It was shocking enough that a woman he thought had broken off her engagement long ago had come to stay in the mansion for a ridiculous reason, but now Lina was returning alone.

Cullen swallowed hard as he sat in the room and gracefully sipped his tea, looking at the redhaired Grace.

He should have taken Lina to the capital as well. He was beginning to resent Valige for sending her here alone.

‘I mustn’t let them meet.’

A meeting between the Duke’s lover and his fiancée. Wasn’t this the worst possible encounter, even if nothing unusual happened?

Furthermore, even if the Duke had special feelings for Lina, she was a commoner, and that woman was a noble. They were not equal from the beginning.

‘I must keep Lina’s presence in the mansion a secret for now.’

As Cullen was lost in his thoughts, Heyren’s murmuring made him shudder.

“It seemed like someone came to the mansion yesterday.”

She whispered again as she sipped her tea.

“There’s no one else to visit the castle without the Duke. Perhaps it’s that child, the Duke’s wife?”

The tone suggested she already knew who it was. Cullen involuntarily gulped.

“Those who went with the Duke to Count Harlen’s territory have returned. Apparently, there was a pressing matter, so the Duke went to the capital alone.”

“So the Duke’s wife came to the mansion too?”

“……Yes?”

“Her name is… Lina, isn’t it? I would like to meet her.”

The woman who was to be the wife of her husbandtobe, speaking the name of his lover, was utterly dry and calm. Cullen hoped and hoped again that this news would reach the Duke quickly.

(This is a time separator.)

In the quiet garden, the sound of splashing echoed.

After a long carriage ride and sleeping the entire day, Lina was taking a walk in the garden to stretch her weary body.

She then sat quietly by a secluded pond, aimlessly throwing pebbles into the water.

“Sigh[Dash].”

However, the involuntary sigh told that she was trying hard to appear calm.

The Duke’s fiancée, a beautiful woman from the Lintz Count’s family, was famously beautiful in the empire.

Her father had been close friends with the former Duke Fermanness and the current Count Lintz. Therefore, their marriage had been arranged since they were young.

“It would be stranger if he didn’t have a fiancée.”

The Duke was old enough to have a child; especially in a noble house like the Duke’s, it wasn’t unusual.

Lina, who had been crouched by the pond, picked up another stone and threw it into the pond as if she didn’t want to think anymore.

The ripples then distorted the reflection of Lina in the water.

“I’m still the same.”

Upon reflection, although the Duke had said he liked her, she saw no change in herself.

If he truly loved her, there should have been some change.

“Really…….?”
Was it all a lie?

Perhaps, it was just sweet whispers to keep me by his side. Was I merely used to prevent the duke’s curse?

These thoughts tormented her incessantly, chasing each other in her mind.

Lying down on the grass, closing her eyes as if not wanting to think about anything anymore, she nearly drifted into sleep when suddenly, she felt a presence and Lina opened her eyes.

“Who’s there?”

A lady, clearly dressed in luxurious clothing and wearing a parasol, was looking at Lina.

‘Red.’

That was Lina’s first impression of her. The lady’s bright red hair looked like a flaming fire.

And in this mansion, there was only one person who could appear as a noble lady.

‘This is her. The duke’s fiancée.’

The rumors of her beauty were not exaggerated; indeed, she was a woman with an intense beauty, just like a red rose.

Imagining her by the duke’s side, they seemed a fitting pair.

“How long are you going to stare at me like that?”

Lina hurriedly rose from her spot at the sound of the elegant voice and bowed to the lady.

“Ah, I apologize, Miss.”

“What’s your name?”

The lady, full of curiosity, scanned Lina and asked.

“……My name is Lina.”

“Lina?”

The lady, hearing the name Lina, seemed to think for a moment, then softly raised the corners of her mouth, as if recognizing her.

“So it was you?”

With an interested gaze, she examined Lina from head to toe, causing Lina to bow her head.

‘She knows who I am.’

Lina sensed it intuitively from her expression.

“But what were you doing here?”

“I was taking a walk……”

“Is that so?”

With eyes like leaves, the lady, known as Heiren, watched Lina quietly, then took off her light pink gloves and gently approached the pond.

Watching the woman approaching flawlessly and elegantly, Lina involuntarily swallowed her dry saliva.

When Heiren came close, she suddenly reached out towards the pond and opened her hand that had been holding something.

“Oh my[—].”

Then, the light pink glove that she had been holding was floating on the pond. If one had only heard her voice, they would have thought it was truly an accident.

“Oh dear, what should I do now?”

Heiren whispered, not taking her eyes off Lina.

“I’ve dropped my glove?”

Lina looked at the fiancée with eyes that struggled to understand what had just happened.

‘What is she doing now……?’

The unwavering, still elegant voice of the noble lady rang in Lina’s ears, and for some reason, it was as irritating as it was soft.

“Your name is Lina, right? Could you please get that glove for me?”

To a stranger’s eyes, she would appear like a delicate young lady who was lamenting a glove lost in the pond.

“It’s something I cherish.”