“By the way, I heard you joined Lady Wickley’s gathering.”

“…So what?”

At the mention of Lady Wickley, Antra raised her chin proudly.

Noble ladies would line up to join the gathering hosted by the renowned Lady Wickley, who grew up following an elite course.

Antra also admired Wickley to the extent of bribing people around her, and now that she had joined the gathering, her arrogance reached the sky.

“If you are a lady who has entered that gathering, I believe you will be a role model for the lacking Berita.”

Antra, who had been wary as if wondering what I was going to say next, twitched her lips.

“So you do know.”

“Of course, my lady, you always shine.”

Antra folded her arms and lowered her eyes coyly, waiting for the next words.

“Like a spangle.”

“What?”

Antra glared at me fiercely with a startled expression.

‘You shouldn’t hastily think I’d compare you to a jewel.’

I smiled gently and waved my hands, spread wide on both sides of my head.

“Sparkle sparkle-. No, is it jingle jingle?”

Pfft. The employees covered their mouths, holding back laughter.

Antra, thoroughly provoked, clenched her mouth and glared at me while exhaling through her nose.

I put on a sorrowful smile and lowered my eyebrows.

“I’m sorry, I only spoke the truth. I have a personality that can’t tell white lies. Well then, Lady Dien, stay healthy until then and I’ll see you at the banquet.”

I gave a polite greeting with a subtle smile and left the room.

“Heek- That, really!”

“Lady Dien!”

From beyond the curtain, I heard Antra’s primal groan as she trembled. I glanced at the room and snorted.

‘Right, so the two of them are at odds… Then I have an idea too.’

With a coldly set expression, I went straight to find Rain Burton.

Early in the morning, as planned, I wrote a will and a thank-you letter and sent them to the imperial investigator who arrived away from prying eyes.

“I entrust this to you.”

After politely expressing my gratitude for the investigator’s consideration in coming in a shabby carriage due to the confidential nature, I headed to the dining room.

Lilien, who usually waited for me chatting with the maids, was nowhere to be seen.

A maid who made eye contact with me guided me to my seat and informed me.

“She fell asleep at dawn after practicing confectionery until late at night.”

“Is that so?”

It was the moment I sat down on the chair the maid pulled out for me and contemplated the warm bread and salad filling the table.

Wait, then today…

As I stared at the dining room door with trembling eyes, sure enough, Edmond walked in expressionlessly and sat across from me. He gestured to me after elegantly spreading a napkin on his lap.

I started eating in silence with a dry smile.

“I heard. You caused quite a scene at the dress shop.”

Clatter-.

Oh my, I almost dropped my utensils.

It seems that what I did yesterday – hiring a third-rate journalist through Rain Burton to write an article after seeing Antra and Berita’s solidarity – had already reached Edmond’s ears.

I calmly put down my utensils, brushed my hair behind my shoulders, and smiled brightly.

“What do you mean…?”

“An article about Countess Vuel deciding to divorce due to domestic discord and running away appeared on the front page of a gossip magazine. Are you pretending not to know?”

“Oh my, really? Who would…”

Ha, Edmond twisted his lips fiercely, put down his utensils, and leaned back. His skewed gaze looking at me was saying how utterly absurd this was.

Feeling there was no point in hiding since I’d already been caught, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Didn’t you say before that even uninvited guests were fine if they were my guests?”

“Since when did scandals become guests?”

“Some mud usually splashes during the divorce process. I’ll make sure the Count and Lilien aren’t harmed. Is that okay?”

I gave a pressuring smile that meant ‘It better be okay, since you’re the one who kept me here.’ Edmond answered by lowering his gaze with a sigh.

Edmond, who had put down his utensils, loosened his cravat as if feeling stuffy. He seemed frustrated, unable to either chase me away or leave things as they were. That’s what you get for monitoring Lilien’s acquaintances.

I took a sip of water and opened my mouth.

“Count, your surroundings will become noisy after the upcoming banquet. Although it hasn’t been officially announced, His Majesty has indicated his intention to make you the owner of the duchy.”

Edmond glanced at me with suspicious eyes and calmly spoke.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I was wondering if you had plans to visit the duchy before the banquet. Perhaps for an inspection…”

Edmond briefly furrowed his brow, expressing clear refusal. I corrected the misunderstanding with a smile and added the main point.

“Actually, I heard that Lady Wickley is recuperating near Saint Vineyard, a famous spot in the duchy. So I thought I might keep her company.”

“…What are you plotting?”

“My, plotting? If others hear, they might misunderstand.”

I placed my chin on my interlocked hands and smiled brightly.

“After the banquet, flies will start gathering around Lilien. We need to elevate her status to prevent such things. Make it a tree they can’t even climb in the first place.”

In fact, Edmond’s tremendous prestige alone would be enough to drive away the flies, but if it came to that, it would be impossible to prevent bloodshed at the banquet.

‘No, that won’t do.’

I was planning to decorate the climax with Antra at the banquet where all the noble ladies of the empire gather. So there shouldn’t be any other commotion besides that.

By the way, Antra’s mouth was vulgar and frivolous, and I remembered some of her slander. I planned to weed out her allies through discord at the banquet and have her expelled from Lady Wickley’s gathering, completely isolating her.

To do that, I needed to win Lady Wickley’s favor. If I was going to win her favor anyway, wouldn’t it be good to ask her to be Lilien’s chaperone as well, killing two birds with one stone?

In the social world without guns and swords, the fragile Lilien would struggle to endure alone, and when I leave the mansion, I hope there will be many people by her side.

For example, a friend who would like her half-up hairstyle besides me.

Perceiving that Edmond’s thoughts, which had been quietly immersed, were inclining towards me, I smiled slyly.

“Lady Wickley’s reputation would greatly help Lilien establish herself in society. I’ll work hard to help her adapt.”

This was the most tempting proposal for Edmond, who adores his sister dearly.

Whether he disliked my confident tone or the situation of having to accept the proposal readily, Edmond raised his eyebrows with a displeased expression.

“You’re quite skillful.”

“Count, you’re handsome today as well.”

“…Was there a part in our context just now where appearance was mentioned?”

“Lip service is essential in a deal.”

As I wrinkled my nose bridge, Edmond leaned back languidly with a dumbfounded expression.

After staring at me intently for a moment as if contemplating, he opened his mouth.

“Having received the certificate of conferment in advance, the duchy is in the process of reorganizing its order.”

“Oh my, is that so?”

…So he’s in the process of expelling his collateral relatives.

“I’ll try to arrange a meeting with Lady Wickley. I’ll send a carriage, so you can ride in it.”

“An excellent decision, Count.”

I smiled brightly at the satisfactory deal. With a more relaxed mind, I picked up my water glass.

“May I ask one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Why aren’t you filing for divorce?”

It was a tone that couldn’t understand.

Edmond must have grasped my entire situation through the letters exchanged with the Emperor and the meeting with Rain Burton. My determination to divorce and my revenge.

But he probably couldn’t fully grasp why I was grinding my teeth to such an extent. Even with background checks, it wasn’t easy to dig into family matters. The letters only contained vague complaints about infidelity and mistreatment.

Hoo. I put the glass to my lips and chuckled.

“Why? Do you think I’m doing useless labor?”

“What I mean is, why are you solving this difficulty by dirtying your own hands?”

I, who was about to drink water, paused at the unexpected question. There was a strong underlying emotion that it was going too far.

I put down the water glass and stared straight into Edmond’s golden eyes, calm as a lake. And after a while, I opened my mouth.

“…Because I feel wronged.”

“…”

“Count, have you ever had your head pushed down during a meal, your face plunged into hot soup?”

Edmond’s lips parted slightly. He had a speechless look on his face for the first time. He seemed a bit dazed and shocked.

Just for this much? I snorted and said,

“Have you ever had your hair grabbed in front of servants?”

“…”

“For the past 4 years, my nickname was Etricia from the vulgar nouveau riche family.”

The more I spoke, the more my insides churned and my fingertips trembled. This was trauma acquired from living immersed in the original work.

Watching for reactions, begging on hands and knees while crying, instinctively hunching my shoulders not knowing when a hand might fly – these were unpleasant memories I didn’t want to bring up again.

And those nauseating memories brought back the emotions of that time intact.

Just because I was taking revenge didn’t mean the wounds were disappearing.

Sometimes I felt relieved after lashing out at Antra, but when the wounds she inflicted on me came to mind in succession, I would return even harsher words out of greater indignation.

Just like now, in a somewhat aggressive tone.

“My husband overlooked his mother’s tyranny and didn’t respect me as his wife. As a result, my authority in the family was less than that of a servant. For the past 4 years, all I could do was remain silent. Does this still seem too much?”