“Hasn’t he arrived yet?”

“He’ll be here soon. Why are you so anxious?”

Baron Verden was naturally tense. Having Prince Ludwig stay at his home meant he could fall out of Duke Sachsen’s favor.

Until now, the baron had carefully maintained his position by staying in line. To avoid displeasing Duke Sachsen, he had come all the way to the harbor to flatter Leonard Sachsen in person.

“Oh! There he comes.”

In the distance, a tall man with platinum blonde hair appeared, leading more than twenty guards. Despite being surrounded by many men, his tall stature and build stood out prominently.

It was the famous Leonard Sachsen. Baron Verden had done business with the young duke of Sachsen a few times but hadn’t seen his face often. He was merely a small-scale businessman, too insignificant to deal with Leonard Sachsen one-on-one.

But occasionally Leonard Sachsen would appear in person, and Baron Verden didn’t miss the opportunity.

The baron hurriedly approached the radiant man.

“Baron Verden, isn’t it?”

Leonard spoke as if surprised to see the man bowing so deeply his nose nearly touched the ground.

“Yes. Hearing you would visit today…”

Leonard was simply inspecting the shipping company he operated. He recognized the baron’s face from their two previous meetings, but this wasn’t a scheduled appointment.

“I wanted to pay you a visit.”

“Is that so?”

Leonard tilted his head slightly and smiled lightly. Clear, bright eyes gazed steadily down at Baron Verden.

“You’re such a handsome man whenever I see you. Could we perhaps have a cup of tea? I have something urgent to discuss regarding this import matter…”

Leonard was busy. But seeing a man old enough to be his father bowing his head and trying to flatter him, he continued reluctantly.

“I can’t spare much time.”

“Thank you, young duke.”

Baron Verden continued to bow to Leonard. The group moved to a place the baron had prepared in advance.

“The sales of porcelain imported from Rak are going well. I’d like to increase the quantity of imported goods, would that be possible?”

Baron Verden showed his teeth, smiling almost painfully hard in an attempt to please Leonard.

“Is porcelain truly what you wish to discuss with me?”

Leonard asked with a subtle smile, as if he already knew everything. With that, Baron Verden sighed as if he had no choice.

“You know that Prince Ludwig stayed overnight at Baron Verden’s residence on his way back, don’t you?”

Leonard nodded. His face, like carved ivory without a single blemish, swayed elegantly up and down.

“I am a powerless baron. Even Duke Köhler offered his illegitimate daughter as a mistress, so how could I refuse Prince Ludwig’s request to visit? Please, young duke of Sachsen, don’t misunderstand our family.”

Though he appeared to be speaking candidly, Baron Verden was making excuses for himself as much as possible.

“Offered an illegitimate daughter?”

Leonard, who also served as a judge in the Supreme Court, was sensitive to human trafficking. Contrary to Baron Verden’s concerns, Leonard showed more interest in something else.

“The illegitimate daughter was given as a gift from the Köhler ducal residence, and His Highness brought her along. She was incredibly beautiful, with the pink hair that only comes from the Köhler family.”

“An illegitimate daughter…”

“She was so beautiful that—”

“How did the lady look? Did she seem unhappy?”

When the story of the illegitimate daughter forcibly offered as a mistress came up, Leonard asked the man for specific details.

Baron Verden, who had been about to describe the woman’s appearance in typical male fashion, closed his mouth tightly, intimidated by Leonard’s demeanor.

“Well, they seemed to get along very well. Like lovers in love. His Highness even fed her food, and they could hardly take their eyes off each other. I suppose for such women, becoming a noble’s mistress is the best path to success.”

At Baron Verden’s words, Leonard stared directly at the man for a moment.

Having apparently judged that the man wasn’t lying, the young duke sipped his tea, listened to a few more of Baron Verden’s excuses, and then stood up, telling him not to worry.

**

At the Köhler ducal residence, after a long labor, Henrietta finally gave birth to her child.

“It’s a son.”

The tactless doctor informed Duke Köhler about his grandchild’s gender with a pleased expression.

“A son. What does it matter whether it’s a son or daughter.”

After hearing from the doctor that Henrietta had delivered safely, the duke slowly turned his steps toward the room. His heavy footsteps seemed to reflect his weighty mood.

“Father.”

“Choose, Henrietta. Will you kill the child or send it to an orphanage?”

Henrietta bit her lip tightly and lowered her gaze. The woman, who hadn’t yet held her child, had a clouded expression on her still-swollen face.

“If you send the child to an orphanage, the child might find you again later. Would you be alright with such an unfortunate event?”

“Couldn’t we just secretly assign a maid to raise the child in the countryside, Father?”

“That would increase the likelihood of the story leaking out. If you want to marry properly, there must be no evidence left, right?”

Suddenly, the duke’s wife interjected.

“Tell me, Henrietta. You’ll eventually marry a nobleman and have children, but would you be alright if this child grew up and came looking for you? Since the child resembles you so much, it wouldn’t be easy to deny.”

Henrietta briefly imagined the scenario the duchess described.

Even if she became a marchioness, if it was discovered she had borne a child out of wedlock before marriage, she could be driven out or killed by her husband.

‘I don’t want to live in poverty ever again.’

Her romance with the monk had been thrilling. He comforted her with kind words, soothing the wounds of not being chosen by the Crown Prince and the painful memories of being overshadowed by Edith. At least until they were secretly dating at the monastery.

But the situation after running away with him was truly the worst. After becoming pregnant, she was so poor she couldn’t even afford chocolate or macarons.

The man who had left the monastery proved extremely incompetent. His handsome appearance was just an empty shell with no practical use.

Having been confined to the monastery all his life, he couldn’t earn money. Eventually, Henrietta fought with the monk almost daily over money issues.

The man’s warm embrace that once comforted her had become a noose tightening around her. When the money ran out, love cooled, and Henrietta eventually contacted the ducal residence herself.

“Then I will follow your wishes, Mother.”

Henrietta knew what following her mother’s wishes meant, but if the child would become a chain binding her, she had no choice.

Any noble lady raised in privilege would have done the same in her position.

**

“Grandfather.”

“Leo!”

Duke Sachsen, usually stern-faced, smiled as brightly as the moon for once.

“What brings you all the way to the estate?”

Leonard smiled quietly at the duke’s warm welcome. From a young age, Leo had possessed a strange aura that captivated those around him just by smiling.

“His Highness Joachim has been visiting the ducal family frequently these days…”

“He must be desperate, fearing he’ll lose the throne. Incompetent fool.”

Leo gave no response to Duke Sachsen’s words. The Duke of Sachsen wasn’t the type to be swayed by Joachim’s urgings anyway.

“Making you come all this way when you’re so busy—I should have a word with him when I return.”

“It’s fine. I was due for a ship inspection anyway, so it worked out well.”

“Well, are you tired?”

“Not at all.”

Leo straightened his sturdy shoulders and laughed good-naturedly.

“You are the future of the ducal family and the empire, Leo.”

“Ludwig would not make a bad emperor either.”

“But he’s certainly not fit to be a virtuous ruler.”

Despite being Joachim’s cousin, Leo didn’t take his side.

“He’ll be too busy maintaining his power to properly attend to state affairs.”

“But he is intelligent.”

“He’s someone who wouldn’t hesitate to burn the entire Sachsen territory if it meant he could burn me to death. He only thinks of his own benefit, just like the late Empress. He’ll ruin the empire with personal feelings, just like his mother.”

Leo gave no response to Duke Sachsen’s words. He wasn’t one to add to others’ criticisms.

“Have you met Mirabella?”

Leo remained silent. Whenever Princess Mirabella was mentioned, he became less talkative.

“How about marrying her when Mirabella comes of age? I hear she wants you too.”

“…”

“That’s what marriage is. Marrying a suitable partner for the family and continuing the bloodline. That’s enough.”

Leo still gave no answer.

Mirabella wasn’t a bad match. She was reasonably beautiful and as a princess, her lineage was excellent. But he couldn’t bring himself to consider marriage.

“I can fulfill my duties as the eldest son, but I have no thoughts of marriage yet. There’s no woman I can connect with intellectually.”

“Do you have someone else in mind?”

In fact, Leo was known for his lack of interest in women. Many women approached him hoping to become his mistress, but they always tasted bitter failure.

“Not yet.”

“You’ll never find a woman who truly connects with you intellectually. I’ve never had a mistress in my life, but I didn’t always see eye to eye with your grandmother.”

“Mirabella wants you very much, so she’ll try to accommodate you as much as possible. That’s enough for a woman’s role. Being the mistress of the ducal household, conquering social circles, and not going against her husband’s wishes is sufficient.”

“…….”

“Though I doubt you would ever…”

Duke Sachsen looked up at Leonard for a moment. Would someone as precious as his grandson ever associate with lowborn people? Leo, who wouldn’t even speak to women?

“Did you know that our family was the first to propose a marriage alliance with the Moor family? I wasn’t even pleased with that.”

The Moor family was the family of Violet Moor, who married the current Crown Prince.

Marquis Moor had first requested a marriage alliance with the Sachsen ducal family when Violet, renowned for her beauty, became popular in society.

Leonard gave no response.

“Even ordinary nobles won’t do. It must be at least royalty. You mustn’t taint the bloodline, Leo. Though I suppose anyone who could converse with you would need to have the appropriate education and bloodline anyway.”

Leo merely smiled faintly at the duke’s excessive concern.

‘Since he doesn’t even speak to maids, I suppose I don’t need to assign someone to watch him. Unnecessarily assigning someone might just provoke his resistance.’

But despite his years of experience, Duke Sachsen had never encountered and thus didn’t know how dangerous a man experiencing first love could be.