Kalian’s eyes narrowed at Baizel’s behavior of unnecessarily dragging out time.

Kalian had moved early in the morning because of a telegram from House Ambrose.

A short telegram that felt urgent, saying they wanted to see him briefly.

So he had come out.

‘If I had known this guy called me, I wouldn’t have come.’

Knowing that Kalian wouldn’t move if he used his own name, hadn’t he cleverly not used Count Ambrose’s name?

“Wouldn’t it be impolite to state business immediately upon meeting?”

“In that case.”

“Huh, huhhh?”

Baizel made a strange sound in confusion. It was because Kalian had stood up.

“Since it doesn’t seem urgent, I’ll be going. From next time, please send a letter with your business written and make a proper appointment.”

Kalian looked down at Baizel with cold eyes.

“I’ll forgive your rudeness due to being my wife’s uncle-in-law only today.”

“Wait, Duke Rochester!!”

Baizel desperately grabbed Duke Rochester who was about to leave immediately.

“I’ll speak. I’ll say it right now.”

Kalian took out a pocket watch from inside his coat and checked the time.

“Concisely.”

Although the two had only met for a few minutes, he had already used up all the patience he could spare for this man and more. If he hadn’t been Stella’s uncle, he wouldn’t have even met him, so this was already excessive.

“Please lend me some money.”

The business popped out as soon as he sat down. Kalian chuckled.

“I understand His Majesty has already bestowed sufficient grace upon House Ambrose.”

Hadn’t they received not just sufficient but excessive grace? A mansion, servants, and even excessive pension.

Outwardly, it was money given while praising House Ambrose for living poorly but honestly, but people thought it was to save face for House Ambrose, which was becoming in-laws with House Rochester, and to elevate their position.

If the family marrying Duke Rochester, who was the king’s nephew, was too shabby, it would damage the ducal house’s honor.

But what was the truth?

It was a marriage the king had pushed through, and House Ambrose had made money by selling their daughter.

No, she had sold herself.

And there might be another contract underneath.

“And I also showed my sincerity to Count Ambrose and the Countess in my own way, but it seems it was insufficient.”

“No, it was sufficient. The items you sent were all such high-quality goods. Both my brother and the Countess were truly pleased.”

However, Baizel lowered his voice.

“But this time our House Ambrose wants to reclaim a mountain—”

“You mean the mountain with the salt mine.”

It was a waste of time to listen to the story to the end. Kalian, who cut off his words, began to lead the conversation.

“I heard that a mountain previously owned by House Ambrose was put up for auction.”

“Ah, yes. We desperately want to reclaim that! If we can just get that mountain back, we can restore our past honor.”

Lies.

Though he was speaking passionately, that was a lie.

It was true that a mountain previously owned by House Ambrose had been put up for auction, but that mountain had already been sold long ago.

Moreover, the salt vein had dried up long ago. Even if they somehow reclaimed the mountain, its value had already hit rock bottom. At best, they could pick herbs or cut trees.

‘He can’t possibly not know.’

He was cunning enough to use his brother’s name to arrange a meeting. Could such a person not know that the mountain’s value had fallen or that it had already been sold?

Impossible.

And look at those eyes. Though he was pretending to be passionate, what lurked inside his eyes was only greed.

‘What should I do?’

The correct answer was not to give him money. If that happened, he could spend relatively peaceful days.

Both House Ambrose and his wife.

But this man would somehow, in some way, continue to bother him.

And if he gave him money……

“Very well. Since it’s none other than my wife’s uncle-in-law saying this, I should help.”

It would be no different from setting fire to House Ambrose. And the fire that consumed House Ambrose might spread and spread until it reached the royal palace.

Not bad.

Sometimes burning everything down was a good method, wasn’t it?

Kalian raised the corners of his mouth and smiled loosely.

⁕⁕⁕

“Mmm.”

Stella’s pupils shook back and forth. The fingers placed on her knees twitched unstably.

Right now Stella was monopolizing a luxurious store as if she had rented it entirely.

The long sofa was excessively soft, and on the table right in front were various hats, matching ribbon strings, and gloves.

“Don’t you like them, Madam?”

As if reading Stella’s anxious mood, the clerk asked politely.

“If you don’t like what you’re seeing now, I’ll bring out new items to show you.”

“No!”

Since the clerk looked ready to rush into the back of the store immediately, Stella shook her head urgently.

“Can I just come back next time? Now that I think about it, I don’t really need a hat……”

“You may do so. Please visit comfortably anytime, Madam.”

Though she worried they might hate her for making them lay out items without buying anything, the clerk escorted Stella to the store entrance with a face that showed no concern at all.

“Whew……”

Coming out of the store, she felt like she could live. Stella let out a long breath and pressed her eyes firmly.

After finishing greetings with Mrs. Poff, Stella had come out to the city to buy things as Kalian had said.

But since she couldn’t figure out what exactly she should buy, she had entered the store to look at hats, thinking it would be nice to have one.

‘Were hats such expensive items?’

When she was working at the general store, the hats she saw on the way home weren’t that expensive.

Hadn’t she been surprised once by the number of hats the clerk laid out and surprised again by the prices?

One hat cost as much as Stella’s monthly living expenses when she lived in the street house.

Moreover, this hat had some flower attached, that hat’s feather was from a bird from a distant continent, this lace had 100 needles used in it.

She had heard only incomprehensible words and gotten tired.

Even when she worked through the night and went straight to the general store, she hadn’t been this tired.

“Are you alright, Madam?”

When Stella didn’t move for a long time, the person assigned as Stella’s dedicated maid for today approached carefully.

“If you have a headache, I’ll call the coachman so we can return to the mansion.”

“No. I just stopped for a moment because I don’t know what to buy.”

Hadn’t Kalian said she could use as much money and people as she wanted and buy the things she needed?

But she couldn’t figure out what she should buy at all.

‘Necessary things.’

Stella slowly recalled what she had wanted to have since long ago.

The first thing that came to mind was new clothes for Mary and Sanderson. She wanted to buy Mary cute clothes with small pockets, and for Sanderson, a new vest and hat to replace his old vest.

And since it was hard to work with only moonlight at night, she wanted to buy candles, and she wanted to purchase a soft blanket so Mother could rest comfortably.

Also for Father, a thick indoor robe, ah, and a bowl too. Since they all had chips, hadn’t she cut her hand several times while washing dishes?

New clothes for the children, a blanket for Mother, an indoor robe for Father, candles and bowls.

All the necessary things she thought of were like that.

‘But the money His Grace gave me was to buy things for the Duchess of Rochester to use.’

She couldn’t just spend money given for the ‘Duchess of Rochester,’ not herself, for her family.

Wasn’t Stella already too accustomed to poverty to freely spend money she had never used before?

She had entered the hat store hoping to have a hat to block the sunlight.

But she ended up leaving the store in surprise due to the clerk’s excessive kindness in immediately recognizing her.

What a sight, wandering around not knowing where to spend money and time when she had more than enough of both.

If she had told herself this a few months ago, she might have gotten angry and told herself not to lie.

Stella smiled softly.

‘Flashy and beautiful things.’

That was exactly what Kalian had demanded of her.

He had said something after that too, but she had missed it without hearing it properly.

“Um, do you happen to know Duke Rochester’s, I mean Kalian’s preferences?”

“I’m not certain, but as far as I know, he likes neat things. Luxurious but not overly decorated.”

Though she had never had preferences, Stella herself was also that type if she had to choose.

Among the many hats she saw at the store earlier, hadn’t the white hat with just one ribbon string and small flower decoration been the most appealing?

But why did he tell her to buy flashy things?

Could there be a required flashiness for the Duchess of Rochester?

She couldn’t understand.

She had to buy something anyway. Stella moved her steps. After wandering back and forth in front of numerous stores, the place she finally entered was a clothing store.

What Stella came out with after barely stopping the owner who wanted to show dozens of outfits was two dress robes that could be worn indoors.

One was for herself, and the most expensive one was for Grand Madam Rochester.

‘It’s not intentional, but I should apologize.’

Whether Mrs. Karen had done it out of urgency or because she wanted to show hostility toward her.