Rosé, lifting her tea cup, savored the subtle scent spreading and gulped down the Darjeeling.

“…Delicious.”

The tension in Rosé’s body seemed to melt away on its own. She paced around the reception room, emptying her tea cup.

The door to the meeting room, which had been tightly closed, opened, and a familiar voice echoed.

“It’s been a long time.”

Rosé set down her teacup and got up from her seat. The Duke, whom she was seeing after three days, did not seem as terrifying as she had feared.

The man in a pastel skyblue shirt was unbuttoned as usual today.

‘Good scent…’

A completely different scent from the bloody smell of the last time, the freshly sprayed perfume pleasantly stimulated Rosé’s nose.

The Duke closely observed Rosé standing in front of him. He was checking if there were any wounds or injuries.

Fortunately, it seemed there had been none of the problems he had been worried about.

‘She must have sneaked out.’

Looking at Rosé, who was tightly hiding her face with her robe, he guessed that she did not want to reveal her identity.

Arteum, the Grand Duke, made a slight gesture to Nerian, who was standing behind him.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes… Understood.”

Nerian answered, trailing off the end of his sentence regretfully. He was very curious about what business the woman in front of him had come here for.

As he answered, the butler walked out slowly, like a turtle. He wanted to overhear even a word of their conversation, but,

“Get out quickly.”

He had to hurriedly leave the reception room at the Duke’s words, without a hint of leniency.

Once Rosé confirmed that the butler had left, she finally took off her robe.

As she took off her robe, not the original pink hair, but short blonde hair was revealed.

The Duke, who had been facing Rosé, looked at Rosé with interest. He didn’t expect her to act so thoroughly as to wear a wig.

“My lady seems to be more thorough than I thought.”

Meanwhile, at this time, Eric was with the nobles of the Imperial faction.

Duke Fliche, who was at the head of the long table, was speaking to the nobles.

“It’s regrettable. If the plan that day had succeeded, we could have dealt with him faster than we expected.”

Duke Fliche slowly trailed off and stared at Eric with a sullen look.

It was because Eric was the husband of Rosé who ruined all his plans.

“You got a great wife. Thanks to her, the life of the noble Arteum, the Grand Duke, has been extended.”

At Duke Fliche’s sarcastic words, other nobles chimed in.

“Tsk, can’t even manage your wife… what on earth were you doing at that time, Count?”

“What else do you ask? It’s obvious.”

“Seems like he was having a good time.”

They mocked Eric. It was not only one or two people who had seen the pink lipstick mark on Eric’s shirt that day.

Listening to their criticisms with a smirk, Duke Fliche stepped in as if mediating.

“Let’s all stop. He still has his dignity.”

Although Duke Fliche was the first to speak out, he cut off the conversation, pretending to protect Eric.

Then he stared at Sedric, Eric’s father, who was blushing and going pale next to Eric.

Sedric couldn’t lift his face, feeling as if he was the one who had been humiliated by his son being publicly disgraced.

With trembling hands, Sedric clenched his fist tightly and glared at his son, Eric.

He had worked like a dog for Duke Fliche.

He was about to achieve what he wanted, with just a little more effort. However, at the verge of reaching the goal, the tower collapsed.

It was none other than his son Eric.

Well, to be exact, his son was not at fault.

Everything was because of that damned Rosé.

Even if she hadn’t given that damn testimony, the plan would have never been derailed.

“She must have been too dim to grasp the situation and barged in recklessly. I will sternly talk to her about it.”

Cedric subtly shifted the blame showered onto his son towards Rosé.

That was the only excuse he could make.

After the meeting ended, Cedric, unable to suppress his anger, swung his fist towards Eric’s face.

His face turned mercilessly with a dull sound.

“What a disgrace because of that little wench!”

Eric gingerly touched his numbed cheek. Fresh red blood smeared on his palm. His lip seemed to have burst.

“You look like a fool obsessed with a woman. Watch as the house turns into a laughing stock because of one woman you’ve messed up with!”

Veins popped out on Cedric’s throat, which was filled with anger. His wideopen eyes fiercely lashed out at Eric.

“I can’t stand it anymore. That girl, kick her out immediately.”

Cedric’s words stirred up Eric’s rebelliousness. Eric’s gaze at his father lost focus and flickered, having already lost half of its taste.