Otherwise, when the boy bid farewell, it shouldn’t have hurt this much to breathe—like a fish with broken gills.

But still.

‘If Luke really is Lucas… why didn’t he tell me?’

She could accept that she had forgotten him following the accident she had been involved in at the age of eighteen. But if Luke remembered her, why hadn’t he shown it?

If he knew and was still deceiving her, mocking her like this, it would be far worse than mere betrayal. That would be unforgivable.

“Haa…”

Cordelia pressed her forehead, trying hard to pull herself together.

Was her determination to leave wavering just because Lucas was Luke?

‘Even if he didn’t recognize me and acted that way, how could I possibly live with him?’

She must not waver.

But how could she possibly suppress her curiosity?

If she had truly regained her memories, she needed to confirm whether Lucas was indeed Luke.

At that moment, a loud explosion of fireworks rang out outside. Crimson sparks burst across the night sky, illuminating it for a birthday celebration.

***

Contrary to what others might have thought, Lucas disliked parties. To him, they were just an opportunity to gather information, something he never enjoyed.

What he hated even more than the parties themselves was the aftermath.

What joy could there be in such a gathering when all that remained was to judge its success or failure and tally up who did well and who didn’t?

However, this particular aftermath was exceptionally entertaining.

Especially since it involved the old man and the Randolph couple.

“You must’ve heard what happened to my wife.”

“Yes, Lucas. How is Cordelia doing now?”

“She was quite shaken. It seems she’ll need to rest at home for a while. She even fainted briefly that night.”

“Good grief.”

Richard had been very pleased with the party, but upon hearing about the incident involving Cordelia afterward, he had been deeply displeased.

It wasn’t so much out of concern for his countess-born daughter-in-law as a person, but rather a frustration that a well-executed plan by his subordinate had nearly gone awry.

With the mood set, Lucas gave a faint smirk as he looked at the Randolph couple.

“My wife has always been afraid of horses, so for the past year, we’ve refrained from things like horseback riding within this family.”

“……”

“I was so grateful for your consideration, truly. I never imagined you’d want to go on a hunt so badly at Father’s birthday celebration.”

As Lucas flashed a gentle smile, Alicia gulped, and Randolph gave a strained cough. Of course, he wasn’t the type to dabble in such scheming—at least not openly.

Unable to bear the mounting pressure, Alicia finally burst out, flustered.

“A-Ah, come on, Lucas. You think we’d do something like that? Just think about it logically!”

“……”

“We just thought—oh, Cordelia must have a hard time with horseback riding… Who would’ve guessed she was that terrified of horses?”

Alicia looked desperately between Lucas and Richard as she pleaded her case.

“The lakeside park is enormous! Unless it was the work of vagrants from Hell’s Realm, it must be due to negligence on the part of the guards. Everyone knows the guards here only care about money and don’t do their jobs properly!”

Of course, if it had been up to Alicia, she wouldn’t have minded the horse trampling Cordelia. Still, she had no idea where the horse had come from. She could only assume that Louise Vanderbilt was somehow involved.

Even if Lucas was as formidable as they said, shaking her and her husband down would not produce any concrete evidence.

Yes, it was an unfortunate accident—but honestly, Alicia thought Cordelia bore some responsibility for her lack of caution.

“Anyway, I’ll be sending a get-well gift to Cordelia, Lucas.”

“……”

“It’s a relief she wasn’t seriously hurt. What if she’d injured that pretty face of hers?”

She was probably disappointed that there would be one fewer attractive woman around for the men to ogle. Alicia didn’t say anything, but her lips twisted slightly in irritation.

Richard, too, stared at Lucas, raising one white-dusted eyebrow in displeasure.

From the circumstances, he could already tell that the Randolphs were involved.

Cordelia had excused herself from the social event and then, while she was resting alone, some large beast just happened to appear? That wasn’t a coincidence.

However, without evidence, he couldn’t punish his trusted aides. No matter how powerful Lucas was, the Randolph faction still held considerable sway.

“So, what will you do, Lucas?”

“Well, a valuable horse surely has an owner, don’t you think?”

Lucas let out a dry chuckle and shook his head.

Even without an identifying tag, how hard could it be to find its owner? Especially a horse so clearly well-bred, one that had obviously been raised on high-quality feed in some fool’s stable.

Lucas fully intended to ruin every last one of those thoughtless bastards—just as thoroughly as the rage he felt when Cordelia turned away from him.

“I’ll be taking my leave now, Father. Something like this happened to my wife—how could I, as her husband, simply sit back?”

“Yes, take care.”

“And Randolph, Alicia.”

Just as the couple was about to breathe a sigh of relief, thinking Lucas was finally leaving, they flinched. Lucas smiled, narrowing his eyes with mocking sweetness.

“You must have taken an interest in horses out of sheer leisure, I suppose.”

“You—Lucas…!”

“I’ll be sure to send you a fine young colt sometime. Since you have no children, the two of you can raise it lovingly together.”

With a subtle but biting jab, Lucas made his exit. Richard merely clicked his tongue in disinterest and also left the room.

Left behind were Randolph and Alicia, who could only seethe in silence, the bitterness nearly making them bite their tongues.

Randolph dry-washed his face and clenched his jaw in frustration.

They hadn’t been involved in any recent projects that might have won them favour with Richard. The wine business that Randolph had been entrusted with had been struggling ever since Lucas withdrew from it.

Meanwhile, Lucas was rising steadily, gaining ground with every passing day—it was maddening.

Could they really beat someone like him?

Unable to hold it in, Alicia suddenly raised her voice.

“Pull yourself together, will you?! How can you sit there looking like you’re already dead?”

“But this party ended up going in their favour, too! Didn’t you hear how everyone was praising Cordelia?”

“Of course I did…! Ha.”

Recalling the party, Alicia bit down hard on her lip, smearing her rouge.

Aside from Cordelia disappearing midway due to her injury, Richard’s birthday banquet had been a resounding success. It was obvious this would become the new standard for future masquerade balls.

What was the real difference between her and that woman?

They were both nobles. They even shopped at the same places…

‘Cordelia shops at Iridescent Department Store, and I go there all the time too. Is there something I don’t know?’

Should she change her personal manager?

No—maybe it wasn’t just about the manager. Maybe the department store itself was favoring Cordelia over her, secretly offering better information and opportunities.

Alicia’s dazed eyes sharpened with cold resolve.

‘I’m the true future mistress of the Duchy.’

She couldn’t allow some lowborn upstart to take her rightful place.

She couldn’t let Cordelia steal the spotlight either.

***

After the masquerade ball, talk of the event circulated lazily through the eastern social scene.

Louisa sat at a beautiful open-air café, idly watching the ladies-in-waiting gossip amongst themselves.

“It was my first masquerade ball, and it was far better than I expected. I never imagined the Countess would be the one to host such an event.”

Everyone had enjoyed themselves immensely, yet still managed to slip in subtle jabs at Cordelia—if only to stay in Louisa’s favor. Louisa, for her part, simply smiled, gracious as a queen, the very picture of royal magnanimity.

Thanks to Cordelia leaving early, Louisa’s dazzling Queen of Hearts dress drew far more attention. She was therefore more than willing to let a few half-hearted compliments about the unimpressive Cordelia slide.

Sensing her good mood, one of the ladies-in-waiting leaned in with gleaming eyes and whispered excitedly.

“But did you hear, Louisa?”

“Hm? About what?”

“The Wyatt family! Their business was handed over to someone else, and now Langdon’s been arrested by the city police, apparently!”