Lili only realized this was the Prasis Hotel after leaving the guest room. It was a top-class hotel where not only wealth, but also high status and reputation were required to stay.

The fact that she had stayed in the top floor suite of this hotel meant that man’s family was at least an earl’s household, and extremely wealthy as well.

She spent the night with such a person, and he even asked her to become his mistress?

You’re crazy, Lili. You were truly out of your mind.

“Haa.”

Newly realizing just how insane her actions had been, Lili let out a deep sigh that bubbled up from within. She also felt uneasy about not being able to clean up anything from yesterday due to that man’s sudden departure.

“It’ll be okay, right?”

A man of high enough status to stay in the Prasis Hotel suite would never take a mistress as insignificant as herself, the wife of a viscount.

So it would be fine, no, it had to be fine, Lili reassured her anxious heart as she descended the stairs. Though this hotel had an elevator, she would have to call an employee to use it, and she didn’t want to run into other people, so she used the stairs.

It took quite a while to walk down from the 15th floor. Lili paused to catch her breath before forcefully pulling open the door leading to the first floor lobby.

“Good morning, my lady.”

“Ah!”

Startled by a man’s sudden greeting as soon as she opened the door, Lili looked at him in surprise. Seeing his neat uniform, he seemed to be an employee of this hotel.

“Are you checking out?”

“Ah, yes. I was just about to leave.”

“Then I’ll escort you to a carriage.”

“A carriage?”

“Yes. It’s my role to safely escort our hotel’s guests like yourself to their destination, my lady.”

As expected of a top-class hotel, they even have this kind of service.

While inwardly marveling, Lili also felt relieved. She had been worrying about how to get to the Benjamin viscounty mansion without money to rent a shared carriage, but this convenient service eased her concerns.

“Then may I trouble you?”

“Of course. Please follow me.”

The man kindly guided her to the hotel’s back entrance where a carriage was waiting. Receiving a proper escort for the first time in a while, Lili couldn’t help but exclaim at the soft touch enveloping her hips as she boarded the carriage.

“This is… really nice.”

As expected, top-class hotels are different.

“Where shall I take you, my lady?”

“…”

Lili’s face, which had been filled with admiration while examining the carriage, suddenly stiffened at the man’s question. Her lifeless green eyes stared down at the plush carpet covering the carriage floor.

There was only one possible destination, no need to even consider it. The Benjamin viscounty mansion. It was the only place she could return to. It was a bit ironic that it was also the place she most wanted to escape from.

“My lady?”

As the man prompted her to quickly state her destination, Lili squeezed her eyes shut before opening them to look at the window connecting to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll go to… the Benjamin viscounty mansion.”

Herald, who had returned to the Maximilian duchy mansion riding the horse Dillon had brought, was caught by the duchess as soon as he entered the mansion.

“What happened, Herald? Do you know how shocked we were when the guest of honor suddenly disappeared during the celebration party? And then you stayed out all night without saying anything. I know you’re all grown up now and can stay out, but you should have at least said where you were going.”

“I’m sorry, Mother. I met up with Liam and some other friends for drinks after a long time, and in my excitement I ended up drinking too much without realizing… I’m truly sorry.”

In response to the duchess’s scolding, Herald spun a bright red lie with an expression and tone suggesting he was truly repentant. Of course, he felt no pangs of conscience about selling out Liam.

Duchess Maximilian brought her hand to her cheek and let out a small sigh.

“No matter how happy you were to see old friends, for the guest of honor to slip away during the celebration party…”

“Mother, I heard Father was looking for me?”

Seeing no sign of his mother’s nagging coming to an end, Herald changed the subject.

“Oh my, look at me. Your father is in the study. Let’s go together.”

Her saying to go together meant this was a conversation that involved her as well.

This is a bit worrying. Herald chewed on his uneasy feelings as he followed behind the duchess.

Lili, who had arrived at the Benjamin viscounty mansion in the carriage provided by the hotel, stood in front of the main gate staring blankly at the mansion.

I didn’t want to come back… but I ended up here after all.

It’s true I have nowhere else to go. Thinking of her ill mother, returning was the right thing to do, but that fact was so dreadful that Lili clenched her fists tightly.

After causing such a scene before and now staying out all night, Samantha would surely be angry.

Fredrick or Brian could stay out for days without any anger, but if Lili was even a little late, they would fly into a rage asking where she had been wandering around. No matter how much she tried to explain her circumstances, they wouldn’t listen.

And now that she had stayed out all night, she was worried about how Samantha would react. I just hope she doesn’t bring up Mom. She could endure anything else, but insulting family was absolutely intolerable.

“Young mistress?”

As Lili stood staring at the mansion without entering, a servant on guard duty called out to her quizzically. He then asked if she was alright, but to Lili’s ears it sounded like he was urging her to hurry inside.

Right, I have to go in. There’s no other choice.

Lili slowly took a step, mustering up nonexistent courage. Her soles stung as if walking on a thorny path. It was a short distance that should have taken 5 minutes, but her reluctant dawdling stretched it to over 15 minutes.

Finally arriving in front of the mansion, Lili took a deep breath to calm her anxious heart before entering.

“Welcome back, young mistress. We’re relieved you’ve returned safely.”

“We were worried something might have happened when you didn’t return all night.”

For some reason, the servants who would normally have ignored her comings and goings and gone about their work welcomed her warmly. Bewildered by the unexpected reception, Lili looked around at the servants surrounding her.

Then she noticed unfamiliar people huddled together behind the servants and tilted her head in confusion. They weren’t servants of the Benjamin viscounty.

“Who are those people?”

When Lili pointed at them and asked, the servants showed reluctance and all closed their mouths at once. As they looked at each other as if deciding who should speak, the maid who had served Lili the most took the lead.

“Well… they are people brought by Countess Baliman.”

Countess Baliman.

She was the woman who spent a passionate night with the newlywed groom in place of Lili on her wedding night with Fredrick. The fact that this woman had come here must surely be to mingle bodies with her husband.

“…”

Just thinking about it made Lili frown with disgust and nausea. If they wanted to roll around in bed, they should go to a hotel, doing this in their own home was absurd, but she wasn’t angry. She just thought, ah, Fredrick is being Fredrick again.

When guests visited the mansion, it was polite for the mistress of the house to greet them, but Lili didn’t want to treat Countess Baliman as a guest.

Above all, the mistress of this mansion was not Lili but Samantha. So she was going to ignore Countess Baliman’s side and return to her bedroom to rest, but the maid spoke urgently.

“Co-Countess Baliman says she came to see you, young mistress.”

Lili’s feet, which had been climbing the central staircase to the second floor, stopped. Lili only turned her head to look at the maid.

“…She came to see me, not him?”

“Yes. The master is currently out.”

“Since you were also not here, the elder mistress has been keeping the countess company in your stead.”

“So please hurry to the reception room, young mistress.”

The servants urged Lili, each speaking a sentence as if singing a round. It meant that Samantha was having a hard time.

Well, it couldn’t be easy for Samantha, who came from a commoner background, to deal with Countess Baliman who had been nobility since birth. Suddenly imagining Samantha flustering, Lili laughed without realizing it.

Part of her wanted to leave Samantha suffering a bit longer, and part of her didn’t want to meet Countess Baliman. So Lili stood motionless, staring in the direction of the reception room. As she didn’t budge, the servants fidgeted and stamped their feet anxiously.

“Young mistress…”

As the servants called out desperately, Lili turned to look at them again. They all wore pleading expressions, but to Lili’s eyes, it looked like disgusting hypocrisy.

It was laughable that they now sought her help when they had subtly tormented her at other times, like bringing ice-cold water for washing or deliberately brushing her hair too hard.

Moreover, it was rude of Countess Baliman to show up unannounced without a prior appointment. If it were someone else, she would have understood it as urgent business, but given that it was the countess who had spent Fredrick’s wedding night with him, it was unpleasant.

For the same reason, she didn’t want to meet Countess Baliman, but she couldn’t avoid it. The countess’s status was higher than hers. If she weren’t in the mansion it would be one thing, but deliberately not meeting her when present was impossible.

If I had known this would happen, I should have spent more time leisurely at the hotel. I rushed back for nothing.

Regretting, Lili said to the servants.

“My current appearance is rather shabby to meet the countess, so I’ll change clothes before going to see her.”

“What? Bu-but wouldn’t that keep the countess waiting too long…”

“It can’t be helped. If she had come with an appointment, I would have prepared and waited, but since that’s not the case, the countess will have to wait a bit longer.”

As this was the only way to vex Samantha and the countess, Lili dawdled and stalled for as much time as possible.