My conjecture hardened into certainty at the old man’s words.

“If you had informed us in advance, we would have gone out to greet you.”

“…”

“I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

The excessively changed interior and the old man rushing to welcome us.

The lord of Alphonse… had changed.

I turned my head slightly to look at Cassian.

He had an indifferent demeanor, as if he knew everything.

The strength I had forced onto my body dissipated at the fact that the lord had changed.

As I struggled to hold up my body that seemed about to collapse, I saw the man’s indifferent profile.

‘How long has this man known that the lord of Alphonse had changed?’

Even I, who works in the administrative office, had never received this news.

Then again, issues of local territories aren’t handled by the capital’s administrative office, so unless I paid attention, it wouldn’t have reached my ears.

Moreover, when it came to Alphonse’s affairs, I had been consciously avoiding them all this time.

Conversely, any news would reach his ears first, as the heir of Blanchet.

No, perhaps… I even had the delusion that this man might have changed the lord of Alphonse.

Though it was a brief conversation, the new lord seemed quite friendly towards him and appeared to know him well.

But for what reason would he change the lord of Alphonse?

It must all be my delusion.

In any case, now that it has come to this, I intended to ask Mary about what had happened.

She might be upset with me, but her eyes looking at me seemed tearful.

A vague intuition flashed through my mind that I might be able to hear at least that reason.

In any case, not having to see that lord’s smooth face made me feel like my churning insides were finally settling down.

As the tension eased, my surroundings belatedly came into view.

This room, said to receive only special guests, was the same room this man used before.

From the outside, this place boasted a heterogeneous appearance.

Unlike the golden exterior ornaments and the walls of the corridors that had been replaced, this cold space entirely punctuated with silver seemed like a completely separate space.

It was natural, as it was a space that remained unchanged in its place, alone in old memories.

Unless there had been his orders, it couldn’t have remained so utterly the same.

Even for someone like me with no sense of design, leaving this space as is made no sense.

The more I thought about it, the more the questions I tried to brush aside blazed up like a fire.

Did this man really intervene in Alphonse’s affairs?

Could this man possibly… know why I ran away from this place?

Did he bring me here knowing that?

The space with the same shape and color naturally evokes memories from long ago.

The day I stood before this man, wrapped in humiliation.

The day I drew this man’s picture.

This man who clearly mocked me…

Perhaps he brought me here again to make me recall all of this.

And now I am with such a person…

To think that nothing has changed from then. No, to be precise, it’s even worse.

Finding all of this ridiculous, a long sigh escaped me.

Mary said she would prepare an extra room for me, but her consideration was cut short by his words that there was no need.

She awkwardly retreated, and I ended up alone in this room with the man.

The heart of the Periote family.

Platinum blonde hair flowed down over the face of the woman who extended her dry, white hand from the bed in the glass greenhouse.

Faint wrinkles draped over her smooth forehead, straight as clay.

“You say that wench and Cassian visited Alphonse?”

The knight trimming her nails, noticing her change, smiled at her bedside and whispered softly.

“Forget all about such things. You have me, don’t you, young lady?”

Snap, Piocel’s finger suddenly twisted.

Blood pooled under the knight’s scissors, unable to anticipate her sudden action.

Not stopping there, Piocel grabbed the scissor blade with one hand.

“Ah, young lady?”

“Such things?”

Blood seeped from the fingertips of Piocel’s hand gripping the man’s chin.

Her gaze was fierce as she held the trembling chin.

“Who are you to say such things?”

The knight lowered his eyes upon seeing the blooming rosy smile.

“I-I’m sorry… I thought it was the same as before…”

As the knight said, Cassian’s recent activities had been reported to Piocel numerous times.

From his visit to the Marriott Hotel to that woman entering there.

Even the fact that this was happening periodically and repeatedly.

Until then, Piocel had remained quiet.

As if listening to a story from another world, not about her prospective fiancé.

The young-faced knight who had been by her side since the recent change naturally concluded that she wasn’t particularly interested in her fiancé’s private life.

Moreover, frequenting a hotel wasn’t much different from traveling, was it?

Well, it might be more than that, but still.

However, today his lord showed a different reaction from before.

A blood-like smile spread across her lips.

Despite the blood seeping from her fingertips, she didn’t show even the slightest movement, as if unable to feel any pain.

Piocel casually flicked her hand, dismissing the toy.

She snapped a yellow rose in the greenhouse and caressed its petals with her fingers.

Each time, the blood spreading along the leaves ruined the flower miserably, just as she intended.

Over the past time, she had visited the Blanchet mansion a few times.

Each time, it wasn’t that man who appeared, but the butler of the house with a troubled face.

The reason why that man rejected her finally became clear.

That man had taken that lowly wench to heart.

A sneer settled on Piocel’s lips.

Until he frequented the hotel, she had thought of her as just a toy that Cassian played with, nothing more.

That wench looked like a clear and brightly colored pretty doll, so it must be quite enjoyable.

She didn’t care if there were a hundred or a thousand such dolls.

Anyway, interest in such dolls would quickly fade with time.

Men’s interests don’t last long by nature.

Just like how she had replaced knights like toys dozens of times.

Yes. She was certain it would be just that much.

But…

The two of them headed to Alphonse together from the morning, without anyone knowing.

A woman a man only visits at night is merely for entertainment.

But a woman he spends the day with is a different matter entirely.

That man’s words flashed through her mind.

Telling her not to mind whatever he did.

Saying if their intentions weren’t the same, the engagement would be off.

Her family hadn’t even been able to push for a wedding, let alone an engagement ceremony yet.

It was the result of her father, whose pride was hurt by the Blanchet family’s lukewarm attitude after that dinner, not making any moves.

The severing of family relations that had been maintained halfheartedly happens countless times.

The exchange between the Periote and Blanchet families was following such a course.

It was flowing exactly according to the scenario that man wanted.

For whose benefit?

Piocel had not the slightest intention of letting everything end without her permission like this.

With a fishy smile on her lips, she flicked her fingers behind her.

“Prepare the carriage.”

Piocel’s lips curved gently.

The rules of chess are simple.

To capture the king’s heart, you must clear away the pawns first.

That lowly and insignificant wench who only knows how to move forward will be cast off the board the moment she leaves the king’s shadow.

And this time too, that man will inevitably fall into her hands.

Just as she had never failed to obtain what she desired until now.

Piocel recalled her past days in the Periote family.

How much she had strived to establish her position and please her father during the days when she was mistreated for being useless.

Her father, who had cherished her youngest sister for her pretty face, mercilessly determined her commodity value as low-grade when that child’s face was ruined.

Unable to appear in social circles or anywhere else, that child hanged herself several years ago.

Of course, it ended as a commotion under thorough hushing up.

It was she who had made her lovely-faced youngest sister’s face like that.

As punishment for catching her eye while trying to take away the toy she had long played with, that child lost her face.

Yet what does that wench intend to lose by causing such a fuss without any fear?

Snap, the yellow rose broke in Piocel’s hand.

Several days had already passed since returning from Alphonse.

Yuriel recalled the man who had embraced her roughly.

The man who had been softening just one step at a time over the past period suddenly shook her violently like the forte movement of a piano concerto played by an orchestra.

His expression was colorless as always, making it difficult to even guess his emotions.

She could only feel that the transmitted tidal wave resembled anger.

Belying that, on the way back to the capital from Alphonse, he took her into a clothing store.

The moment she saw the cursive letters and the blue rose logo covering them, she knew.

That it was a space that didn’t suit her.

Frill Blue Rose was a clothing store she had occasionally heard of while frequenting Calips Shop.

It was said to be where noble ladies went to have dresses made.

The owner of this clothing store, famous for being the only one to successfully adopt a ready-made clothing system, was said to be a duchess from a foreign country.

She was the one who instantly popularized the ready-made clothing system, which was difficult for nobles to accept.

Previously, it took months to have everything custom-made from scratch, so it was truly a remarkable development. For me who hadn’t lived in that era, it was unimaginable.

Even among such ready-made dresses, there were separate ones worn by nobles.

The man who unnecessarily burdened me with lots of catalogs, despite clothes being unnecessary for me, looked at me disdainfully as I chose the cheapest one and instructed the employee.

“From here to here.”