“So I need to find a modest yet dignified young lady who was with you under the moonlight in the greenhouse on the night of the party. Oh! And her eyes were wet from crying.”

Dominic, who had been nodding at Higgins’s clear summary, suddenly turned to look at his secretary.

He didn’t like how Higgins was grinning, clearly imagining something.

“I understand perfectly. I’ll find this mysterious woman immediately.”

Higgins quickly bowed and darted out of the room.

Dominic sank back into his own thoughts.

Thinking about it now, there were many strange points.

‘Why was she crying alone in the greenhouse at that time? Perhaps she had a lovers’ quarrel in the greenhouse and her lover left first? Or maybe she ran to the greenhouse?’

If that were the case, she would be a ridiculous woman.

She kissed him first and didn’t resist when his touches deepened.

The thought suddenly made him uncomfortable.

He had encountered many women who approached him in such ways. If she was one of them, it would be laughable.

‘And I thought she had dignity.’

Suddenly, all the circumstances of last night became suspicious.

Perhaps she had deliberately hidden in the greenhouse, waiting for him.

She might have seen his staggering, disoriented state and seized the opportunity.

She might have meticulously planned to create a scandal with the duke.

“I must find her before malicious rumors start circulating.”

His face turned cold.

* * *

Rose vines surrounded the walls around the slightly faded sky-blue mansion.

A large zelkova tree stood in the front yard, and bed sheets and carpets fluttered over the blue grass.

“Miss, why are you doing this? Let me do it.”

When the maid who came out of the entrance tried to take the bedsheet from Ellin, Ellin hugged it tighter.

“Marie. Please. It’s more painful to stay inside.”

Marie looked at Ellin with sympathetic eyes when Ellin gazed beyond the entrance.

“If you really want to, Miss.”

“Yes. Let’s shake them together.”

Only then did Ellin smile brightly.

That day, her father and stepmother had been furious for days because she fled from the viscount’s hand at the party—

“Because of you, our Nilson family has fallen to a family with no roots. How will you take responsibility!”

“Someone like you should be grateful for a viscount. How dare you run away from the party! Honey, if she were my own daughter, I would have beaten her. Do you know how much I’ve been considerate because I’m her stepmother?”

“Calm down. I’ll make sure this never happens again by fixing her behavior thoroughly.”

Ellin sighed, recalling how the two had tormented her.

“Even so, starving you for two whole days was too much. I wonder if the baron really considers Miss his daughter……”

Marie shook her head in disbelief and then covered her mouth with her hand.

“I’m sorry, Miss.”

Ellin gave a self-deprecating smile.

“It’s the truth. I wonder about it every day too. Whether I might be an adopted child.”

The two looked at each other, laughed, and walked together to the garden.

While holding both ends of the bedsheet to shake it, an unpleasant voice came from somewhere.

A sharp voice that sounded exactly like her stepmother’s.

“My goodness. When did our house get another maid? You look exactly like a maid.”

When she turned her head, it was her stepsister, Janice.

Dressed in bright outdoor clothes with silk gloves and holding a lace parasol, Janice looked every bit the young noble lady to anyone who saw her.

Her husband, Royce Creighton, stood beside her with an uncomfortable expression.

“Ellin. It’s been a while. When did you return from Castia? How is your great-aunt?”

Once Ellin’s childhood friend, he now only asked perfunctory questions.

“Honey.”

When Janice glared at him, he immediately shut his mouth.

“Thank you, Royce. I came back a few days ago, and my great-aunt is well.”

Barely listening to Ellin’s answer, Janice fanned herself with her hand.

“It’s still hot here. We just returned yesterday from my in-laws’ villa. We should have stayed one more week, honey.”

She boasted while affectionately linking arms with Royce in front of Ellin.

The more she did this, the more awkward Royce looked, not knowing what to do.

Before marrying Janice, he used to follow Ellin around. Saying the only person who could be his future wife was Ellin.

So when the two announced their marriage, Ellin was both surprised and bitter.

She didn’t mind not marrying him since she only thought of him as a friend. But why did his partner have to be her stepsister?

That’s why it’s always awkward whenever they meet.

“Oh right. I heard there was a party? If I had known, I would have come back a few days earlier. I heard Duke Linderto and His Highness the Crown Prince attended.”

Ellin’s shoulders flinched when she heard the word ‘Duke.’

“Don’t tell me you went to the party looking like that? How embarrassing.”

After mocking Ellin one last time, Janice giggled and went into the mansion with her husband.

Marie, who had overheard the entire conversation, glanced at Miss Ellin.

Miss Janice’s behavior was so hateful even to her.

If she were her sister, she would have grabbed her hair and had a good tumble.

But Miss Ellin seemed deeply lost in thought.

“……Miss?”

Even when Marie called her, Ellin’s mind was so full of what happened at the party that night that she didn’t notice.

‘The duke seemed very drunk, so he probably doesn’t remember me.’

She desperately hoped the duke had completely forgotten that night.

That embarrassing incident in the greenhouse.

‘Ugh. What should I do!’

Ellin squeezed her eyes shut as the memories crept back.

It all started when she stole a kiss from the duke first and provoked him.

‘I must have been crazy to pounce on someone so intoxicated they were barely conscious.’

Even though he didn’t resist, that night…… that night…… was too sensual to think about any further.

Her back straightened when she recalled his strong arms embracing her, the warmth she felt from his firm chest, and the cool sensation of his lips pressing gently against her nape.

The electrifying sensation she felt that night ran down her back again. Ellin buried her now-reddened face in her hands.

* * *

“What is this?”

A few days later, Ellin looked down with a bewildered face at the dress her stepmother handed her.

“I thought it would match your eye color well.”

It was a green muslin indoor dress. The hem was adorned with abundant, fine white lace, and thin, long ribbons were cutely attached to the sleeves.

“This is Janice’s.”

Even before she married and left home, Janice never shared clothes with Ellin.

She hated the idea of Ellin touching her belongings.

So Ellin avoided even going near Janice’s room for fear of being misunderstood.

Her room overflowed with clothes, shoes, and accessories, and she had left many behind when she moved out. This green dress was one of them.

Ellin couldn’t understand why her stepmother was smiling slightly and handing her this dress.

Just days ago, she had been furious about Ellin running away from the party. Why now?

“We’re expecting a guest today. How would they see us if you dress like that?”

“A guest? Who?”

When Ellin didn’t take the dress readily, Rosana answered with an irritated voice.

“Fine, I’ll be honest. Viscount Mackenzie will be visiting. So dress prettily and behave with dignity.”

Blue flames flared in Ellin’s eyes.

“What? Are you really planning to sell me to that old man?”

When Ellin turned to leave, her stepmother grabbed her wrist.

“Let go. I’ll talk to Father.”

She shook off Rosana’s arm and hurriedly went to find her father.

This was too much, no matter how she thought about it.

In this world, what kind of father would persecute his daughter, swayed by a stepmother—no, leading the charge himself!

Even when the mother and daughter he brought in from outside took over the lady’s position, Ellin didn’t protest.

She believed that if she obeyed like a good daughter, her stepmother would treat her like a daughter too.

But all she received was neglect and coldness.

When good marriage prospects came for Ellin, they were intercepted and given to Janice instead.

They kicked her out of the house to care for her great-aunt and just stole her money.

And now they’re trying to sell their daughter to an old lecher?

The unfair and sorrowful emotions that had accumulated for so long erupted all at once like a volcano.

She saw her father’s face in the downstairs hallway.

“Father!”

When Ellin tried to go down, the baron quickly slipped into his office.