so arrogant.

Just as the duke was about to say something to the viscount, risking massive losses.

“Is it a problem because he’s just a servant?”

With a deep voice, two old men entered the reception hall.

One was clearly Count Blimund, the host of this reception, and the other was…

“Grandfather?”

As Roselia muttered unknowingly, the nobles began to bow their heads one by one with respect.

A heavyweight noble who had disappeared from social circles for a while, considered far superior to the marquis family in terms of standing in noble society.

It was Count Bernas.

While Klaus was frozen by the sudden development, the count, walking through the nobles parting like the Red Sea, looked at the surprised Viscount Clement and continued.

“If what you value is rank, then I’ll become that child’s guardian.”

The nobles began to stir at Count Bernas’s statement.

Count Bernas, one of the great noble families, volunteering to be the guardian of a duke’s servant?

Just who was this servant?

Gazes mixed with surprise and curiosity poured onto Roselia.

On the other hand, Viscount Clement’s face turned as red as her hair and she sputtered.

“Count, are you serious?”

“Would I lie in front of so many people at this age?”

Even the rude Viscount Clement found it difficult to act arbitrarily against the Bernas count family, a long-standing military family.

Viscount Clement tried to speak softly while composing her expression, which seemed to be twitching.

“Count, I heard you’ve been quite unwell lately. Don’t worry about unnecessary things.”

Although she spoke indirectly, Count Blimund, who was standing next to Count Bernas, frowned at the viscount’s rudeness in treating him like an old man past his prime.

Count Bernas blocked Count Blimund with his hand and continued speaking to the viscount in a seemingly calm manner.

“Hmm… Your husband, the former Viscount Clement, wasn’t this rude, if I recall correctly. It seems you’ve inherited the title but not the etiquette of nobility.”

The former Viscount Clement’s wife was actually from a high-class courtesan background. She had luckily seduced an old nobleman, secured the position of viscountess, and after her husband’s death, even grabbed the viscount position.

Count Bernas was mocking that part.

While Viscount Clement stood frozen with a red face, something glittering caught Klaus’s eye as he watched the confrontation between the count and the viscount.

As always, Viscount Clement wore a jacket-style coat that revealed her chest, and something was visible inside her sleeve.

At first glance, it looked like a sleeve button, but it was a small badge the size of a fingernail with an engraved pattern.

Klaus fixed his gaze and roughly grabbed the viscount’s arm.

Surprised by this, the viscount looked at Klaus with an unpleasant expression.

“Wh-why are you…”

“Were you that Lugbella who tried to kidnap Roselia?”

At Klaus’s sharp question, the viscount’s body stiffened for a moment. But she soon shouted loudly, feigning calmness with brazenness.

“What nonsense are you talking about now?”

Klaus gave a cold smile at the viscount’s act of glaring at him as if wronged, and pulled her wrist, roughly removing the badge from inside her sleeve.

“Ah!”

Helplessly letting her arm be pulled by the rough force, the viscount’s face turned pale as she watched him remove the badge from inside her sleeve with a ‘snap’.

“What’s this?”

At Klaus’s gruff voice, the viscount, already frightened, shouted even louder.

“Can’t you see? It’s just a decorative badge!”

As if mocking her behavior, Klaus curled his lips and pulled out an identical badge from inside his clothes.

“I took this from the group that tried to kidnap Roselia. Are you still going to deny it?”

“……”

Realizing she had no more excuses to make, the viscount shouted with a pale face.

“I, I just did what I was told!”

After saying that, she began to look around as if searching for someone to save her.

And soon, her face turned deathly pale as she stared at a certain point.

Her expression was as if she had received a death sentence.

Soon, the viscount, who had been standing stupidly with a dazed expression, collapsed as if her legs had lost strength.

Klaus immediately turned to look where she had been staring, but all he could see were the nobles gathered there.

At that moment, Count Blimund, the host of this reception who had been watching the situation, stepped forward in front of the collapsed Viscount Clement and shouted.

“Call the guards! The Lugbella who wrote articles insulting the imperial family and nobility is here!”

What followed happened quickly. The imperial guards who received the report were dispatched.

As she had been writing gossip about the imperial family and nobles fearlessly, everything proceeded rapidly as soon as her identity was revealed.

Even while being taken away by the imperial guards, Viscount Clement didn’t lose her venomous gaze.

“You’re all mistaken. This won’t end just by locking me up.”

At her words mixed with mockery, the nobles whispered but felt uneasy.

As if it were revenge against an invisible someone, or a curse towards the duke, she muttered in a cracked voice.

“Duke Balthazar. You should be the most careful.”

With those final words, she left a sneer and was led out of the mansion by the soldiers.