The return of the duke, who had been away for almost half a day, was rather gloomy compared to the sunny sky.

He opened the door to the mansion and went in.

Thud! Thud!

Who could be walking around making such loud footsteps? As I lifted my head, Jenny came running towards me.

“Miss! Why are you coming back so late?”

“Why? I said it would take a little time when I left, didn’t I?”

“Something big happened!”

“What happened?”

“Well, Lady Emelene.”

The mansion door had not even closed yet when Lady Emelene came running. I quickly bowed my head.

‘Can’t let it happen twice.’

Since Jenny mentioned Lady Emelene, I had anticipated this and was able to avoid her hand with a little delay. Looking at the rings with large pearls on her fingers, I felt a chill down my spine.

If I had been hit by that, it wouldn’t have ended with just my face turning red.

“Did you avoid it?”

Emelene, who had just made a loud noise, swung her other hand towards me. This time, I leaned back to avoid it.

While avoiding, I wondered why this crazy woman was doing this.

Surprisingly, despite her vulgar personality, Lady Emelene did not easily raise her hand.

It was because the aristocratic notion that violence was undignified was somewhat ingrained in her, despite her coarse temperament.

The situation where she raised her hand was predetermined.

When she felt her position was precarious.

The first time she hit me was when Lady Emelene had just stepped into this mansion as a newcomer.

After I judged that I was humble enough, her fiery temperament subsided.

During the festival, she was anxious about Arias’s disappearance. In addition, there was caution towards me, who had become more influential.

Why this time?

“Eik!”

Not giving up, Lady Emelene swung her hand again. Avoiding it was troublesome, so I grabbed her wrist quickly.

“You!”

In her eyes, reddened, perhaps from lack of sleep, anxiety was visible.

‘Terror, huh.’

“How dare you touch me anywhere! Now, I won’t spare anything from top to bottom!”

“……. ”

“Ha! Being treated like a princess, becoming friends with Princess Laratoo. You don’t seem to have any eyes for yourself.”

Moreover, she was jealous of me. Not just Arias, but even Lady Emelene. It was unexpected. She always lectured me politely about manners whenever she wanted to admonish me.

“Did you even dye your hair? Trying to meet the prince by dressing up like that?”

I brushed my hair. The tips were still blue.

Lady Emelene seemed to think that she dyed it to impress Giovanni.

She looked at me, who was avoiding her gaze while thinking about why this crazy woman was doing this.

Emelene’s veins bulged on her neck.

“You, what’s with that look!”

“Madam! Please don’t do this!”

Jenny pulled Emelene, who was trying to kick me from behind.

I let go of her struggling wrist. Emelene, who turned her body quickly and pushed Jenny’s hand away, rushed towards me again.

I hesitated for a moment. Should I avoid to the side, or step on her foot? Seeing her excited state, anything I did seemed effective, but…
As I tried to avoid to the side, the servants blocked my way.

‘…?’

That was more surprising than Lady Emelene’s actions.

There was only Jenny in this house who would stand up for me. But the faces that looked familiar.

They were the ones I had taken to the beggar village and made them carry people who fell into the water.

Perhaps because they hadn’t slept properly, their tired expressions showed, and they desperately restrained Lady Emelene.

Eden, a large servant, pleaded, “Madam, please endure!”

“What are these people doing!”

Instead of calming down when the servants tried to stop her, Lady Emelene, like a spark catching fire, raged on.

“Chase them all away. Can’t even recognize the ones you should serve! You seem so stupid!”

The whole house buzzed with the noise of her shouting.

“What’s the commotion.”

Lady Emelene, Jenny, me, and even the servants—all the eyes on the first floor turned towards the upper floor.

On the stairs on the second floor, Hubert and Lord Bakenin were standing. Hubert was dressed for going out, and I wondered where he was heading. Both of them didn’t seem in a good mood.

Lady Emelene, in an irritated manner, shooed the servants away.

Lord Bakenin sighed.

“Madam, what on earth is happening?”

“Igraine just came in. While the family members are only worried about the anger of the royal family, what was this child doing outside?”

Lady Emelene gave a cold laugh, full of sarcasm.

“Shall I answer that?”

She glared at me.

“I was playing with the imperial prince. Imagine that. I heard he went to the temple from the morning, and I was so amazed!”

The entire room looked at me. It was impossible to lie with witnesses present.

‘I was careful, but someone saw it again.’

I simply nodded my head obediently.

“What happened with the imperial prince is true.”

“That’s possible.”

Turning my head following a sigh, Georgiana, who was clearing spilled water from the room, glared at me.