Two days later. A long line of carriages stretched out in front of the main gate of the Landrofil Marquis family mansion, filled with people attending the party.

As footmen opened the carriage doors one by one, lavishly dressed people emerged, ready for the garden party held in spring.

However, among them, there was a couple that particularly stood out.

It was the Duke and Duchess of Sayer.

“Oh my, isn’t this the first time the Duke and Duchess of Sayer have attended such a private gathering together?”

“That’s right. They usually only show their faces at official events held at the Imperial Palace. No wonder the Marquis of Landrofil seemed especially confident today. There was a reason for it.”

Dalia, who was nonchalantly receiving everyone’s attention, inwardly sighed.

‘I’m exhausted before even arriving.’

Straightening her back to avoid slouching, Dalia glanced at Clayton, who was escorting her.

Despite the sun being high in the sky, he looked to be in better condition than ever, undoubtedly benefiting from the contact with her.

But contrary to the perfectly fine Clayton, Dalia had been feeling fatigued since the carriage ride.

‘I hope he’s not draining all my energy or something like that?’

Dalia’s gaze towards Clayton sharpened, but she quickly averted her eyes.

In fact, she knew. The reason she was exhausted now wasn’t because of some ridiculous notion of having her energy drained.

‘Why did the carriage have to break down suddenly…!’

She inwardly sighed, recalling what had happened in the carriage earlier.

The carriage that had been hastily replaced due to the original one breaking down was much smaller inside than it appeared on the outside.

It was barely big enough for one person, wasn’t it?

And in that carriage, she had to ride with the large-bodied Clayton. Suddenly, she found herself pressed up against a man she felt awkward being around, to the point of suffocation.

So it was no wonder she was exhausted both mentally and physically before even arriving.

Throughout the journey, Dalia had desperately tried to keep her gaze fixed out the window, trying not to be conscious of the male lead, but she couldn’t help but notice the man’s leg occasionally touching her body.

Of course, from her current position, she should have been rubbing against the male lead deliberately to seduce him, but Dalia, who had been trembling at the thought of him visiting her room again in the past few days, had neither the strength nor the desire to do so.

‘Ah, I just want to sleep in bed.’

Pushing aside her tired feelings, they made their way through the crowd’s intense gazes for quite some time.

The place the two headed was in front of the Marquis and his wife, who were greeting the guests.

Marquis Daniel Landrofil, upon seeing Clayton, approached first and greeted him warmly.

“Thank you for coming despite your busy schedule, Your Grace. To think you would come to my garden party. I’ll have to brag about this at the club later.”

Clayton, smiling kindly at the Marquis who had just entered his forties, gently wrapped his arm around Dalia’s shoulder.

“It seems my wife enjoyed the picnic the other day. When she heard about this garden party, she told me she absolutely wanted to attend.”

At this, Dalia, who had been maintaining a business-like smile beside him, hurriedly turned her head to look at Clayton.

‘Huh? When did I?’

Clayton’s face, as he naturally made up words she had never said, didn’t look like someone who was lying.

“My goodness, how affectionate.”

But whether they knew Dalia’s thoughts or not, exclamations burst from the lips of the women watching the couple.

To them, Clayton appeared to be a loving husband who cherished his wife.

The Marquis, who had been alternately gazing at the two whose atmosphere seemed different from before, addressed Dalia.

“You won’t regret coming to our garden party. The Landrofil family garden is famously beautiful. As a matter of fact, my wife was just saying she’d like to have a conversation with the Duchess of Sayer…”

With those words, the Marquis introduced his wife. The Marchioness, with her hair elegantly pinned up, gave Dalia a gentle eye-smile.

“Thank you for coming. I didn’t get a chance to greet you at the picnic the other day. I’m Michelle Landrofil.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Dalia Sayer.”

The Marquis, who had been watching the two ladies’ conversation with a pleased expression, approached Clayton.

“Your Grace. There are guests from the Philoze Duchy over there. Shall we go greet them together?”

The Marquis pointed to people chatting in the distance, as if to say that now that all the important guests had arrived, it was time to get down to business.

Clayton nodded, as another purpose for coming here was political.

Then, as if it were natural, he began to lead Dalia towards where the Marquis was guiding them.

And it was the Marquis who was surprised by the Duke’s action.

While the garden party for couples was ostensibly about having tea together in the garden, it also had strong political purposes.

Because of this, it was common for men and women to gather separately to talk.

But now, the Duke was trying to bring his wife to a place where men were going to have political discussions, so of course, the Marquis was surprised.

Hiding his surprised expression, the Marquis smoothly asked Dalia, while signaling to his wife with his eyes.

“How about taking a stroll in the garden with the other ladies, Duchess? What do you think?”

“That’s right. There’s a wonderful pond in our family garden. I’d like to show it to you, Duchess. Would you like to come with me?”

Dalia looked at them.

Although she didn’t know much, even a child could sense that her going with the Duke wasn’t exactly a good look.

‘We’ve been stuck together the entire way here, so it should be fine to separate for a bit.’

She wondered if it was right to leave Clayton alone during the day, but since his current state seemed fine, Dalia withdrew her arm.

“Alright. Please lead the way.”

Just as she was about to leave with the Marchioness, Clayton suddenly grabbed Dalia’s wrist.

“Your Grace…?”

As Dalia looked at Clayton with a gaze tinged with bewilderment, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“My wife doesn’t like being alone in unfamiliar places.”

‘I don’t?’

Dalia, who enjoyed being alone more than anyone else, opened her mouth in disbelief.

“As you know, just a few days ago at the picnic, I left my wife alone for a moment and a very unpleasant incident occurred.”

Although he didn’t mention the specific incident, everyone present understood what the ‘unpleasant incident’ referred to.

The misdeeds of the Baron Molden and his daughter.

In fact, although Dalia didn’t know, her bombshell statement on the day of the picnic had caused a big ripple in high society.

As they say, a word once spoken flies everywhere. The misdeeds of the mother and daughter, which had already spread far and wide, were known to everyone who mattered.

“So I was thinking of staying by my wife’s side until she becomes familiar with this place, if that’s alright.”

“Oh my…”

Along with Clayton’s statement, exclamations naturally burst out from those around.

To anyone watching, he appeared to be a husband deeply concerned for his wife.

“I had no idea the Duke was such a considerate person.”

“That’s right. To think he was such a devoted husband who cares so much for his wife…”

At a time when rumors were quietly spreading that the relationship between the two wasn’t good, Clayton’s statement was enough to completely dispel those rumors.

Not only that. It was clear that from today on, they would be widely rumored to be a happily married couple.

“The Duchess must be very happy.”

At the Marchioness’s sincere words, Dalia gave an awkward smile and evaded answering. Then, inwardly, she cursed at Clayton.

‘When it’s actually you who doesn’t want to be alone, you’re using me?’

How could he be so shameless?

It was infuriating to see Clayton, who had changed his attitude as easily as flipping his palm, selling out his wife for his own reputation.

But what could someone as powerless as herself say here? All she could do was force an awkward smile and pretend to be happy.

As Dalia was putting on a soulless act with resigned eyes, thinking this way, a man who had been watching the two spoke up as if muttering.

“Seeing you two getting along so well naturally puts me in a good mood.”

The man, whose hair was just starting to turn gray, was looking at Clayton with a somewhat arrogant expression.

“Duke Chamberg, you were here as well.”

Roteil Chamberg.

He was from one of the few ducal families in the empire, along with the Sayer family.

And the fact that the relationship between Duke Chamberg and Duke Sayer wasn’t good was something even the children of the empire knew.

Ignoring Clayton’s greeting lightly, he stroked his mustache and continued speaking.

“But I’ve heard a strange rumor. I heard that every night, a black carriage of unknown origin has been coming and going from the Duke’s mansion…”

At those words, Clayton’s eyes sharpened for a moment, but no one noticed.

‘A black carriage? What’s that about? It seems like I’ve heard about it somewhere…’

But no matter how much she tried to recall, nothing specific came to mind, and as she was starting to feel frustrated, Clayton smiled and replied.

“…Duke Chamberg, you still seem to have a lot of interest in our family.”

“I’m just worried about you, who inherited the title of Duke at such a young age.”

As the atmosphere gradually became strange due to the confrontation between the two, the Marquis stepped in to mediate.

“Haha. I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, gentlemen, but there are people waiting, so shall we move to our seats?”

Thanks to the Marquis raising his voice to change the mood, the awkward flow of air returned to normal.

Dalia too, swept up in the bustling atmosphere, quickly erased the thought of the black carriage from her mind.

Little did she know that she would soon be entangled with the person who rode in that carriage.