Sara headed to the wine cellar of the mansion.

Lea’s father, Richard Hamilton, was a wine enthusiast.

So he liked to store wine in oak barrels in the basement. Now the properly aged wine belonged to Allen.

‘I’ve searched the entire house. This is the only place left.’

She had thoroughly examined all the places where the memorandum might be.

She inspected the basement lined with oak barrels one by one.

She examined all those barrels, tapping them with her hand to check if they were filled with wine. Then she discovered an oak barrel in a secluded corner.

‘This one has a different keyhole.’

Sara immediately tapped the barrel with her hand. If it were filled with wine, it would make a dull sound, but it made only a light sound as if empty inside.

‘Could it be here?’

Sara took out the key necklace from her bosom and inserted it into the hole. At least the key fit well into the hole.

The question was whether the key would turn to the right.

‘Please!’

She closed her eyes as if saying a final prayer, then turned the key to the right.

With a click, the small door of the oak barrel opened. Sara was so surprised that she couldn’t move for a while.

‘Pull yourself together! Sara.’

After opening the door, Sara put her right hand inside the barrel and kept fumbling around.

As she groped, hoping to grasp something, anything, her hand caught on something.

‘It’s a book.’

She didn’t hesitate to pull out the book that was in her hand.

‘It’s not the memorandum.’

She had imagined the memorandum to be a secret book containing the Hamilton family’s business philosophy. But the leather cover and pages were intact, far from being yellowed with age.

‘What is this?’

Sara opened the book and was startled.

‘This is…!’

Soon, her face lit up with a bright light. It was no less than a much bigger harvest than expected.

With this alone, it could be useful in blackmailing Allen.

‘No, I won’t blackmail Allen. I don’t want to use it that way.’

Sara quickly tucked the book into her bosom.

‘This book will pave the way for Allen and me to go to hell together.’

Though she still loved Allen terribly, she had been abandoned by him. If she stayed by his side any longer, it was obvious she would soon be killed.

She was not an ignorant princess like Lea who knew nothing of the world.

Lea died deceived by Allen’s love. But she loved him while knowing full well that he was a bad man.

At the time, she was confident that his love would eventually turn to her.

‘I’ll let Allen know that he can’t discard me so carelessly.’

It was something she had started prepared to die from the beginning.

If she hadn’t been prepared for that, she wouldn’t have betrayed Lea, who was like a sister, and Richard, whom she considered a father, in her right mind.

Sara quickly extinguished the candle she was holding and left the basement.

* * *

To attend the Crown Princess selection banquet, Lea and Terran came to Galdensia.

Several carriages lined up in the high-end residential area of Brassel, the capital of Galdensia. Thanks to Terran buying a mansion in advance, they didn’t need to stay at a hotel.

Lea admired the house Terran had bought.

“It’s not comparable to the Duke’s residence, but it’s a very splendid mansion.”

The building, constructed in the Mediterranean temple style, was entirely white. The small garden had a fountain and an antique pergola.

There were also enough rooms for the employees they brought to stay comfortably.

Lea was momentarily lost in old memories.

The house currently used as Allen’s mansion was once owned by her and her father.

It was one of the ten most luxurious mansions in Brassel.

Would the day ever come when she could reclaim that mansion…

Lea, lost in thought, hurriedly snapped out of it.

‘Face reality, Lea.’

Looking around, everyone except her was moving busily. Some were already unloading luggage from the carriages and going upstairs to unpack.

“Grace, shall we go to our bedroom too?”

Terran gently took her hand and headed upstairs.

The room they would stay in was the largest bedroom on the upper floor, with a quite different atmosphere from the Duke’s residence.

A large balcony, intricately carved marble columns, soft wool carpets, and luxurious bedding blended with wool and silk.

It exuded the unique atmosphere of Galdensia.

“When can we meet the Wellington Count siblings?”

“We’re scheduled to visit them tomorrow.”

“I should also stop by the general store while we’re here.”

“Is Grace always thinking about work?”

“What? Oh my!”

Before she could reply, Terran picked Lea up and sat her on the marble balustrade leading to the balcony.

Just then, a warm spring breeze blew.

“This is so nice, Terran.”

Lea murmured without realizing it. But Terran didn’t answer and breathed hot breaths on her neck.

“It’s problematic how happy I am, to the point where I wonder if it’s okay to be this content.”

“Terran deserves to be.”

‘Though I’m not yet…’

Lea needed to pretend for a moment. Because she and Terran were in different situations.

He could now just enjoy a comfortable life. But she still had many things to take care of.

She had to take revenge while not breaking Terran’s happiness.

“Grace, is there anything you want?”

Terran wanted to give her anything she desired.

He could buy her a bigger house than this mansion, or purchase any store she needed.

“Why so suddenly?”

“It’s just a feeling, but it seems like Grace likes Brassel. Someone might mistake this for your homeland.”

‘It is my homeland. I know the streets so well I could walk them blindfolded.’

“What do you want to do for me?”

“Well, should I buy you a bigger house or maybe a store?”

Grace shook her head at Terran’s words.

“Having you by my side is enough. I mean it.”

Lea wrapped her arms around his neck and looked straight into his eyes.

Because the only thing she wanted from him was Terran’s existence.

Joy rippled like waves in Terran’s eyes.

Soon his lips came down to meet hers, but just as they were about to touch, noisy footsteps mercilessly shattered the quiet emotion.

“Sis, can I go sightseeing in the city with Louis Ballerina?”

It was Chainer, holding a lollipop.

Terran and Grace, who were about to kiss, separated with awkward expressions.

“S…ure. You must return before dinner.”

“Okay!”

“Chainer!”

Terran caught Chainer, who was about to leave after taking care of her business.

“What is it, mister?”

“It’s Louis Valliere, not Ballerina.”

“Ah, Louis Ballerina.”

“Huh! Go on.”

Terran closed his eyes tightly and waved his hand. Then Terran suddenly became curious.

Why did Chainer say she was going sightseeing with Louis, not Luke?

‘She seems upset for some reason.’

It was certainly possible with the childlike Chainer.

But he found out a little later that Luke had gone down to the estate and gotten engaged.

He heard from James that from the moment Chainer learned this fact, she began to turn away from Luke.

* * *

The next day, Lea held a meeting before starting her schedule.

“Pauline and Madame Armand, go to the MacDowell house and deliver the dress. Check if the dress fits well and inspect the accessories too.”

“Understood.”

“Sonya and Adolf, when Lady Adele arrives, have her try on the dress and ask how she wants to do her makeup and accessories.”

“Carmen, of all people.”

Sonya still seemed displeased with Adele’s request.

“And Paul and Tom, please check the dresses we’ll wear at the selection banquet and the Duke’s formal attire.”

Lea specially made uniforms because she disliked the idea of herself and her staff looking like a ragtag group.

The women wore teal silk dresses, while the men wore teal silk vests over their shirts for accent.

She wanted them to look unmistakably like people from the Courtois duchy.

“We will do so.”

Lea took the opportunity to thank Terran.

“Terran, the Bertan silk is excellent. Thank you.”

“Just with words?”

“Pardon?”

As Lea’s face turned red, coughing sounds emerged here and there, followed by giggling laughter.

“Thank him with your body.”

Pauline teased Lea in a playful tone.

“You too?”

As Lea was chiding Pauline, she noticed Chainer’s sad gaze looking reproachfully at Luke.

“Chainer…”

Before she could finish speaking, Chainer had gone to her room.

James clicked his tongue, displeased with Chainer’s rudeness, but the others said nothing.

“I’ll try to comfort the young lady.”

Louis stepped forward just then.

“How do you plan to comfort her?”

Luke asked in a sarcastic tone, as if he had been waiting.

“Oh? Well, I noticed the young lady doesn’t know all her letters. I was thinking of taking her to a bookstore to buy a writing book.”

“Thank you. That’s something I hadn’t paid attention to myself.”

Lea was sincerely grateful to Louis.

At first, she thought Louis was just being nice to Chainer for show.

But now, as time has passed, she knows he’s a decent person.

Lea reflected on how she had been caught up in prejudice, thinking the son would be the same because of her bias against the Valliere Marchioness.

“In two days, our efforts will bear fruit. Everyone, please do your best until the very end.”

Lea encouraged everyone.

Having made enormous profits from the success of the riding clothes, she hoped this would be successful too.

Just then, Paul surprised Lea with unexpected words.

“Miss seems to have excellent business skills. Like Richard Hamilton, who was called the god of business.”

When her father’s name was mentioned, Lea’s heart sank.

Everyone murmured at his words. Terran agreed on that point too.

There wasn’t a single merchant in the Bizac family. Rather, they were conservative with overflowing noble pride.

Even though it was common for nobles to venture into business to build wealth, Aiden believed that loyalty to family and country was everything.

Compared to that, what about Grace?

‘She’s like a businesswoman to the bone.’

From her ideas to her problem-solving skills, she often seemed like someone with extensive business experience.

Terran suddenly wondered why she was so obsessed with business.

‘Could there be another reason I don’t know about?’

Her dream seemed too vast to be just simple self-realization.