Lloyd observed the situation carefully.

Seeing the quiet atmosphere in the house, it seemed the Duke and Duchess were away.

But thinking he couldn’t be certain yet, he ordered through the door.

“Call the butler.”

“You mustn’t do this.”

Despite merely ordering to call the butler, the voice from outside the door was stern.

He felt a sudden surge of irritation.

He wasn’t even asking for the door to be opened.

What could be the problem with wanting to talk to the butler?

But even the knight stationed to guard Lloyd knew why he was calling for the butler.

It was to use the butler to escape from solitary confinement while the Duke and Duchess were away.

“Stop talking and bring him here!”

However, the other party was Lloyd.

No matter how loyal the knight was to the Duke’s household, in Lloyd’s eyes, it only appeared as if his orders were being disregarded and not followed.

Lloyd continued to rage furiously afterward.

But the knight stubbornly guarded the door.

Eventually, some servants who felt the commotion informed the butler.

Upon receiving the news, the butler came to the door and looked at the knight.

“Why not loosen up a bit when the master is away?”

“But the Duke ordered to never open it.”

“Still, he is the Young Master. The future leader of the Duke’s household.”

“Butler, the master of this house is the Duke. Not the Young Master inside.”

The loyal knight insisted that the door must never be opened.

Lloyd, listening to their conversation from inside, was getting even more furious.

On the other hand, the butler inwardly smiled, thinking this was an opportunity to gain Lloyd’s favor.

“I’ll take responsibility. So why don’t you open the door?”

“……”

The knight was about to insist until the end that the door shouldn’t be opened, but the butler pushed past him and approached the door.

Then, he inserted the master key that only the Duke’s butler could possess into the keyhole and opened the firmly locked door.

Inside the opened door stood Lloyd, breathing heavily, full of discontent.

For a moment, the knight frowned and was about to protest to the butler.

But before he could, Lloyd approached and slapped the knight’s cheek.

Very harshly and strongly.

Not just once, but multiple times.

The knight who was hit stood still.

He could have blocked or subdued Lloyd if he wanted to, but he was loyal.

He remembered the oath he took at his appointment ceremony to devote himself to the Duke’s household and never harm the people of the Duke’s family.

“Worthless fool. How dare you disregard my orders!”

“Young Master, I never did such a thing.”

“Shut your mouth! I didn’t tell you to speak!”

By now, people of the Duke’s household had gathered.

They inwardly sighed at Lloyd’s behavior.

When would he grow up, as the Duke said?

They were anxious about Lloyd, who never seemed to change from being a troublemaker, inheriting the next Duke’s position.

Raising and maintaining a family is difficult.

But compared to that, ruining it is far too easy.

Imagining when Lloyd inherited the Duke’s position, they could only see darkness.

So the people of the Duke’s household had hoped for Clea Odoi.

‘If she becomes the mistress, at least the Duke’s lineage might continue.’

Apart from being deeply infatuated with Lloyd, she had a clear sense of judgment.

A cool and resolute demeanor.

Although called a villainess in public, she was still a capable person.

When she visited the Duke’s household before, she found a family heirloom that the previous Duke had hidden so well due to succession issues that it hadn’t been found for a very long time.

It was an item that could only be found by combining hints hidden in complex records. It was so well hidden that everyone had given up on finding it.

Not only that, but she also researched the Duchess’s chronic illness and even found a separate cure.

The Duke and Duchess felt very grateful and declared they would grant her anything.

Just finding the heirloom alone was a favor worthy of granting whatever she requested.

However, at that time, Clea gave an answer that no one expected.

‘Unlike what I heard, she’s a person with no greed at all.’

She said with an expressionless face that she didn’t want anything.

At first, everyone thought she was showing modesty as others usually do.

At the same time, they anticipated what she would demand.

Land, jewels, the Duke’s household’s support, what Clea truly wanted.

But her continued answer stunned everyone.

The image of her leaving the Duke’s household with an annoyed expression, saying she really didn’t want anything at all, remained a fresh memory for the servants of the Duke’s household.

“Huff, huff, I’ll remember your face.”

Lloyd, who had completely battered the knight’s face, looked around with glaring eyes.

Everyone was looking at him with concerned gazes.

Lloyd bit his lip and shouted at the knight.

“What are you doing not disappearing!”

“…I will follow your order.”

“Get lost quickly!”

At Lloyd’s words, the knight rose from his place.

He touched his sore mouth with his hand.

Red blood stained it.

The knight felt more doubtful than hurt.

Wondering if it was right to be loyal to someone who treated him like this in front of others.

The others present felt the same way.

While being loyal might seem natural, the Duke and Duchess were masters who always expressed gratitude.

Everyone felt worried that such a ruffian was born under those two people.

But Lloyd, far from being intimidated by their gazes, rather thought arrogantly.

‘No one helped me. No one.’

Logically, between the Duke and the Young Master, the priority was the Duke.

Knowing this, Lloyd was dissatisfied that no one was willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

He turned his gaze towards the butler.

“I’m going out, so help me.”

“Y-Young Master, please stay inside for now. It’s cold outside.”

“Am I a three-year-old child? Telling me not to go out just because of the cold!”

Of course, the concern wasn’t just because of the cold.

The butler had intended to let Lloyd roam inside the mansion if he was to be released.

At least within the mansion, he could manage the servants’ gazes to some extent.

However, going outside was a different story.

If the Duke returned to the mansion and found out Lloyd was gone, it would surely cause a big problem this time.

Thinking of this, the butler tried to persuade him somehow, but he couldn’t break Lloyd’s stubbornness.

“Prepare the carriage right now. Right now!”

He left only his words and headed to his room, not the solitary room where he had been confined.

Then he prepared for his outing with stylish clothes and a perfume that would make seven out of ten passersby turn their heads.

The servants, terrified, waited outside the door, unable to enter.

Seeing them, Lloyd asked irritably.

“Ha, didn’t I say I’m going out?”

“Y-Yes, we apologize.”

“There’s not a single useful person in this house.”

The servants who approached to help with Lloyd’s preparations were having a hard time.

Having just been freed from solitary confinement, he wanted to go see Aria right away.

When he could see her pink hair and bright smile and talk with her, his stress would be relieved.

As he prepared to leave to meet Aria after a long time, he was almost smiling just imagining it.

On the other hand, Lloyd’s mood suddenly soured as he thought of another person after Aria.

‘Clea Odoi.’

Not only was he confined to solitary because of her, but he also got scolded by his parents.

All because of her, who was just one of the passing women.

‘If you had taken my hand then, none of this would have happened.’

Lloyd didn’t think of his own faults and instead shifted all the responsibility to her.

Rationally, it was close to absurd.

All she had done wrong was to accept and overlook all of Lloyd’s childish tantrums.

He gritted his teeth thinking of Clea.

‘It seems she intends to use Admund, but I absolutely can’t let that happen.’

* * *

“It was a satisfying meal.”

“I’m glad. I was worried about where to take you that would satisfy you.”

“I’d be satisfied anywhere as long as I’m with you.”

She came out escorted by Admund.

Time had already gotten very late.

“Shall we take a walk to aid digestion?”

“Let’s do that.”

He headed to the park alongside her.

True to its reputation for good security, the capital’s park was brightly lit with no dark spots.

They walked between the densely packed trees and flowers. Unlike their time in the imperial palace, the two didn’t mind their surroundings at all.

“How can the curse be broken?”

“I don’t know very well either.”

“Well, if you knew, you would have broken it already.”

In fact, she did know. How to break the curse.

Clea was lost in thought for a moment.

Now that she thought about it, it wasn’t that the curse couldn’t be broken because there was no ‘true love’.

If it were according to the method she knew, it would have been broken long ago.

It seemed that the circumstances of her being cursed in this twisted original story might lie with Aria.

Assuming she might need to break the curse in a way different from what she knew, she inwardly sighed.

She looked at Admund.

‘At least it’s not as empty as before.’

Thanks to Admund beside her, there was no time to feel the emptiness.

She quietly held Admund’s hand, feeling the warm temperature.

On the other hand, Admund tried to face reality.

‘I should accept Duke Hersher’s request for an audience.’

He too had decided to act, thinking he couldn’t just stay still like this.