It had happened earlier that day, before she went to meet Calix.

After concluding the meeting in the study, Selina returned to her room and began refining the list, arranging it more neatly so that she could update Calix on her progress later. While she was seated at her desk sorting through the items, she heard a knock at the door.

“My lady. May I come in?”

It was Madam Lily.

After receiving the list that Selina had sent via a servant, she reported that she was planning to summon the relevant merchants the following day to review the samples. She then explained how matters were progressing.

“Ah, thank you.”

Selina smiled softly as she expressed her gratitude.

“…Mm.”

Madam Lily, who would usually leave immediately after delivering her message, seemed unusually hesitant today. She lingered, as though there was something else she wanted to say. Selina turned to her with a questioning look.

“Is there something else you wished to say?”

“…I debated whether or not I should tell you this, my lady.”

After a brief pause, what finally came from Lily’s lips was wholly unexpected.

“Two maids, one of whom used to work for you and the other of whom was newly hired, were suddenly dismissed. We were not given an explanation, so I was wondering if you might know why?”

Though she phrased it carefully, the true question beneath her words was clear: Was Selina the one who had driven the maids out?

“…What? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Upon hearing that the two maids were packing their bags and preparing to leave the Grand Ducal Residence, Selina hurried to the entrance.

There, she found them standing with their arms full of belongings, clinging to their fellow servants and exchanging tearful goodbyes. Selina paused, hesitating — interrupting such a moment felt intrusive. However, if she did not ask now, she might never discover the reason behind their departure.

Gathering her resolve and pushing past the discomfort in her chest, Selina stepped forward.

And then—

“I didn’t expect you to come, my lady.”

The woman who had once been Selina’s personal maid recognized her immediately, addressing her in a sharp, clipped tone. The other maid beside her stiffened the instant their eyes met Selina’s.

They were resentful.

But this resentment was not limited to the two maids who were being forced out. The other servants who had gathered to see them off wore equally cold expressions, their gazes turning openly unfriendly as they looked at Selina.

Though they tried to hide it, the bitterness and hostility they felt was etched across their faces, unmistakable to anyone looking closely enough.

‘Did they think I was the one who had them driven out?’

“There seems to have been some kind of misunderstanding. I never told anyone to dismiss you—”

Her attempt to correct the misunderstanding was cut short.

“Since you were born and raised in the Empire, my lady, we expected you would naturally want to surround yourself with Imperials.”

“…What?”

“So you must have asked His Grace the Grand Duke to have us removed.”

“…What?”

“As Thalians, we will take our leave now.”

They bowed briefly and began preparing to exit the grand ducal residence. Just as a servant beside them moved to open the gate—

“Are you saying His Grace the Grand Duke is the one who dismissed you?”

Selina gripped the door and asked them urgently.

At first, the maids looked as though they did not understand her behavior. Then their expressions changed. They seemed to think that she was just trying to manage her image in front of everyone. Their voices turned even colder as they replied.

“Yes. You would know better than anyone, my lady.”

With that, the two of them left the Grand Ducal Residence.

The servants, who had been watching Selina’s reaction, murmured to each other that it was time to get back to work, and quickly dispersed.

‘…His Grace had them dismissed?’

The two dismissed maids had never been particularly warm towards Selina to begin with. Initially, they could barely look her in the eye, treating her with rigid politeness and promising to serve her diligently. However, as time passed, their attitude became more relaxed and their behavior increasingly careless and willful.

There were many days when their conduct left Selina feeling uneasy. Nevertheless, she had never once asked for them to be replaced.

‘I don’t want people from the Empire at my side. I don’t know who might be watching me.’

In fact, the presence of the Thalian maids made her feel safer. They would never have acted on the Marquis’s orders.

That was why she had left things as they were until now.

Yet Calix had driven them out.

The reason was—

“Instead of worrying about my injuries, learn to manage your servants properly.”

She had never realized that he thought the problem was her inability to control the servants.

Nevertheless, since arriving here, she had tried her best to fulfil her role properly. But to Calix, she seemed incompetent and unable to manage her own attendants.

“…So that’s why you dismissed the servants who stayed by my side?”

She was so upset that even her voice began to tremble.

“I-if that’s the reason, then please call them back. I’ll try harder from now on.”

“No. I have no intention of doing that.”

He rejected her without the slightest hesitation, drawing a clear and merciless line between them.

Selina looked at him, her eyes filled with resentment. It felt as though the affection she had carried for him all this time was being trampled on and treated as utterly worthless.

Ever since he had saved her in the rain that day, her feelings for him had grown stronger and stronger. She had tried to suppress them, but once she had acknowledged them, they refused to fade.

And yet, to Calix, she seemed to be nothing more than an object of pity. She could tell from the way he had avoided meeting her gaze ever since.

“I-if I’m the one at fault, then you should hold me responsible. Why did you make innocent people bear the consequences instead?”

For a moment, disbelief crossed Calix’s face.

“Innocent people? Can you really say, with certainty, that they never did anything wrong?”

“I can’t be certain of that, but—!”

Instead of backing down, Selina snapped back, her anger fully ignited.

“But at the very least, they wouldn’t have taken their frustrations out on others the way you did, Your Grace.”

Her eyes wide, Selina glared at Calix with open resentment—then shut the door and disappeared from view.

Left behind, Calix stared blankly for a moment before muttering under his breath,

“…What could she possibly know?”

He glared irritably at the closed door, then roughly ran a hand through his hair.

Before he knew it, a week had slipped by and the day of the midsummer preparedness event had arrived. The Grand Ducal Residence buzzed with activity in preparation for the event, with countless people hurrying about. And yet, despite what should have been a festive occasion, the atmosphere felt unnervingly cold, like stepping onto thin ice.

The source of that chill was none other than the grand ducal couple themselves.

One would have expected them to at least maintain the appearance of harmony for the event’s sake, no matter how fiercely they might have argued. Yet, from the moment they arrived at the venue, the two did not exchange a single word.

The knights assigned to guard them whispered quietly among themselves, speculating about what could have transpired between the couple.

“What on earth is it this time?”

Zenfri muttered in disgust.

“I swear, every time I see a carriage now, I get chills. They fight like that every single time they get in one—it’s driving me insane.”

“Stop whining and make your pick already. Which side are you betting on? I’m putting my money on His Grace being the one at fault.”

Thinking this was a perfect chance to earn a little coin, Rocheste slipped a gold piece into the pouch Alter was holding.

“Huh? I’m siding with Captain Rocheste too,” Alter said, his face falling. “Doesn’t that mean the stakes are going down?”

Karen clicked her tongue and dropped two gold coins into the pouch.

“I’ll bet that Her Ladyship has finally shown her true colors. If she’s the marquis’s daughter, it’s about time her temperament surfaced.”

She spoke with a bright, almost cheerful smile, openly revealing her dislike for both the marquis and Selina.

“I don’t gamble.”

Viktor, who stood nearby, shook his head firmly when Alter held the pouch out toward him.

“Tch, how boring. Then what about you, Zenfri?”

He approached Zenfri with sparkling eyes, clearly intent on coaxing a gold coin out of him—

“Sir Rocheste.”

The carriage window slid open, and Selina leaned out.

“My lady! It’s dangerous to lean out of the carriage while it’s moving,’ said Rochester, rushing over with concern etched on his face.

“I’m sorry. I was just wondering if the supply cart was following safely.”

Selina replied, giving him a small, apologetic bow as she cast an anxious glance towards the wagon trailing behind them.

“Please don’t worry. We tied it down securely several times, so nothing should come loose. You said you were worried it might get damaged if it hit a stone, so we packed it in straw really well.”

“Oh—I see. Thank you so much for doing that.”

She smiled brightly at Rocheste and thanked him.

At that moment, a strange light passed over the faces of the knights nearby.

Selina’s radiant smile was more beautiful and fresh than any flower in full bloom at the height of summer. It almost seemed as though a sweet, floral scent would waft from it.

Staring at her in a daze, Alter suddenly came to his senses, held out his hand, and took a step forward.

“The idea to add the straw was mine, my lady!”

“Was it, Sir Alter? How thoughtful of you.”

“Yes, that’s right! So if there’s anything you need from now on, please call on me!”

Watching Alter enthusiastically promote himself with faintly flushed cheeks, Selina laughed behind her hand, finding his boyish demeanor endearing.

‘So she can smile like that.’

From a distance, Zenfri watched the scene in silence. For a brief moment, something strange caught in his gaze.

‘Did I imagine it?’

He narrowed his eyes and looked again, but it was no mistake.

The man standing there had pressed his lips into a tight line as if he were in a bad mood, and his gaze was fixed firmly on Selina as she spoke to the others. Zenfri knew him all too well.

“…This is insane.”

He muttered under his breath and beckoned Alter over.

“Huh? Is it my turn?”

Alter asked eagerly.

“Yes.”

Zenfri dragged a hand down his face once, then dropped five gold coins into the pouch as he spoke.

“I’m betting this was nothing more than a lovers’ quarrel.”