The banquet was being held in the east hall, and I had decided not to go anywhere near there while walking through the mansion.

‘The Duke had already told me not to attend the banquet in advance.’

I never wanted to go to the banquet in the first place.

Even if the Duke hadn’t specifically come to my room to tell me not to attend, I had no plans of going.

‘Pfft, who wants to go?’

Feeling restless after spending time in my room, I had just stepped out.

‘I just need to avoid going near the east hall.’

Fortunately, the east hall wasn’t located in the main building where I was, but near the annex.

Originally, the banquet was supposed to be held in the main building, but luckily this time it was in the annex.

‘Otherwise, I’d have to stay stuck in my room.’

Well, not much was different this time either, but the Duke had at least allowed me to wander to the garden near the main building.

I confidently moved to the garden.

“You useless wench! If I can’t see the Duke because of this, will you take responsibility?!”

“I’m, I’m sorry, so sorry!”

A sharp female voice and what seemed like a sobbing female voice reached my ears.

Hidden behind a tree, I peeked out to see a noblewoman and a maid groveling at her feet.

“You useless wench!”

The cursing noblewoman tried to kick the maid’s shoulders and head.

“Wa, wait!”

Shocked by the scene, I quickly intervened.

“Stop it!”

The noblewoman who met my eyes froze.

The arrogant gaze of the momentarily flustered noblewoman scanned me from head to toe.

It hadn’t been long since the banquet started.

Considering that previous banquets had been held in the main building, it was somewhat unusual.

Around the time the banquet was to begin, the servants were busy guiding the arriving guests to the east hall.

“Excuse me, sir, the hall for the banquet is not in that direction.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Among them, a few people confused the main building with the banquet location, so the servants had to check around the east hall area.

They needed to guide the occasionally lost guests back to the east hall.

Of course, it would be different for those deliberately avoiding the eyes of the servants.

A man with striking ashgray eyes and short, chestnut hair slipped into the garden.

His elegant formal attire made him appear like a guest who had lost his way, leaving no room for doubt.

The man also planned to vaguely claim that he had lost his way if he happened to run into a servant.

Before arriving here, he had verified that the Duke and the Duke’s adjutant were in the hall.

The servants could easily be deceived, but they would recognize him as an uninvited guest.

Even if asked to show an invitation, revealing his identity would leave the servants powerless.

Separately from that, he was extremely annoyed that he hadn’t received an invitation to this banquet.

‘This scoundrel.’

To be clear, he had expected to receive an invitation to this banquet, as had his only son.

The issue arose after he had sent a letter.

Before the banquet, he had sent a lengthy letter to the Duke.

Though there was no reply, judging from the fact that no invitation was sent, it seemed the Duke didn’t like the contents.

‘I didn’t even make an unreasonable request.’

As he moved away from the passing servants, he furrowed his eyebrows.

It was fortunate that he had kept a close eye on the happenings at this Duke’s house.

Otherwise, he would have missed today’s banquet entirely.
“How dare they hold a feast without inviting me?”

He swallowed his words, knowing that saying them aloud would do him no good at this moment.

The anger he had long suppressed almost erupted, but he managed to hold it back.

Upon reflection, the matter he proposed wasn’t something to be discussed through letters.

Hence, the man had personally come to the ducal house to discuss the details facetoface.

Even if, after visiting the Byas Empire for a few days, the duke hadn’t been available to meet him, forcing this covert visit.

“It wouldn’t be easy to meet him even if I head straight to his office.”

How could he confront that haughty duke?

As he was lost in thought, his gaze fixed on one direction.

“Stop it!”

The voice of a young girl. He hadn’t expected to encounter her while visiting the duke.

“Eureka.”

This was truly an unexpected harvest.

“Now you interfere even when you shouldn’t?”

Cynthia was punishing the maid who had led her astray.

The young girl’s interruption had her biting her lip.

There were originally only male descendants in the ducal house; no young girls.

Had it not been for recent news, she would have considered the girl insolent and punished her as she would a maid.

What stopped her was the recent news that the duke, who only had an adopted son, had found his biological daughter.

Although the fact irritated her greatly, the silver lining was that the duke had not brought the child’s birth mother into the family.

The information about the birth mother was kept a strict secret within the ducal household.