Having quickly made her assessment, Anaïs decided to go on the offensive.

“Ha! You seem to be confused about something. It was your fiancé who clung to me despite my rejections.”

Your…

Since Anaïs had crossed the line first, Daphne couldn’t remain silent.

“Should a person consider the feelings of beasts?”

“I’m speechless. Words aren’t everything!”

Beasts…

Anaïs, who had intended to provoke Daphne, lost her composure instead. Meanwhile, Daphne became even calmer.

She didn’t want to be manipulated by Anaïs again.

When she had the upper hand, she would crush her thoroughly.

“Princess, I don’t care whether you love him or not, but please maintain at least basic decency.”

Daphne had returned to formal speech, but Anaïs had already lost her rationality.

“Decency? That’s the only weapon for people like you. How pathetic must you be to lose your man. Do you know what Leonhardt said? He hates how dull and stupid you are. He said a smart and ambitious woman like me would be more beneficial to the family as a duchess.”

Daphne listened to everything Anaïs spewed with a relaxed expression.

Anaïs grew more agitated and blurted out words that should never be spoken.

“I’ve risen this far by my own power. But what about you? Were you just lucky to be born into a marquis family? Besides, you don’t even know who your father is!”

Anaïs trembled as she hurled those vicious words.

At that moment, several gasps of surprise came from beyond the partition.

She realized her mistake and quickly shut her mouth, but it was too late.

Earlier, the young ladies had noticed Daphne entering the powder room.

How exciting!

They had cautiously glanced around before following her in, careful not to make any noise.

The agitated Anaïs hadn’t noticed the other ladies secretly entering.

In contrast, Daphne had been Gabriel’s spy in her previous life and had even experienced battles against monsters alongside Kartun.

No matter how quietly the ladies moved, they couldn’t hide their strong perfume.

That’s why she had initially dropped formalities to provoke Anaïs, but upon sensing their entrance, she had switched back to polite speech.

Meanwhile, the oblivious Anaïs had said things that should never have been uttered.

The women who had been holding their breath were shocked. They forgot they were eavesdropping and revealed themselves.

One of the ladies reprimanded Anaïs with an indignant voice.

“There’s a limit to shamelessness. How could you think that way?”

The other ladies agreed.

The favorable impression they had held before the Emperor’s arrival had completely vanished.

Anaïs quickly shook her head in denial.

“Oh, it’s a misunderstanding. I absolutely didn’t mean it that way.”

But her excuse only made things worse.

“There’s a limit to covering things up with your palm. Do you think we’re fools?”

“Don’t make excuses. How dare a disgraceful person speak of decency?”

“We’ve been listening since then.”

“A mere princess from Lucia has no right to speak to a marquis’s daughter that way.”

“We don’t want to celebrate the Founding Day with a foreigner who insults the imperial citizens.”

“Get out of here.”

They looked ready to call guards to drag her out if she refused.

Anaïs hung her head low and fled.

The ladies immediately surrounded Daphne.

“To remain so composed after hearing such vulgar words… You’re truly admirable.”

“Lady Daphne, if you want to file a defamation case, I’ll be your witness!”

They tried to comfort Daphne but soon realized it wasn’t necessary. She maintained her dignity and composure.

This transformed their pity into genuine admiration.

Daphne was sincerely grateful. With these witnesses volunteering, she could charge Anaïs with defamation. Her comment about not knowing her father alone would be enough to have Anaïs expelled.

Meanwhile, she picked up the stone fragments Anaïs had left on the table.

⁕⁕⁕

After withdrawing from the Emperor’s presence, Leonhardt saw Anaïs enter the powder room but didn’t follow her all the way.

Normally, he would never have left her alone. Since men couldn’t enter that space, he would have caught her beforehand to keep her by his side and comfort her…

But somehow, he didn’t feel like doing that.

It was as if he had awakened from a long dream.

He still felt dazed, as if lingering in that dream state.

Leonhardt briefly stared at where Anaïs had disappeared before heading to the gentlemen’s lounge on the opposite side. His friends followed him in.

“Leon, are you alright?”

“Yeah, today was too much.”

These same friends who usually snickered at his mischief now wore genuinely concerned expressions.

His friend was right. This incident had gone too far.

Only then did Leonhardt feel his sense of reality returning.

‘What have I done?’

He had only intended to correct Daphne’s attitude and fulfill his beloved’s wish…

No, that wasn’t it.

As Barbara had said, time would have resolved everything, so why had he been so impatient?

His mind, which had been stagnant until now, began racing with endless questions.

Why had he entered with Anaïs?

If Werner found out, it would be disastrous. Even if Daphne didn’t break off the engagement, Werner might—and Leonhardt would have no defense.

Of course, he wanted to please Anaïs. But there were many other ways to do that. Hadn’t he been the one to persuade her to wait patiently?

Just then, one of his friends patted his shoulder and asked:

“What happened with the dress?”

That was another question.

How could identical new dresses appear at the same time?

And worn by none other than the Emperor!

Leonhardt’s eyes darted rapidly. He recalled the servant who delivered the letter and the dress maker who had promised absolute secrecy.

But at this point, it didn’t matter who had leaked the secret.

The Emperor had been insulted because of him.

Gustav wasn’t an ill-mannered person. Though he led the noble faction, he ultimately revered and respected the Emperor.

Yet his heir had dressed a woman—at best a future mistress—more splendidly than the most noble person in the Empire.

This wasn’t something that would blow over with just a scolding from his father.

Leonhardt exhaled heavily and messed up his hair. Another friend cautiously asked:

“By the way, how much did that dress cost? It must have been difficult even if you spent all your allowance…”

Leonhardt sighed forcefully again.

Even with the generous allowance he received as the heir, he couldn’t afford a dress encrusted with diamonds.

Initially, he had planned to spend half a year’s allowance on jewels for her. That was the maximum amount he could afford.

But where had the idea to create a custom dress come from? Searching his memory, Anaïs had never requested it.

If she had, he wouldn’t have agreed despite his love for her. He had never even accompanied Daphne to dress shops because he disliked it so much.

Given that aversion, why would he have initiated this? It made no sense.

Yet somehow…

When he came to his senses, the dress was already well on its way to completion, and he had long since emptied his allowance. He had even begged Barbara for help.

But with Gustav controlling the finances tightly, Barbara’s assistance was limited. So he had resorted to borrowing from loan sharks.

The interest was snowballing, and the dress maker kept demanding more money. He had nowhere else to borrow from and was receiving payment demands for the first time in his life.

Unexpectedly, a saving angel appeared from abroad.

Leonhardt had heard rumors at the gentlemen’s club about someone buying land at inflated prices. Apparently, a clueless foreigner who had suddenly become wealthy was buying properties indiscriminately.

Days later, he heard that someone had sold completely useless wasteland for three times its market value. The location sounded familiar.

‘That’s near where grandmother left me land!’

Leonhardt had inherited land in that area from his paternal grandmother.

But even with high offers, it would be difficult to sell without Gustav’s permission. His father wasn’t the type to sell his mother’s land to just anyone.

Especially not to a nouveau riche foreigner? Impossible.

No matter how high the price.

But a few days later, a broker approached Leonhardt. She was an ordinary-looking woman, the type you’d see anywhere.

She nonchalantly proposed the deal. Her indifferent expression suggested she didn’t care whether he sold or not. Swept up by her attitude implying she didn’t particularly need to buy, Leonhardt lost his opportunity to negotiate.

He signed the sales contract for the exact amount she offered.