What I had been wanting so desperately was here.

No matter how many times I checked, it was indeed an invitation to the Oltbea mansion.

What should I do?

Elize’s eyes narrowed.

‘Which parts are lies?’

If what it said was true, the people of Ash Company should no longer need to take care of things, yet they sent an invitation like this.

At least the part about things ending badly when the work was finished was certainly a lie.

Elize remembered how she had written letters to all her acquaintances for days until her fingers ached, just to receive this invitation.

There were too many places to send to, so she had no choice but to call Ael to write some of them.

Maya didn’t know how to write well, and even if told to copy, it was impossible for her to write in a neat enough hand for invitations.

‘What must it have thought of me as it was writing.’

Ael had written the invitations without a word as instructed.

But in Elize’s mind, she pictured Ael’s face sneering and laughing at her maliciously.

‘It must have laughed inside, thinking I was begging around while it already had an invitation.’

Thinking that, her teeth ground together. She wanted to go downstairs right away, slap its cheek, and tear up the invitation in front of its eyes.

‘Wait. Is there any need for that?’

Would Ael go to this banquet? It might be possible to sneak out in the morning like today, but it couldn’t attend an evening event.

‘Besides, if Father is right, the manager will be here soon…’

Elize pondered for a moment, then carefully put the invitation back in her bag.

As if no one had ever seen it. Then she closed the door and quickly returned to her room.

“Where have you been?”

When she returned to her room, Maya looked at Elize with an expression that seemed to ask why she had gotten up early.

Instead of answering, Elize entered the dressing room and ordered Maya.

“Maya, prepare for the banquet.”

“What? What banquet?”

There hadn’t been a single invitation recently. Had her young lady finally gone mad?

“There is one.”

Ignoring Maya who followed with a puzzled expression, Elize busily rummaged through her clothes.

A bright smile appeared on Elize’s face for the first time in a long while.

Three days before the banquet at the Oltbea mansion, a guest visited the Viscount’s residence.

“It’s good to see you again, Viscount Aradis.”

“I’ve been waiting. You’ve finally arrived.”

The arrived guest was the villa manager.

He got out of the carriage, struggling to move his corpulent body.

Just that seemed to tire him out. After catching his breath for a moment and wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he offered a handshake to Viscount Aradis.

Though the Viscount was disgusted by the clammy hand he grasped, he couldn’t show it. After all, the manager’s outstretched hand bore several large gold rings.

If he wanted to receive even one more of these, his discomfort wasn’t important right now.

As soon as they shook hands, the manager looked around, searching for someone.

“But where is Miss Aelfrida…?”

“Aelfrida is coming down now. Ah, there she is!”

The anxious Viscount Aradis, seeing Ael come out to the entrance, immediately ran over and led her to the man as if grabbing her.

“This is Aelfrida. The pride of our couple.”

At the Viscount’s brazen words, Ael was at a loss for words. Pride? What parents would grab their pride and joy by the hair and treat her no differently than a servant?

“Oh, so this is…”

He approached Ael and greeted her.

“I am Viscount Roytz who will be your husband. My full name is Friel Rios Nerseba Ardion Roytz. When addressing me, always call me Lord Viscount Roytz.”

As she listened to the extremely long name, Ael had only one thought.

‘I finally learned this person’s name.’

Because the Viscount couple and Elize kept calling him the manager, she had almost thought his name was Manager.

Perhaps all three of them didn’t even remember this person’s name.

Ael didn’t want to criticize them for that fact. She herself had never been curious about his name until he came like this.

‘What does a name matter?’

Ael looked at Viscount Roytz.

Viscount Aradis kept praising him, saying he had a gentlemanly figure and mature charm.

He also boasted that the man knew how to enjoy manly hobbies, and as proof, he was so strong with tobacco and alcohol that he himself could hardly beat him.

Of the Viscount’s descriptions, the only one that seemed to fit was that Viscount Roytz enjoyed alcohol and tobacco.

The smell of tobacco and alcohol was overwhelming even before getting close.

“Well then, let’s go upstairs. Is this all the luggage you brought?”

“That’s right. I can buy what I need in the capital.”

“Of course. No need to carry everything heavy around.”

Pleased by Viscount Roytz’s words that he would buy new things here, the Viscount guided him with a brighter face.

After entering the Viscount’s residence, the Viscount looked around once and said,

“This would be a nice house to use whenever I come to the capital. I look forward to your hospitality.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t you say you were going down to your territory and had no plans to come up for a while?”

“Ah, that was the plan… but it seems I might be introduced to a good investment opportunity. Have you heard of Ash Company? A distant relative’s friend knows the sister of an employee working at that company, and says I might be invited to a dinner meeting. You may not know how selective Ash Company is, but…”

“What do you mean I don’t know? Our family also has deep ties with Ash Company.”

“What? You have connections with Ash Company?”

“Yes. Didn’t I mention it at the villa? That fountain pen I carried around was made in the Empire. The head of Ash Company gave it to me as a gift. Moreover, Aelfrida…”

“What? Miss Aelfrida also knew people at the company?”

“No, no. They bring in a lot of goods from the Empire, don’t they? She’s just interested in that.”

“Tsk. That’s not good. A woman’s virtue is frugality…”

The Viscount frowned as if Ael had taken money from his wallet to buy luxury goods.

The Viscount felt cold sweat on his back. He had almost said that Ael had worked there.

‘I can’t say things that could be picked at.’

As soon as he entered the reception room, the Viscount plopped down in the seat of honor without being invited to sit.

He didn’t seem to know it was the seat of honor, nor that it was rude to sit before being asked.

Sitting comfortably as if it were his own room, the Viscount looked around again and asked the Viscount,

“By the way, I don’t see Miss Elize. I was looking forward to seeing her again.”

“…That child is resting because she’s unwell.”

“Oh dear. Well, I suppose she would be quite heartbroken. What a shame for such a beautiful lady.”

The Viscount and his wife bit their lips at the Viscount’s careless words, bringing up a topic he clearly knew about from what had happened at the villa.

‘Come to think of it, this bastard must have known everything but didn’t say a word to us.’

If he had just told them that the Duke called in women every time, Elize wouldn’t have suffered like that.

Thinking that, they felt enraged, but the Viscount still couldn’t get angry at the Viscount.

Though his title was merely that of a lowly Viscount, he held more power now since he had the money.

Ael listened to the two men’s conversation from a few steps away, then looked up.

Upon receiving word of his arrival, the Viscount had ordered Elize to move rooms. Saying they needed to let the esteemed guest stay in the best room.

‘Normally she would have thrown a fit saying it was ridiculous.’

Strangely, Elize had obediently followed the Viscount’s words. Even her maid Maya thought Elize’s attitude was odd and came to the kitchen to gossip.