Oblivious Maretta slightly opened Ippolito’s door and peeked in. It was an adorable expression, an attempt to look cute.

“Maasster, did the white deer scarf you promised to buy for me arrive? It’s getting cold and my neck is very chilly.”

Maretta exposed her bare neck to Ippolito. Goosebumps were lightly raised on her pale skin.

Normally, at this point, Ippolito would think, ‘She’s as cute as a moon,’ and would swoop Maretta up in his arms and head into his private quarters. But Ippolito seemed to be in a very bad mood now.

“Master?”

“…Get out.”

“Huh?”

“Disappear from my sight. Am I a joke to you now?”

With his cold, unmatched purple eyes, Ippolito glared at Maretta. Taken aback by seeing this side of him for the first time, Maretta immediately closed the door and retreated.

Ippolito gritted his teeth. The reason he had briefly forgotten about his mother was because that monster had tempted him. It was the maid’s fault. He was merely a victim seduced in his anger.

‘Mother…!’

It was already late, too late to leave for Bergamo estate on horseback. He decided to go and see his mother early the next morning. It had been a full 18 days since he had returned home.

These days, Arabella was causing chaos. Without a scolding mother, and with a father and older brother who didn’t pay much attention to her, her younger sister, who now held all the power in the house, was always generous to Arabella.

Moreover, Ariadne was always busy. She spent all day either moving around the house or meeting external contractors outside for business.

Thanks to this, her younger sister’s room was always vacant. Since Isabella’s room was locked and she could no longer play with Isabella’s things, Arabella amused herself by rummaging through Ariadne’s belongings.

“This is so pretty!”

Holding the purple silk embroidered with gold thread in her hand, Arabella let out an exclamation of admiration. It was undoubtedly going to be transformed into a beautiful dress someday.

Arabella was in the process of going through every neatly organized box in Ariadne’s wardrobe.

“Just look at this sparkle!”

The delicate lace woven with silver threads also drew Arabella’s admiration. It was a highquality item, the likes of which she was seeing for the first time. Alongside it, there was a letter from the sender.

‘Who sent such good stuff?’

With a fluttering heart, Arabella pulled out the content from the already opened envelope.

‘To my debutante lady,

It may seem out of season to send such seethrough lace in this cold weather. However, my philosophy is that anything can be used if stored properly.

When the court in Taranto returns to San Carlo, wouldn’t a beautiful summer dress emerge if you entrust the fabric to Collegioni?

I look forward to seeing your beautiful figure.

Count Cesare de Como.’

“Unbelievable…!”

Arabella held her mouth, barely holding back an excited shriek. Our little sister was out in society receiving the courtship of such men!

Even Arabella had heard of Count Cesare de Como. He was a notorious playboy count, renowned as the most handsome man in San Carlo.

“So what if he’s a playboy, as long as he’s handsome,” Arabella muttered to herself, picking up the envelope on the table next to her as she hummed a tune.

With a rustling sound, a dark green silk ribbon adorned with small gems dropped to the floor. It looked very valuable, but it was strange to find it in her sister’s wardrobe.

It didn’t seem to be made for a woman. It lacked the stiffness of new lace made of silver thread and had a subtle, understated elegance and slight signs of wear.

“Hmm, what’s this?”

Arabella peered into the envelope where the dark green ribbon had come from, hoping to find a letter.

But what rolled out of it wasn’t paper, it was a silver iron lock. Arabella picked it up, weighing it in her hand. It seemed mysteriously heavier than ordinary iron or silver of its size.

‘I’ve seen this somewhere before…’

While Arabella was pondering, a shadow fell over her from behind.

“Eek!”

The instincts honed from being scolded by Isabella and her mother kicked in, and Arabella jumped in surprise, spinning around. Seeing who it was, Arabella sighed in relief.

“Ari.”

Ariadne, dressed in a refined indoor outfit with her black hair braided, stood in front of the wardrobe.

Arabella grinned at Ariadne, preparing to tease her.

“You scared me…”

“Arabella. You shouldn’t play with those things.”

This was almost the first time she’d seen her little sister looking so serious and hearing her voice so stern.

“Huh?”

Arabella, observing Ariadne’s reaction, picked up the heap of silver lace that was scattered on the floor and held it out.

“Maybe this is too expensive for me to play with…”

If it was discovered that she’d snooped on a letter her sister had received from a man, she might get in real trouble. Arabella prayed that the letter would somehow fly back into the envelope.

However, the item Ariadne was focusing on wasn’t the silver lace or Cesare’s letter.

“Hand it over.”