She laughed out loud for the first time in a long while. Normally she would have refrained from such unladylike behavior, but now she couldn’t stop.

Her cheeks burned from the sharp glances. She laughed even more when Magnolia asked if she was alright.

“More importantly, what should I do about my love life…”

Meanwhile, Magnolia showed interest in her own love fortune again. The fortune teller, who was about to lose motivation, vigorously attempted to sell items once more.

However, whenever Magnolia was about to fall for it, Veronica would hold her back, and when the fortune teller tried to sell to Veronica, Magnolia would stop her.

Soon, the fortune teller’s expression changed. Though not visible on her lips, she seemed to have lost her enthusiasm.

“Then, for a new love…”

“You should break off your engagement.”

“I already did?”

“Then that’s settled.”

What was settled? Magnolia’s expression became subtle at this advice that didn’t seem like advice at all.

Veronica gave her a look that said, “I told you so.” This is why you can’t rely on such things.

It was indeed a waste of time. Although Magnolia continued to ask various questions afterwards, the fortune teller, having failed to sell her wares, only gave perfunctory responses.

Her attitude was noticeably less sincere than at the beginning. Magnolia seemed to sense this too, as her voice gradually lost its energy.

Before long, all the sand in the hourglass had fallen, and Veronica rose as if she had been waiting for this moment.

As she opened the door, she saw the man and guards waiting outside.

The man could be seen checking the hourglass. Veronica waved her hand dismissively. It meant “Move aside.”

Magnolia handed the money pouch she had prepared to the man. After checking its contents, the man nodded. Behind her, Veronica thought it was a waste of money.

They immediately left the restaurant. Once completely outside, Veronica offered her honest opinion.

“She’s a fraud.”

Magnolia seemed to agree, laughing sheepishly.

“But isn’t it amazing? How did she know I had broken off my engagement?”

“You said you recently broke up and came looking for new love, remember? So she would have thought it wasn’t widowhood, but either a simple breakup or broken engagement. It’s not difficult to guess your status from your attire, and if you think about the common worries of people like us, it’s easy to figure out. Magnolia, you seem like a good person at first glance, so if someone like that breaks up and immediately looks for new love, it must have been a relationship without feelings, hence a broken engagement. She made that assumption, and Magnolia confirmed it with a clear answer.”

People are easily swayed when a convincing atmosphere is created.

Placing candles all over the floor, putting strange objects here and there, and making the interior dark and gloomy were all ways to exploit human psychology.

The more stifling the atmosphere, the more people’s hearts shrink. Plus, with the exotic attire, it becomes even more enticing.

In a different sense, I heard that when planning an arranged marriage between families disguised as a fateful encounter, they pay the most attention to the atmosphere of the first meeting.

“Wow, Veronica. That’s amazing.”

Magnolia exclaimed in admiration. It’s nothing special, Veronica dismissed it casually.

“…So you thought I was a good person.”

She suddenly mumbled shyly. Veronica wasn’t sure why she was being shy, but she nodded anyway.

They hadn’t known each other for long, but she could tell that Magnolia was generally naive, trusting people easily, falling for tricks, and having quite poor judgment when it came to men.

Unaware of her inner thoughts, Magnolia was simply pleased.

“So, do you think it will be helpful?”

“Yes, I’m feeling motivated! Even if there’s no love fortune, destiny is nearby!”

Magnolia clenched her fists, filled with enthusiasm.

Veronica wasn’t sure which part of the nonsense she had vaguely made up had inspired such motivation, but she lightly encouraged her nonetheless.

However.

“How could I fail so completely at everything!”

Magnolia spread her hands that had been clenched and buried her face in them, letting out a loud lament.

Writhing in misery, Magnolia rushed over to Veronica, who was reading with her chin resting on her hand.

“Waaah— Veronica!”

“Complaining to me won’t do you any good.”

Veronica coldly rebuked her before focusing back on her book.

Beside her, Magnolia started with “But” and went on to “How can there be no good men like this?”, followed by “All the good men in the empire are either taken or wanderers uninterested in marriage.”, “Is there really a match for me?”, “Was he even born?”, and finally concluded with “I really must have no luck in love.”

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.”

“It’s too bitter! At this rate, I might grow old and die alone while everyone else gets married!”

“You’re thinking too far ahead, Magnolia.”

It was too early to already be thinking about dying as an old maid.

Let’s see, Veronica recalled Magnolia’s recent actions.

After visiting the fortune teller, Magnolia, filled with motivation, attended various parties and social gatherings.

The reason Veronica knew this was because she was always by Magnolia’s side. Whenever Magnolia attended something, she forcibly brought Veronica along.

From Veronica’s perspective, it was an extremely troublesome affair, but seeing how desperately Magnolia was struggling to overcome the pain of her breakup, she accompanied her out of pity.

‘Veronica. Veronica. Look at that man over there.’

Magnolia whispered, hiding her mouth behind a fan. Veronica turned her gaze in the direction she indicated.

A black-haired man and a brown-haired man were in the middle of a conversation.

The sound of soft laughter could be heard, as if they were discussing something amusing. The one who had captured Magnolia’s heart was the brown-haired man holding a glass.

‘What do you think?’

‘He looks ordinary.’

He had a slight smile with the corners of his mouth turned up. Judging by her taste, he seemed decent. But there was one problem.

‘Magnolia. That man already has a fiancée.’

He was the eldest son of a fairly well-known family, so even Veronica knew this fact.

Moreover, she had heard they were on good terms. Beside her, Magnolia let out a disappointed sigh.

At the next party, Magnolia once again searched for a man to her liking. Looking around like a predator seeking prey, she soon pointed somewhere.

‘Veronica. What about that man?’

‘His attire is, well…’

The disheveled state of his formal wear was concerning. Moreover, only his hair and collar were messy. Magnolia, determined to have a conversation, walked over confidently.

A few minutes later, she returned with slumped shoulders.

‘How was it?’

‘He smelled of perfume…’

‘Could it have been someone else’s perfume on him?’

‘Even during our brief conversation, he was flirting excessively with every woman who passed by.’

Ah. Veronica didn’t ask any further.

At yet another party.

‘What do you think of that man?’

Magnolia pointed to a man who was brushing his bangs. A man in neat formal wear with a modest appearance was sitting properly.

He was reading a book alone, separated from others, as if he had come to an unwanted party. Though his impression was far from gentle, Magnolia said she liked his neat appearance.

But you see.

‘That man won’t do.’

‘Why not?’

‘He has a mental illness.’

‘A, a mental illness?’

‘I’ve heard that while he seems calm usually, once he gets angry, he can’t control himself. Someone saw him kicking and cursing at a servant at a ball for not tying his shoe ribbon properly. It’s not widely known, but those who should know, do.’

Though she put it mildly, there were witnesses who said the servant nearly died at the time.

Everyone was puzzled by the behavior that was the complete opposite of his usually calm demeanor, but in fact, he had a mental illness.

To hide this, he refrained from attending public events, which is why it hadn’t leaked out.

‘I heard he’s also addicted to drugs.’

‘I, I see. Then what about that man? Doesn’t he look dependable?’

‘The thing in his hand looks like a liquor bottle.’

‘Oh…’

And when she approached him, she said the smell of alcohol was overwhelming.

Similar situations occurred at other venues.

‘What about that man?’

‘He’s a servant.’

‘But he’s wearing party clothes?’

‘Sometimes there are people who dress their servants in their own clothes. Don’t pay attention to such people.’

‘Why not?’

‘There are reasons.’

At another place.

‘That man, that man!’

‘You mean the one currently lifting the skirt of the woman in front of him?’

‘Ah, now they’re kissing too…’

At yet another place.

‘What about that man!’

‘He’s famous for being a gambler.’

‘Oh…’

And at another.

‘That man, he’s dressed so stylishly!’

‘Wasteful habits.’

And then again.

‘There, that man!’

‘The one being dragged out right now?’

And once more!

‘That’s the one!’

‘There’s a wife beside him.’

‘…’

Then at another social gathering.

‘Oh my, he’s my type!’

Magnolia suddenly made a fuss, fixing her gaze somewhere.

Four men and one woman were sitting on a round sofa, and it was clear which one had stolen Magnolia’s heart.

‘Finally, today’s the day! I’m going to make a connection!’

She clenched her fist with determination and ran over.

Veronica watched pitifully as she almost tripped on her way. Meanwhile, she was rejecting advances coming her way.

Magnolia sat on an empty sofa and attempted to converse with the man she liked.

The conversation seemed to be going more smoothly than expected, as she grinned from ear to ear.

But before long, her smile gradually faded, and soon she stood up and trudged back.

‘Was this one no good either?’

‘No… He seemed like a good person. Calm personality, sensible thoughts, and no other women.’

‘So what’s the problem?’

‘He says he’s not interested in marriage. He’s planning to travel across the sea to a foreign land. He doesn’t know when he’ll return if he goes…’

Ah, so he’s the wanderer type. Such types usually value freedom more than love.

It’s not right to cling to such a person and talk about love and marriage.

‘It’s okay. If we keep looking, there must be other good men out there.’

‘I suppose so?’

Magnolia tried to regain her faltering enthusiasm once again.

However, Magnolia’s search for new love met with successive failures. Her eye for men was beyond imagination.

It was as if she could only pick the worst even if told to choose bad guys. Every single one she liked had problems, and even those who showed interest in her were far from decent.

Eventually.

‘Veronica! Hide me!’

‘What is it? What happened?’

Suddenly, Magnolia came running from the end of the corridor.

As she hid behind a nearby curtain, Veronica wondered what was going on. In the meantime, another set of footsteps approached.