However, she could not damage Rose, who did not love Eric at all.

“I plan to really let loose with him soon. I’ve prepared wine too… He seems upset because I haven’t cuddled him these days.”

Rose, pretending not to understand what Doana was saying, maintained her clueless demeanor.

Doana’s eyes, meeting hers, were uncomfortably twisted. She probably didn’t want to see Rose and Eric together.

Doana’s jealousy was amusing to Rose. It was quite fun because although Rose was the wife, she was jealous.

But Doana didn’t back down easily. She never took her eyes off Rose, slowly crossing her other leg over.

Then, pretending to care for Rose, she spoke in a kind voice.

“Oh dear, you don’t know anything. Don’t you know that men don’t like women who are forward? They’re too busy pretending to sleep if their wife even bathes.”

The words she’d heard from the countless married men she’d met in her previous life.

Doana took Rose’s hands with a pitiful expression.

“Well, DoHyeon never did that. But other men do.”

A flinch.

At the mention of Lee DoHyeon, Rose’s face hardened momentarily.

“DoHyeon…?”

“Ah, my husband from my past life. Well, he should at least do that well. He was a man with nothing to his name.”

At Doana’s words, Rose gritted her teeth.

Both Lee DoHyeon, who fell for Gyeryu’s temptation, and Gyeryu, who seduced her worthless man, were disgustingly vile.

“Make the man chase you, Rose. It’s best for girls like you to wait without doing anything. After all, I know the count better than you, don’t I?”

Rose, maintaining her expressionless face, stared at Doana.

“You’re not misunderstanding my words, are you? I’m saying this because I’m the count’s exclusive maid and I’m with him every day…”

“I’m not misunderstanding. You’re just a ‘maid’, why would I misunderstand you, Doana?”

Rose cut Doana off midsentence and narrowed her eyes into crescents.

“It’s not your place to dictate a married couple’s affairs, is it?”

At Rose’s dismissive attitude, Doana was indescribably upset. Normally, she would have been angry at Rose’s condescending attitude, but she couldn’t now.

Because her situation was still disadvantageous. At least until Rose gets divorced.

Doana, who had been perched on the desk, slowly got up. She gently hugged Rose, who was sitting stiffly in the chair.

“But that’s what’s good about having a friend. You can lean on me anytime when you’re having a hard time.”

She stroked Rose with a kind voice, and her touch was very warm.

However, her venomous gaze, like a python, could not be hidden.

“Has he arrived?”

At that moment, the garden was incredibly busy. Because an unexpected guest had come early in the morning.

Gwen greeted the man getting off the carriage courteously.

It was Eric’s father, Cedric.

“Bring Rose to me.”

As soon as he got off the carriage, he was asking for Rose.

“Yes? The lady?”

The word ‘lady’ twisted Cedric’s expression. He had never accepted Rose as his daughterinlaw.

It was implicitly forbidden to call Rose ‘Lady Wens’ in front of Eric’s father Cedric and his mother Tercia.

Realizing her verbal mistake, Gwen hurriedly closed her mouth. She bowed her head and replied in a low voice.

“I understand.”

Gwen ordered a maid to fetch Rosé.

The maid was already worried at Cedric’s command to call for Rosé. Whenever he had come and gone, Rosé had spent the whole day in silent tears.

‘It’s been three years. It’s about time he accepted it.’

The maid felt terribly sorry for Rosé, who had come to the Earl’s house only for love.

“How much better it would have been if she had met someone else and lived happily.”

The maid muttered to herself as she headed towards Rosé’s room.

Knock, knock.

The maid knocked on Rosé’s door twice.

Rosé hastily hid the letter she had been writing to Grand Duke Artem inside a drawer and responded.

“Come in.”

The door creaked open and the maid revealed herself. She carefully said to Rosé.

“Um, the former Earl, he is looking for you.”

The former Earl…

‘That’s Cedric, Eric’s father, isn’t it?’

Why is he looking for me?

‘Is he blaming me for that day?’

Thanks to Rosé’s testimony at the Duke’s banquet, the Emperor’s plan had been thwarted.

He must be waiting to scold Rosé.

‘I don’t want to go. I’ll only hear bad things anyway.’

“Tell him I have an appointment and can’t make it.”

“Pardon, what?”

Rosé’s words made the maid’s eyes widen.

Rosé, who had never defied Cedric’s words, had refused his command.

The maid gawked at Rosé’s words.

“Please leave.”

Rosé gave the maid a gesture to leave and smiled faintly. The maid, with a stunned expression, nodded and left the room.

Meanwhile, Cedric, who had heard Rosé’s words, was fuming.

“What?”

He slammed his teacup down with a loud thud.

How dare she defy him.

‘This audacious…!’

How much must she belittle him to behave this way? The veins on his forehead seemed ready to burst.

Cedric, with a cold expression, glared at the maid, thinking he needed to show her who’s boss.

“Tell her to come while she can still walk.”

His voice, suppressed between gritted teeth, flowed out eerily.

At Cedric’s words, the maid shuddered. She knew what his words meant.

Compared to Cedric, Eric’s antics were just child’s play. Cedric’s temperament was indeed strange.

The maid, trembling with fear, nodded and hurried off to Rosé.

Arriving at Rosé’s room, the maid knocked on the door urgently.

“Mistress!”

The sound was quite loud. Rosé, who had been sitting, stood up and opened her door.

Standing at the door was the palefaced maid. She was sweating profusely and grabbed Rosé’s arm urgently.

“You must go, mistress.”

Rosé could feel the trembling from the maid. Looking at the maid, who seemed about to cry, Rosé nodded.

“Alright, I understand. I’ll get ready quickly. Please call Jane.”

What could she have heard to make her so terrified?

Rosé instinctively knew she couldn’t ignore Cedric.

Having quickly prepared, Rosé walked towards the meeting room.

The air in the hallway was unusually chilly today. The cold from the floor crept up Rosé’s feet.

As the tapping of her footsteps echoed, the servants glanced at Rosé, their faces filled with worry and apprehension.

Jane, who was next to Rosé, was no exception.

Upon reaching the meeting room, Jane tightly grabbed Rosé’s hand.

“You’ll be alright, madam.”

Her words were full of a desperate kind of encouragement, like cheering on a soldier going to battle.

Rosé gave Jane a faint smile and spoke as if to alleviate her worries.

“Open the door.”

As the large doors swung open, a middleaged man sitting arrogantly came into view.

Just looking at him, it was clear he greatly resembled Eric. However, unlike Eric, his atmosphere was incredibly oppressive.

An overwhelming pressure that made one’s breath catch.

She had experienced this when dealing with the mad Grand Duke Artem, and the leader of the Emperor’s party, Duke Fliche. Frustratingly, she was used to such situations.

Despite the heavy pressure that seemed to bind her body, Rosé appeared calm.

Thanks to dealing with the insane Grand Duke Artem and the leader of the Emperor’s faction, Duke Fliche. Ridiculously, she was used to this situation.

“Hello, Father.”

Rosé’s voice melodiously filled the room.

Upon facing me without any change in her complexion, Sedric’s gaze flashed dangerously at the sight of Rosé.