Jacqueline slowly rose, bowing slightly with bent knees before turning her back. Her steps were faster than usual.

She wanted to quickly escape this bleak space. She wanted to grab Colin in an empty room and pour out her complaints. And in all likelihood, those complaints would lead to criticizing Windsor.

As she hurriedly turned the doorknob, she heard a clinking sound in her ear. Windsor was probably drinking tea. But the sound was louder than expected.

“?”

Jacqueline thought that perhaps he, who had seemed calm, was actually quite angry as she left the room.

Then suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. For an instant, a flash of realization swept through her mind.

Perhaps…

“!”

She whipped her head around. And stared at the tightly closed door.

The reason Windsor didn’t dine with her, the reason he didn’t dance with women at parties, the reason he didn’t attend gentlemen’s social gatherings.

Jacqueline’s mind raced quickly. The puzzle pieces, each with a different shape, slowly found their place and finally completed one big picture.

“Could it be…?”

Her eyes glinted cleverly. Then the next moment, she let out a faint sigh. A sympathetic voice flowed from between her lips.

“There’s no one in this world without worries.”

Everyone lives with their own concerns and anguish in their respective places. Mrs. Ritz worried that Jacqueline might challenge her power, and Benjamin worried about not meeting his uncle’s expectations.

Jacqueline worried about the poverty she encountered for the first time in her life, and Windsor…

“If I had known this would happen, I should have set aside some of the fortune. Making a living off someone else’s money is no easy task.”

The lazy afternoon sunlight fell on her shoulders as she walked gracefully down the corridor without making a sound.

On the first floor, preparations for the banquet were still in full swing, and occasionally small commotions broke out. The bustle drifting through the usually quiet mansion felt rather peaceful.

Windsor headed to the dining room later than usual. Following a fixed schedule without a minute’s error was a habit he had developed since becoming a soldier.

He was supposed to have dinner at 7 o’clock, but recently, his mealtime had been delayed by about an hour. It was undeniable that this was due to Jacqueline, the new figure who had appeared in the Preston household.

As a tutor, she was a daughter of an earl’s family, and it was customary for her to dine with the Preston family, not as a maid.

The problem was not with her, but with Windsor Preston himself.

“Let’s go in.”

William, who had gone ahead of him, opened the door to the dining room.

Windsor, who had been walking mindlessly, suddenly stopped in his tracks. William, who was looking over his shoulder with a puzzled face, slightly raised his eyebrows.

“Miss Somerset…?”

William called out to Jacqueline in a puzzled voice, wondering why she was here.

She slowly turned her head and met Windsor’s eyes. Under the orange candlelight, her eyes rippled a deeper green than usual.

“William, could you leave us for a moment? I have an urgent matter to discuss with Lord Preston.”

“…Yes, of course.”

William, after briefly gauging Windsor’s reaction, closed the door and left. Windsor stood there, casting an indifferent gaze at Jacqueline.

“Have you not finished your meal yet? Then I’ll eat later.”

“When? Tomorrow morning?”

Windsor responded with an expressionless face even to Jacqueline’s joke reminding him of the already late hour.

She had expected as much. From the moment she saw Benjamin, she realized that the people of the Preston family were not ones familiar with humor.

“Do you know about the rumors surrounding Lord Preston? The fact that you’re as famous as the ‘penniless lady’ that I am?”

Instead of answering, Windsor just gave her a silent stare. Jacqueline smiled brightly and offered him a seat.

“It seems this might be a long conversation, why don’t you sit down? My neck hurts from looking up at Lord Preston.”

Windsor walked over with a gruff face and sat across from her.

At this sight, Jacqueline quietly curled her lips. It was because she saw an overlap of Benjamin, who had diligently guided her around the mansion, in Windsor.

The child was not talkative, but he didn’t ignore Jacqueline’s requests. Windsor was not talkative, but he didn’t ignore her requests either.

Just as Jacqueline didn’t dislike Benjamin, she didn’t dislike Windsor Preston either. He wasn’t the arrogant man the rumors made him out to be.

If he had truly been an arrogant man, he wouldn’t have carried her tray in the middle of the night.

She had a perfectly fitted puzzle picture, and it would serve as a trump card for Jacqueline.

“What do you want to say?”

Windsor broke the silence first. Jacqueline opened her mouth in a tone that was neither too serious nor too light.

“The reason Lord Preston doesn’t dance with ladies, the reason he doesn’t attend social gatherings, the reason he doesn’t dine with me, and the reason he doesn’t drink tea in front of me.”

Suddenly, Windsor’s expression hardened. His gray-blue eyes held a faint wariness.

Jacqueline, certain that her guess was correct, put strength into her voice.

“Would it be too presumptuous to say that I understand the reason?”

He said nothing. He just stared at her with a sharp gaze. As if trying to gauge what was in her mind.

Jacqueline maintained a calm smile even in the face of his piercing gaze. The cards in her hand were too extraordinary to back down now.

This was a game she simply couldn’t lose.

All in.

“If I say I can help Lord Preston, would that also be too presumptuous?”

“What reason does Miss Somerset think it is? Let’s hear that first. We’ll negotiate after that.”

Windsor asked straightforwardly. His usually expressionless face was more rigid than usual.

Jacqueline hurriedly composed her expression. She knew better than anyone how sensitive the matter she was about to discuss could be.

Jacqueline didn’t want to hurt his pride. As Windsor said, she just wanted to negotiate.

“I heard that Lord Preston was a soldier before becoming a marquis. That you grew up under the care of your opera singer mother until you became an adult, living a life completely unrelated to the Preston family.”

“As Miss Somerset says, it’s a story as famous as the ‘penniless lady’. I trust you didn’t call me here just to tell a story everyone knows.”

Windsor emphasized the words ‘penniless lady’. Perhaps it was his final warning.

However, Jacqueline ignored his warning and added:

“I hope you don’t misunderstand, Lord Preston. I pay my respects to your life.”

“Miss Somerset has been wasting my dinner time for exactly 8 minutes now. If you respect my life, why don’t you stop interfering with my routine and get straight to the point?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

The compliment didn’t work. Swallowing the words “You’re a person of integrity who doesn’t waver at the flattery of others,” Jacqueline moved her lips.

The only option left was a direct approach. She was so nervous that her stomach felt tight.

“When Lord Jeffrey Preston’s will was revealed, you became the master of the Preston family. From soldier to marquis, from commoner to nobleman. Your life changed completely and dramatically. So you probably didn’t have the opportunity to learn the unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome etiquette of noble society.”

“Unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome etiquette.”

Windsor quietly repeated her words. He was surprisingly calm for someone who had been hit right on the mark.

He wasn’t the type to openly display his emotions, and Jacqueline couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Yes, unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome etiquette.”

She continued, carefully choosing her words.

“What started as etiquette to show consideration for others has now become nothing more than a tool to fulfill the vanity of nobles. With the emergence of wealthy businessmen, nobles began to worry that their status might be shaken. That’s why unnecessarily complicated and cumbersome etiquette was created.”

Windsor stared at her intently. It was a scathing criticism he had never heard from anyone. An interesting look flickered in his eyes.

“They thought they could distinguish between noble and base status with just that much. It’s an absurd idea, but they believed it, and the etiquette of noble society became increasingly complicated. To make it difficult for those who joined high society late to follow easily. However.”

She paused there and looked at him with emerald-like eyes. The candlelight flickered in her green eyes.

Windsor stared at that candlelight as if entranced. Her voice sounded distant, as if coming from far away.

“As Lord Preston knows, no nobleman can be free from these unreasonable customs, no matter how unreasonable they may be. This world is surprisingly small, and rumors spread quickly. Moreover, one’s reputation in noble society doesn’t end there, it affects almost everything.”

Her words were correct. A person’s reputation had a profound impact on everything from politics and business to culture and diplomacy, regardless of the field.

Windsor was keenly feeling this fact recently. He was also paying the price for his carelessness up until now.

The royal family was using every means to take custody of Benjamin, and to counter this, Windsor had to recruit numerous nobles and legal professionals.

But it wasn’t easy. It was because he had kept a certain distance from noble society until now. No one was willing to step up for Windsor, who didn’t attend social gatherings and parties and had no personal connections.

He was isolated. But he couldn’t start chasing after social gatherings and parties now. As Jacqueline said, he was ignorant of the etiquette of noble society.

If that fact were to be discovered, the honor of the Preston family would be tarnished.

He didn’t want to pass on a half-baked Preston family to Benjamin. He wanted to return it intact, just as he had received it.

“Lord Preston probably worried that his actions might deviate from the complicated etiquette of noble society. That’s why he couldn’t ask a lady to dance, nor could he attend gentlemen’s social clubs. Until now, you’ve stayed in the Preston family’s territory, so there hasn’t been much talk, but the capital is different. This is a place where everyone’s desires swirl.”

Jacqueline pinpointed the core issue as if she had been inside his head. Windsor looked at her with fresh eyes.

He had thought she was a flower grown in a greenhouse, but she was surprisingly insightful. Moreover, she had guts. Just look at her saying these things openly in front of him.

“Lord Preston is not arrogant as the rumors say, he’s just inexperienced.”

For a moment, Windsor’s eyes wavered. He couldn’t take his eyes off Jacqueline, just as he hadn’t been able to until now.

Then, before he knew it, he opened his mouth.

“How can you help me?”