After finishing dinner, Irena returned to the guest room where she was staying.

“Phew.”

Closing the door and leaning against it, Irena let out a long sigh and fanned her flushed cheeks with her hand.

“What on earth did I just see?”

During the meal, Irena had briefly excused herself to wash her hands.

She no longer wanted to dine with the arrogant man who seemed to have no intention of treating her with courtesy.

Moreover, seeing Claudel nervously caught between her cold and frightening husband and Irena, who had no reason to tolerate rudeness, had completely killed her appetite.

Unlike large banquets or balls, leaving one’s seat during a small dinner or tea party was an implicit way of expressing dissatisfaction.

Above all else, she simply could not tolerate comments that seemed to disrespect Belmont, despite being related by marriage.

Unlike Claudel, who grew up like an adopted child of Belmont due to her parents’ misfortune, Irena’s pride in the Belmont territory and Vermont was immense.

Although her husband would take the lord’s seat when they married, Irena was essentially the true heir to that land.

Her father, the Duke of Vermont, who always tried to show only the pretty and good things to his daughter, sometimes couldn’t help but express his resentment towards Temnes even in front of her.

‘My little puppy. When you become the lady of this land, your father wishes to make it so Temnes can’t breathe on this earth. How long must we watch such filthy and ignorant fellows pretending to be nobles in Oberon?’

As she wiped her hands, Irena thought with a stern expression.

‘If only we could solve the food problem, we could go to war with Temnes right away.’

Weapons? With iron ore coming out of the ground, they could increase production and make them from now on.

Soldiers? They could hire even the famous mercenary groups of the Sol continent, even if it meant emptying the treasure vault of the lord’s castle.

But as things stood, Claudel was practically a hostage in Temnes.

With mixed feelings, she returned to the dining room to find the servants and maids rushing out.

‘Why…?’

As she turned her head, bewildered, towards the open door.

She caught sight of a man and woman entangled in a kiss at the head of the table where she had been dining just moments ago.

Claudel’s slender body was hidden behind the large man, only the hem of her dress visible.

However, the man with his head bowed was devouring Claudel’s lips with the ferocity of a starving wolf tearing into meat.

Her first thought was that she should rescue Claudel from the clutches of that wretched man.

But the next moment.

She saw a small white hand emerge over the man’s shoulder, trailing up his firm shoulder and neck, fingers combing through his jet-black hair.

Thump.

With the sound of her startled heart, the dining room door closed before her eyes.

To Irena, who stood there frozen like a statue, the butler spoke politely and calmly.

‘The lord and lady are very fond of each other.’

To Irena, who stood there with her mouth slightly open, unable to respond, the butler kindly inquired.

‘If your meal was insufficient, shall I have something sent up to your room?’

‘Ah, no. It’s fine.’

‘We have arranged for you to spend time in the castle library or meet with the castle gardener at any time if you wish. There is also a area in the garden with flowers that bloom only at night, so you may take a night stroll if you’re interested.’

The butler, who listed off activities that might interest Irena, seemed like someone who had anticipated such a situation.

A situation where the lord and lady, who should be entertaining their guest, disappeared, leaving the guest behind.

‘I’ll go to my room. The meal was sufficient, so please leave me alone.’

Once back in her room under the butler’s guidance, the image of Kaian and Claudel kissing became even more vivid in her mind.

“Sigh. It’s not like I’ve never seen people kissing before.”

But even as she muttered this, Irena knew that wasn’t it.

It was the first time she had actually seen people kissing so passionately in real life.

“I thought that kind of thing only happened in books.”

Hannah sometimes borrowed romance novels that the castle maids passed around.

She gave them to Claudel to read, and Irena had also read them in passing. They all featured handsome lords with good manners, nice bodies, and great virility as the main characters.

But as far as Irena knew, such lords were very unicorn-like beings.

It was also difficult to become a lord at such a young age.

Most were like the Duke of Vermont, the Lord of Belmont, with wives and children, and were nobles with years of experience, learning, and prestige.

And yet!

“Weren’t they on bad terms?”

Irena was perplexed.

It bothered her more that the butler had said ‘they get along well’ as if he had read her thoughts.

That night, Irena tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

The next day, Irena had to spend time alone due to the lord and lady of the castle, where she was a guest, being nowhere to be seen.

It was common sense that if one visited for such a long and leisurely schedule, of course the lord and lady couldn’t entertain the guest the entire time.

The lord and lady would have many things to do regardless of the guest’s visit.

“Today, you are scheduled to have lunch while enjoying wildflowers by the lake.”

“Just me alone?”

“Yes. The lord and lady are still resting.”

The midday sun was high in the sky, shining brightly. She didn’t want to know what the two were doing, still not emerging from their bedroom at this hour.

“Sigh. Then I’ll go on a picnic with Claudel next time.”

Irena spent her time walking in the garden alone and reading books.

It wasn’t until evening that she was able to see her sister’s face again.

“Elder sister. I’m sorry. I wasn’t feeling well and overslept. I should have sent a servant to wake me up.”

Irena had called the maid serving the guest room five times to ask if Claudel was awake, but always received the answer that she was resting.

“It’s alright. I was tired from sightseeing here and there, so I rested comfortably for a day too.”

Claudel smiled, seeming relieved at her words of reassurance.

A moment later, Kaian entered the dining room.

Still cold and frowning as if something unpleasant had happened, the man sat down and raised an eyebrow when he saw Irena.

“That dress is…”

Irena was wearing one of Claudel’s dresses, borrowed from Madame Marsel.

Madame Marsel’s dresses were very unique and pretty, but even if you waited a year in the capital, you couldn’t get your hands on one, even if you begged the Duke of Vermont.

Juvedune? Lucian? Even the most expensive dresses could be bought if you paid, even if they weren’t custom-made.

The dress, made of white chiffon with the hem dyed red, was probably made as a one-of-a-kind piece and matched very well with Irena’s red hair. She liked it very much.

‘What? He recognizes his wife’s clothes?’

Most noble men usually didn’t know what was in their wives’ closets, so Irena was a bit surprised.

“Kaian. I lent it to elder sister.”

Claudel said, placing her hand on his arm.

“The weather is hot here. Elder sister doesn’t have any Rowen-style dresses.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Seeing his eyebrows that had shot up towards the sky come back down, Irena felt like she should say something.

“The dress is very pretty, isn’t it? Madame Marsel’s work is hard to buy even in the capital. It’s the first time I’ve seen her make a Rowen-style dress.”

“Is that so?”

“Madame Marsel is so famous that her catalogs circulate even in the north.”

“Is she that famous?”

“Of course.”

At that moment, surprisingly, Kaian’s cold and rigid face cracked slightly, and a somewhat smug expression appeared.

“A new seamstress is scheduled to come to the castle next week.”

“A new seamstress?”

“The original seamstress seems to lack the skill to make dresses that suit you.”

Why is he talking about this in front of a guest?

Irena was wondering when.

“From now on, Madame Marsel will be making your dresses.”

She doubted her ears. So she ended up asking Kaian, whom she had resolved not to engage with.

“Wait a moment. Your Grace. Are you saying Madame Marsel is the new seamstress for Rowen Castle?”

“Yes. My wife deserves the best of everything. The dress the young lady is wearing is what Madame Marsel brought to prove she has sufficient ability to be my wife’s seamstress.”

Irena’s eyes widened.

“Young Lady Irena seems to know fashion and trends well. When Madame Marsel arrives next week, have a new dress made with Claudel. When it’s finished after you return to Belmont, I’ll send it to you.”

“…Yes.”

Madame Marsel was a woman who raked in money in the capital.

She was so notorious that she worked sporadically, making her dresses even more expensive. They could be resold at the purchase price even after being worn once.

And he hired such a woman as a personal seamstress for Claudel?

Thinking about the cost that must have been paid, it was an enormous amount that was unimaginable to consider as a simple maintenance expense for a noble lady.

Suddenly, Kaian looked different.

Until yesterday, she had thought he was an arrogant, unpleasant, and rude man.

Now he looked like someone desperate for praise from Claudel, who had no interest in dresses or jewels.

Only then did she understand why Kaian had deliberately brought up the topic in front of her, who seemed to know a bit about dresses and trends.

“Claudel prefers…”

For a moment, feeling sorry for such a man, Irena inadvertently opened her mouth.

‘…She would prefer “Kingdom Theory” by Mar Miller or the new book by Gredol Man. Or the quarterly Hindenburg Continent Exploration Journal.’

However, thinking that she couldn’t pass on such valuable information to an enemy, she swallowed the words that were about to come out.

“Prefers what?”

“Ah, the jewels you gifted her suit her very well too.”

Irena glossed over it.

And the spectacle continued throughout the meal.

During dinner that evening, Irena saw Kaian smile exactly once, and it was when Claudel accepted a sweetly braised carrot he had held out with his fork.

On the first day during the meal, when she saw the plate of finely chopped food that Kaian wouldn’t even eat, she had frowned, thinking his table manners were terrible.

But now, the handsome man was busy mincing food to fit Claudel’s small mouth, with an expression that said he was full just from watching her eat.

‘Is this… what they call getting along well?’

Irena was confused.

Her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Vermont, also got along well, but she had never seen anything like this before.

Unable to bear them any longer, Irena said to the newlyweds the next evening.

“I’m planning to return tomorrow.”

“Leaving already? You’ve barely been here.”

Claudel’s eyes widened at Irena’s sudden words.

“The seamstress you like is coming next week too, elder sister. Stay longer.”

“No. I should spend the autumn festival in Belmont.”

“Ah…”

“That’s a good attitude.”

Kaian didn’t even bother to say the courteous words asking her to stay longer. She had expected it, but those courteous words were so important in relationships between nobles.

Now Irena felt she could read the thoughts in the enemy’s mind just by looking at his eyes.

‘We’re newlyweds, so stop bothering us and get lost.’