Christine frantically asked in great surprise.

“Dame Margrit, is the food not to your liking? I’ll have something else brought out.”

“Not at all. The food is excellent. It’s just that you, Marchioness, have made me uncomfortable.”

Clang!

Christine dropped her fork in shock. Despite this, Margo looked straight at her and continued.

“If you think even a little about what should take priority, the answer becomes clear, doesn’t it? Your second son can handle his own affairs. That’s how it should be. But Daphne’s engagement was arranged by adults, wasn’t it?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“Then adults should step in. How can you stand by and do nothing?”

Margo’s voice remained calm, but her expression was not. Christine felt as if she were being scolded by a family elder.

“Isn’t the Armin family a pillar supporting the Empire? Yet you say nothing can be decided or addressed because the head of the household is absent. I don’t know if it’s just an old person’s meddling, but I find it concerning.”

Margo spoke directly, befitting a knight who had wielded a sword.

“I once fought alongside Marquis Werner. It was his first mission, so I had to teach him everything from scratch. But it seems I didn’t teach him properly. Seeing the state of his household, he appears no different from that naive young man he was then.”

Kartun stood up and pulled out Margo’s chair. Margo, still quite flustered, looked down at Christine who remained seated and said:

“When he returns from sea and says he’s coming to see me, please tell him to come alone. The conversation between us would be extremely unpleasant for the you to hear, Marchioness.”

Even the technique of preemptively shutting Christine out.

Daphne had to force herself to close her mouth that was about to fall open.

Margo’s stern expression softened as if nothing had happened. She approached Daphne, took her hand, and patted it gently.

“I wanted to spend some pleasant time with you, but I’ve made you uncomfortable instead.”

“I should be the one apologizing for causing you concern.”

“Child.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Don’t try to clean up the mess made by those older than you. Let them handle it themselves.”

The warm hand, gentle voice, and wise comfort.

Daphne’s vision blurred.

Though she had anticipated what would happen at the ball and asked the Emperor to turn the tables, that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt.

In her first life, she had suffered terribly, completely defenseless. In her second life, her family’s attitude wasn’t much different.

Werner and Ludwig were at sea, and Zenos was buried in his laboratory, oblivious to everything. Even if they knew, they weren’t the type to step up for her.

Christine, who seemed to finally understand her daughter’s situation, treated her worse than a stranger. And in front of the man who had spoken so harshly to her, no less.

Her youngest brother, the only one who cared for her, was away studying……

This was the first comfort she had received since the ball incident.

Daphne blinked hard to clear her blurry eyes and nodded.

“Margo, thank you so much. This isn’t just a polite phrase—I truly mean it.”

Margo squeezed her hand more firmly, as if understanding everything.

Kartun stared endlessly at the purple eyes that shimmered with tears, only following when Margo started walking.

“Marchioness, please excuse us. And we must decline your escort.”

Christine, who got hurt even by the subtle indirect expressions of high society, nearly fainted at Margo’s direct words.

But the Grand Duke and his mother merely nodded slightly and left the banquet hall. The servants who had been attending didn’t know what to do and bowed deeply.

As they passed between them, Margo whispered quietly to Kartun.

“Your Grace, relax your jaw. And please contain your k*lling intent.”

Margo and Kartun boarded the waiting carriage. After a while of silence, Margo spoke as if having made a decision.

“Your Grace, let’s bring that child with us.”

“On what grounds?” Kartun asked.

No matter how much she was ignored by her family or humiliated by her fiancé, they couldn’t take a child of the Armin family to the grand duchy.

Above all, no matter how much Margo liked Daphne, it was clearly overstepping.

But Margo seemed to have already made up her mind.

“We have a vacancy, don’t we? That’s reason enough to take her.”

Kartun smiled slightly, lifting the corner of his mouth.

“To be precise, I have the vacancy. I’ll follow your wishes, Mother.”

Kartun, who had long since contained his k*lling intent, nodded slightly.

Margo glared briefly at his glib response before turning her head toward the window.

⁕⁕⁕

Whether Kartun’s side remained silent or not, fortunately, what happened at the banquet didn’t become gossip.

Christine fell ill again. Even so, she didn’t forget to instruct that anyone from House Mücke should be welcomed.

But Anton had different ideas.

Why should they take a subservient attitude? If anything, for future considerations, they should show some displeasure.

He issued a directive that messengers from the Mückes should be made to wait at least three hours, and family members should be guided to the waiting room.

Leonhardt was no exception.

He came without fail every day. He would arrive with an enormous bouquet of flowers larger than his upper body, wait in the waiting room, and then leave.

Since Christine couldn’t get out of bed, Anton didn’t even inform her of his visits. And Daphne refused to meet him.

One day, Christine forced herself to get up and prepared to go out. She said she had an important gathering. After she left the house, Leonhardt visited again.

He was naturally guided to the waiting room.

The place felt chilly despite the midsummer heat. The air there was indeed cool. However, he felt the chill not in his body but in his heart.

Like Barbara, Leonhardt had never been shown to the waiting room in the Armin household before. Far from getting prior permission to visit, he used to come and go as if it were his own home.

After the ball, thoughts of Anaïs completely vanished as if they had never existed. His mind was entirely filled with thoughts of Daphne.

Even before meeting Anaïs, he had never particularly thought of Daphne as a woman. Having been comfortable with her since childhood, he considered her almost like a friend.

But after the cuffs broke, all he could think about was Daphne.

At first, he thought he was preoccupied because it was “an issue to resolve.” But as time passed, he felt sorry for her and simultaneously, tender feelings began to bloom.

Perhaps that’s why.

Already on the third day, despite not being able to meet Daphne and having to leave repeatedly, he wasn’t angry. If he was angry at anyone, it was at his past self.

Knock knock.

Leonhardt jumped up at the sound of someone knocking on the waiting room door. The cloud of worry that had been hanging over his face instantly cleared.

But it was a maid who entered.

“Young Duke, I’m sorry. Miss has an important schedule today and absolutely cannot make time. Please visit another day.”

“When did she say she would be available?”

“She didn’t specify.”

There was no message telling him not to come, but this rejection was even worse. It meant: I’ll continue to have no time, so come or don’t come as you please.

His shoulders slumped upon hearing the maid’s words.

He looked so sad.

The maid, who naturally hadn’t been present at the ball, rolled her eyes at the young duke’s reaction.

‘Did he really abandon Miss and enter with some princess or whatever?’

He looked genuinely sad, making it hard to believe he had done something so cruel to his lover.

Leonhardt’s deep green eyes shone like glass beads. As he lowered his head, his golden hair, like pure gold, cascaded down.

‘He might not be as handsome as His Grace who visited a few days ago, but that appearance wouldn’t lose anywhere. Well, until His Grace came to the capital, the Young Duke was considered the most handsome man.’

The maid was admiring him inwardly before quickly averting her gaze.

A single tear had rolled down his cheek, hidden by his hair, and was now hanging from his chin.

No matter how handsome he was, crying was problematic. She had absolutely no desire to get involved in the love quarrels of high-ranking people.

“I’ll wait outside. When you’re ready to leave, I’ll guide you to where your carriage is waiting.”

The flustered maid quickly bowed and left.

Left alone, Leonhardt collapsed into a chair.

To think he had to turn away again while she was so close. He wanted to hear her angry voice, and even if she glared at him, he wanted to meet those amethyst-like eyes.

He missed her terribly.

“Ah, Daphne. You’re so close and yet……”

He looked up at the ceiling, calculating the location of her chambers on the third floor, then stood up again as if something had occurred to him.

Though he was an unworthy fiancé, Leonhardt knew Daphne better than anyone. She always had a place she went when someone she didn’t like visited.