Although letter correspondence was blocked, Julia had a dedicated maid who periodically delivered news from the outside.

If she gave that girl some gold coins, she might secretly deliver a few notes.

Julia had only Count Tolomiès as her ‘lover’, but she had quite a few male nobles who were ‘just friends’.

After her debut in society, she had already melted countless men with her smiles and coquetry.

Among them were some who strongly disliked Duke de Lenoir.

And perhaps, some of them might have received invitations to the hunting gathering.

Julia shouted at the maid who was present.

“Bring me a pen and inkwell! Quickly!”

As the maid hurriedly brought the writing tools, Julia ran to the desk and began to write neatly on the letter paper.

All sorts of sweet phrases adorned the paper, but the core was this:

‘Please ruin Duke de Lenoir’s hunting gathering somehow.’

Julia wrote three letters with the same content, then wrote different recipients’ names on the outside of each.

She entrusted the letters to the maid with earnest instructions.

“You, deliver these somehow. Father must absolutely not know. Understood?”

As she finished speaking, she took out two gold coins and placed them in the maid’s hand. It was part of her dwindling emergency funds.

At least one of the people who received that letter would have gotten an invitation from Duke de Lenoir, and would exact revenge on the duke on her behalf, exercising youthful vigor.

If an incident occurs at a gathering he hosts, even a duke would find it hard to avoid criticism. It might not be a big blow, but it would be a small venting of frustration.

‘Well, let’s see you get a taste of your own medicine.’

Julia leaned back in her chair with a sinister smile.

***

And Julia’s plan came to fruition.

“You say it’s from Baron Florence’s young lady? Really?”

“Yes. She insisted on receiving a reply.”

Baron Blacheville, born and raised in Montreyu, had been walking a tightrope since his youth between the traditional nobles of Elendril living in the same city and the nobles from Lorraine who came from the neighboring town.

But due to his excessive flip-flopping, he ended up being ostracized by both groups.

Because of his dissolute behavior, he couldn’t even get married by the age of forty, and he had nothing remarkable in terms of appearance, family background, or wealth.

Baron Blacheville acted as a ‘good elder brother’ to young ladies of lower status, filling his lacking self-esteem from having friendships with young and pretty women.

In the midst of this, receiving a personal letter from Julia Florence was most delightful. Originally, it was unimaginable for someone in his position to correspond with such a pretty young lady.

The beautiful and noble Mademoiselle Julia was asking for his help in a tearful tone.

It felt as if he had become a knight rescuing a princess from a fairy tale.

He already disliked Duke de Lenoir. If he could upset the duke and score points with Julia, there was no reason to hesitate.

It was a bit concerning that he was such a high-ranking person, but it’s not like he would be directly meddling with him.

‘As long as I don’t get caught, it doesn’t matter, right?’

Coincidentally, Duke de Lenoir’s hunting gathering was scheduled soon. It was an event he had received an invitation to with great difficulty, truly great difficulty.

Baron Blacheville wrote a reply in a state of ecstasy.

「You can trust only me, Mademoiselle Julia.」

There was no time to think about the consequences. Opportunities to score points with a pretty woman didn’t come so easily.

***

Duke de Lenoir’s hunting gathering was held in a forest in Lorraine. It was about a day’s carriage ride from Montreyu.

On the day of the gathering, I arrived in Lorraine with Felix.

“Didn’t you not need to come?”

Felix muttered with a furrowed brow.

I replied indifferently.

“How could I not come when we were invited together? If I declined the invitation, I might fall out of His Majesty’s favor.”

Felix spoke in a dismissive tone.

“Right. Since you don’t know how to hunt and can’t ride a horse at all, you’ll probably be very bored, but bear with it. If you’re really bored, you could go for a walk around the edge of the forest. The paths on the outskirts are good for walking too.”

I slightly wrinkled my nose.

In my childhood when I lived in Araz, I greatly enjoyed horseback riding lessons. I had even accompanied relatives going hunting a few times.

Even if I couldn’t catch prey myself, I was confident in at least riding a horse.

‘You really don’t know anything about me.’

Of course, I only thought that inwardly, while outwardly I smiled sweetly and replied.

“I will. Don’t worry about me and have a good time.”

***

The forest where the hunting gathering was held was Duke de Lenoir’s private property and also a hunting ground frequently visited by Lorraine nobles.

The guests each rode their carriages to Lorraine, then met at the entrance of the forest and mounted the horses they had prepared.

Today’s hunting gathering was a place of reconciliation to quell the discord between nobles from Lorraine and those who were not.

On the surface, it was an ordinary social event, but in reality, it was an occasion arranged by the king’s order.

Therefore, regardless of personal feelings towards Duke de Lenoir, including Count Tolomiès, no one could refuse his invitation.

However, the proceedings were not particularly smooth.

“As expected of Your Grace’s private property. For someone who has only lived in Elendril, just accessing such a hunting ground must be an excessive luxury, right?”

“Of course. How could they have ever seen such a hunting ground?”

Lorraine was a region between Araz and Elendril. Naturally, the nobles of Lorraine were fluent in both Araz and Elendril languages from ancient times.

On the other hand, most of the old nobles of Elendril were not proficient in the language of Araz.

Traditionally, Elendril and Araz had bad relations, and since the Elendril language held the status of a common language throughout the continent, they didn’t feel the need to learn the Araz language.

Knowing this fact, the nobles of Lorraine deliberately spoke only in Araz, and the old nobles of Elendril could not understand their conversations well.

Moreover, most of the Elendril nobles invited today had lower titles than the nobles of Lorraine.

The emboldened Lorraine nobles continued to talk only among themselves. Thinking that their enemies wouldn’t understand anyway, everyone spoke without restraint.

“I saw earlier that their horse riding form was quite clumsy, I wonder if they’ll even be able to catch any prey like that. We’ll have to go easy on them.”

“They should at least be able to serve as our backdrop, right? Surely we won’t have to rescue them if they get lost in the forest?”

“Don’t even joke about such things!”

Stifled laughter echoed at the edge of the forest.

Then a voice with a slightly different accent interjected into the conversation.

“It seems to be an enjoyable conversation.”

It was Count Felix de Tolomiès.

He had studied abroad in Araz in the past, and his wife was also from Araz. Naturally, he was very fluent in the Araz language.

The startled nobles of Lorraine all turned to look at Felix.

Felix sarcastically remarked with a pointed comment.

“I didn’t know you all were so fond of the Araz language. Nobles speaking only in Araz at an Elendril social gathering, His Majesty the King would find this quite interesting.”

It was half a fair point, and half an unnecessary nitpick.

Traditionally, it was true that Araz and Elendril had bad relations. It was also true that the current king disliked using the Araz language.

However, it’s not like Elendril and Araz were particularly at war currently. It was common for nobles to converse in foreign languages at official occasions.

Felix turned to Duke de Lenoir with a crooked posture.

“I don’t think it would look particularly good in His Majesty’s eyes for people from the same region to gather within Elendril and converse using a foreign country’s language, don’t you agree, Your Grace Duke de Lenoir?”

It could be heard as a provocation.

Felix thought Duke de Lenoir would frown and defend his fellow countrymen. As he always did.

If so, he was prepared to argue point by point without ever backing down.

However, Duke de Lenoir’s response was different from expectation.

“Count Tolomiès is correct.”

Felix raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘What’s with this guy suddenly lowering his tail so easily?’

Duke de Lenoir turned to the nobles of Lorraine. Natural Elendril flowed from his lips.

“This gathering today is for harmony. Internal strife among nobles will also harm the people of Elendril. Please, for the sake of my reputation if nothing else, actively engage with the other guests.”

The nobles of Lorraine spoke awkwardly.

“We apologize, Your Grace.”

Felix stared at Duke de Lenoir in bewilderment. The duke he knew was not someone who would yield to him so easily.

After thinking for a moment, he came to his own conclusion.

‘I see. As expected, even Duke de Lenoir can’t ignore the king’s recommendation.’

A smile spread across his lips.

It was a rare opportunity to run wild without having to mind the duke’s mood.

Above all, he was quite skilled at hunting, the main event of today.

“Well then, shall we go, everyone?”

Duke de Lenoir, whether aware of Felix’s inner thoughts or not, simply guided the guests with an attitude that did not deviate from courtesy.

It was time for the real socializing to begin.