Time seemed to pass more slowly than usual as one walked through hell.

At the end of it, the conversation between the two sides rushed towards a conclusion.

The one who put a stop to it was Lady Ricke.

“The night air is cool, perfect weather for a stroll.”

No one in the center of the heated ballroom, where the cool night air could not be felt, misunderstood the meaning of her words.

Viscountess Bilrode and Lady Catherine simultaneously looked at their daughter and son.

While Lady Ricke was adjusting her clothes with a shy expression, Hael was blankly staring only at Yuriel.

Seeing this, Lady Catherine, once again feeling her insides burn with anger, forced a smile and said.

“Hael, what are you doing?”

Though her tone sounded friendly at first, her expression was full of thorns.

Even then, Hael could not take his eyes off Yuriel.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards Hael, who stood there in a daze.

Hael’s face was frozen stiff, unaware of even that.

Yuriel deliberately averted her gaze from the scene.

It was because she didn’t have the courage to face it head-on.

“Yuri……”

Just as his name was about to leave Hael’s lips.

Once again, it was Lady Catherine who cut it off without fail.

“It seems he’s very awkward as this is his first time in such a setting. Hael is quite shy, you see.”

Amidst the abundance of young nobles leading dissolute lives, a shy potential son-in-law?

Doesn’t it sound like he’s lived nothing but an upright life?

Lady Catherine’s skill in subtly emphasizing such virtues while covering up her son’s mistake was remarkable.

Cassian watched this scene and let out a soft laugh.

Well, even if she had laid hands on the family’s horses, they were still her family’s horses, so could it really be called theft?

The problem was that she used them not for herself, but for something else.

To be precise, even that wasn’t the problem.

If you’re going to steal, you should have done it secretly and thoroughly.

Without anyone knowing.

Cassian’s smile deepened as he recalled the recent report of Lady Catherine taking Hael’s records from the infirmary.

It was amusing how foolish or naive it was to believe that all of that would be resolved just by appearing here.

Finally, Cassian couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Everyone’s gaze turned towards him.

Having composed his expression in an instant, he wiped away his tears.

“Ah, I apologize. I thoroughly agree with the lady’s words.”

Unlike usual, his use of formal honorifics in front of many people felt unfamiliar.

While his manner was clearly showing proper respect, there was something arrogant about it.

With a crooked smile, Cassian spoke on behalf of Hael with an unwavering posture.

“As a devout believer in the Horse Religion, he probably hasn’t even stepped on the shadow of a young lady.”

As if he were actually looking out for Hael.

Yuriel found this sight not just absurd, but frightening.

Regardless, he even urged Hael to answer.

“Isn’t that right, Hael?”

At the words implying he was a studious type obsessed with horses who didn’t even glance at anything else, the smiles on the faces of Viscount and Viscountess Bilrode deepened.

It was natural, as he had just given the best possible testimony in the marriage market.

Gazes naturally flowed towards Hael, who had been asked the question.

Hael’s blue eyes trembled aimlessly at the attention focused on him.

At the end of his gaze was the side profile of Yuriel, who had turned away.

After that, Lady Ricke looking up at him with a flushed face and the Viscount Bilrode couple came into view, followed by his father pressing his lips together nervously and his mother with an extremely anxious face.

In truth, Hael had come to this place today on the condition that the matter of selling Brit would not be pursued.

Behind that was also the low-grade excuse of doing it for Yuriel.

Lady Catherine knew Hael’s weakness well and had spread the word that Yuriel was being accused as the culprit who made her son steal.

Yet she hid the fact that she knew he had bought medicine for her.

It was out of fear that her son might completely go astray.

Hael thought about revealing the fact that he had committed the theft, but he couldn’t do that either.

Even if he did, Alphonse’s people would reveal where the results of that theft had flowed, and then Yuriel would once again be seen as the wicked person who had instigated him.

His mother had said that if he just appeared at this place, she would believe his words that he had used the money for horse research.

If it turned out that way… the public opinion of Alphonse’s people would all be reversed like that.

So what he had to say and do was already as good as decided.

That it was so.

After that, he would have to politely escort the young lady out with an invitation to go outside together.

It was time to repeat the common words of nobles at matchmaking gatherings.

“I…”

Before opening his mouth, Yuriel and Hael’s gazes collided in mid-air.

Hael’s hesitation lasted just as long.

However, in the end, the conclusion was the same.

This play would end soon anyway, and after that, Yuriel would know his heart.

Even if there was a misunderstanding for now, she would eventually understand his true feelings.

Hael, squeezing his eyes shut, reluctantly gave an affirmative answer.

“…Yes.”

Though it was a brief word, it was enough to make Hael appear like a shy boy.

Lady Catherine, feeling oddly guilty, added embellishment, saying that Hael was just being bashful.

Then, stepping back a step so that Yuriel couldn’t be seen, she turned to look at her stupidly standing son.

As the adults’ instructions became blatant, Hael had no choice but to take Lady Ricke and disappear outside.

Even so, Hael turned back to look at where Yuriel was standing several times until the very end.

Each time he turned back, Yuriel was captured in Hael’s gaze.

However, all of those scenes were of her back.

Yuriel’s gaze was focused elsewhere.

As always, it was directed at… the young master.

An indescribable, strange emotion stirred inside Hael.

Yuriel moved elsewhere without even being able to watch Hael disappear to the end.

She was attached like an ornament to the side of her tall male partner.

Catherine followed their departure with a long gaze.

In fact, she had planned to call that wench aside as soon as she finished greeting the Viscount Bilrode couple.

She was willing to even humiliate her to prevent her from clinging to her son again.

Though she had somehow managed to bring her son here today, she couldn’t guarantee the next time.

As long as that wench stood in her son’s way, such incidents would surely continue to repeat.

This issue had to be resolved before the next encounter with the Bilrode family.

If Yuriel had been living in the shanty on Alphonse’s hill like before, she would have arranged a different place, not a place like this.

However, since she had been embedded in the lord’s mansion, it had become quite difficult to see that wench.

The same was true for her mother, Jane.

Even regular employees could be met if one wanted to, but it was as if they were the owners of this house, stuck in the mansion.

For the past few days, she had come to this mansion several times but was blocked by the guards and couldn’t even set foot inside.

When she had no choice but to catch the haughty Mary and ask about their whereabouts, the answer was always the same.

Yuriel couldn’t come out carelessly because she was by the young master’s side.

That it was the young master’s order.

Honestly, when she heard those words, Catherine had scoffed.

The young master, my foot.

Among the attendants guarding the Blanchet heir’s side, there were plenty who couldn’t even last a few days.

Though that child had lasted a bit longer, she would surely fall into such a fate.

She would just be a plaything to be enjoyed for a few days for her pretty face and then discarded.

In fact, such things were common in noble society, so it wasn’t strange at all.

Because she had dismissed it as not a big deal, even when she saw that child come out wearing an absurd dress today, she didn’t even think that man could be that young master.

No, it would be more correct to say that she knew but ignored it.

It would be too much to bear if the wench who had left her son was by the side of that great heir.

In fact, when he was nearby, Catherine couldn’t even turn her head to look at him properly.

It was because the arrogant dignity that stood so loftily, just nodding his head without saying a word, exuded an aura that one dared not approach.

Only now, looking from afar, did the man’s face appear impressive.

A pale yet glossy face, well-defined features and nose bridge, a handsome jawline…

Only then did Catherine have to admit.

That man was undoubtedly Cassian de Blanchet, the Blanchet heir said to be residing in this mansion.

Despite hearing he was young, his aura far surpassed that of most adult nobles.

Lady Catherine held back a bitter laugh.

‘Has that wench already seduced the great Blanchet heir in such a short time?’

She felt as if her insides were twisting and her intestines were boiling.

Those who should always bow their heads before her and seek pity and sympathy were now strutting about in high positions like that.

And that too, after leaving her son in such a miserable state.

Lady Catherine, clenching her fist, trembled all over.

That trembling only subsided after Yuriel disappeared to the opposite side.

Only then did a crooked smile appear on Lady Catherine’s face.

Right. If someone doesn’t know their place, you just have to teach them.

It’s she who has been maintaining Alphonse’s order in such an orderly manner until now.

One mere wench is nothing.

Lady Catherine looked around and approached a servant she was familiar with.