The next day, as usual, Filen visited the Duke’s office early in the morning.

“Here is this week’s schedule. Today, there’s a charity meeting, and then, uh, uh, a territory inspection and uh!”

Normally, the report would end quickly, but today, for some reason, it seemed to drag on. Caelius rolled his eyes irritably.

“Filen, is there anything amusing?”

“Uh, no, not at all. Let me finish. After the territory inspection, there’s a guild meeting…, uh!”

Caelius sighed quietly. In fact, he was well aware of why Filen couldn’t control his laughter.

Sure enough, as soon as the report was over, Filen brought up the subject.

“My lord, did you happen to meet the lady you admired at the last reception?”

Terrifyingly, curiosity began to ripple around Caelius. Seeing that, Filen realized that making jokes twice could jeopardize his life.

Filen immediately composed himself and straightened up.

“Fortunately, the lady seems to have cleared up any misunderstandings.”

After the mention of the lady, the restless curiosity that had been evident around Caelius subsided.

Seeing Caelius’ mood improve slightly, Filen cautiously took out a letter.

Actually, these were letters that had been received in advance since the reception, but Caelius had not been able to bring up the subject all morning due to his bad mood.

“These are letters for you from the lady.”

As an efficient secretary, Filen divided them according to certain conditions. Caelius looked silently at the piled-up letters.

“This one is from the young ladies, and…”

“What about the other one?”

“This one is from the young masters.”

The lord first opened the notes left by the young masters. Filen, who had already checked the contents in advance, stood a distance away near the fireplace.

Caelius selected one of the notes left by the young masters from among those left by the young masters and quickly skimmed through the first part.

“It was our first meeting, but it left an impression…”

Without looking at the rest, Caelius immediately directed the letter precisely towards the fireplace.

Sparks scattered here and there from the sharply thrown letter.

Watching it from a safe distance, Filen silently enjoyed the spectacle of the letters from the young masters turning into ashes inside the fireplace.

“It’s serious; even for just one day, so many letters have piled up.”

In fact, none of the letters contained contents that would furrow one’s brow from the beginning.

All of them simply expressed a desire to maintain a good relationship with Diana.

Comparing the letters from the young ladies and the young masters, the letters from the young ladies seemed to have already built a friendly atmosphere, while the letters from the young masters appeared to be filled with regret because they couldn’t even strike up a conversation with Diana on that day.

‘Because the young masters were there that day…’

Actually, the lady might not know, but the day before the reception, the lord called all the young masters together and gave them a stern lecture.
‘Surely, during this reception, the Jouyoungs will gather. I need to survey the entire event, so make sure to keep an eye on them.’

So, Lord Clemens and Lord Davan deliberately arrived at the reception early to preemptively control the Young Masters.

Therefore, it’s highly likely that none of the Young Masters approached the lady that day.

At least, a member of the Duke’s household firmly believed so.

‘It seems like it was written with great care…’

I recalled the confession letter that came to my father.

The handwriting was impeccable, each character neatly written without any deviation.

‘I should have observed more carefully at the reception that day.’

Even if it wasn’t Aldwood’s work, it could have been identified if it were anyone else. It was a pity.

Of course, I somewhat knew the reason why my father didn’t marry.

Even in the original work, there were rumors about my father’s scandalous past.

However, in the current reality, I had never witnessed my father behaving so recklessly.

In fact, after adopting the Gong family members, everything seemed to have been completely sorted out.

Moreover, considering the father I saw after coming to the Duke’s residence, it was hard to believe the rumors spread so widely.

‘Considering how my father has dealt with public opinion, it almost seems like a deliberately spread rumor.’

The original work did not explain about the father’s villainous past. It only provided explanations about the evil deeds he committed.

Therefore, it was challenging to understand exactly why my father didn’t marry, or why he didn’t meet someone else.

‘Filin also doesn’t talk much about it.’

Perhaps, through this opportunity, I thought I could subtly learn about my father’s ideal type and even his past. However, things weren’t going smoothly.

Then, I suddenly remembered the boy I had encountered.

‘By the way, where did that child disappear to?’

There were only questions left about the boy I had encountered behind the annex before collapsing.