But he couldn’t suppress the sudden appetite. He was sure he couldn’t sleep tonight without eating it.

Nibbling on the Dadidan cookies he normally wouldn’t touch, he wondered what secret was in them.

The small, round cookie earlier was similar to Lorisha. It seemed insignificant, but the impact it had once in the mouth was completely different from its appearance.

He chuckled, recalling Lorisha, who had aimed at him earlier.

To think she’d initiate a deal through a letter in such a dire situation. Truthfully, his hair had stood on end at that moment.

The day he broke the jar with Lorisha—he didn’t want to remember that he was a parasite of the noble Second Prince—he immediately headed to the Third Palace after securing a carriage for Lorisha, who was leaving at dawn.

He then deleted Lorisha Roba’s entry records from the access log.

His influence was always on the fringes. Half of it was due to being a war hero, and the other half because he was the eldest son of the First Lion.

He had traded with her through a non-existent log.

It was fortunate that Lorisha hadn’t suspected he’d erase her traces even for the sake of the Second Prince.

If she’d known, she would’ve been furious. Such thoughts amused him.

But the macaron the servant brought tasted different from what Lorisha had given him. It was merely sweet and lacked intrigue.

Therefore, he just drank the accompanying tea.

He deliberately refrained from inquiring further about what had happened at the princess’s tea party today. He preferred to save topics for later inquiry.

He was now certain about Lorisha.

Lorisha Roar would stubbornly withstand Princess Milliora’s ostracism and become her maid.

And he would compete with her.

Calin Ancart summoned Misha. Although her mansion was far from the Count’s residence, that fact was meaningless.

Without even telling Misha to sit, she asked,

“Do you have anything to confess, Misha?”

Misha clenched her mouth, frowning. Her spirit was already shattered from visiting the palace; encountering Calin pushed her to her limits.

Yet, she couldn’t reject Calin either. Such was their relationship.

“How long did you think it would take for me to find out that you’d met Her Highness, the Princess?”

Misha couldn’t understand why Calin was questioning her so sharply.

“…I don’t understand why you’re angry, Miss Ancart.”

“Hah! Are you serious right now?”

Calin glared at her, trembling.

Then, Misha suddenly realized something.

Up until now, she’d never been interested in who Calin Ancart was. All she knew was that Calin tormented her.

But then, Misha discovered Calin’s desire. That intense thing had been there from the beginning.

Power. The desire to approach the center of the world.

The overflowing money in the Ancart family allowed them near power but only to an extent. The Emperor’s favor and power weren’t things that could be bought. They were only granted.

Calin was fiercely pursuing what her family couldn’t possess.

Misha, half choked up, said,

“The invitation to the Princess’s tea party was for me. I couldn’t take you, Miss Ancart.”

Calin’s eyes flared, more in anger from the shame of her desperation being exposed to Misha than at Misha herself.

That was when Misha realized that she possessed something Calin couldn’t take or have.

The status of the Third Lion, the Count, and the accompanying power still shone brightly. That fact hadn’t changed even while she had been serving as Calin’s pet.
Misha had long been banished from a world of abundance and happiness where anything she wished for came true.

Now she was a slave to unattainable goals and achievements, and her incompetence was both her shackles and her whip.

Perhaps that was why she had easily succumbed to Kalin. She didn’t know what she was capable of.

But Misha had just found that out. It was because Keril had shattered something within her today.

Conversely, Kalin wished Misha would quickly realize that she was supposed to serve her.

Kalin snapped fiercely.

“Weren’t you willing to try? Do you have any idea how rare an opportunity it is to attend a royal tea party? Then again, you might not. You wouldn’t even know what to study without my help!”

“I didn’t know! My father always roams the palace freely….”

“Ha! Are you trying to mock me now, Misha? You’re so ungrateful!”

Kalin’s tone turned harsh again. However, Misha succeeded in suppressing her excitement.

What she had learned so far was the art of hiding true emotions. The Countess had been her perfect role model all her life.

“Consider yourself lucky that Lady Ankart didn’t go today. If you think about what happened to me there…. If you had accompanied me, you would have been terribly humiliated too!”

Misha slightly revealed her real anger to heighten the tension.

“What are you talking about?”

“The last party of Lady Ankart.”

“What about it?”

“Lady Ankart dragged me into her vulgar party where I had to seduce the lords… I felt so ashamed I wanted to die!”