He cowardly avoided his daughter, leaving everything to her stepmother.

Watching her father escape so cunningly made Ellin even more furious.

“Haah!”

The tears that had welled up in her eyes suddenly poured out.

Ellin bit her lip, wiped her tears with her fist, and turned to look at her stepmother.

Rosana held her chin up high and coldly looked down.

What are you going to do about it?

She seemed to be mocking Ellin with such eyes.

Ellin snatched Janice’s dress from her stepmother’s hands and slammed it to the floor.

Her stepmother’s eyes widened.

“You. You, how dare you!”

Unable to contain her anger, the stepmother’s body trembled.

Though Ellin had occasionally shown defiant looks, she had always obediently followed orders in the end. Her sudden rebellion seemed to have shocked and surprised her stepmother.

“I will not wear this dress, nor will I meet that old man.”

“What?”

“Even if I have to abandon this miserable house, I will not marry him!”

Ellin clearly expressed her determination.

Even the maids nearby whispered in surprise at this unprecedented behavior from their Miss.

Marie, among the group of maids, secretly clenched her fist while inwardly rejoicing.

‘Miss! Well done!’

She cheered for Miss Ellin in her heart.

Ellin turned away from her stepmother, ran down the stairs, and rushed to the entrance.

BANG!

She burst out of the mansion like someone who would never return.

“Ellin! Come back right now!”

Her stepmother’s sharp voice, having regained her senses too late, shook the mansion, but Ellin heard nothing.

Running through the garden, she suddenly stopped when she encountered someone.

“Oh, my lady! There was no need to come greet me……”

It was Viscount Mackenzie, whose stubby nose was as red as Rudolph’s, probably from drinking since morning.

Seeing him outside in broad daylight, his appearance looked even worse than at the party.

“You look even more beautiful in daylight, my lady.”

A foul smell—whether from alcohol or the flowers in his hand—wafted strongly.

Ellin instinctively stepped back.

“W-wait!”

The Viscount raised his hand, but Ellin started running in another direction to avoid him.

* * *

Inside a carriage stationed opposite the baron Nilson’s residence, Dominic was carefully observing the scene.

“Follow her.”

At the duke’s command, the carriage slowly began to follow her.

She looked dangerously reckless as she ran from the residential area onto the main road where carriages came and went.

Neeeigh!

A horse that encountered her raised its front legs high.

She nearly collided with the galloping horse, but she kept running straight ahead as though she couldn’t see anything.

‘Does she want to die?’

Dominic’s heart grew more anxious watching her. Sweat formed on his palms from tension.

A moment later, when a sudden shower fell from the clear sky, she stopped running and began trudging along.

Dominic’s tension also dissipated, and he leaned back against the sofa.

He couldn’t help but laugh at how absurd it was that this woman had made him so tense.

“Keep following her. Don’t let her notice.”

The duke’s carriage maintained a constant distance while following her.

His gaze watching her through the carriage window was complicated.

The woman trembled, soaked in the rain.

Her already modest brown dress, completely drenched, looked even more shabby.

Her red hair, more vivid than he remembered, clung randomly to her wet face, and water dripped from beneath her skirt.

‘Is this really the same woman?’

He wondered, watching her wander the streets like a lost puppy.

Whether she was truly the same woman who had boldly kissed him first.

The slowly following carriage stopped smoothly at a certain point.

‘What is she doing?’

The golden pupils in his narrowed eyes darkened.

The woman wrung her heavy, drooping dress as though wringing laundry.

She also gathered her disheveled hair, squeezed out the moisture, and twisted it up into a bun.

With her face wet from either tears or rain, she bravely entered a brick building.

Only after she disappeared did the duke’s field of vision widen.

He quickly examined the building.

The Gothic-style red brick building looked dignified and solemn, unlike the surrounding buildings.

‘That’s a convent.’

He crossed his legs and tried to deduce the situation from what he had seen so far.

Being a lower noble, her shabby appearance,

The sight of her fleeing from an ugly old nobleman,

Her unhappy, sad expression……

The final image of her gathering her resolve and entering the convent building.

He could guess what kind of reality she faced.

A bitter smile crossed his lips.

‘I’ve done something unnecessary.’

Rather than feeling sorry for the woman struggling in the mud, he first thought how pathetic it was that he was doing this.

The private life of someone he normally wouldn’t be curious about at all. And deliberately spending time and effort to witness such unpleasant scenes……

“Let’s go back now.”

He buried himself in the sofa and no longer looked out the window.

He closed his eyes and tried to erase the scenes he had just witnessed from his mind. He felt like he too was being sucked into the muddy water.

The carriage, engraved with the Linderto family crest of crossed golden keys, slowly moved away from the place.

* * *

A few days later, in a quiet office with the sun setting red, Dominic was deeply focused on something.

Reading the report on the Nilson family submitted by Higgins, he recalled the image of the woman entering the convent on that rainy day.

“So that’s why she went to the convent that day.”

He hadn’t known she was visiting her younger brother who was hospitalized in the convent’s hospital.

She had a seriously ill younger brother.

The following content was even more absurd.

‘She almost got married? To the Creighton family……?’

Since he had never heard of them, it must not be a very impressive family.

While flipping through the report, he unconsciously let out a light sigh.

He tapped the leather sofa with his smooth fingertips while examining his own feelings.

What did he want to do? Would this woman really be of any use?

Was he about to do something crazy?

Honestly, it was a family he didn’t want to mix with at all, an unpleasant household.

He understood all too well the origin of the woman’s dark expression.

With such a complicated family history and gloomy situation, how could she be cheerful?

His hand, which had been rhythmically tapping the sofa, suddenly stopped.

‘That’s why this couldn’t be better.’

Though he felt sorry for her, she seemed like the most suitable person to use temporarily.

If this report was true, her father and stepmother were in a situation where they wanted to sell their daughter to satisfy their greed.

He recalled the ugly face of the old nobleman he had seen that day.

And the image of her running as though she didn’t care if she collided with a horse and died.

‘Yes. She’d rather die than marry such a man. In that case, perhaps accepting my proposal would be better.’

But hasty assumptions were forbidden. He needed to throw a decisive bait that would make Ellin Nilson unable to refuse his proposal.

After being lost in thought for a moment, he closed the report with determination.

‘I wonder if you’ll be able to refuse.’

He felt slightly guilty about using such a devious method, but he quickly hardened his mind.

‘I’ll just compensate her sufficiently. I’ll reward her beyond her means.’

The mindset of a cold-blooded businessman activated mercilessly in such moments.

“I need to hold a party.”

Higgins, standing behind him, looked puzzled at the duke’s words.

“Pardon? A party?”

“Since I’ve made up my mind, the sooner the better.”

“What decision have you made……”

Before Higgins could finish his question, the duke declared:

“I need to get married. As soon as possible.”

* * *

News that a grand party would be held at the Linderto ducal residence spread quickly throughout the capital.

“What’s happening? The duke is hosting a party.”

“Has the old duchess returned to the capital?”

“The duke might have a surprise announcement.”

“Perhaps he finally surrendered to the persistent courtship of the count’s daughter.”

People everywhere talked about the upcoming party at the duke’s residence.

And for good reason—it was a party being held at the ducal residence after a very long time.

Since the previous duke passed away, the old duchess had been moving between warm southern villas.

The duke himself only attended parties important for business and rarely appeared at social gatherings.

No wonder everyone was curious when Duke Linderto announced a party inviting all the nobles of the capital.

An invitation also arrived at Nilson’s family residence.