“Rose Hertz.”

Fortunately, it was Clayton who stopped the rampaging Lloyd. He looked at Lloyd with cold eyes and muttered lowly.

“Get in the carriage now.”

“But…!”

Lloyd tried to protest in defiance, but the tantrum of a pubescent boy was no match for the aura of a man like a demon.

In the end, Lloyd lowered his head like a dog tucking its tail before a lion and slowly moved his feet.

He didn’t forget to send an apologetic look to Dalia for not being able to go with her.

As Clayton was about to get into the carriage following him, he stared blankly at Dalia.

It wasn’t a gaze that ignored Dalia, nor an apologetic expression towards her. Their gazes were briefly entangled in mid-air.

The meaningless staring contest ended as Clayton got into the carriage.

“Sigh…”

Dalia, who had been watching the carriage carrying the two leave the mansion, let out a low sigh.

It was because she had been tense, worried that Lloyd’s sudden action might ruin the plan.

As Dalia was about to turn around, thinking she had achieved today’s goal and could now rest in her room.

“Dalia.”

Not far away, the Grand Duchess was waiting for Dalia. She seemed to have observed everything that had just happened.

“How did you…”

“I heard you were being mistreated, I couldn’t just sit still.”

“…Pardon?”

It seemed to refer to the entire situation from Rose entering the mansion to Clayton attending the party with Rose instead of her.

More than that, not being able to sit still? Something felt ominous. Dalia tried to erase the chilling feeling down her spine as she continued speaking.

“What do you mean by not being able to sit still…”

“Anna.”

“Yes, Grand Duchess.”

As soon as the maid named Anna bowed her head, an unfamiliar carriage was seen entering from afar.

It was a carriage incomparably more splendid than the one Clayton and Lloyd had just ridden.

“That’s…”

As the ominous premonition amplified at the unexpected appearance of the carriage, the Grand Duchess approached her with a pleased smile.

“It doesn’t make sense to get all dressed up like this and not go to the party.”

Then she gently stroked Dalia’s cheek.

“I specially borrowed this carriage from my family. Ride it to the Imperial Palace.”

“…Pardon? The Imperial Palace?”

“We can’t just sit back and let this happen. Go there and put that Hertz family brat in his place.”

Finally understanding the Grand Duchess’s intention, Dalia smiled awkwardly and objected.

“But without a partner, I can’t go to the party…”

“Don’t worry about that. No one will be able to ask why you came alone. I told you before, didn’t I? That I had prepared a gift for you. So don’t worry and hurry along now.”

As she said this, the Grand Duchess pushed Dalia’s back. She was just like a fairy godmother from a fairy tale.

In the end, Dalia reluctantly got into the carriage. Looking around briefly, the atmosphere seemed rather supportive of her.

‘This is a disaster.’

Dalia leaned back in the carriage seat with a sense of resignation. She never had the right to refuse in the first place.

If she hadn’t dressed up, she could have made excuses about her shabby appearance, but she was now dressed appropriately to go to the Imperial Palace right away.

Who knew that dressing up to gain sympathy would backfire like this.

Dalia’s feelings were complicated as she finally boarded the carriage heading to the Imperial Palace.

‘What do I do now.’

The thought of appearing before people in such a bizarre combination – a mistress and a legal wife attending a party for one man – made her head spin.

The only consolation was that all three of them didn’t care much about people’s opinions.

‘Haah…’

But she couldn’t hold back the sigh that escaped her lips.

As she was confused about where things had gone wrong, the carriage finally arrived at the Imperial Palace.

Dalia, who got out of the fully stopped carriage, looked at the majestic building standing before her.

‘Ah… I really ended up coming.’

To this damn Imperial Palace.

She blankly stared at the Imperial Palace, which was dazzlingly splendid to the point of being overwhelming.

Originally, her plan was to make the male lead, who came to the Imperial Palace with his mistress, worry about her who was left alone at the mansion throughout the party.

But now that she herself had come to the Imperial Palace, she had no choice but to change her plan.

‘Alright. Since it’s come to this, let’s turn this crisis into an opportunity.’

Dalia was practically a loner in high society, with no close acquaintances except for Rachel.

Being from a humble baronial family, she was often ignored unless under the protection of the Duke.

And today was the moment when the world would learn that even the Duke’s love, which had been supporting her, had ended with the appearance of a mistress.

‘They’ll probably all laugh at my situation and look down on me when I enter, right?’

They would think that the love that even transcended social status was all a lie, and consider her pathetic for attending the party alongside the mistress, unable to do anything about it.

If she was lucky, she might even be openly ignored by people.

That’s exactly what Dalia wanted. For everyone at the party to ignore her, criticize her, and laugh at her to their heart’s content.

If she couldn’t join any group and was left alone in a corner, the male lead would have no choice but to not pay attention to her.

Dalia slowly moved her steps while formulating a perfect plan as she looked at the Imperial Palace where the party was in full swing.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Dalia told the attendant her position and name. The attendant who confirmed her identity seemed surprised for a moment but quickly composed his expression.

“Duchess Dalia Sayer has arrived.”

With the attendant’s announcement, the heavy doors opened. All eyes were focused on Dalia’s appearance.

As she took each step down the stairs, hot gazes could be felt from all around.

And among them, there was someone sending the most intense gaze. It was Clayton.

He couldn’t take his eyes off Dalia for even a moment since her appearance.

Along with surprise at her unexpected appearance, there was also a hint of irritation towards Dalia for coming here despite his words.

Dalia deliberately ignored the man’s gaze and silently crossed the hall.

As she walked through the crowd, all sorts of whispers could be heard.

Since there had never been a case in history where two partners attended a party for one man, this would undoubtedly become the biggest scandal in high society this year.

“My goodness. Didn’t Duke Sayer say that the Duchess was ill? That’s why he had no choice but to ask the young lady of the Hertz family.”

“That’s right. It was all a lie, wasn’t it? So, does this mean Duke Sayer brought another woman as his partner while leaving his legal wife behind? Oh my.”

As expected, the hall began to stir greatly with her appearance.

As various remarks about Clayton, Rose, and herself were heard here and there, Dalia inwardly smiled with glee.

‘Yes. Good. Keep talking like that! Then I’ll shed tears beside you, acting as the tragic heroine.’

In this atmosphere, she thought that soon someone would appear who would openly ignore her.

Even before an incident like this, supporting characters like the Marchioness of Borsen often bullied the female lead.

So Dalia was deliberately standing in the most conspicuous place, waiting for someone to pick a fight with her. But.

The words of the noblewomen who approached her as if they had been waiting were somewhat strange.

“Duchess, you must be going through such hardship at such a young age.”

“Indeed. I never thought Duke Sayer would be such a womanizer.”

Huh?

“Is that woman next to him the young lady of the Hertz family? I heard she was frail, but she doesn’t look like it at all.”

“The Hertz family has always had rumors of affairs with the men of the Sayer family, hasn’t it? I wonder if they have some hereditary disease of seducing married men.”

Eh? This isn’t right…

People did gather around and speak to her, but it was quite different from what Dalia had wanted.

Originally, they should have criticized her for not being able to keep her husband, disparaged her background, and treated her like a stupid woman, but why…

“You shouldn’t deal with such people.”

“That’s right, Duchess. Don’t worry too much and enjoy yourself with us today.”

The noblewomen all gathered around her, busy badmouthing Clayton and Lloyd.

And my role in this group seemed like…

Should I say it’s like the leader of the villain group that often appears in romance fantasy novels, leading the social battles? In other words, it felt like being the boss of a group of bullies.

‘Hey, you all used to be busy ignoring me. Why are you suddenly acting like this?!’

She had thought things might go more smoothly since Rachel wasn’t around, but things kept going in a strange direction.

Because of that, the one who looked pitiful here instead was…

‘Lloyd…’

It was Lloyd, standing alone in a corner, smiling happily towards her.