Lea and Pauline arrived at the mansion only when evening had fallen. The two had not been bored on the way, talking about Chainer the whole time.

“Are you going to meet that woman again next week?”

Pauline seemed displeased.

“Yes, she’s not a bad person, just a bit immature.”

“I know that, but…”

Pauline couldn’t bring herself to mention that Chainer and her grandfather were of gypsy origin.

Even though the world had changed a lot, people’s perception of gypsies was still not very good.

It was natural that Grace wouldn’t recognize them even if she saw them, since she had never seen gypsies before.

“Did you see the lace, Pauline?”

“Yes, her handiwork was truly remarkable.”

Lea had seen countless noblewomen while living in Galdensia, but she had never seen anyone wearing such intricate and well-structured lace. She thought she should buy a lace instruction book next week.

As the carriage stopped at the duke’s residence lobby, Terran and Luke came out to greet them.

“Did you have an enjoyable time?”

Terran said, taking Grace’s hand.

“Yes, it was so enjoyable that I might not even realize how tired my body is.”

Lea said, gently pulling her hand away from his grasp.

No matter how she thought about it, she was afraid of the man who had tried to stop the entire duchy for the sake of one woman’s ankle.

“But what should we do? Grace has another place to visit.”

Terran didn’t seem to mind her rejecting his hand.

“Now?”

“Yes.”

Terran took Grace to the garden for a moment. He cupped her cheeks with both hands and gazed at her intently.

‘There’s a beast coveting what’s mine.’

The beautiful bird that had tried to fly far from its cage and barely returned – rather than relief, an endless desire to confirm overwhelmed him.

Terran was seized by the urge to explore Grace’s lips right away, but he barely held back and extended his hand to her.

“Why such a serious expression? What’s the matter?”

Lea was concerned about Terran’s complex expression.

“Actually, Allen MacDowell came by this afternoon.”

“!?”

Lea’s face instantly hardened.

“He said he had something to say to Grace.”

“To me?”

‘He must want to ask about Father’s necklace. It won’t work on the duke at all.’

Allen must have asked the bishop about the whereabouts of Lea Hamilton’s necklace on the day of the funeral.

The bishop would have answered the same as he told her. He must be agonizing over how to take Father’s necklace from Terran.

‘That’s so like Allen MacDowell.’

“If Grace doesn’t want to meet him, you don’t have to go.”

“No, I’ll go. Although I’m worried about it being at night, I’ll hear what he has to say.”

“Is that so? Hmm, then Luke will accompany you, so don’t worry.”

“Alright, I’ll go to my room to prepare and come down.”

“Do that.”

Terran’s smile faded as he watched Grace hurry away. Part of him had hoped she would refuse to go.

When Allen’s name was mentioned, a strange light flashed in her eyes. Did she like him that much after seeing him just once at the funeral?

Enough to declare the engagement off and buy a train ticket to Galdensia? He didn’t want to chase after her that day, but he sent someone to the train station.

He was certain when Grace actually bought a ticket to Galdensia, although he had hoped it wouldn’t be the case.

‘Did she like that fellow? But what can I do, this is my way.’

Terran wore a bitter expression. No matter who he fought with, he wasn’t satisfied until he dealt them a big blow, making them unable to resist.

In a way, it applied to Grace too. He had created the worst situation so that she couldn’t leave Rebon at all.

* * *

Lea headed to the Rebon Hotel with Luke. She clutched her handbag tightly.

‘It’s good I brought the gun.’

She didn’t know if she could actually shoot Allen. It was just the size of her anger towards him. Even she couldn’t predict how she would act when she saw him.

“My lady, don’t worry. I’ll be by your side the entire time you’re talking with Mr. Allen MacDowell.”

“Thank you, Luke.”

‘It’s obvious, he’ll try to seduce me using his handsome face as a weapon. He’ll try to make me get the necklace from Terran.’

She had realized too late that this was Allen’s method, like a fool.

Lea thought it was extremely fortunate that Terran had the necklace.

No matter how great Allen had become, it would be difficult for him to challenge Terran recklessly.

Finally, the carriage arrived at the Rebon Hotel.

“It’s room 204.”

Luke knew which room Allen was staying in without even checking at the desk.

Lea followed Luke towards the room. Her heart was pounding the entire time she walked up the stairs to the second floor.

She had even thought about chasing him to Galdensia to kill him. Yet he had come here on his own.

The fire in her heart that had subsided for a moment seemed to reignite. Finally, they arrived in front of room 204.

Lea barely managed to control the anger surging up. She had to appear as calm as possible.

But strange sounds from inside the room could be heard even outside the door. Lea looked at Luke, and he too turned his head away in embarrassment.

“My lady, shall we just go back?”

“No, Mr. MacDowell is the one who set the appointment. He asked me to come tonight, so I should hear what he has to say.”

Even after Lea finished speaking, the lewd noises of a man and woman didn’t stop. Soon, Luke knocked on the door, and only then did the moaning abruptly cease. Lea waited for the door to open.

‘What was his intention in calling me to his room?’

Was he uncomfortable bringing up the necklace in a place with many people? No matter how much she thought about it, that was the only reason.

Finally, there was a click sound from inside and the door opened. But the expressions of Allen and Lea on either side of the door were mismatched.

Allen was shirtless, barely covering his lower body with a towel.

“Miss Grace? Why today?”

Allen looked very perplexed. To the point where his face turned pale.

“I thought you asked to meet me today?”

“It’s not today…”

Allen fumbled with his words, roughly running his hand through his hair. At that moment, a woman’s voice was heard from inside.

“Allen, who is it?”

It must be the woman who had been rolling in bed with Allen until just now. The woman approached the door, covering her naked body with a blanket.

Lea was shocked when she saw the woman.

‘Sara! Why you?’

It was Sara, who had been her maid.

“Allen, who is this woman?”

Sara’s face was full of wariness as she quickly scanned Grace from head to toe.

“Sara, be quiet for a moment.”

Allen tried his best to salvage this awkward situation.

‘My goodness, were they in that kind of relationship?’

Sara had been a loyal maid and family. They had lived like sisters, trusting each other so much. But to think all that trust had been a lie.

‘You betrayed me and gave everything to Allen?’

Lea’s legs trembled so much she almost collapsed on the spot. But she couldn’t show such an unsightly appearance to them.

“Miss Grace, there seems to have been a mistake.”

“A mistake?”

“The day I was supposed to meet with Miss Grace is not today, but…”

Before Allen could finish speaking, Sara interrupted.

“Allen, is this woman the reason you told me to go back to Galdensia first tomorrow?”

“Sara, we’re talking. Be quiet.”

The two argued, raising their voices.

“Luke, it seems Mr. MacDowell got the date wrong. Let’s go back.”

“Yes, my lady.”

As Lea turned around, Allen shouted.

“It’s not today… No, I’ll contact you again.”

‘You trash. Go to hell.’

She left the hotel, silently cursing the two of them.

* * *

Lea was furious at Sara’s betrayal. The two must have exchanged glances behind her back and plotted malicious schemes.

Sometimes she had worried about what might have happened to Sara.

But Sara had not only informed Allen of her every move, but also enjoyed secret meetings with him as if mocking her.

Sara must have told him the secret about the necklace too. Sara knew well about the necklace that her father always carried. That’s how much she had trusted Sara.

‘You’ll be discarded too, like an old shoe.’

Allen was not the kind of person who would acknowledge a maid as his woman. She was just a consumable to be used as much as possible while she had value and then thrown away.

‘How could you do this?’

Her father had brought the pitiful Sara, who had been abandoned at the poorhouse, home and clothed her, fed her, and even gave her work.

If she had any conscience, she shouldn’t have done this to her father.

‘Lea Hamilton, you really wasted your life.’

Not knowing that the closest people had stabbed her in the back. She had even thought about trying to save Sara if she had gone to prison.

‘Is there another fool like you in this world?’

Lea’s hands roughly twisted the hem of her dress.

“My lady, are you alright?”

Luke asked worriedly.

“I’m just a bit upset. About what intention he had in calling me to his room.”

“It seems Mr. MacDowell confused the date.”

“Luke, I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“I understand.”

The carriage returned to the duke’s residence. Terran was still waiting for Grace’s return in the lobby.

As the carriage stopped, Luke got out first and slightly bowed his head towards Terran. Only then did a smile appear on Terran’s face.

On the day Allen visited the duke’s residence, he had Luke investigate him. As he expected, Allen had come to the hotel with a woman.

He probably planned to send the woman away first and put on a convincing act when meeting Grace.

“Did you have a good talk?”

He asked her calmly. Judging by Grace’s expression, things must have gone awry.

“I only saw an unpleasant sight.”

Lea briefly explained to Terran what had happened at the hotel.

“Why was it unpleasant? Did you have feelings for Allen MacDowell?”

Terran didn’t beat around the bush. The articles about him that she had carefully clipped were enough to raise suspicion.

“That’s…”

Lea found it difficult to answer. But only after seeing the suspicion in Terran’s eyes did she realize.

‘He’s suspicious of me and Allen.’