In the meantime, Berita, who had come up the stairs, clung to one of Devin’s arms.

“Devin, I heard you were back, but why didn’t you get in touch? Do you know how upset I’ve been?”

She whispered softly, occasionally glancing at the open door.

Devin, with a flick of his eyebrows, briefly glanced at Berita’s ample chest pressing against his arm. Berita was a woman with a melancholic look and a charming voice, yet she was also easily swayed by desires and self-destructive. She had betrayed Etrisha, the only person on her side, to have Devin for herself.

Their relationship, built on layers of lies, was not going to last.

The thrill of deceiving his wife had been exciting, but now that Etrisha had rejected him, it lost its value. Etrisha, whom he thought would be boring for her obedience, became incredibly attractive in her transformation filled with hatred.

Thinking of the times she had outsmarted him made him furious, yet the thought of her returning to him sent shivers down his spine. He had found her assertive gaze and combative eyes quite appealing. Even his remarks about her being more attractive as another man’s woman were partly sincere.

Remembering Etrisha’s seductive presence at the bar, Devin looked down at Berita with cold eyes.

Snap! He roughly shook off her arm. The recoil sent Berita crashing against the wall, emitting a groan as she clutched her shoulder.

“Devin, why are you doing this?”

“Stop your reckless behavior and go back. Don’t try any shallow tricks.”

“Devin…?”

Devin, as if in a trance, shook off Berita’s arm again and quickly descended the stairs. Berita watched his retreating back in a daze, feeling as if she had been struck on the back of her head. The kind man who had whispered love to her until recently was nowhere to be found.

Berita, with a darkened face, began to interpret the situation.

‘Right now, my sister is demanding a divorce and troubling him, so he must be psychologically unstable…’

The memory of Etrisha’s threat, that she would leave no one around her, struck Berita’s ears. The fear of being left with no one and the anxiety of making the wrong choice made her heart lurch.

Antla was the only one who could dispel her unease, being favorable to her. Her presence was the link to Devin and a lifeline for improvement.

“Lady Diene! Lady Diene…!”

As Berita hurriedly ascended the stairs, she found Antla, nervously pacing and biting her nails. Antla seemed agitated and unstable, mumbling something indistinctly. Approaching Antla cautiously, Berita spoke up with trepidation.

“Um, Lady Diene, what about my banquet? There’s no response from Lady Wickley yet.”

“Shut up! Why should you care about that?”

Antla glared fiercely at Berita with bloodshot eyes, her eyebrows trembling as she scanned her up and down. Frightened by her gaze, Berita fell silent.

She left Diene’s mansion with tears in her eyes, having realized her invitation to the banquet was likely gone with the hostile atmosphere.

Left alone, Antla slumped into a chair after Berita’s departure.

‘I’ll make sure Etrisha doesn’t even dare to speak at the banquet.’

Despite Etrisha’s transformation, she was still the reclusive Etrisha who had been under her control for four years.

How could a woman with no social standing do anything significant? Losing briefly in a shallow power struggle was nothing for Antla, who had survived the social arena with psychological warfare. Defeating a naïve girl, ignorant of the world, was not a hard task for her.
Antla curled her lips up and her eyes shone with malice.

“Did I tie my hair too tightly?”

My head was throbbing, whether due to the maid’s mistake or because of what happened at breakfast.

It had happened this morning.

Lirien, as if intent on making her shocking statement from the previous day a reality, chattered like a bird.

When Edmond and I both reached for a glass at the same time, she clapped her hands, proclaiming us soulmates. When we simultaneously picked up bread, she made a fuss about us being of one mind. When we both couldn’t stand it anymore and got up from our chairs, she exclaimed we were twin souls.

As Edmond, surrounded by maids struggling to hold back their laughter, clenched his teeth and quickly left the dining room, he hesitated momentarily.

It was because of Lirien, who was shouting at Edmond’s back.

‘Edmond, don’t just focus on paperwork, do some training too! Especially where you need to…!’

‘Sister…!’

Edmond turned sharply and yelled for the first time, his face reddening as if his ears were burning.

Then, he glared at me with fierce eyes and left the dining room. Confused about why he was angry at me, I apologized to Lirien and followed Edmond to clear up any misunderstandings.

Outside the door, Edmond was fuming, clearly irritated by Lirien’s actions, which were distasteful yesterday as well.

‘Please take it as a joke. It’s just that Lady Lirien likes me too much. I’ll calm her down.’

Edmond, glancing at me, roughly loosened his cravat and said,