The blonde noblewoman said, waving her feather fan gently.

Then, Youngsik, who was sitting diagonally to her left, immediately spoke.

“Since love and marriage are separate issues anyway, won’t there be little impact?”

It was indeed somewhat shocking that the Crown Prince had such unusual preferences.

However, that didn’t mean his charm had completely disappeared.

The Crown Prince’s charm stems from his right to succeed to the throne.

Moreover, the power of the Empress and her supporting faction was also one of the Crown Prince’s charms.

His handsome appearance was like an additional gift that came along.

“Well, that’s not wrong, but… still, for now, isn’t the reaction from that place most important…”

The middle-aged nobleman sitting to the right of the noblewoman trailed off, lowering his gaze.

“The reaction from that place?”

At the noblewoman’s question, the middle-aged nobleman, looking slightly flustered, carefully began to speak.

“After all, doesn’t everyone have their own preferences?”

“That’s true.”

As the noblewoman nodded, the middle-aged nobleman added an explanation.

“If it doesn’t match one’s preferences, there are cases where there’s no reaction…”

Understanding what he meant by ‘that place’, Youngsik turned his gaze away and bit his lip, while the noblewoman pondered his words.

And soon, realizing what he was trying to say, she let out a silent scream.

“…!”

The noblewoman froze for a moment with her mouth agape.

Then, she looked at the two with eyes seeking confirmation if what she had imagined was correct.

The middle-aged nobleman nodded and added.

“What you’re thinking now, my lady, is correct. And this will lead to succession issues.”

Countess Tarel, who had been diligently collecting the various opinions of the nobles gathered in the salon, found the conversation interesting and moved towards these three people.

On the dawn of the day of the Imperial Palace ball.

It was not long after Baroness Cypress had visited the salon to gossip about the big issue that occurred at the Imperial Palace ball.

A person from the Radcliffe Company visited the Tarel Count’s residence.

He said he had stopped by when he noticed the lights were still on at the Tarel Count’s residence while he was moving with some hard-to-obtain Selvic Mountain wine.

Then, he handed a parchment to Countess Tarel, asking her to reconfirm the previously placed order.

The parchment listed luxury items such as perfumes, beauty soaps, and spices.

Countess Tarel received them and said she would think about it a bit more before sending him back.

Then she returned to the study and compared the contents of the parchment with the code decryption table she had received from Jieselgrante.

The message said that Countess Tarel’s salon would regain its previous popularity, and asked her to listen carefully to the public opinion of the gathering nobles and share their views.

It was welcome news, given that the number of nobles visiting the salon had been decreasing.

Lastly, it also included instructions to give hints to the nobles in the salon to remember ‘past events’.

Countess Tarel took action as advised by Duke Amaterasu’s daughter.

“If there might be no reaction, that would indeed be a big problem.”

Countess Tarel added to the conversation of the middle-aged nobleman, Youngsik, and the noblewoman.

The three turned their heads towards Countess Tarel.

She met their gaze and continued speaking.

“If a situation arises where it’s difficult to obtain a legitimate heir, not just with the Crown Princess, wouldn’t it mean another bloodbath in the Imperial Palace…”

Bloodbath in the Imperial Palace.

At the words Countess Tarel casually dropped, the middle-aged nobleman furrowed his brow.

“By the bloodbath in the Imperial Palace, do you mean during the reign of the previous Emperor?”

“It might be too early to conclude, but the possibility can’t be ruled out. If His Highness the Crown Prince doesn’t respond to women, it would be difficult to see an heir…”

As Youngsik asked cautiously, the middle-aged nobleman nodded slightly.

The noblewoman, who had been just listening to the two’s conversation, also looked troubled.

Given her age, the noblewoman probably hadn’t experienced that period directly, but her family members likely had.

She must have heard about the terrible situation.

As the power structure changed at that time, nobles were divided into those who prospered even more and those who didn’t, and judging from the noblewoman’s reaction, one could guess that her family had suffered losses.

As the talk of the previous Emperor’s reign came up, the atmosphere became quite somber.

Just then, Filippo came down the stairs from the second floor.

“Oh, Count Tarel Youngsik is coming over there.”

The middle-aged nobleman, who spotted him first, brightened up.

“It seems to be the work of Weldenbell’s tailor, the sea-blue jacket suits Youngsik’s skin tone so well.”

As the noblewoman chimed in, Youngsik, who had been watching the two’s reactions, joined in the praise.

“That’s right! It’s like a refreshing drop of rain on a hot summer day, shall we say?”

“…You flatter me.”

Filippo smiled shyly, seeming embarrassed by the consecutive compliments.

The noblewoman held up her azure scarf to Filippo’s face and made a fuss.

“Look at this. Indeed, for Count Tarel Youngsik’s skin tone…”

“Of course, that suits him well too, but…”

The noblewoman and Youngsik chattered about which color would suit Filippo’s skin tone even better, while Countess Tarel watched with a rather pleased expression.

“My lady. Someone from the Radcliffe Company has come, asking if you could check once more if the items listed should be delivered.”

A maid handed a parchment to Countess Tarel.

Countess Tarel quickly scanned the parchment with her eyes and said,

“It will take a little time for me to check and come back. Serve them tea and refreshments so they won’t be bored while waiting.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Countess Tarel immediately headed to the study.

And she rewrote the product list while looking at the code decryption table.

Only after confirming that everything she needed to convey was included did she leave the study and head to the reception room.

Just as the person from the Radcliffe Company was about to put the last cookie on the plate into his mouth, he noticed Countess Tarel and stood up.

She handed him the parchment and said,

“This is the list of items for the next order.”

“Thank you for your business, my lady.”

The carriage of the Radcliffe Company, after stopping at a few other mansions in town houses besides the Tarel Count’s residence, headed towards Duke Amaterasu’s mansion.

The carriage stopped briefly in front of the huge iron gate.

As soon as the guard confirmed the carriage’s emblem and gave permission, the massive iron gate opened to both sides.

The carriage that entered the duke’s mansion stopped, and a slender young man got out.

His steps towards the inside of the mansion seemed quite familiar.

The employees of Duke Amaterasu’s mansion also welcomed him warmly.

Seated in the reception room, he looked around and softly exclaimed in admiration.

It was truly a space that seemed to incorporate all of his tastes, making him want to visit again every time he saw it.

Click, click.

Then, the clear sound of shoe heels hitting the marble floor was heard.

Prat immediately stood up and gave a polite greeting.

“Hello, Duke Amaterasu’s daughter. It’s an honor to see you again. Today, the wind is very cool, and the weather is sunny. I recommend a walk!”

“That’s quite good news. Thank you for letting me know, Prat.”

As Jieselgrante responded with a bright smile, Prat blushed and handed her the parchment.

Jieselgrante immediately lowered her gaze to the parchment and checked the list.

The parchment listed the names and quantities of expensive luxury items such as perfumes, beauty soaps, and spices, but these were all in code.

Jieselgrante, who had recently acquired a small company, renamed it Radcliffe and began operations.

Radcliffe Company adopted a business method of quickly procuring and safely delivering items desired by nobles, regardless of time or weather.

Fortunately, the nobles who had used Radcliffe Company poured out praise.

Although the prices were set higher than other companies, it was more than enough to satisfy the demanding nobles.

And the reason Jieselgrante set up such a company was to achieve her goal.

In fact, she had wanted to build a secret information network by gathering information through a company like this before.

After constant deliberation, she succeeded in coming up with a good idea, but she hit a wall before implementation.

There were too many eyes in the Imperial Palace.

More precisely, eyes watching Trinity.

It was because she realized too late that most of the people who had been around her since childhood were the Empress’s people.

So after becoming an adult, she purposely wandered outside to find people who would work for her in an attempt to avoid the Empress’s eyes.

Except for a few connections she had secretly built up independently, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the Empress knew everything about Trinity’s every move and everything about her.

If she hadn’t been given another chance to live, this idea would never have seen the light of day.

And Jieselgrante thought that the situation might have improved even more than before.

If she had built and used an information network in the same way in the Imperial Palace, the Empress would have tried to figure out who the owner of Radcliffe Company was from the start. Then she could have quickly figured out what was being plotted.

It wouldn’t have been as useful as it is now.

“I’ll go check the items on the list once more. Would you mind waiting for a moment?”

At Jieselgrante’s question, Prat nodded with a bright smile.

“I can wait as long as needed. Please write at your leisure.”

Jieselgrante immediately moved to the study and briefly wrote down the encrypted product list.

Then she handed the parchment to Prat, who was waiting.

Soon, the Radcliffe Company’s carriage, having left Duke Amaterasu’s mansion, headed towards Count Frederick’s residence after visiting several other mansions.