‘They’d yap about me being an adopted child who can’t become the Duke’s successor.’

Up until now, Clements had lived as the Duke’s eldest son, all thanks to the Duke’s full support.

Indeed, the Duke treated Clements like his real son, so Clements felt no inadequacies in their relationship.

Had his own family also been high nobility like the Duke, he would have already secured his place as the successor.

However, in the case of high nobility, each family served different gods. For succession, the full consent of these gods was needed.

‘Stubborn old men.’

Annoyed, Clements rolled his eyes, then rearranged his expression.

Soon after, he mixed into the crowd of people with the familiar smile he always wore.

“Hey, Clements!”

One of the young masters familiarly called out to him.

The faces of the young nobles who saw Clements up close noticeably brightened.

Clements greeted the people with his usually familiar smile.

Among the invited were those who had taken academy courses with him.

Thanks to knowing Clements in the academy beforehand, one by one, the noble youths acted friendly toward him.

“Hey, how did you manage to be the top student again? You even finished the exams early and returned, didn’t you?”

“Clements, I heard there’s a training ground in your mansion! Show me around!”

“Weren’t the exams extremely hard this time? Wasn’t the difficulty insane?”

Although he was the Duke’s successor, he behaved informally. The dignified figure he had presented earlier on the stage was nowhere to be found.

Yet all of this was possible only as long as Clements maintained a certain boundary. Despite their casual interaction, the others knew well the difference in status between them and Clements.

Their tone might lack formality, but all their attention was focused on Clements’ every gesture and expression.

“By the way, I heard you got a new sibling?”

Then, the topic came up. The topic that nobody in the hall had touched upon.

The one who broached the subject was Vito, a young master who often shared classes with Clements in the academy.

In reality, everyone knew but deliberately avoided the topic.

The appearance of a legitimate daughter had caused a stir in the social circles for a while.
Then who would be the Duke’s successor, a knight had been elaborating on what Clements might currently feel.

To be frank, Clements was simply amazed that he had a younger sister and had no other thoughts.

Taking the successor’s position was simply something he was willing to do if his father wished it; it wasn’t about wielding the entire family according to his own whims.

However, Clements was in a very bad mood after reading the newspaper Phyllen had brought him yesterday.

It had talked about his newlybonded sister as a rival.

He remembered the name of that newspaper company well. They would probably go bankrupt within the year.

“Vito.”

Clements called his name in a low voice. Vito was a talkative child.

Vito, pleased at eliciting a response from Clements, spoke again.

“You know, rumors have already spread throughout the social circle? Last time, I attended Paul’s birthday party. Even then, there was a lot of talk about the daughter the Duke found. Later, Paul told people to stop talking about it, saying it’s best not to talk about others, but in my opinion, he just didn’t like attention shifting from him at his own party.”

Clements sipped his tea. He finally spoke quietly.

“What did they say about my sister?”

Had Diane been next to him, she would have instantly realized that Clements was in a low mood. Unfortunately, Diane wasn’t there, and no one else could read Clements’ emotional changes as quickly as she could.

“Well, mostly similar things. They said she’s quite eloquent for a 4yearold and really cute.”

Yet the response was unexpected. Clements momentarily stiffened.

A subtle change occurred on his face, one that others wouldn’t notice.

“Didn’t she come here? Is she probably in her room now?”

“Yeah, she’s still young. She probably wouldn’t find such a gathering interesting.”

“Is that so? Too bad. I’m really good at entertaining kids. Bring her along next time, and I’ll entertain her so much that she’ll be drained!”

To the confidently speaking Vito, Clements responded, still with a slight smile on his lips.

“We’ll see if the opportunity arises.”

Though that opportunity probably won’t come to you.

Excited by Clements’ mild reaction, other young men eagerly joined the conversation.

“She didn’t cry too much after coming to the Ducal house, did she? I thought it was a very good thing, quite a touching story.”

“Right, who knew the Duke had been diligently searching for his biological daughter for years. I only found out now.”

“He had been searching for years; how much he must have missed her.”

As rumors go, there’s always a story behind them.

The truth doesn’t matter.

Hence the fact that the father originally had neither a biological daughter nor any interest in one had been thoroughly concealed from the people.

Only elements that caught people’s attention and interest, and enough facts needed for his own family, had spread, completing the rumor.

‘People still love to meddle in others’ affairs.’

If they took care of their own lives instead of paying attention to others, wouldn’t their lives improve?

Clements continued his indifferent thoughts. Then, suddenly, the topic of the conversation changed again.

It was a topic that instantly grabbed Clements’ attention.

“Come to think of it, where’s Oliver?”

“Oliver didn’t come this time?”

“Yeah, hey, Clements! Is Oliver sick? Why didn’t he come?”