The books Aelfrie had borrowed turned to scraps of paper in no time.

Seeing Aelfrie frantically tear the papers and cry, Lord and Lady and Elise seemed satisfied and left the room.

Aelfrie couldn’t regain composure, not even knowing they had left.

Aelfrie wiped away tears with the back of her hand, looking at the soggy pieces of paper that were not only torn but spat upon.

More tears flowed upon seeing the words written on the scraps. They were words she had asked Kyle for an explanation.

Feeling as if that day, which had seemed like a gift in her life, was ripped apart and humiliated, Aelfrie cried even harder.

She also blamed herself.

‘I shouldn’t have borrowed them.’

If I hadn’t borrowed them, the books would still be in the academy library, imparting new knowledge to new people.

What’s worse, the fact that she had used her father’s ID attacked her even more.

I was never allowed to do so in the first place. The desire to read it was overreaching in itself.

If I had just stayed home that day, none of this would’ve happened…

Lord and Lady had ordered Aelfrie to not leave her room and simultaneously told the maids not to bring her any food.

If it hadn’t been for the potato Jenna had sneaked in, expecting a scolding, Aelfrie would have starved.

The problem was that she hardly ate it.

Aelfrie lay in bed all day.

She felt hungry, but had no appetite.

Over time, even the hunger faded. The only thing Aelfrie could think about was one thing.

‘Why was I born?’

When she thought everything was her fault, the end of her thoughts was always the same.

Aelfrie imagined a household without her. It was absurdly peaceful.

Lord and Lady and Elise would live without any irritations, and the servants too, would be more comfortable without one ambiguous employee to deal with.

Perhaps only Jenna would have been sad.

But if Jenna never met her in the first place, she would have thought nothing of it.

‘Maybe she could’ve left here earlier…’

Jenna, who was still working at the estate because she worked alongside me.
Jena worked diligently without slacking off, so I wondered if she would have left this place sooner and found a better job by now, where she could have received recognition and even a recommendation letter.

Thinking such thoughts, she sat huddled without eating; it was no wonder Aelfrie’s wounds didn’t heal properly.

The bruises that appeared on her face and arms not only didn’t fade but remained on Aelfrie’s body like dark stains.

The tension that seemed likely to continue was unexpectedly broken due to an extraordinary event.

“His Grace invited me to his summer villa!”

Elise hugged the letter that came to me with an elated face. Then, she checked to see if she was dreaming or had misread the letter.

However, upon reading it multiple times, it was clear that the Duke was inviting her to spend the summer at his villa.

Not only Elise but the Duke also invited the Count and Countess to his summer villa.

“My goodness, what’s happening! The Duke has chosen you!”

Countess was even more emotional than Elise, dabbing her tears with a handkerchief repeatedly.

After the tea party hosted by Riena ended, naturally, rumors circulated throughout the social circles that Elise had lied.

Subsequently, the frequent invitations from various households stopped as abruptly as if they had been lies.

The few invitations that did come were clearly from gatherings aimed at ridiculing her.

Thus, she began to avoid social events and frequented shops she used to go to, but even the shop owners’ attitudes had changed. They had also heard the rumors.

The issue was that they no longer extended the credit they used to offer and began to ask for the overdue payments for the items bought so far.

‘How can they ask for money now when they said it was fine before?’

Although the goods weren’t given for free, the Count and Countess felt wronged by the shopkeepers’ demands.

‘Besides, all those would have been paid for by the Duke!’

The Duke never even mentioned it, but in the Count and Countess’ minds, it had become natural to think that the Duke would pay for the items they had bought.

So they even harbored resentment toward the Duke for not contacting them despite being in such a situation.

But then the Duke suddenly invited them to his summer villa.

“Speaking of which, His Grace must have multiple summer villas… which one has he invited us to?”

The Count took the letter from Elise to check the name of the villa, but soon, his face clouded over.
Aradis Baron was keenly interested in other people’s assets.

He inquired about which new ships other nobles had acquired, and what estates they owned, as if he were managing his own property.

Among them, the Duke’s assets piqued Baron Aradis’ interest the most.

“The Duke is likely to become my son-in-law, after all.”

The Duke had relinquished his claim to the throne in exchange for a certain level of comfort.

The richest farmland and forests. Multiple castles and mansions. And even businesses managed by the Duke’s family.