“Tomorrow, Your Grace.”

However, Cherbest’s answer was quite intimidating.

Cherbest smiled kindly.

“New dresses and plenty of jewels were prepared today. I’m sorry I couldn’t show them to you.”

“That’s because Lili was injured.”

Clementina watched Cherbest’s reaction. She felt dizzy thinking about how far she might have to walk in Aeskis Castle if she upset Cherbest. It would be terrible if he suggested a hike to Dicon Mountain instead of Aeskis Castle. Not yet.

“Of course! I’m truly angry at these villains who injured our cute and lovely Lili! If we catch those who did this to Lili and Dimint, I, Cherbest Lachman, will absolutely not let them off!”

“I’ll cut off one finger joint every day.”

Lillian’s eyes flashed as he carved up the pork bone with his knife.

“Very, very slowly.”

“Check on them tomorrow morning and then attend the charity banquet. Of course, you’ll look beautiful in whatever you wear.”

“Ahem! Ahem!”

Dion cleared his throat and lightly kicked Cherbest’s calf. He knew how sensitively Clementina reacted to comments about her appearance.

But Clementina quite liked Cherbest’s compliment. At first, she doubted his intentions, but after spending about twenty days together, she realized his admiration for her was simply like appreciation for a work of art.

At least there was no intention that would make Clementina feel disgusted.

Dion, knowing nothing, deliberately changed the subject.

“Do we really have to do this?”

Dion sighed with exaggerated irritation.

“You must. Your Grace is the commander of the Gold Dragon Knight Order, but you are also the Duke of Drasia.”

That wasn’t wrong. He had duties as a lord. Besides, it was better to investigate secretly. At least until they found evidence to identify the real culprit.

“Then, we’ll go.”

Berche, who had been receiving glares from his other comrades, took the lead. He believed there was no reason for dragon riders to attend a charity banquet just because the Duke had married.

Above all, a comrade had been injured. Dimint had lost consciousness, and Lili’s wing was broken.

That point greatly wounded their pride.

How dare they. Who would.

“No.”

Unexpectedly, this time Clementina opposed. She who had maintained silence until now opened her mouth for the first time.

Clementina picked up the napkin on her lap and wiped her mouth. Then she placed both hands neatly on her legs.

“I know I don’t have the right to say this.”

“Go ahead.”

Dion received a new oak cup from Cherbest. Vance jumped up, personally opened the cork stuck in the oak barrel, and poured himself a drink. Berche and Hamon stuffed meat into their mouths. Lillian maintained a calm expression while twirling his glass around.

Clementina took a deep breath. She clenched her fists tightly.

“We need to wait until Sir Dimint regains consciousness. If we just go like this, someone else will get hurt.”

Everyone’s actions temporarily stopped. The dining room fell into silence. Only the sound of the footman carving pork could be heard.

“Your Grace. We are not that weak.”

Berche spoke as politely as possible. But he couldn’t hide his discomfort.

“Is Sir Dimint like that too?”

“Of course, Dimint is also the best as a Gold Dragon’s dragon rider, ah!”

Berche frowned. The knight who had been confident in his skills now lay in the infirmary.

“This might not be about skill. What if they’re targeting individual dragon riders?”

“We won’t lose in one-on-one combat.”

“We don’t know what they’re after yet. It’s not too late to fight after understanding the situation. This will become another war.”

Clementina recalled the eyes of Jeremiah’s dragon Gerard from earlier. Only the dragon Lili knows exactly what happened. Gerard, being another dragon, might know what happened to Lili.

“War is not an option.”

Dion frowned as if remembering something while rolling the alcohol in his mouth.

“Huh! Why not? We’re already at war, what does it matter! Those Akarti bastards!”

Vance pounded his chest with his fist, spitting as he spoke.

“I heard Akarti has been requesting a ceasefire.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Hehe! What nonsense.”

“I heard they’ve discreetly expressed their opinion to His Majesty the Emperor. It’s true we need to move carefully now.”

Dion clenched both fists tightly on the table. Thick tendons stood out on his rough hands.

“We need to wake Dimint.”

Everyone instinctively knew that wouldn’t be easy. Having to worry about a comrade’s life was a strange experience.

The candle on the long table had burned down to the size of a finger, and a servant replaced it.

The dragon riders drank heavily in frustration. At this point, they didn’t care if they couldn’t get up tomorrow.

Amid all this, no one knew that Clementina had drunk as much as they did. Her designated footman would keep quiet, knowing that keeping the master’s secrets was a servant’s virtue.

The experienced footman glanced at her complexion and continued to prepare more alcohol.

That night, only Clementina walked out of the dining room calmly on her own two feet.

⁕⁕⁕

When Jan Porto, the second daughter of Count Porto, first heard the news that she had been selected as a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Drasia, she thought her father had pulled strings again.

She worried about what connections and bribes he had used to curry favor with the mighty Duke of Drasia.

On her first day of work after the ducal couple’s honeymoon period ended, she felt somewhat excited when told her duty would be to select dresses and accessories for the Duchess.

Choosing colors and coordinating dresses and accessories was what Jan did best in the world. Because of this, her father often treated her as an empty-headed vain creature.

On her first day at Aeskis Castle, Jan nearly fainted twice. The first near-fainting moment came when she learned she would be the Duchess’s only lady-in-waiting, and the second time she actually did faint briefly when ordered to try on the dresses and accessories she had selected.

“Why do I have to wear the Duchess’s dress?”

Jan spoke with a trembling voice, not knowing she had been chosen because her body type and skin color most closely resembled Clementina’s.

“Please, I don’t want to do this. No, I can’t. I thought I would only be selecting things. Please don’t ask me to try them on.”

Jan, despite being a count’s daughter, even begged the head maid of Aeskis Castle in her underwear while crying.

“Get up now. Then select dresses and accessories that would suit the Duchess. If the Duchess likes them, you’ll only have to do the selecting.”

“I’m good at that! I’ll find clothes that suit the Duchess perfectly.”

With that, Jan carefully selected two dresses and placed them on torso mannequins. She had heard the Duchess possessed remarkable beauty.

For the first, she chose an elaborate dress to match: a black dress lavishly embroidered with yellow gold thread depicting butterflies and flowers, paired with a necklace and earring set made of rubies and diamonds.

The second was a light yellow dress with multiple layers like flower petals without any decorations, accompanied by a necklace featuring a large blue sapphire surrounded by small diamonds. Though not currently fashionable in society, it was a comfortable dress with minimal ornamentation for ease of movement.

After selecting the dresses, she crossed her thumbs and made clicking sounds while standing in the Duchess of Drasia’s reception room, raising and lowering her heels as she waited for her new mistress.

The door to the reception room opened.

Jan was entranced by the figure entering through the door. Time stopped as a halo shone behind the Duchess.

‘What is this? A fairy? An angel? Is she not human? No one told me about this.’

Jan’s face flushed with heat. She placed her cold hands on her reddening cheeks to cool them.

“Wow.”

When her pure admiration continued without a trace of jealousy, Clementina smiled.

How was it that not even a toe of anyone with a face of jealousy, sarcasm, envy, or contempt could be seen in Aeskis Castle?

“Ahem! Ahem!”

The head maid stamped her foot. Only then did Jan come to her senses, bend her knee, and bow her head.

Clementina moved toward the two torso mannequins standing beside Jan. Jan followed behind, stealing glances at the Duchess.

“Good. Let’s go with this one.”

The Duchess of Drasia chose the yellow flower-petal-like dress.

“And from now on, prepare just one outfit. I’ll wear it as is.”

Her cherry-red lips said. Pink rose petals seemed to have settled on her cheeks. Jan adored the Duchess.

For Jan, who had always wanted her own special atelier, the Duchess was the perfect muse.