“……Could it be the person I’m thinking of?”

When I asked while sweating, Jack responded with a slight smile instead of an answer. It meant my guess was correct.

“The closer the contact, the greater the amount of magic power that can be absorbed.”

“T-That’s!”

It was strange to deny it as nonsense when I had felt an odd sensation before.

When I tried to use magic on the assassin and suffered from the pain of my heart being squeezed due to magic depletion.

‘When Cedar hugged me, the pain miraculously subsided.’

It happened twice, too much to be a coincidence.

As I recalled those moments and broke out in a cold sweat, Jack laughed as if he had expected this.

“It seems you have an idea.”

What kind of lewd thoughts is this elf having! I frantically made excuses with a bright red face.

“That was just an accident! Because of the assassin! It wasn’t even that close to begin with. Just hands, like this, lightly!”

“So even that much contact had a definite effect?”

“Well……”

As a mage, how could I lie about an effect that actually existed?

Unable to do this or that, my face just helplessly reddened. Jack, without any sign of teasing, calmly pushed my back.

“Why don’t you try a kiss next time?”

“……!”

A kiss…… no, that’s a situation I really can’t even imagine.

I froze, my lips moving wordlessly like a broken machine. Jack chuckled, then bowed his head and retreated politely.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave.”

As soon as Jack opened the reception room door and left, Grisha entered. He slightly furrowed his brow upon seeing my face.

“What kind of conversation did you have for your face to be so red?”

“W-Well……”

Grisha is the person I trust most in this world.

However.

“……I can’t say.”

I still can’t tell him this!

The apprentice walked with a shaking hand holding a tray, then stumbled.

‘Oh no! The expensive glass!’

Serving a cold drink in a glass to a guest visiting the dress shop wasn’t originally her job.

But today, both the shop owner and employees were busy, so even the apprentice who should have been sewing in the back was called out.

Since one glass was worth her monthly salary, her face turned pale the moment the glass tilted.

She desperately grabbed the glass. Fortunately, it didn’t break.

But the drink inside had already spilled out.

The apprentice’s face turned pale when she saw whose skirt the drink had soaked.

“Oh! I’m sorry, young lady.”

It was none other than Diana, the Baroness Periway, famous for treating her subordinates harshly.

Diana irritably brushed back her luxurious golden hair and lifted one of her feet.

As her skirt lifted with her foot, the stain from the juice became visible.

The drink had only splashed a little on the very edge, but her fine face crumpled. Her red lips curved in annoyance.

“If you’re sorry, you shouldn’t have done something to be sorry for in the first place.”

“I-I didn’t do it on purpose……”

“So what? Does that make your offense disappear?”

“Please forgive me, young lady!”

The apprentice prostrated herself, trembling violently. Diana was usually not hesitant to personally strike someone, but today there were too many eyes watching in the dress shop.

Still, she had no intention of letting it slide, so Diana waved her hand, signaling the maid who had brought her here to take the apprentice to the carriage.

The maid looked at the apprentice with pitying eyes before silently leading her to the carriage.

Diana grumbled while examining her nails.

“I don’t know why everyone is annoying me so much these days.”

Nothing was going right.

From the surveillance she had set up, she only heard stories about Grisha and Dragon Knight Order members coming and going from the mansion.

Meanwhile, the gate was broken so everyone was climbing over the walls or something.

Despite a week of surveillance, no plausible sightings were reported.

Diana pouted her lips.

‘They said they saw a small-bodied woman, but was that a mistake too?’

No matter how much someone likes staying at home, it’s impossible not to step out even once in a week.

Moreover, after learning Grisha’s identity, his comings and goings to the Dragon Knight Order mansion made even more sense.

‘The second son of Duke Granite, Grisha Granite. I didn’t know because he went to the academy so young.’

Being a mage was already appealing, but now his bloodline was Granite too, which was even more enticing.

The only thing that made Diana hesitate was the fact that he was the brother of Cedar Granite, whom she had originally been aiming for.

She was originally a person without face or shame, but not enough to seduce both brothers.

‘Who’s more likely to become Duke Granite later? I guess Lord Cedar will become duke since he’s the eldest son? But a mage is tempting too.’

Neither man showed any interest in Diana, but she was already contemplating as if she had both men in her grasp.

She was confident. After all, she was actually quite popular.

‘Since I already have a baroness title, my husband doesn’t necessarily need to bring a title, but still, becoming a duchess would be better, right?’

Just as her heart was leaning towards Cedar, as if by fate, she spotted a black-haired man leading several people in a corner of the dress shop.

Diana brightened up and stood to approach him.

“Oh my, isn’t it Lord Cedar? It’s been a while.”

Cedar’s indifferent gaze swept over Diana’s face before looking away again. His response was equally dry.

“Ah.”

At that response, the corners of Diana’s eyes sharpened.

‘What? Is that all you have to say when faced with a beauty like me? You could at least exchange greetings for appearance’s sake, right?’

“You’ve become even more beautiful after not seeing you for so long.”

Having always received such greetings from men her age, Cedar’s lukewarm attitude irritated Diana even more.

She wanted to scold him loudly, but she calmed herself down again.

The conditions he possessed were too good to treat him according to her temper.

‘Well, a man who can be easily obtained isn’t attractive.’

Imagining her future as the Duchess Granite made even this arrogant attitude tolerable.

Having composed herself, Diana smiled warmly again and moved closer to Cedar.

“What brings you to the dress shop?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“If you tell me who it’s for, I could help you choose.”

“I don’t need help.”

Even though she was trying to be friendly for once, Cedar kept cutting the conversation short brusquely.

Diana glared at Cedar, then looked at the clothes the shop assistants following Cedar were carrying, curious about what he had bought.

Since it was a women’s dress shop, it was natural that they were women’s clothes, but the clothes were a bit unique.

Short dresses full of frills and ribbons, vibrant and lively – designs Diana wouldn’t have worn since she was ten. She frowned as soon as she saw them.

‘What? Is he secretly raising a child?’

Diana glanced at Cedar’s profile with sharp eyes.

It was a handsome and manly face, but the fact that he was going around alone buying children’s clothes made his score plummet.

‘No matter how great a man is, having an illegitimate child is a deal-breaker.’

It wasn’t uncommon for men to have one or two illegitimate children, but Diana had no intention of tolerating that in a spouse.

Above all, wasn’t Cedar himself a case of an illegitimate child being accepted as the legitimate heir of the Granite ducal family?

He might sympathize with the position of an illegitimate child and want to accept them later.

After eliminating Cedar as a potential spouse, the smile disappeared from Diana’s face as well.

Feeling spiteful, Diana asked Cedar sarcastically.

“By the way, is my elder sister doing well?”

“……”

Cedar, who had been ignoring Diana and walking, stopped and turned to look at her.

Diana whispered to Cedar with a meaningful smile.

“Don’t forget our contract. That’s enough for me.”

Just receive the inheritance and pass it on quickly.

Cedar’s face hardened upon hearing Diana’s words. Thanks to that, Diana also made a sulky expression.

‘Why that expression? Surely he’s not getting greedy for the inheritance now?’

At that moment, Cedar took a step closer to Diana. Feeling instinctive fear, Diana took a step back as if retreating.

“I didn’t ask about this among the contract conditions back then.”

Cedar’s voice was very low and heavy. Diana met Cedar’s eyes as if entranced. His silver-gray eyes gleamed coldly.

“After I hand over the inheritance to you, what will you do with your elder sister?”

After building up the atmosphere so much, is this what he’s asking? Diana snorted.

“Do as you please. If you need a wife in name only, wouldn’t it be better to just keep her until she dies? After death, do as you wish. It would be better for my elder sister to be buried in the Granite family cemetery than in the state church cemetery since she doesn’t even have a proper territory in Periway.”

Hearing Diana’s answer, Cedar frowned and smiled. Diana made a sulky expression.

“Why are you smiling?”

And then she froze at his next words.

“I thought maybe your affection for your elder sister had bloomed again, since you were so diligently monitoring around the Dragon Knight Order.”

Throughout the surveillance, Cedar had been coming and going from the mansion without much reaction, so she thought he didn’t know he was being watched.

But now it seemed he had known all along and was just tolerating it.

‘But he won’t know who was doing the surveillance.’

It’s not like there are only one or two people interested in Cedar Granite.

Wouldn’t it be more natural to suspect Grisha Granite, who had returned to the capital?