Riena’s expression suddenly darkened as she was about to call for the maid waiting outside.

“Oh, there’s already a guest staying at the mansion. We’ll try not to overlap schedules, but you might run into them if you wander around. Would that be alright?”

“By previous guest, do you mean Baron Rothman whom I saw earlier?”

“…Yes.”

Riena smiled bitterly. She tried to manage her expression, but she simply couldn’t smile brightly without showing any negative signs.

Johannes also adopted a serious expression, following her lead.

“I know it’s presumptuous to ask, but did something happen to you, my lady?”

“…”

“I heard earlier that Baron Rothman is your fiancé.”

“That’s not true!”

Riena, who had raised her voice without realizing it, let out a small sigh and lowered her voice.

“It’s true that marriage talks with Baron Rothman were exchanged without my knowledge. But fiancé? That’s absurd. I have no intention of marrying the Baron.”

“So that’s why you looked troubled.”

Johannes rose from his seat and carefully sat down next to Riena. His large hands covered both of hers, which were tightly clasped together.

Riena shuddered at the soft touch on the back of her hand and looked up. As their eyes met, Johannes smiled.

“To be honest, I was going to let it go, but given the situation, I can’t help but speak up.”

“…?”

“The reason I came all this way was to see you, my lady.”

“…Pardon?”

Johannes laughed softly, as if embarrassed.

“Ever since I last met you, I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I wanted to contact you, but I didn’t know how. I thought you might be surprised if I suddenly reached out, given our lack of close acquaintance.”

“…”

“I never thought I’d suffer from lovesickness, but here I am, at this age, belatedly struck by fever.”

Riena, unable to comprehend the current situation, just blinked silently.

“I gathered courage and sent a marriage proposal to House Dyke, but received no reply. Disheartened by the rejection, I left the capital to travel, and that’s why I heard about the Count’s passing so late.”

“…A marriage proposal? When exactly…?”

“I sent it at the beginning of this year, so it’s been about half a year.”

“Half a year…”

Johannes continued speaking as he watched Riena, who seemed lost in thought.

“You had a special affection for the Count, didn’t you? I wanted to visit you, worried about how you might be coping with such a sudden loss.”

“That…”

“If given the chance, I also wanted to convey my feelings that hadn’t reached you before.”

Johannes carefully pulled Riena’s hand closer and kissed the back of her white hand. It was a slightly more lingering and affectionate gesture than when they first met.

“Lady Dyke. It might seem abrupt, but after seeing the situation just now, I don’t think I can leave you like this.”

He whispered with his lips still on the back of her hand.

“Won’t you come back to the capital with me when I return?”

“Do you mean…”

He smiled, meeting Riena’s eyes.

“Yes, I’m proposing to you right now.”

“So what? Lady Riena received proposals from two men at once?”

“I didn’t know the naive lady had such charm. She’s never shown any interest in romance or marriage before. Now, if it were Lady Bianca…”

“But she’s pretty, isn’t she? It’s understandable that men would go crazy for her. Or maybe there’s something we don’t know? There are plenty of ladies who act differently in public and private.”

“Oh my, oh my. This girl, really.”

The laughter of the maids carrying laundry echoed through the corridor. Riena, who had stopped in the hallway to watch their retreating figures, deliberately walked away, stamping her heels.

The sound of her shoes, which wouldn’t have been noticeable normally, echoed loudly in the corridor.

The maids who reflexively turned to look back suddenly turned pale.

“Ah, my lady! When did you come out?”

“Just now.”

“Then, um…”

The maids, unable to speak openly, just rolled their eyes at each other. Riena tapped the shoulder of the maid standing on the right and whispered in her ear.

“I already know you talk about me behind my back.”

“Oh, we’re sorry…”

“That’s fine. You need to have some fun while doing such hard work.”

“But that’s not…”

“However, is it appropriate to speak so loudly when we have two guests? What you just said was not only offensive to me but also to our guests. Your voices were so loud, they could probably be heard on the second floor.”

Riena and the other members of House Dyke stayed on the third floor of the mansion, while guests stayed on the second floor.

“We’re so sorry. Please forgive us. We’ll be more careful with our words from now on. No, we’ll work silently like we’re dead!”

“Me too! Please have mercy…”

“I won’t fire you. But I hope I won’t hear such things again.”

“Th-Thank you. We’ll be careful!”

Riena passed by the two who were bowing repeatedly. She heard a loud sigh behind her back.

“I thought I was going to be fired this time. Why did it have to be the young lady who caught us?”

“Watch your mouth. How can you still talk like that after just being scolded?”

“Oops.”

Riena pretended not to hear the two whispering.

Normally, those who casually gossiped about their masters should have been fired. Those two should have been fired under normal circumstances.

But she didn’t do that. It was because firing the two of them wouldn’t solve the problem.

After Count Dyke’s death and the Countess taking control, the power dynamics in the mansion had completely changed.

The Countess, who had hidden her claws before, now ruled like a queen of the mansion, and Bianca, who had been treated like an outsider for not bearing the Dyke name, had also become arrogant.

When the Countess Dyke even pushed for a marriage between Riena and Baron Rothman, the employees keenly felt the newly established power structure and changed their behavior.

They began to treat the Countess friendly while subtly disrespecting Riena.

So firing those two would only worsen public opinion among the employees.

‘Mother wouldn’t fire them anyway.’

The Countess Dyke might even praise the maids who insulted Riena.

Riena frowned and massaged her temples.

‘Lord Belliard wouldn’t have wanted this situation either.’

The news that Johannes had proposed to Riena two days ago had spread throughout the mansion.

Since an unmarried man and woman couldn’t be alone in the reception room, they had left the door open and placed a maid nearby, and that maid had passed the word to her colleagues.

Words without legs spread quickly. In just a few hours, everyone in the mansion had heard the rumor.

Moreover, the rumor began to deviate from the truth and become distorted.

In fact, it was said that Riena and Johannes already had feelings for each other, but Count Dyke had opposed their relationship, preventing them from being together.

Furthermore, just a few hours ago, a plausible story had been created that Johannes, who had maintained a good relationship with Riena, had finally proposed to her after the Count’s death.

It was a completely absurd rumor.

Riena was about to burst into laughter at the ridiculousness when suddenly…

“What on earth did you do?”

A sharp voice suddenly came from the side. Turning her head, she saw Bianca leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

Bianca tilted her head askew and slowly looked Riena up and down.

“I didn’t know Lord Belliard’s tastes ran in this direction. Anyway, how exactly did you seduce Lord Belliard?”

“What?”

Riena showed her displeasure at the blatant question, but Bianca steadfastly continued her words.

“What tricks did you use to make Lord Belliard propose to you?”

“I don’t know.”

Bianca’s question was what Riena wanted to ask Johannes.

“You don’t know? If you don’t know, who would?”

“If I don’t know, I say I don’t know. What else should I say?”

“What?”

“And I’m the one who received the proposal from Lord Belliard, so why are you so concerned?”

“That’s because…!”

Bianca’s face, which had turned slightly pink with excitement, now turned bright red.

“He’s too good for you! I’m upset that Lord Belliard is being deceived by you! How could he choose you of all women…!”

Bianca shouted and then quickly closed her mouth.

“Anyway, you’d better be careful with your actions. Your fiancé, Baron Rothman, is still in the mansion.”

“I keep telling you, he’s not my fiancé…”

“Well, Baron Rothman doesn’t seem to think so.”

Bianca looked down the stairs. Following her gaze, Riena saw Baron Rothman coming up the stairs with a deeply furrowed brow.

“Lady Dyke! I need to talk to you…!”

“Sigh…”

Riena pressed her palm to her forehead and turned around. She heard Baron Rothman’s voice shouting behind her back and the maids’ voices saying he shouldn’t come up here, but she ignored them and entered her room.