“You don’t even know the basic etiquette. It’s a huge disappointment, Count Benjamin.”

To say that one is greatly disappointed means they had high expectations for the other person.

The 2nd Prince had expectations for me? Fredrick inwardly scoffed at such ridiculous nonsense, but on the outside, he bowed his head politely as if he were a criminal. The tea water hanging on the ends of his hair dripped down. The shirt he was wearing was stained with bright yellow liquid.

“My apologies…”

“Well, it can’t be helped. You were a commoner after all.”

Commoner. At that word boring into his eardrums, his yellow-soaked shoulders stiffened.

“No matter how nice the clothes you wear or how fancily you dress up, your lowborn status doesn’t change, so I should understand.”

It was a remark pointing out that no matter how much Fredrick struggled, he was born a commoner and could never become a true noble. Even after hearing it dozens of times, statements he still wasn’t used to were like sharp daggers roughly stabbing at Fredrick’s pride.

The silver lining was that he had long abandoned his pride, so it didn’t hurt that much. He could only smirk at how pathetic the 2nd Prince’s actions were, trying to scrape away at his self-esteem like this.

Fredrick looked at Derius while disguising the smirk threatening to break out as a bright smile. His glasses were dirtied by the tea water, making it hard to see Derius’s face clearly. Thanks to that, he could smile even more unabashedly.

“Thank you for your broad-minded understanding, Your Highness the 2nd Prince.”

“…”

Perhaps it wasn’t the reaction he wanted. Derius narrowed his eyes at Fredrick before leisurely leaning back on the sofa again. Sinking deep into the plush backrest, he crossed his arms and legs.

“As you say, I am a very open-minded person, but what you did this time is completely incomprehensible to me.”

Isn’t he embarrassed to say such things himself? Fredrick clicked his tongue inwardly while outwardly feigning confusion and asking back.

“What are you referring to…?”

“Ha!”

Derius laughed cynically, then tilted his head at an angle.

“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

How could he not know. Fredrick knew very well why the 2nd Prince had summoned him here, and the reason he got upset over small things.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”

However, revealing that would be admitting that he acted despite knowing he shouldn’t, so Fredrick pretended to know nothing. His wet face was brazen beyond innocent. Derius twisted the corner of his lips and spoke in a frigid voice.

“I clearly told you to search quietly, but you caused such a commotion that the whole world knows.”

“Ah…!”

There is a limit to everything. If he kept pretending not to know, he would come across as a clueless fool, so Fredrick exclaimed as if he just realized and stammered out excuses. Of course, it was intentional acting to seem flustered.

“In my eagerness to quickly find the item you were desperately searching for, I unintentionally… I am ashamed, Your Highness.”

“So did you find it?”

The Duchess, who had been sitting quietly while fanning herself like an audience watching a play, suddenly interjected into the conversation. Fredrick hesitated for a moment before answering.

“Unfortunately, I did not find any items that appeared to be yours, Your Highness… but I may have been mistaken. If you wish, I will bring all the items excavated from the grave.”

“No need. I don’t need to see such trash.”

When Derius waved his hand dismissively as if telling him not to bother, Fredrick bowed his head in acknowledgment. His eyes looking at the damp carpet flashed sharply.

The fact that everything taken from Madison Benjamin’s coffin was trash was something only the grave robbers and Fredrick knew. Of course, Lilly, who personally placed the items inside, would know as well, but they would have been in good condition at the time, so she couldn’t see them as trash.

However, the fact that Derius knew meant he had also dug up the grave.

“Anyway, the conclusion is, even after causing such an uproar, you failed to find my item that Madison Benjamin stole. Isn’t that right, Count Benjamin?”

“My apolo-”

“I’m sick of hearing apologies, so put that word away now.”

As soon as Fredrick shut his mouth, Derius laughed cynically. But the eyes looking at Fredrick were cold. Scanning him up and down like a suspicious investigator, Derius clicked his tongue and took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

“Wipe yourself.”

Giving medicine after dealing a blow? Fredrick found it absurd, but on the other hand, he was relieved. If he could cover up this incident just by having tea spilled on him, it would be to his advantage.

“Thank you.”

This time Fredrick expressed his gratitude sincerely as he reached out his hand not holding the teapot. However, before his hand could touch it, the handkerchief fell at Derius’s feet.

“…”

It was clearly intentional to anyone watching. Fredrick flinched but carefully set the teapot on the table and bent down. As he tried to pick up the handkerchief, Derius stepped on his hand along with the handkerchief.

It wasn’t a hard stomp. If he tried to pull out, he could have easily done so. But feeling like he shouldn’t, Fredrick just raised his head and looked up at Derius. Beyond his blurred vision through the stained glasses, he saw a wicked smile.

“Don’t try to use your measly brain and just move as your master orders.”

The foot stepping on Fredrick’s hand gradually applied more pressure.

“Act like the mutt you are.”

The pressure was strong enough to turn his fingertips bright red from lack of blood flow, but Fredrick didn’t even blink.

“Yes.”

Rather, he pulled up the corners of his lips and smiled, the sight somewhat eerie.

“I will keep that in mind, Your Highness.”

After Lilly rejected Herald’s proposal, an awkward silence hung between them. Lilly was lost in thought, sipping cold tea or fiddling with the teacup, while Herald was mindful of her.

There was a lot he wanted to say. Many things he wanted to tell her and entrust to her, but Herald couldn’t say any of it.

Because Lilly didn’t want his help.

He understood her desire not to rely on others, but at times like this, it was a bit frustrating.

If only she would leave everything to me, I would take care of it all.

…Well, I probably couldn’t do that if I were in her shoes either.

Swallowing a sigh and soothing his gloomy heart, Herald stood up when he heard a knock. Drawing back the curtain covering the small window on the door, he saw Emily.

“Emily has arrived.”

At those words, Lilly stood up from her seat. Emily, who entered through the door Herald personally opened, bowed politely and said,

“I have called for a public carriage.”

When sending Emily out earlier, Herald had asked her to call a public carriage. It was the carriage Lilly would take. He didn’t know if she would return to the Benjamin estate or go somewhere else, but she would need a carriage to ride.

“Good work.”

As a reward for the errand, Herald pressed a gold coin into Emily’s hand. Emily’s eyes widened at the unexpectedly large sum. She lifted her head in surprise, but his gaze had already shifted to Lilly.

“Have it ready to depart as soon as the mistress of the dressing room returns.”

It was a way of asking where she would go. Lilly quietly met Herald’s gaze looking at her with a curious expression, then turned to Emily.

“Emily.”

“Yes, Madam.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can hire you as my personal maid.”

“Pardon?”

Not only Emily but also Herald looked at Lilly in surprise. The person responsible for confusing the two nonchalantly added an explanation.

“I don’t plan to return to the Benjamin estate for the time being. So it will be difficult to hire you right away.”

“You won’t be returning to the Benjamin estate?”

Herald asked in a different kind of surprise than before. His eyes sparkled as warmly as the sunlight streaming through the window. Lilly realized what he was expecting but pretended not to know and nodded.

“Yes. There’s also the matter with my father, so I don’t intend to go back for a while.”

She emphasized “for a while” again because she knew what was in Herald’s heart. The light in his golden eyes dimmed a little.

“What will you do if… Fredrick Benjamin is revealed to be the culprit?”

Divorce. That word flashed through her mind once more, but Lilly ignored it.

“It probably won’t be revealed.”

The inspector concluded there was no way to catch the grave robber, as there were no witnesses and even the footprints were washed away by the overnight rain. He expressed his regret to Lilly, saying the case would likely be closed as unsolved. So unless Fredrick confessed, there was almost no chance of him being exposed as the culprit.

However, the reason she decided to leave the Benjamin estate was because the thought of living under the same roof as the scoundrel who desecrated her father’s grave was unbearably repulsive. She was also afraid of being subjected to the same or even worse acts by Fredrick as that night.

Although he asked Lilly, Herald shared the same thought. If only it hadn’t rained so heavily, the grave robber could have been caught. Swallowing his regret, Herald posed another question.

“Then where will you stay in the meantime?”

“I plan to stay at an inn.”

“You mean that run-down inn?”

A run-down inn? Puzzled, Lilly soon recalled that the place she first met Herald was in front of a run-down inn and pressed her lips together. As the events that followed came to mind like a panorama, she shook her head vehemently in denial.

“Oh, no. I’ll be staying at a different inn this time.”

“Where is this inn?”

“I haven’t decided that yet… but I won’t be staying at a run-down inn like last time, so don’t worry.”

“Do you dislike me worrying about you?”

Why ask something so obvious. When Lilly nodded, Herald smiled slightly, the corners of his lips curving up.

“Then to avoid any cause for concern, you should stay at my mansion.”