‘Maybe a count?’

While waiting for the woman’s answer, I guessed her status based on her haughty attitude and the clothes she wore.

‘Someone below the rank of count wouldn’t act so arrogantly.’

I was curious if my guess was correct, but the woman just kept her mouth shut without responding.

‘She must have heard me.’

Worried she might not have heard, I deliberately spoke slowly and clearly. Even though I hadn’t asked anything difficult, the woman struggled to answer.

‘Is she planning to just stall and not say anything at all?’

The woman’s face was full of dismay.

It seemed she hadn’t expected that I would press her about her title.

She looked like she hadn’t thought a mere 4-year-old child would corner her like this.

‘Well, who told you to cause trouble in someone else’s house?’

To be honest, I hadn’t planned on getting involved in this.

Besides, even before coming to the duke’s mansion, I had often seen nobles bullying maids.

It was that common. Most nobles didn’t even treat the people who served them as human beings.

Thinking about it, the actions of the duke and Clemens were a bit unexpected.

‘The duke and Clemens have never treated employees carelessly.’

Though the duke seemed to overwork the knights and Philen, he had never gotten angry like this, as if venting his frustrations.

‘When I first met him, Clemens even greeted Sophia and Delma casually.’

That point was a bit surprising, but it didn’t necessarily mean they were good people.

After all, both the duke and Clemens would often use people as they pleased later on, regardless of whether the person who assigned the work lived or died.

‘Anyway, I really was going to pretend not to see and just pass by.’

But when I saw the shoe-clad foot about to stomp down on the head of the maid trembling on the ground, I couldn’t help but intervene.

The woman still hadn’t revealed her name. I sighed deeply and asked irritably.

“Surely you’re not expecting me to introduce myself first?”

Maybe in the capital, but currently in Hesera, Cailius is the only one with a duke’s title.

And I am his only daughter right now.

According to noble etiquette, the person of lower status should state their family name and name first to the person of higher status.

In other words, unless it was the princess, empress, or emperor, I had no need to introduce myself first.

‘Sophia taught me all that.’

Though I wasn’t old enough to have a tutor yet, Sophia knew the basic etiquette.

She had been teaching me bits of such etiquette from time to time.

‘Come to think of it, Sophia is amazing.’

She was supposed to be a commoner, but how did she know such noble etiquette?

‘Did she learn it from working at the duke’s mansion for a long time?’

“I am Flores of the Raquel family.”

For all her previous hesitation, the answer came out smoothly.

Just as I was thinking it was a bit unexpected, someone called out in a cheerful voice from behind.

“My, who do we have here! Isn’t it Lady Cynthia of the Schusted family!”

“……”

The noble woman who had just introduced herself as Flores whipped her head around.

Following her gaze, I saw a man with grayish-brown hair smiling and waving at us.

I mulled over the man’s words again. I said to the woman who had claimed to be Flores.

“That’s strange, I thought I heard Flores just now.”

“……”

The woman kept her mouth shut tight. I stared at her blankly for a while before muttering.

“Why don’t you try saying this was a mistake too?”

She must have heard my words, but the woman remained silent.

Now that I looked closely, the woman’s knees, which had lost strength at some point, were touching the ground.

Anyone seeing this would think she was kneeling before me. No longer feeling any worth in dealing with her, I turned around to help the maid up.

The maid looked at me and moved her lips. Those lips moved silently to convey words.

‘Thank you.’

It seemed she couldn’t speak out loud with her mistress right in front of her.

Of course, I could understand that. No, she didn’t need to thank me.

More than that, I was worried about the retaliation this maid might face later.

‘I just happened to run into her and help her this time.’

It wouldn’t be difficult for that woman to take out her anger when no one was looking.

However, if I intervened further between them, the situation would only get worse.

I decided not to get more involved in this matter.

‘Actually, I have my own problems to deal with.’

With that thought, I was about to move when two legs suddenly appeared in front of me, blocking my path.

The man who blocked my way greeted me vigorously.

“Lady Cynthia, it’s been a long time!”

“Ah, y-yes. Hello, Grand Duke Consta.”

“Yes, yes, this is the first time we’re greeting each other privately, isn’t it?!”

‘Oh, really?’

It was an unexpected remark. The man called Grand Duke greeted her so warmly that I thought they were close friends.

Cynthia, who received the greeting, also looked disgruntled, as if that statement was correct.

‘I guess they’re both invited to the banquet.’

The east hall is near the annex, and I was deliberately wandering around only the areas close to the main building.

But I don’t know why people keep appearing here.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have come with Yan.’

Of course, I thought I wouldn’t need an escort since I was only planning to wander around the main building.

I wasn’t planning to take a long walk anyway and was going to return to my room soon.

‘If Yan were here, I would have asked him to carry me back to the room.’

I tried to pass by. However, the man’s foot moved sideways one step and blocked my path again.

‘What’s going on?’

Thinking it might be a coincidence, I moved to the side again, but the man once again pretended it was a coincidence and blocked my way.

I looked up at him with a suspicious gaze, but the man didn’t even turn his eyes towards me.

It was as if I was too short to be seen at all.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at the man.

‘He’s doing it on purpose. He’s definitely doing it on purpose!’

As I was pondering what to do with this person, the man held out one hand to Cynthia.

“Lady Cynthia, is sitting on the ground your hobby? If so, I’d advise you to change your hobby to something cleaner. I’m giving you sincere advice.”

“Ah, no, it’s not.”

“If it’s not, that’s a relief. Oh my! Your pretty dress is all covered in dirt. Hurry and get up!”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Cynthia shyly extended her hand as if to take his hand and stand up.

However, just before grasping Cynthia’s hand, the man suddenly pulled his hand back.

“Wah!”

Cynthia, who was about to stand up holding his hand, lost her balance for a moment and fell back on her bottom with a thud.

‘Oh no, her dress must be covered in mud now.’

Just for reference, this was the garden, and it was a path I often walked on because I liked wildflowers.

In other words, there was moist soil everywhere to make it easy for flowers to grow.

The Grand Duke shouted at Cynthia, whose dress was now completely covered in mud.

“My goodness, be more careful! The mud splashed all over me!”

“What? That, that is, no, I’m, I’m sorry.”

Cynthia stuttered. After looking at the flustered Cynthia, I turned my gaze back to the man called the Grand Duke.

It seemed he finally noticed me too.

“Hmm? By the way, who might this small and cute young lady be?”

His unusual grayish-brown hair and eyes, and sun-tanned skin clearly showed he was a foreigner.

Even the clothes he was wearing.

‘No way.’

“Hmm, usually it would be proper for the young lady to introduce herself first.”

The Grand Duke continued leisurely.

“But I don’t necessarily need to follow the imperial law, so I’ll introduce myself first.”

His lips curled up in a grin, looking just like a mischievous boy full of playfulness.

The Grand Duke rubbed his clothes clean and held out his hand as if to shake hands.

“I am Grand Duke Gerogi Consta. I come from the Kingdom of Balkandia, a brother nation to the Baius Empire.”

‘Wow, amazing.’

I covered my mouth without realizing it.

To meet this person here, it’s really amazing!

* * *

“Your son is so well-behaved, I envy you, Duke. My son is so disobedient…”

“Duke, it’s nothing much, but I prepared a small gift out of gratitude for inviting me to the banquet…”

“Oh my, the Duke doesn’t like such things. Countess Rolls, you didn’t know?”

As Cailius was standing at the banquet without much interest, Philen quietly approached him from behind.

“My lord, I have something to report.”

The news he heard after moving to the corridor was that an uninvited guest had arrived.

Cailius’s mouth tightened. As the expression gradually disappeared from his face, Philen swallowed hard.

However, he had expected his lord to react this way.

Philen had skillfully prepared a countermeasure in advance. And he calmly watched as the countermeasure he had prepared approached them.

“Father!”

Clemens, who had been waiting, approached Cailius.

Philen had deliberately informed Clemens first.

‘If the young master is here, the lord will be less angry.’

And his countermeasure was truly perfect.

The killing intent in Cailius’s eyes disappeared instantly when he saw Clemens.

“Clemens, did you hear too?”

“Yes.”

Even Clemens, who always appeared relaxed, looked a bit anxious this time.

“I was worried this might happen, so I sent the invitations as quietly as possible. It seems the information leaked somewhere. I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Clemens.”

They moved towards the garden following Philen’s guidance.

The servant who had first discovered the uninvited guest was waiting at the garden entrance.

“They are inside.”

Cailius’s eyebrow twitched at the servant’s words. Feeling the same doubt, Clemens asked.

“Inside the garden? Didn’t the Grand Duke come because he wanted to attend the banquet?”

“Well… I couldn’t ask the reason. It might be better if you go and ask directly…”

The servant trailed off with difficulty. Well, the servant was right.

They were on their way to meet someone who wasn’t invited, so they could just go and ask why he came.

Soon after, they could see the makeshift table and chairs set up in the garden.

There were four chairs in total. Two chairs were empty, and in one of the other two chairs sat a well-dressed gentleman talking enthusiastically about something with a bright face.

To be more precise, he seemed to be excitedly explaining something to the child sitting in the children’s chair across from him.

“Oh, Duke? Clemens?”

The child who spotted them tilted her head.

“Is the banquet over already? What brings you here?”

Both Clemens and the Duke just stared at her silently.

Question marks filled Diane’s gaze.

‘Why are they both acting like this?’

Diane turned her head following the Duke’s gaze. His gaze was directed at Grand Duke Consta sitting across from her.

At that moment, the Duke spoke in a menacing tone.

“That dog,”

“My, my lord!”

Philen closed his mouth abruptly with a respectful yet disloyal gesture.