‘No, my lady. Do you truly not know his intentions?’

Philip now felt resentment towards Heide.

‘Even if he admires her, he should hide it. Contemptible man. Daring to covet someone’s wife…’

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The curses that automatically sprang to his lips were swallowed for the sake of the Count’s dignity, but the action he wanted to take became clear.

‘It just won’t do. I must fire him.’

Of course, there was no reasonable cause for dismissal. Philip knew that dismissing Heide, who was talented in tree and plant management, would be a loss.

Still, he fabricated a plausible reason for Heide’s dismissal.

‘I’ll have to use the excuse that the estate’s finances are bad.’

It was not exactly a lie, as the current financial situation was indeed not good.

‘I’ll just have to give him a decent severance pay.’

Philip clutched his aching heart lightly.

‘I never felt this way before…’

The anxiety that popped up whenever he saw Ellen laughing with another man. It was an emotion Philip had begun to feel frequently.

He couldn’t easily dismiss a mild gardener, but if Heide disappeared from his sight, it would be somewhat better.

‘Yes. Instead of rotting from the inside, better to send him away. The mental health of the lord is also an important reason, right? In the long run, this is all for the estate.’

Philip consoled himself, thinking it was rational.

‘I must do this to protect my wife.’

Having come to some conclusion, Philip glanced back.

Then, Dalina smiled with a pure look.

Normally, he would have thought of her as an elegant young lady, but this time was different.

Because Dalina’s appearance interrupted his important conversation with Ellen.

‘Without knowing others’ feelings…’

But it was also his role not to show discomfort to the guest.

Philip ignored the smile that Dalina cast and looked forward again.

His mind was once again focused on thoughts of Ellen.

‘Earlier, I deliberately turned my eyes away when I saw the young lady Sor in her negligee…’

Dalina’s negligee attire was just a nightgown.

There was no excitement, but Philip made a gesture of deliberately turning away to show Ellen.

If the husband was looking straight at another woman in nightgown attire, Ellen might feel uncomfortable.

‘Did my wife understand my feelings?’

If she understood, it would be a joyous matter. Philip’s cheeks slightly flushed.

‘She must have understood since I even explained about the contemplation period for divorce.’

With various thoughts, Philip soon arrived at the gathering place.

“The ladies’ gathering room is this way.”

Philip’s courteous guidance was answered by a blushing Dalina, who still held her hands together.

“Thank you, Count.”

Seeing her greeting, Philip momentarily wondered.

‘Isn’t the correct way to greet, even in negligee, to hold the sides of the skirt and bend the knee slightly?’

However, he had no intention of expressing regret about Dalina’s way of greeting.

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

Since she’s not someone he would see often, it was enough to show appropriate courtesy and send her away quickly.

‘I’ve brought her to the door, so she won’t need help entering.’

With that, Philip entered the men’s gathering room without looking back.

.

.

.
The door briefly opened and then closed, and the sight of men who had loosely unbuttoned their shirts comfortably leaning on the sofa, tipping their glasses, could be seen.

“Have a peaceful night, Philip.”

Once the door closed, Dalina quietly muttered to herself.

And she handed over the objects she had carefully held in both hands to the maid.

“You haven’t forgotten what you must do?”

“Yes, miss.”

Quickly, the maid deeply pocketed the key that Dalina gave her and sneakily showed a bundle of new keys and locks.

Looking around as if wondering if there were ears listening, she lowered her voice to a whisper.

“I’m replacing all the locks in the room with the artwork with these ones. Throw the original collected locks into the lake, and return the Countess’s key to its place.”

“Good, don’t forget to wear gloves, and never get caught.”

At Dalina’s warning, the maid asked with a worried expression.

“But Miss, what if, by any chance, I get caught?”

Dalina wickedly lifted one corner of her lips. The previously pure feeling quickly reversed.

“What then, you’ll have to take responsibility as something you did on your own. You know what this is about … if you fail, right?”

At Dalina’s ruthless pressure, the maid answered with goosebumps all over her body.

“Yes, yes, Miss, don’t worry.”

“Right.”

Dalina opened the door to the room where the noblewomen were gathered, with her usual elegant demeanor.

The gazes of the noblewomen and young ladies, who were chatting warmly in the room in negligee, turned to Dalina.

“Oh dear, am I too late?”

Dalina, holding the hem of her skirt on both sides, slightly bent her knees.

Her graceful appearance charmed everyone present.

The hostess, Laila, rose brightly smiling from her seat.

“Welcome, Lady Sor. Please, take a seat here.”

Dalina showed a pleasant smile to Laila, who personally guided her to an empty seat.

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Morris. Please call me Dalina.”

At Dalina’s unabashed request, Laila’s eyes widened.

“By, by first name?”

Dalina, comfortably seated, continued speaking.

“Yes, and calling you Mrs. Morris might be confusing with Countess Morris. Actually, I want to get closer to Mrs. Morris as well …”

Dalina leisurely sipped the tea served by the maids. At a glance, she seemed to have the atmosphere of a hostess.

“May I call you Laila, in honor of becoming friends today?”

(This is the time separator.)

Although there were many invited guests staying at the mansion for once, the morning was quiet.

The reason was that everyone had stayed up late chatting and had gone to bed.

I finished a light breakfast in my bedroom and dressed in a beige suitstyle dress with a black opal brooch as an accent.

After twisting my hair neatly, securing it with hairpins, and adjusting the dress one more time, a maid brought a beige check necktie and a blackveiled fascinator on a silver tray.

The maid tied the necktie for me and adjusted the fascinator’s position at an angle. The black veil slightly covered my right forehead, giving off an intellectual vibe.

“Good.”

Today is the first day of work.