“The, the Viscountess Weekly said there’s a gathering she must attend, so I’m going to attend that.”

It was the outdoor gathering she had declined to attend yesterday when informing Viscountess Weekly. Though the Viscountess’s harsh words flew sharply, she disliked having less time with Etricia due to a gathering she had no interest in.

After thinking that far, she suddenly felt regretful for declining Etricia’s invitation to go out.

‘I want to go too… I want to go too…’

But tomorrow she had to bake a three-tier cake for the dinner that day. That was something she wanted to do herself.

‘I should have asked to go the next day.’

As Lilien emerged from her self-reproach and slightly raised her chin to smooth her furrowed brow, their eyes met.

The peridot-colored eyes were rippling with confusion.

“Lady Etricia?”

“Ah.”

Etricia sighed and blinked once. As if emerging from her reverie, she raised her lips gently as usual.

Her clear, bright eyes narrowed demurely.

“Is that so? It can’t be helped. Come to think of it, you received many invitations before the summer vacation but couldn’t go. My goodness, it seems I was the one holding you back.”

Th-that’s not it. It wasn’t Etricia holding her back, but herself fiercely avoiding it because she didn’t want to go. Because she wanted to be with Etricia.

In that moment, Lilien caught a strange sense of discomfort. As if her favorite demure smile of Etricia’s was slightly crumbling.

“Then I’ll have to look around the square alone. I was planning to buy something suitable for Lilien if I found it while out, will you be happy to use it?”

“O-of course…”

“Then I’ll be going now. Sorry for disturbing you.”

Etricia put strength into her eyes to smile and left.

After the door closed, Lilien tilted her head as she moved away from the table.

Etricia was as kind and gentle as always. Just somehow she seemed a bit lonely.

But as Mary, who had thrown off the blanket, started whining that the supplies were wrinkled, that question was soon forgotten.

I sighed, leaning my head against the carriage with my arms crossed.

It was the first time Lilien had rejected my invitation to go out. After leaving her room, I stood with my back to the door for a while, in shock.

But soon I thought it was ridiculous.

‘Even if Lilien blindly likes me, she can still reject an invitation. Why is an adult getting so shocked over this?’

I kept saying how cute it was that she depended on me, but it seems I was the one who had become more dependent. Now was a good time for her as a royal lady to expand her social circle. She needed to follow Viscountess Weekly to observe, experience, and learn.

So it’s possible that even if the lesson time changed, she couldn’t say anything, and she might have things to hide, and she could reject invitations.

It was the same with Edmond. From what I briefly heard from Rail, he was busy with work piled up due to the vacation, and he was clearing up years of neglected matters while traveling back and forth to his territory through portals.

Right, he was a duke. Not only did he have to cut out the rotten parts, but he also had to govern his territory.

Unlike me, who left the estate management to my uncle even after inheriting the title and becoming a knight, he must be busy.

I understand. So if they’re both frantically busy, they might not have any interest in me.

For a moment my insides ached, and I firmly pressed my lips together. Then my lips parted into a slash shape.

‘Really, I’m not a child who gets upset because my birthday wasn’t celebrated.’

By then, the carriage had stopped. I got out of the carriage with a self-deprecating sneer, fanning myself as I paid the driver and stared at the worn paulownia wood door.

Today I used a hired carriage instead of the Mifidian ducal carriage, because I needed to enter this guild union area that could only be accessed through the square’s alleyways.

I wasn’t visiting the guild union area because I particularly needed anything.

‘It’s to sell something.’

It was because I felt uneasy keeping the Oath Stone I had used to get Devon’s divorce signature last time.

‘I came in thinking there might be a use for it, but I wonder if there will be.’

The Le Bron business would be safe operating as a subsidiary company of the Vuel earldom, and I knew for certain through the original work that the uncle I would entrust the territory to was not someone who would deceive me.

In other words, it meant there would be almost nothing worth swearing my life on.

‘Rather than keeping it tucked away, it’d be better to just sell it.’

I reached out and turned the silver doorknob with its gilding peeled off.

Over the scene of the dead-end street blocked by red brick walls, a transparent veil rippled as if to indicate magic was in place.

I passed through there while closing the door.

The moment I closed my eyes and opened them again, a clamorous noise sharply struck my ears.

The alley lined up in a single row had a row of brightly lit shops, and people were fighting with their collars grabbed while holding oak barrels at outdoor tables of taverns, or entering eerie places with signs hanging that said ‘Witch’ in blood-red letters.

A dark playground for nobles. I bought a mask nearby and put it on, walking down the alley until I stopped.

There was a huge signboard on the alley wall with all the latest guild news.

The request forms and recent newsletters pinned there.

Coming to this union area was faster for getting the latest guild news. It would be published a bit later in the regular guild newsletters.

‘Since I’m here, it wouldn’t be bad to take a look.’

I hadn’t been able to check the guild newsletters lately due to the divorce.

But as I looked around the news, I learned something I never expected.

‘The assassination guild closed down?’

The reason was the disappearance of the guild master.

He was quite skilled in the underworld. He had even established a foothold as an assassination guild. It meant he wouldn’t disappear without a trace like this.

‘Such a person missing? So suddenly?’

There was no way the head of a guild would vanish without a sound. Unless he was found dead. So the culprit must be someone with considerable power to even hide the guild master’s death…

I bit my lip at the person who came to mind.

But I clearly erased the guild master’s memory, so how did he find out? I hadn’t even met Berita, the original source, since she couldn’t attend the party.

The question that suddenly popped up disappeared in an instant.

Edmond Mifidian. As an imperial hero with not only military power but also as a duke who seized real power in an instant.

If he set his mind to it, there was nothing he couldn’t find out. Moreover, as someone who cared for Lilien, he would have attached surveillance or guards like I did.

As soon as I realized this, I seemed to be lost in confusion for a while.

Edmond’s eyes filled with killing intent at our first meeting, the bluish gleaming blade. He definitely tried to kill me.

In addition, the uncomfortable surveillance and vigilance I had to endure just for being his sister’s acquaintance. And the fierce look in his eyes that showed occasionally.

Thinking that a blade might have been held to my throat from time to time without my knowing sent chills down my spine. I rubbed my slightly chilled nape with my hand.

‘So that’s why he had me stay at the mansion.’

It wasn’t just simple surveillance, but surveillance to prevent recurrence.

Yes, now it explained why he stuck close despite hating being with me. With his sister’s life at stake, given his nature, he wouldn’t have been able to trust anyone.

I can tell that he doesn’t intend to kill me right away. His softened tone, calmer gaze, actions. It was different from the beginning when wariness was boiling. But.

‘Does he really trust me?’

A woman who tried to kill his sister?

Human relationships could be attached and detached at any time, even blood ties. What if I offend Edmond one day? At that moment, my heart sank with a thud.

It was the fear that I could disappear without hesitation the moment I fell out of his favor.

“You’ve arrived?”

A quite familiar maid came out to greet me. I could feel her awkwardly smiling and glancing at me out of the corner of her eye.

“Have you eaten? Shall I have something prepared?”

“No, it’s fine…”

As I was saying that, I slightly furrowed my brow when I saw the maid exhale a relieved breath.

The incident at the guild union area left my mind confused and my chest tight, so I didn’t feel like eating anything, but the maid’s behavior was suspicious. I raised an eyebrow and said:

“What about the Duke and Lady Lilien?”

“Ah.”

The maid’s eyes trembled before she said with her hands clasped:

“The Duke has not returned yet, and Lady Lilien said she was going up to take a nap after her meal.”

“Then just prepare something light and easy to digest for me.”

“Yes, leave it to me.”

The maid gave a faint smile and withdrew. The direction she was heading was not towards the kitchen. I was puzzled for a moment as I watched her head towards the depths beyond the spacious hall.

Suppressing my presence, I followed behind the maid and she headed to the dining room next to the kitchen. Soon she passed by the usual dining room, lounge, and tea room, entering the banquet hall.

I followed to the door the maid had slightly opened and entered, and bright light was leaking through the gap.

I stood in the relatively dark corridor and peered through the door crack. The interior was so bright it dazzled my eyes, accustomed to the darkness.

Light blue wallpaper densely inlaid with gold laurel leaf embossing and golden chandeliers. An 8-person dining table with bright camellia flowers in vases, and pillars decorated with circles of bright flowers.

And there were Edmond and Lilien, having tea and conversing.