“Just say we met on the way and came back together. The first ones out went somewhere for a while, making us late to return home. Since they didn’t check inside the carriage, they won’t have anything to argue against that.”

“Once Balder finds out that Ruela attended the Grand Ball in Wangsong, he will definitely come straight here, right?”

Tien, combing her hair neatly, asked, messing it up.

“That’s right. Now, everyone change into your clothes first. We need to act as if we’ve returned from the Grand Ball and behave as usual. Ruela, go upstairs and change your clothes and then come down.”

Following Kite’s suggestion, Ruela immediately went upstairs.

“What happened?”

Waiting in the room, Shuna approached Ruela, checking her complexion with a surprised expression.
“Sneaking a peek at Duke Kuran almost got us caught… No, we were caught. I quickly pressed the return button to come back, but he will definitely suspect and come looking for us. We made eye contact, after all.”

The vivid memory of the surprised gaze of Lord Gart Kuran, seen through the curtain, lingered in Ruela’s mind.

Can it be dismissed as a misconception just by removing suspicion?

Even thinking about it again, it sounded unreasonable, and she sighed deeply.

After closing the curtains, Shuna, removing Ruela’s dress, reassured her, “Don’t worry. Even if we disappear blatantly, they’ll doubt their own eyes first. Who would have imagined such a thing? Seeing us, they will probably think they saw something wrong.”

Shuna’s words were correct.

People from the Peroz Guild believed in them because they had formed a party with them, experienced the game screen, and even physically moved. However, they had no idea what made such a phenomenon possible. This phenomenon was something they couldn’t understand, or rather, as Shuna said, something they couldn’t even imagine.

It was when Ruela was changing into her casual clothes and sitting in front of the dressing table, taking off her accessories.

There was a loud noise coming from downstairs.

Shuna quickly tied Ruela’s hair into one and said, “It seems they’ve arrived. I’ll go down to check the situation and come back.”

“No, I’ll go down. Since I’m the target anyway, I won’t leave until I meet them.”

It took about 20 minutes by horse from Wangsong to the Peroz Mansion.

Looking at the time, it had been about 15 minutes since she used the return. They probably left to check as soon as they disappeared.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Concerned, Shuna nodded and checked Ruela’s complexion reflected in the mirror.

Ruela nodded, confirming her appearance in the mirror.

“It’s too pale. Excuse me for a moment.”

Shuna took out a red dye from the dressing table and gently applied it to Ruela’s cheeks.

“Much better. Please go down.”

After taking a deep breath, Ruela went downstairs with Shuna.

Everyone in the house had already come out, looking at the visitors.

“What’s going on that it’s so noisy?”

Irritated by Ruela’s question, Kite turned around.

“Gart, Lord Gart, visited from Wangsong. At this late hour. He has something to ask Ruela.”

Ruela frowned as if saying, “To me? What question?”

Lord Gart carefully examined the woman in casual dress.

Seeing the neatly tied hair and the healthy complexion, he seemed puzzled but not flustered or desperate.

“When did you return from Wangsong?”

Ruela’s eyebrows slightly raised at Gart’s question.

“Why are you asking that?”

“Please answer.”

In response to the Lord’s insistence, Ruela told him the time her colleagues arrived.

“About 20 minutes ago.”
As if questioning why this was happening, Lord Gart, with fists clenched, looked back at those behind him.

“Are you sure the carriage has entered around that time?”

“Yes, Lord. The carriage from Wangsong definitely entered around that time.”

“No other carriage or person entered in a hurry?”

“No. None.”

Lord Gart looked back at Ruela again.

The atmosphere had clearly changed from before.

Unlike the cautious behavior when they first met, it was now a confident and unabashed gaze and attitude.

“Miss Romine.”

“Yes.”

“Could you tell me your parents’ full names?”

Startled by the unexpected question, Ruela faltered. The suspicion in Lord Gart’s eyes deepened with her expression.

“You surely wouldn’t claim not to know your parents’ names, right?”

“I fell down the stairs and lost my memory. Maybe you haven’t heard.”

“I heard from Lady Camun that you fell from a height not enough to cause memory loss. What do you say about that?”

“Oh, what should I do? I actually fell from those not-so-high stairs and lost my memory.”

Lord Gart’s expression hardened even more. He turned around and gave orders towards the entrance.

“Bring him.”

Wondering what he was up to, as they stared, men who seemed to be Lord Gart’s subordinates brought in a staggering man.

“Uh… Ruela…”

The man with messy, unrecognizable hair called out Ruela’s name.