The moment I brushed off the Duke of Lenoir’s hand, the atmosphere changed.

Nobles dancing nearby reflexively glanced this way. But as the tune changed just then, their gazes quickly dispersed.

From here on was the part where women and men danced side by side.

Without taking the duke’s arm, I stepped alone with my hands behind my back and said,

“It seems you misspoke just now.”

The duke looked at me with a surprised expression.

I hardened my expression coldly.

“Your Grace treats my husband and me as one and the same. You assume my opinion will naturally align with my husband’s.”

I lowered my voice to be as chilly as possible.

“But I am by no means the same person as him. I am a separate individual with my own will. My husband’s enemy is not necessarily my enemy. I’m free to like or dislike whomever I choose. I simply wanted to tell you that. And yet…”

The next moment, I strode up to the duke.

“You insult me like this. In the middle of dancing with me, no less.”

Duke de Lenoir blinked with a flustered look.

A few seconds later, his eyes lit up as he looked at me. His two red eyes sparkled like rubies reflecting hundreds of candles at once.

Unexpectedly, he readily bowed to me.

“I see. I was careless.”

Though he was clearly apologizing, his expression didn’t look apologetic at all.

Nevertheless, the words of apology that came from his mouth were very smooth.

“I humbly apologize, Countess de Tolomiès. How can I make amends for this mistake?”

Hiding my surprised feelings, I smiled lightly.

“If you truly wish to apologize to me, call me by my name.”

“Your name?”

Duke de Lenoir tilted his head.

I pulled out the hand I had hidden behind my back and extended it to him again.

“Elisabeth de Tolomiès. That’s my name.”

The duke raised his black eyebrows.

“Of course, Your Grace will rarely have occasion to call me by name, but if you wish to remember that I am a separate person from my husband, shouldn’t you at least know my name?”

At those words, the duke’s eyes sparkled intriguingly once more.

I continued speaking with a smile on my lips.

“And please remember this as well. That I do not consider Your Grace an enemy, and that I think very highly of the people from Lorraine.”

A smile appeared on Duke de Lenoir’s lips. Soon he burst into laughter and took my hand.

“Understood. I shall never forget.”

I smiled lightly and approached him.

However, Duke de Lenoir did not wait for me to come closer. He swiftly pulled my hand and drew me tightly against his body in one motion.

In an instant, I was caught in his grasp like prey caught by a hunter.

I instinctively raised my head. The duke’s pale, alluring face was right above me.

“In return, please remember one thing as well, Countess.”

For a moment, his cool voice reached my ears.

“From now on, you must not act so carelessly with other men.”

I froze stiffly while standing.

Duke de Lenoir slightly lifted the frozen me and personally escorted me to my final position.

– Dadan.

As if on cue, the orchestra finished playing.

Duke de Lenoir made one final turn, then elegantly bowed and kissed the back of my hand.

“Thank you for the beautiful dance, Madame Elisabeth. It was a pleasure.”

I felt his breath on my thin glove.

The duke escorted me off the dance floor, then gracefully disappeared.

***

That day, Tolomiès and I returned home early. There was no reason for married people to linger long at an event meant for unmarried men and women anyway.

As soon as we returned, we naturally dispersed to our separate rooms. I removed my makeup and changed clothes with the help of maids.

Only after I was in my nightclothes did I finally retrace my own actions.

‘What was I thinking, spouting such nonsense?’

My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.

Strictly speaking, nothing was terribly wrong.

I found someone to be an ally for revenge, smoothly resolved his clash with Tolomiès without causing problems, and showed him goodwill without creating scandal.

Much progress was made in just one day.

But examining the details of the process revealed many issues.

I had suddenly lashed out at Duke de Lenoir.

I asserted too forcefully that my husband and I are not the same person, that I am a separate individual from him, and that he should not insult me.

It was the kind of statement a proper noblewoman should never make.

I let out a short sigh.

‘But I couldn’t help it…’

Even knowing I should be careful with my words, I couldn’t hold back when I heard that.

The moment I felt the duke viewing me as ‘a woman trying to seduce other men because she’s bored with her husband’ and simultaneously as ‘an accessory of Count Tolomiès’, I burst out in anger before I knew it.

I had already been treated that way countless times.

In my first life, when I failed to eliminate my husband’s mistress and was imprisoned, I was seen by people as ‘a wicked woman who deserved to be abandoned by her husband’.

It was the same when I divorced Felix in my second life. Everyone whispered as they watched me leave without excessive lingering.

That woman must certainly have another man, they said. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to turn her back so coldly.

So when I felt like I was being treated that way again, I immediately bristled.

I took a deep breath.

‘It’s okay. I just need to be careful from now on.’

At any rate, Duke de Lenoir did not seem displeased by my attitude. Whatever the method, I succeeded in leaving a clear impression on him.

Duke de Lenoir was Felix’s enemy both politically and personally. He also personally disliked Felix very much.

So much that he couldn’t hide his hostility even in public.

Above all, he had the social standing to confront Felix head-on.

He was the perfect partner to carry out revenge in many ways.

‘Just wait. I’ll definitely make you my ally.’

I clenched my fist.

***

The Lenoir mansion was quiet in the predawn hours.

Viscount Willem, Duke de Lenoir’s subordinate and estate manager, waited without sleep until dawn to greet his lord.

“Welcome back, Your Grace.”

“Yes.”

The duke’s reply was brief. Nevertheless, Viscount Willem raised his head in surprise.

Duke de Lenoir was usually a man of few words. It was rare for him to respond verbally instead of with a nod to a subordinate’s perfunctory greeting.

Viscount Willem stared at his master for a moment before speaking.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

“Me?”

The duke turned his head as he took off his coat. His red eyes gleamed brightly in the dark room.

Anyone else would have cowered at that gaze.

But Viscount Willem had been by the duke’s side since he was a count. He had the ability to gauge his master’s mood in advance.

“Yes. You appear so. Did something good happen?”

The duke burst into laughter.

“I merely attended a ball. What good could have happened?”

Viscount Willem laughed along.

A ball is originally a place for unmarried men and women to find marriage partners. But there was no suitable match for a duke at a mere baron’s daughter’s ball.

There was one high-ranking lady, but she was already married.

Duke de Lenoir was pouring wine brought by a servant when he suddenly recalled that woman’s face.

Countess de Tolomiès.

Soon, a faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Nothing good, but something interesting did happen.”

“Pardon?”

Viscount Willem tilted his head.

Leopold de Lenoir quietly raised his glass.

As the candlelight touched the glass, the wine inside shimmered like pomegranate seeds. Then, a dazzling light appeared in Leopold’s eyes as he gazed at the glass.

He quietly recalled his conversation with Countess de Tolomiès.

In Ellendril, a husband’s fate is his wife’s fate. A husband’s allies are the wife’s allies, and a husband’s enemies are the wife’s enemies.

Most women not only don’t reject this fact but rather take pride in it.

But Countess de Tolomiès denied that obvious proposition. And she asked him to remember her name and her will, not her husband’s name and will.

And the will she wanted to convey was clearly goodwill, not hostility.

Leopold quietly closed his eyes.

The name of the woman he met a few hours ago kept lingering in his mind.

Elisabeth de Tolomiès.

Somehow, he felt like he would see her again soon.

***

Elisabeth’s husband, Felix de Tolomiès, had a servant bring expensive wine as soon as he changed into his nightclothes.

He took a large swig of the strong wine.

“Whew!”

As the intoxication set in, his mood improved a bit.

Today was full of things he disliked. He hated losing the battle of wills to the annoying Duke de Lenoir and not being able to partner with the person he wanted.

One woman instinctively came to Felix’s mind.

Unlike his boring and quiet wife, she was his lively and fresh lover, the vitality of his life.

‘This won’t do. I need to bring her to my side quickly.’

Felix grinned as he thought of someone.