Fortunately, Benjamin, who followed Aden inside and avoided the bolt from the blue of having tea poured over him, made a low hum.

‘What on earth is going on?’

When Aden suddenly moved his steps to the cafe, saying he wanted to rest for a bit, Benjamin thought the guy was up to something strange.

Moreover, it was the cafe where Countess Erdi was sitting.

Benjamin, who thought it was impossible to break Aden’s stubbornness that would make even a bull’s horn cry, followed behind Aden as if to keep an eye on him.

However, Aden, who was the subject of Benjamin’s worries and a strand of anxiety, couldn’t avoid a miserable sight right from the entrance before he could even do anything.

As soon as he opened the door, a tea baptism. Benjamin, who was examining the disaster with surprised eyes, discovered Ludmila standing to the side.

He should have stopped Aden when he said he would enter here in the first place. He realized his mistake, but it was already too late.

Although it was a cafe at noon, quite a few customers had taken seats inside the store.

Moreover, most of them were leisurely noble ladies spending time in busy chatter. He wondered how far this rumor would spread today.

While Benjamin was stunned by the thought of even imagining the horrible situation, Aden’s voice, who was at the center of all this commotion, slowly flowed out.

“How long are you going to stay like that?”

The golden eyes, like a beast targeting prey at dawn, glared at the noblewoman who had poured tea on him.

Aden’s eyebrows frowned nicely at the sight of Celia, who seemed to have lost her mind and was only opening her mouth due to what she had done.

“Isn’t it proper to apologize first for suddenly splashing tea on someone?”

“Ye… yes? Ah, so, sorry…”

“What a quick apology. It’s so moving that I might shed tears.”

A slow sneer erupted between the lips that were sarcastically sneering. The whispers of people watching the commotion inside the store grew louder.

Celia, her face flushed with shame, only bit her lips hard.

Celia, who had lived her entire life as a daughter and wife of a noble family, had never heard such insulting words before.

Even if it was a pretense, gentlemen were kind, and their way of speaking was affectionate.

However, the man in front of her eyes was trampling on all of her past experiences. She felt stripped bare by the humiliation.

In the end, when a tear formed in Celia’s eyes.

“Is this all it takes to make a noblewoman of the capital cry? It’s unbelievable.”

Aden, who was watching her with cold eyes, wiped his wet face and twisted the corners of his mouth sarcastically.

“Someone I know has maintained her dignity even in the face of greater humiliation than this. If you are also a noblewoman in name, wouldn’t it be better to protect your own dignity first rather than bawling over what you have done? Of course, that’s if you have as much dignity as that expensive necklace around your neck.”

“Hey, Ade… Ahem-. Lord Havertz.”

Benjamin, who was watching the situation from behind, carefully intervened, thinking that if he left it any longer, there would be a problem.

The woman in front of him, Celia, was the wife of Count Vyrn and the sister of Duke Erdi, the Minister of Commerce.

It was a well-known fact among those interested in high society that he cherished his sister terribly.

“…Don’t provoke her unnecessarily since she’s the Minister of Commerce’s sister, and let’s stop here. You know we need the Minister of Commerce’s seal for next year’s budget review, right?”

Benjamin, who whispered softly to Aden, gestured with his eyes to wrap up the situation.

Aden, who glanced at him rolling his eyes, frowned with displeasure. It was over. Seeing Aden’s expression, Benjamin muttered a quiet curse inwardly.

That savage guy never let go of a target he had opened his mouth to easily. Like a beast, he never opened his mouth until he bit the neck and tore off the flesh.

At times like this, no matter how much Benjamin persuaded and stopped him, he couldn’t be stopped.

‘Next year’s budget review is a goner.’

A deep sigh escaped from his mouth and mixed with the cold wind.

“Please stop there.”

That’s when it happened. A gentle voice penetrating through the brutal atmosphere caught Aden’s gaze.

Ludmila, who was watching the situation from the side, took out a handkerchief embroidered with her name from her bosom and reached out herself.

She wiped from the wet hair to the forehead, eyebrows, sharp nose bridge, cheeks, and thick jawline.

It was more like caressing a fine piece of pottery than wiping a person’s face.

When she reached the wet chest, passing the neck, the busily moving hand abruptly stopped.

Even if she wiped a strange man’s chest in broad daylight in an exposed place, it would only worsen the rumors for nothing.

Ludmila, who knew this precisely, raised her eyes and met Aden’s gaze.

The red eyes that Aden faced up close were dark and sticky like blood.

The pale skin, combined with the red eyes, created the illusion of seeing blood splattered on a snowy mountain.

No matter how you look at it, these eyes seem far from the gentleness known to the world.

“Please take this.”

As if putting an end to Aden’s appreciation, Ludmila placed the handkerchief on his hand and took a step back.

Aden felt the scent of tuberose brushing the tip of his nose fading only when the distance between him and her widened.

“Today’s incident is my fault. Because I avoided it, an innocent person had to suffer in my place.”

“……”

“As for damaging your clothes, I will compensate you from my side. If you tell me where you are staying, I will send someone to make the same clothes you are wearing now.”

Benjamin opened his mouth at the sight of Ludmila neatly resolving the situation.

The dignity of Countess Erdi was enough to put an end to even the beastly temper of that Aden. Benjamin marveled at the unfamiliar scene.

“Then, I will take my leave first.”

After finishing her polite bow, Ludmila also gave a short nod to Benjamin before leaving the store.

The back of Ludmila, wearing a blue-frilled parasol and moving away, maintained her unshakable dignity until the very end.

Unlike the noblewomen who only knew how to shed tears.

The medical certificate arrived without much delay.

Fortunately, the competent money-grubbing doctor made a wise choice, saving Ludmila the trouble of having to look for another hospital.

Ludmila, who read the certificate with the word infertility clearly stamped on it several times to confirm, attended a tea party she was invited to that afternoon.

As is usual for this type of tea party, it was a private schedule where you just had to attend and exchange a few words.

While Ludmila wouldn’t normally consider it very important, today was different.

“Oh my, you’re here, Countess!”

Ludmila approached the noblewoman who was noisily welcoming her and greeted her with a plausible smile.

“Thank you for inviting me, Viscountess Whislen.”

“Not at all. Rather, I am grateful that you accepted the invitation. Ah, please sit here.”

The garden where the tea party was in full swing was quite splendid.

Tea tables and chairs made using walnut-based solid wood, as if trying to prove their dignity with money.

The splendid spring flowers blooming as if forgetting the season first caught Ludmila’s eyes.

The noblewomen who had already taken their seats noticed Ludmila and stood up to give her a warm greeting.

These occasions were always the same. Greetings and introductions, a few words of chatter and recent news, and time passes.

The main topics of interest for that day’s tea party were the rumors circulating in the world or matters of interest.

Ludmila, who had the noblewomen wrapped around her finger, took a seat, and only then did a graceful noblewoman from the opposite side approach and greet her belatedly.

“Ludmila.”

Ludmila, who spotted a noblewoman much older than the other guests, wore an even more affectionate smile than usual.

Benia Dawson. Among the noblewomen residing in the capital, there was no one who didn’t hear her name.

She was a person who had arranged numerous matchmakings with a network wider than a lake. At the same time, she was also the woman most sensitive to rumors.

“Lady Benia.”

“I heard the story yesterday.”

It was her habit to bring up the core topic right away before engaging in any private greetings or conversations.

“That you went to the hospital.”

In an era when it wasn’t very important who went to which hospital. However, if it was an obstetrician, the story changes.

“Was that rumor true?”

Although she didn’t specifically point out which rumor, there was no one who couldn’t recall what it was.

That goes for Ludmila and the noblewomen who were eavesdropping with their ears perked up. Ludmila only gave Benia, who was leading the conversation as if it were a pre-arranged play, a slightly pitiful-looking smile.

The smile, which was almost an affirmation, was enough to give Benia conviction.

“Oh dear… That rumor…”

Sighing deeply, Benia reached out and tightly grasped Ludmila’s hands.

It was a rare skinship in high society, but no noblewoman disliked such behavior from Benia, who was older than a mother’s age.

Ludmila was no exception. She didn’t refuse the gaze and voice filled with so much concern.

“Don’t worry, Ludmila. Surely, there will be a way to solve it.”

“Thank you for your kind words and encouragement.”

However, with such a tone and gaze, as soon as today’s tea party ends, the news that her infertility rumor was true will spread throughout the empire.

It was possible thanks to her, who busily chewed on rumors by attending several social gatherings a day.

Ludmila, who had finished her business, sat appropriately at the tea party and left at the right time when she had to leave.

Because only after she left would the remaining noblewomen fully chew on the rumors and prey she had thrown at them today.

Ludmila, who willingly threw herself at them, bid farewell to the viscountess and left her seat.

The next morning.

The news of Countess Ludmila Perez Erdi’s infertility was published on the front page of the morning paper.

Translation complete. 100% of original text translated.