“It was a man I saw for the first time, with silver hair and blue eyes. Young and handsome.”

For a moment, Sei thought of Christine. He was a man that fit all those descriptors. But it couldn’t have been him.

“Did you ask who he was?”

“He left quickly, so…”

Sei got out of bed. The maid, who had been making excuses, retreated with a frightened face, but she waved her hand without hesitation.

Slap!

“You foolish thing! You just let a man, whose identity you don’t know, bring your mistress home? What if something bad had happened to me?”

The maid held her cheek and sobbed in response.

“But the two of you seemed to get along, so I thought you knew him…”

Slap!

“You dare make judgments?”

The maid eventually fell to the ground on her knees, bowing her head.

“I’m sorry, Miss! Please forgive me just once…”

“Your face disgusts me, get out!”

“But… Mrs. Hans has been waiting for some time now.”

Though usually inseparable from Mrs. Hans, her soulmate, Sei was not pleased right now. Her head felt like it would burst.

But she was curious about who the man was that had brought her home last night. As the hostess of the party, Mrs. Hans would know.

“Tell her to come in.”

“Yes, Miss.”

The door opened, and Mrs. Hans entered. Her face looked more sullen than usual, perhaps she too had drunk too much last night.

“Oh my, you look well this morning.”

Mrs. Hans glanced at the maid, whose cheeks were red and swollen, and clicked her tongue.

“What happened?”

Sei asked with an annoyed voice.

“I was worried whether you got home safely last night.”

“Who was the man that brought me home?”

Mrs. Hans’ eyes sparkled, and she laughed loudly. As if that was the reason for her visit.

“He’s a friend of my husband’s, did you like him? You kept him by your side, saying he looked like Vice Count. The two of you disappeared together, did you have a good time?”

Sei looked scornfully as she sat on the sofa.

“What’s the use of someone who looks alike? I want to become Vice Count’s lady. You saw it a few days ago, didn’t you? The Emperor himself treats Adel, that woman, with respect. As if becoming something without the Count! Ahhh!”

Sei screamed as if she was angered by the thought. Mrs. Hans sighed and soothed her.

“Give up on the Count. Have you not seen the ‘Kalaim Tabloid’?”

Sei snatched the tabloid from Mrs. Hans’ hand.

‘Kalaim Tabloid’ was an interestdriven newsletter published by a private company. Vice Count was the most popular man in Kalaim, so his engagement news had been posted repeatedly.

On the front page of today’s issue was an illustration of Christine and Adel, arm in arm, walking side by side. The headline read:

The article detailed everything from them getting couple rings in Greenhill shopping district to entering a dessert cafe.

“In the private room of the cafe, the two were so heated that even the serving staff’s face turned red and ran out… Ahh, crazy people!”

Unknowingly reading the article out loud, Sei crumpled the newsletter. Then she glared and asked fiercely.

“You’re still in contact with Marvin, right?”

“Yes.”
“Report everything about Adel without missing a single detail.”

“Of course.”

Seira was the guarantor of Mabin’s debt, Adel’s personal physician. If Oswald’s family were to cancel the guarantor, he would probably be found as a corpse a few hours later. So Seira had no choice but to comply with their requests.

“Make sure they do not sleep together until the royal horseriding competition, no matter what.”

“I’m working on that, but why until then?”

“Because Stone Oraberni will be back by then.”

“Really? The duke is returning?”

Seira nodded, but her face was not convinced.

A few days later, the royal horseriding competition was held.

The royal family hosted the horseriding competition in the first half of the year and a hunting competition in the second half.

It was ostensibly for the purpose of fostering friendship, but it was more a competition between families, so the tension was high.

Usually, the men of the families participated, but occasionally if there was no suitable competitor, they sent a substitute who had concealed their status.

Also, if the winner of the competition was an unmarried man, he was allowed to propose to the lady of his liking. Then the ladies would shyly accept, pretending they could not refuse.

Thus, the young nobles were keen to participate every year. The ladies thought receiving a proposal there was the most romantic thing, so everyone looked forward to the competition.

But in fact, the winner 9 years ago was Stone. He disappointed the ladies by not proposing to anyone. But Seira noticed.

Who the lady he wanted was.

So when Adel and Christine began to act unusually cautious, Seira continuously wrote to Stone, hoping he would return and break them apart.

But there had been no response from Stone. As if he had forgotten everything here and was settling down in the Orabis Kingdom.

Seira threw her last bait to Stone. Even though Adel was engaged, she would make sure the two did not sleep together until the horseriding competition. So come back and win the competition and take her.

If Stone were to propose to Adel, it would really be something to watch. The rumors would again cast her as a dishonorable woman. The Calrime tabloid would report her downfall.

The thought alone seemed to ease her indigestion.

Of course, Adel would not accept the proposal, and the Oswald family might suffer some fingerpointing, but that did not matter. They would not crumble at such rumors, and Adel would just return to the gutter.

But there was still no contact from Stone.

Had he really given up on Adel?

That’s when it happened. A knock, and a maid entered.

“Miss, breakfast is…….”

“I don’t need it. Take it away.”

Seira snapped, and the maid added with a frightened face.

“And a telegram has arrived.”

“A telegram?”

“Yes, sent by the family head…….”

“Oraberni!”

Seira grabbed the telegram the maid handed her and frantically tore the envelope. Then she let out a cheer.

“Yay! I knew this would happen!”

“What happened?”

Asked by Mrs. Hans, Seira hugged her, forgetting her decorum.

“He’s coming back soon. Oraberni is coming back soon!”