The much-anticipated next day.

Before entering Count Stacy’s residence, Lily steeled her resolve. No matter what questions were thrown at her, or even if an unfortunate incident occurred with Fredrick and Count Stacy, she would absolutely not be surprised.

She repeated this to herself to the point of self-hypnosis, but so little happened that her resolution seemed meaningless. Even Count Stacy was absent due to an urgent matter, which was utterly absurd.

“Here are the items that the master asked to be delivered to you, madam.”

The butler who greeted Lily in place of Count Stacy offered her a bag. Inside were documents for her to translate and a pouch of money. Seeing the hefty pouch, her perplexed feelings subsided.

Although being stood up was somewhat unpleasant… it was also a bit awkward to see Count Stacy, so it was rather fortunate.

Having composed her uncomfortable emotions in a different sense, Lily looked at the stairs leading to the second floor. She had received the bag containing money and new work, but her business was not yet finished.

“Since I’m here, I’d like to see Kennedy… would that be alright?”

She had to do the favor asked by Dillon. Since they had agreed to grant each other’s requests, it was more accurate to call it a deal.

“Please ask Kennedy Stacy about her former fiancé.”

That was what Dillon had requested, or rather demanded, of her the previous evening.

“Find out why they broke off the engagement. Whose influence strongly affected it, whether the other party readily agreed to the breakup, and so on.”

“May I ask why you want to know that?”

When Lily asked in puzzlement, Dillon smiled and replied with a question.

“If I tell you, then you’ll also have to explain why you want to hide the fact that Count Stacy knows from the commander. Are you fine with that?”

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

Lily immediately backed down, and thus the deal was made. She belatedly felt that she had been given the more troublesome request, but since she had agreed, she couldn’t back out now.

“I will ask the young lady.”

“If you truly regret what happened, please be sure to tell her that I want to talk for a moment.”

Lily added, worried that Kennedy might refuse.

Whether that worked, before long the butler informed her that the young lady had agreed and escorted Lily to the parlor. Up to that point, she had been with Dillon, but she entered the parlor alone.

Before entering, Dillon, whose eyes briefly met hers, silently mouthed “I’m counting on you”.

That only made it more burdensome. Left alone, Lily took a deep breath and looked around the parlor.

The parlor she was shown to was smaller than the one she had visited before, but it was also filled with expensive and luxurious items.

With so much money, why did they so heartlessly turn their backs on me and my mother…?

Lily’s expression twisted with questions and anger as she once again wondered about the reason. The moment she picked up a gold candlestick from the fireplace mantel, the parlor door opened.

“……”

Lily put down the candlestick and slowly turned around. A sneer hung on Kennedy’s lips as she witnessed that moment.

“What, are you going to steal that to pay for your mother’s hospital bills?”

Forgetting how she had tearfully apologized, Kennedy’s rude attitude made Lily chuckle as she tilted her head.

“If I said I wanted to, would you give it to me?”

“If you’re that desperately in need of money, I’d have to. But if you had caught such a big fish, shouldn’t you be drowning in money?”

A big fish? Is she referring to Fredrick Benjamin?

“Ah, not anymore? Since he has a new woman now. A woman far more beautiful and noble than you.”

Based on her tone, it didn’t seem like that’s what she meant. As Lily was about to ask what she was talking about, a maid entered pulling a tray.

An awkward silence filled the parlor until the maid finished setting the table and left. Glaring at Lily with eyes filled with irritation, anger, a hint of regret and pity, Kennedy sat on the sofa and snapped her fingers.

“If you don’t want to talk while standing, come and sit.”

“……”

Lily disliked her arrogant attitude of ordering someone beneath her, but sat down without showing it.

“So, what’s your reason for asking to see me? If you called me for something trivial, I won’t forgive you.”

“If you don’t forgive me? Then what will you do? Hit me?”

“Hey!”

“Your voice is as loud as ever, both then and now.”

A lady should be gentle, but Kennedy had been criticized many times for her loud voice that sounded like she had boiled a train’s firebox. But when Lily pointed that out, Kennedy flinched and fell silent.

Besides that, Lily was well aware of Kennedy’s weaknesses. They had once been inseparable friends. Two years ago, if that incident hadn’t happened. No, if Count Stacy hadn’t turned his back and had helped, she and Kennedy would still be close friends even now.

“What’s your real reason for calling me? Don’t tell me you’re trying to get revenge by making me angry.”

Yeah. Instead of blushing and being irritated like this, we would have been brightly smiling and chatting.

“No.”

Lily thought it was natural, but swallowed the future that had been shattered to pieces and lifted her coffee cup.

“As I told the butler, I suggested we talk so I could accept your apology. We’ll have many occasions to see each other in the future, and it’s not good for either of us to blush every time we meet.”

“Ridiculous. You ignored me when I tearfully apologized, and now you’re saying you’ll accept my apology?”

“You, and your parents, also ignored me when I kneeled and begged for help just once.”

“……”

At a loss for words from Lily’s retort, Kennedy bit her lower lip and downed her coffee in one gulp. Seeing her empty the bitter coffee without changing her expression, her insides must be boiling quite a bit.

Now that Kennedy was consumed by irritation and anger, unable to think properly, it was a good opportunity to extract the information she wanted.

“Like I said before, that wasn’t my intention! I had no choice because my parents made me do it!”

“Then was breaking off the engagement with Louis Rebecca also because your parents made you do it?”

Lily seized the chance and asked. It was something she had been curious about as well. Louis and Kennedy had gotten along quite well. Back then, the two didn’t seem like an arranged couple, but real lovers.

“……”

When Louis was mentioned, Kennedy’s expression noticeably hardened. There’s definitely something there. Convinced that it had nothing to do with Kennedy’s will, Lily asked again.

“Did Count Stacy tell you to break up with Louis?”

Again, Kennedy didn’t answer, but Lily took it as a yes and widened her eyes, looking very surprised.

“Oh my. Why did he do that? You and Louis looked really good together. I had no doubt you two would get married.”

“…I thought so too.”

The bundle of stories that had been tightly tied began to unravel. Gripping the empty coffee cup as if she would shatter it, Kennedy spoke in a murmur.

“I also naturally assumed I would marry Louis… but Father suddenly told me to break off the engagement. That his usefulness was over, so he was no longer needed. He said some nonsense about how I should marry into a better family, and ended the engagement without even asking for my opinion!”

Just thinking about it made her angry and resentful, tears welling up in Kennedy’s eyes. Although their relationship was strained now, seeing the friend who was once closest to her sobbing over a man didn’t feel good. Normally she would have stopped here, but since she had a promise with Dillon, Lily had no choice but to keep asking.

“What did Louis say when he heard about the breakup? Did he readily agree to it?”

“Yes! He said it was fine!”

Oh my. Lily was startled and widened her eyes when Kennedy shouted. Her voice was already loud to begin with, but now that she was yelling, it resounded through the parlor.

“When I asked if he was really okay with breaking up with me, he said it was fine, that it had been hard for him to cater to the whims of an annoying woman like me anyway, so it worked out. He laughed as he said it.”

“Louis really said that? I didn’t think he was that kind of person…”

“I couldn’t believe it either, so I asked him several times if he really meant it, but that bastard…Wahhh!”

Unable to hold back her surging emotions, Kennedy finally burst into sobs. Her crying was so miserable that all her makeup smeared.

“Don’t cry.”

Lily hadn’t expected her to cry this much and was a bit flustered as she comforted Kennedy. Just like old times.

“That bastard. That terrible jerk. No matter how many good things Father offered, we had built up feelings over time, but he threw me away in an instant…”

“I know. He’s really a bad guy. You should count yourself lucky you didn’t marry someone like that.”

Lily eagerly agreed, hoping Kennedy’s resentment would quickly subside. Whether it helped, Kennedy soon stopped crying and sniffled as she looked at her.

“…Are you okay?”

“Huh? About what?”

“That man. He abandoned you and went to the princess.”

The identity of this man who kept being mentioned was becoming quite a mystery.

“Who is that man?”

“Who else could it be? It’s Viscount Herald Braden!”

She had guessed it wouldn’t be Fredrick, but she didn’t expect it to be Herald.

It seemed Kennedy also knew about the fight between Herald and Fredrick at the company in the past.

No, wait a minute. What does knowing about that incident have to do with him abandoning me and going to the princess? And who is this princess?

“No matter how improper your relationship with him was, causing a scandal big enough to be plastered all over the newspapers, it’s not polite for him to throw you away overnight and go to Princess Herta!”

Lily was too confused to ask anything, but the overly excited Kennedy voluntarily shared the things she was curious about.