Snow fell at dawn as the castle’s commanders and the Duke departed.

Yet as soon as day broke, new faces filled their vacant places.

“Thank you, Duchess. I owe you my life.”

One of the merchants approached her with words of gratitude.

He was a young man, his dark hair stylishly tied back.

His familiar face constantly displayed a merchant’s characteristic smile.

Despite being a stranger, he felt oddly familiar.

Moreover, he showed no sign of inferiority when speaking to her, someone of significantly higher status.

His moderate tone and appropriate gestures dispelled any lingering wariness.

He had remarkable social skills.

Bianca allowed him a courteous greeting, lightly touching the fingertips of the hand he offered.

“You are a guest, and a friend of the Barlocks. Although the timing is not ideal, I wish you peace during your stay.”

“I appreciate your kind words. I will return your favor someday.”

For a moment, the man’s eyes shone with determination.

He had been imprudent, causing trouble for the Duke’s family, and it weighed on him.

Masking her impassiveness, Bianca offered a faint smile.

The man’s face briefly hardened, as if disconcerted.

“I appreciate your sentiments. Please leave now.”

There was no telling how long he would stay, but he was not someone Bianca should engage with.

That was her thought.

“Are you upset, my lord?”

By morning, everyone knew the Duchess had met with a group of merchants.

Today, Shane was especially vocal, compensating for Henry’s unusual silence.

“You can’t compare yourself with a rookie, can you? Why would you worry about such trivial matters?”

“Just eat.”

Henry didn’t even react to the term ‘my lord,’ indicating he was quite upset.

This was not a good sign.

Suddenly, Shane broke the silence with a deep voice.

“Hey, my lord, let’s make an opportunity.”

“….”

“Now that I think about it, I’m a bit upset too. Our ‘my lord’ can’t even properly greet the Duchess who meets strangers? This bruises my ego.”

“You have ego?”

“It seems like I do.”

“Did it just appear?”

Lacking energy, Henry engaged Shane in conversation.

Compared to their previous banter, this was an improvement. Shane seemed encouraged.

“No, is my ego the issue now? This is about the pride of all servants. Does it make sense that outsiders get to see the Mistress we can’t?”

No, it doesn’t.

Henry barely managed to stop himself from nodding.

“Then how can I see a Mistress I can’t meet?”

“If you can’t meet her, just run into her!”

“….What?”

Realizing he’d been tricked by Shane’s teasing, Henry grew annoyed.

“You really are….”

Sighing, he took another spoonful of soup.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t known Shane’s nature; he felt stupid for listening.

Frustrated, he started spooning the soup more vigorously, almost dropping the spoon when Shane continued.

“What’s so hard? Just call her.”

Is he insane?

In the end, Shane truly did something outrageous.

After practically forcing lunch down Henry’s throat, he dragged him out to the snowcovered garden and compelled people to build a snowman.

Then, he created a makeshift horn and shouted.

“Mistress!”

Henry thought he’d heard something insane.
Shane raised his frostbitten, crimson hands to his lips and shouted once again, earsplittingly loud.

“Milady!”

“Are you mad!”

O’Henry, who regained his composure a moment too late, tried to stop him, but Shane’s shout was quicker.

“Look at the snowman!”

‘I must impress Milady at all costs. Understand?’

A hefty reminder breezed through his mind for a moment.

O’Henry briefly considered whether it would be better to handle Shane right then and there.

However, the surroundings were wide open, and there were at least four knights watching us.

It was impossible to handle the situation.

He wrapped his arm around Shane’s shouting neck and roughly pulled him away.

It was best to somehow drag him away before the madman caused a bigger commotion.

But then—

“What’s going on?”

A voice suddenly echoed out of thin air.

It was a disaster.

Locked eyes with Milady’s personal maid.

The maid looked directly at O’Henry, not Shane.

Her face was obscured by the backlight.

“What’s the matter?”

He should’ve handled it.

Regret bit into him too late.

O’Henry responded with a crawling voice.

“…We made a snowman…”

“That’s…”

The falling voice made O’Henry feel for a moment that the unseen face was grimacing.

He swallowed his dry saliva.

Breaking the eerie silence was Shane, who had been hanging onto O’Henry.

“We made it for you to see for a little while. It’s stifling staying inside the building. O’Henry and I worked hard on it.”

Each time the guy hanging onto his arm spoke, he could distinctly feel his jittery tension, but the exterior expression was the usual Shane.

His face was sickeningly smug.

Why go to such lengths?

The question disappeared soon enough.

“…”

Without a word, the maid who had been staring down at him said, “Wait,” and vanished as Shane narrowed his eyes.

“How about we keep it between us?”

“Didn’t you stop that?”