Inside the swaying carriage.

I was deep in thought, my gaze fixed meaninglessly out the moving window.

I pondered how much of today’s events had progressed according to my plans, and whether they would have the desired impact on my future plans.

My mind was busy with such thoughts.

A low voice interrupted my reflections.

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

As I turned around, my gaze met Dante’s, who was sitting across from me with his legs crossed arrogantly.

In fact, when I saw Dante at the square, I was as surprised as Lucas.

“I didn’t expect you to come pick me up. ……Thank you.”

“Last time, when you went out alone, you came back with a slap on the cheek.”

Instead of an answer, he brought up something else.

“This time, you were listening to ridiculous abuse.”

Dante clicked his tongue lowly and looked at me with cold eyes.

“I’m sure I told you clearly? Fake or not, you are going to be my wife for now.”

“…….”

“Don’t lower yourself.”

The low voice clearly warned.

“Because that’s the same as lowering me.”

Thump.

For a moment, my heart sank.

Even though I knew that the ‘you’ Dante was referring to meant the position of the duchess, not Ariana Lopez.

But, whatever it was……

‘It’s the first time.’

It was something I had never heard before.

Not to lower myself because it was the same as lowering himself.

No. Maybe I had heard it from my maternal grandfather when I was very young.

“Your honor is the same as this old man’s honor. So is your heart.”

“So don’t let anyone dare to hurt you or your heart.”

“Then this old man’s heart will be torn too.”

‘……Enough.’

Shaking off the thoughts of my grandfather that had come to mind after a long time, I moistened my dry lips.

Then I offered a sincere apology.

“I’m sorry. When Lucas said those things, I only thought it was good because all the arrows would return to Lucas himself.”

There were many people around me and Lucas.

Although Lucas lowered his voice, some of those standing close must have heard.

Verbal abuse directed at a former fiancée would certainly not work in Lucas’s favor. Even more so considering the scandal that would soon erupt around Lucas.

“But you are right, Your Grace. I will be more careful next time. And thank you again for your help today.”

“Your gratitude is frequent.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you to use me more brazenly. So that…….”

Dante leaned his upper body slightly and curved his lips.

“I’ll feel less guilty when I use you.”

“…….”

As he suddenly approached, his unique scent swirled around my nose again.

I instinctively pulled back as much as he approached. The irregular beating of my heart felt unfamiliar.

I answered in a business-like voice, pretending not to be moved at all.

“For someone who says that, I haven’t done anything for you yet, Your Grace.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Dante added with a smirk.

“You’ll do plenty after we get married.”

My eyes widened.

“…….”

Thump, thump.

My startled heart began to race wildly.

Things that naturally came to mind when he said I would do plenty after we got married…… But such things.

‘It would be impossible for that person……?’

Lost in confusion, I suddenly felt like a frog that had been hit directly by a stone thrown in jest.

The person who threw the stone was leaning deep into the backrest, looking out the window.

As if he had no interest in my agitation.

“…….”

I clenched my fists and turned my head to look out the window.

Thinking that if the perpetrator who dropped the bombshell had such an attitude, I would never show any signs of being shaken.

Just then, the carriage arrived at the ducal residence. Dante, who had risen first, stopped getting out of the carriage and looked back at me.

“Lopez.”

Then he threw out the words with a slanted curl of his lips.

“Your face is red.”

“…….”

“Maybe it’s because you’re an artist. It seems you’ve spread your wings of imagination quite far.”

I almost slapped away the hand he offered for escort.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next day.

I woke up early and was served a simple breakfast along with today’s newspaper.

I picked up the newspaper with quite a pounding feeling.

‘I’m looking forward to this.’

, , .

Last night, I had sent gifts to the three most active gossip papers in the capital.

Photos of Lucas and Elena that were specially selected to show their faces well.

The bait was thrown, and the rest of the cooking was up to the experts.

As soon as I unfolded the front page, a flashy headline caught my eye.

Viscount Fedegrin caught in an ambiguous relationship with soprano Elena Lopez!

Next to it, the photo I sent was prominently featured.

The article continued below.

[On the 29th, it was revealed that Viscount Fedegrin, who was rumored to have been jilted at the wedding, had been in an inappropriate relationship with another woman even before that, causing a stir. Moreover, the identity of that woman was found to be the younger sister of his fiancée…..]

The eye-catching headline, followed by a stimulating article. Even photographic evidence to support the article’s content. It was a perfect trinity.

Satisfied with the result, I smiled brightly.

‘The article came out even cleaner than I expected.’

I liked the tone of the article, which was concise, provocative, and got straight to the point.

I raised my gaze to check the newspaper and suddenly froze.

“The Empire’s Morning?”

It was neither , , nor .

was known as the most prestigious newspaper in the capital, subscribed to by high-ranking aristocrats and even the imperial family.

Naturally, its influence was also tremendous, but……

‘I didn’t send a tip here, though?’

went through a rigorous fact-checking process for each and every article source.

It was the reason this newspaper could maintain a high level of credibility, as it only published events that were either fully verified or vouched for by reliable witnesses.

However, I didn’t include it in the sender list because I didn’t want the article to be delayed due to fact-checking.

‘……Could it be?’

A name suddenly came to mind, and I held my breath.

After quickly freshening up my face and tidying my clothes, I left the room and ran into the head butler, Oren, who was passing by the corridor.

“Ah, Head Butler. May I see His Grace?”

“The master is in his study.”

“Thank you.”

With firmly in hand, I headed to the study.

As I was about to knock on the study door, my eyes widened slightly.

‘The door is open.’

I peered through the wide open crack.

A scene I had seen once before came into view. As I scanned the inside carefully, I soon encountered an unexpected sight.

‘Ah……!’

My eyes gradually widened.

[This is the timeline separator]

Unusual things were happening all over the capital.

“Our lies are white lies……”

A maid doing the dishes unconsciously hummed a song.

“Even if a friend is next to me, hmm hmm.”

A noble lady absentmindedly recited the lyrics while savoring her tea, then started and stumbled.

“If love is a sin, I’m serving a life sentence……”

A melody easy to remember even after hearing it once.

At the same time, an oddly addictive melody lingered on people’s lips.

“Ugh, stop singing it already. It keeps haunting my mind too!”

Those who heard the repeated humming complained of agony, but before long, the melody spread to them like an incurable infection.

“In the garden, in the hallway…… Argh, damn it! It’s contagious!”

The morning after the stage performance.

The people of the capital, who habitually unfolded , widened their eyes.

“Hmm?”

The Minister of State, expecting international news, opened the front page and doubted his eyes.

“Good heavens.”

A noble lady, startled by the explicit photo, dropped the newspaper.

“Oh my, how vulgar!”

Ladies gathered in the salon, peering at the newspaper together, covered their mouths and read the article intently.

boasted the highest subscription rate in the capital.

The capital was instantly abuzz with this sensational news.

“Did you see it?”

“Of course I did. My goodness, photos are really scary. To come out so explicitly!”

“Who would have thought that the genteel Viscount Fedegrin would do such a thing?”

“Moreover, the other party was Miss Elena? The up-and-coming soprano!”

“The most shocking thing is something else. If Miss Elena is the other party, the viscount had an affair with his fiancée’s family!”

“How could he do such a brazen thing!”

Salons, coffee houses, social clubs.

Wherever people gathered, the special report on the front page of was the talk of the town.

“I sympathized with Viscount Fedegrin without knowing. What a bolt from the blue, his fiancée running away with another man at the wedding.”

“But now it turns out the victim wasn’t Viscount Fedegrin.”

“His Grace the Duke must have known about this, right?”

The people of the capital spent their time frantically inflating and further inflating the gossip.

However, their interesting afternoon did not end there.