“But… I like it here now. So I wish the port would never be sold.”

Elia showed a slightly bitter smile and began to walk again. After walking for a while, they soon arrived at a small glass greenhouse where they would enjoy today’s tea party.

Passing through the lush flower bed and opening the glass door once more, they came to an outdoor table with a perfect view of the port.

However, Elia seemed a bit strange since entering the glass greenhouse.

There was nothing particularly noticeable, but she looked uncomfortable or anxious, aimlessly looking around.

‘It’s almost as if she’s waiting for someone.’

Could it be that she’s uncomfortable being alone with me and is waiting for her parents to arrive?

Elia, whose eyes met mine, gave an awkward smile.

Then she suddenly stood up from her seat. Following that, the sound of the glass greenhouse door creaking open and the footsteps of several people could be heard.

Startled by the unexpected situation, I also put down my teacup and stood up from my seat. And soon, seeing the people entering the glass greenhouse, my face stiffened.

‘I wasn’t told at all that other people were coming…’

Reus had clearly said that this meeting was arranged solely for the Viscount Filaren couple to welcome me.

So absolutely no one else should have come to this place. Yet, without any prior notice, three people showed up.

They were people I knew well from the beginning.

Sasha, who always liked to boast about her fiancé.

“Your Highness, is this the first time we’ve met since the Princess’s birthday banquet nearly a month ago?”

Camilla, who always took the lead in opening a salon to mock me.

“My, you’ve become even more beautiful. You must be having a really good time at the Grand Duke’s castle.”

And finally, the woman with dark brown hair…

‘Verodica?’

It was Verodica, one of the original villains. I couldn’t recognize her for a moment due to her significantly changed appearance compared to when I saw her at Iris’s birthday banquet.

I was startled but smiled brightly, trying not to show it as much as possible.

“I didn’t expect to see you all here, it’s been a while. But… can you explain how this happened, Lady Filaren?”

“That, that’s…! I originally had a promise to meet Lady Plona today… Because I welcomed Your Highness in place of my parents, this unfortunate incident seems to have occurred. I’m truly sorry, Your Highness…”

Elia’s answer was nothing more than an excuse that even a rookie country girl wouldn’t believe.

If a noble was in their right mind, they wouldn’t have allowed outsiders to enter on a day when a distinguished guest was supposed to come.

‘Even if such a mishap occurred, informing in advance is the bare minimum.’

But on the day of my arrival, the Viscount couple had an urgent matter come up and went on a tour of the estate, leaving the Viscount without even leaving a simple apology.

And very coincidentally, Verodica’s group, who had a prior appointment with Elia, came to where I was.

What are the chances of these things happening simultaneously by chance?

This made it clear that Elia’s uneasiness was not simply due to Verodica’s group visiting, but something more than that.

It seems Elia had orchestrated this to arrange a meeting between Verodica and me.

‘I don’t know how she did it, but it’s become a headache.’

If I had been invited as Lady Ibelle and this happened, I might have let it slide without making an issue of it, but today I came here as the Grand Duchess of Rochester.

If I just let this matter pass, it could potentially harm Reus and the Rochester Grand Ducal House. So even if I didn’t want to, I had to deal with it in some way.

My mood was already complicated due to encountering an unwanted situation, but seeing Verodica’s appearance across from me made my mood sink even further.

‘She likes flashy things so much…’

Verodica enjoyed wearing accessories with flashy red gems that resembled her eyes. Such preferences were reflected in her choice of clothes and shoes as well.

But for some reason, today she was wearing a plain white dress with simple accessories and even shoes with a rather dull and monotonous design.

The necklace with a gem smaller than a pinky nail, the clothes, and the shoes…

‘They’re too similar to my outfit.’

Crucially, Verodica’s hair color. It seemed she had dyed it, as there was no trace of purple to be found.

‘Should I consider it a coincidence that Verodica with dyed brown hair came to see me?’

In the early part of the novel, when Verodica tried everything to get Casien’s attention, the first thing she did when she started imitating the appearance of the female lead, Iris, was dyeing her hair.

Even then, she couldn’t imitate the blonde hair and appeared in front of Iris with an ambiguous brown hair.

But the fact that Verodica with dyed hair showed up in front of me with platinum blonde hair…

It was no different than saying that Casien still hadn’t withdrawn his interest in me.

‘Why is he still interested in me?’

I couldn’t understand Casien, who was obsessed with me for no reason, or Verodica, who came to me like this.

And I felt a little unfair.

‘Even if I make a hundred concessions, in the original work, Iris and Casien had feelings for each other, so that could happen.’

But now I have a proper husband, and I have no interest in Casien at all.

The engagement was properly concluded between the families, albeit with some noise, before the wedding was held, and I haven’t even brushed past Casien since Iris’s birthday banquet.

‘Why go this far…’

But then Sasha, who was having a normal conversation with Elia, fixed her gaze on me. As always, it was to pick a fight like usual.

“But there’s something I’m curious about… Could it be that you’re still continuing to meet with Marquis Ercian?”

“Oh my, Sasha…! How could that be?”

Camilla reacted as if surprised and tried to dissuade her, but then mocked more blatantly.

“Even if you broke up with your fiancé of over 4 years and got married to the Grand Duke right away, no way. A virtuous person like you couldn’t have continued a dirty relationship behind the scenes, right? That’s truly an absurd misunderstanding.”

“Oh my, I made a mistake. Please kindly understand. But… what does Lady Plona think?”

At Sasha’s question, Verodica raised her eyes.

“I don’t know well, but… I just hope there was never an unseemly incident.”

‘How could there be an unseemly incident when we haven’t even met once?’

Despite their appearance, Verodica’s group quite valued their reputation.

Usually, they revealed their true colors in front of people who would openly disregard me like them or those in front of whom showing such behavior wouldn’t be a problem.

As far as I know, there is no connection between Verodica’s group and the Viscount Filaren family.

Then…

‘Has Elia been caught by her weakness?’

Or something has been exchanged between the two.

Then Sasha said,

“Why can’t you say anything? Don’t tell me the rumors are true and you’ve been giving him a chance?”

Camilla, who checked my expression from the corner of her eye, also chuckled and chimed in.

“Sasha’s words might be right. Seeing the stories that Marquis Ercian still can’t forget Lady Ibelle, honestly, there must be a clear reason why the lady couldn’t behave properly, right?”

“That’s right, isn’t it? I was thinking the same thing. Even when maintaining the engagement with Marquis Ercian, the one who always couldn’t behave properly was Lady Ibelle’s side.”

Verodica quietly sipped her tea and savored the conversation between Sasha and Camilla.

Perhaps she thought that since she couldn’t get Casien’s attention no matter what she did, she wanted me to step up and make Casien give up, so she orchestrated this.

‘I’ve already done that many times, what more do you want me to do…’

It was absurd enough that they arranged this meeting with impure intentions, but the most absurd thing was that they still openly disregarded me even after I became the only Grand Duchess in the empire.

No matter how ridiculous they find me, this really crossed the line.

“That’s right. If only Lady Ibelle had handled the Marquis well, such things wouldn’t have happened… It’s really unfortunate.”

“I’m so glad my fiancé isn’t like that. After all, if a woman does well, a man won’t have wandering eyes.”

But listening to the content of Camilla and Sasha’s conversation, I almost felt like letting out an empty laugh.

‘Did they think I would be intimidated by this?’

I was someone who smiled brightly even when receiving worse treatment than this, so they might have thought that this level of reproach would serve as a warning, assuming I had a naturally timid disposition.

But the reason I haven’t made an issue of anything until now wasn’t because I was afraid of them, but because I was mindful of Feria.

‘If there was even a slight disturbance, it was either getting beaten to the point of not being able to go out or being locked in the basement. How could I open my mouth?’

So now, the conversation of Verodica’s group just seemed like child’s play.

“As expected, the reason Marquis Ercian went astray was entirely due to Lady Ibelle’s significantly lacking efforts. I don’t know if you didn’t make an effort or couldn’t.”

I was keeping quiet to see how far they would go, but Elia, who had been fidgeting for a while, suddenly stood up from her seat.

“Isn’t everyone’s words too harsh? No matter what, this… this is not right! Please speak while keeping the line…”

Seeing Elia’s pale complexion, as if she didn’t expect them to go this far, I naturally felt pity.

However, the moment she got involved in something she couldn’t be proud of, she should have anticipated that unpleasant things would inevitably happen.

I quietly rose from my seat.

“I heard the story well.”

Sasha and Camilla, who were chatting excitedly, stupidly raised their heads. They seemed to assess the situation for a moment, and then Camilla spoke.

“Lady Ibelle. What are you doing now that is so rude?”

“Don’t stand there stupidly and sit down.”

Even Camilla, who said that, and Sasha, who glared at me, had truly angry faces.