Radilt smiled, holding the cut flowers. She naturally extended her hand to receive a farewell kiss from Pendlore. The lovely lady boarded the carriage, and her fiancé remained in place until all traces of his lover disappeared in the heated gaze.

Everything appeared perfect.

‘……Still, this takes a weight off my mind.’

Buried in the rose fragrance inside the moving carriage, Radilt murmured softly. After briefly losing all her jobs with nowhere to turn, she now had a much better occupation. A solid position where she could work not as a simple laborer but as a formal assistant or aide.

Radilt rested her head gently against the chair’s backrest. Her entire body felt heavy, as though she had just swum out of rough, salty waves. Her conversation with Pendlore had been that exhausting, but fortunately worthwhile.

‘After all this ends…… I’ll be able to live more stably than before. That’s enough.’

A life continuing quietly, remembering the departed, without heart-pounding specialness or overwhelming difficulties. In that tranquility, she would occasionally remember the man who had been like a gust of wind. By then, without the current aversion, just as a slightly bitter memory, lightly and comfortably, even with a faint smile, thinking—ah, once it was like that.

Yes, time might not be the answer to everything, but it provided solutions. One cannot fight endless waves, so everything flows and eventually settles into fine particles.

The carriage entered a familiar alley and slowly came to a stop. Radilt stepped onto the street with a servant’s support.

The neighbors’ gazes stung. But this too was something she needed to get used to. Now that hiding became more difficult, she would have to explain the situation to her mother-in-law.

‘……She won’t take it easily.’

Still, she thought it better to confess first rather than let her learn from others’ gossip. Just then….

“……Sister-in-law?”

Radilt quickly turned around. Round, large blue eyes stared fixedly at Radilt and the elegant dress swaying with her movement.

“Sister-in-law, is that you?”

Radilt froze completely at her sister-in-law Erite’s incredulous question.

“My goodness, it really is you! What on earth happened?”

Erite, recognizing Radilt, shrieked loudly, and people around began gathering one by one.

“What’s going on?”

“Seems to be the eldest daughter-in-law of that house.”

“What? Isn’t she a noble lady? Oh my, oh my. It really is her. I didn’t recognize her at all.”

Radilt’s face turned pale amid the surprised murmurs. She knew well enough that she couldn’t hide it for long. Nevertheless, her heart pounded at the sudden commotion.

“……Please go back.”

Radilt whispered softly to the servant hesitating beside her.

“Will you be alright, madam.”

“Yes. So please hurry.”

The Duston family crest prominently displayed on the luxurious carriage caught Radilt’s eye. She instinctively stood in front of the crest to hide it. But her sister-in-law’s eyes proved faster and sharper than a hawk’s.

“Sister-in-law! Huh? Sister-in-law!”

“Miss, just a moment. First—”

The carriage departed in the meantime. With the view clearing, even the eyes of people peering from across the road pierced the elaborate dress and abundant rose bouquet. Such a carriage in this alley, such a splendid noble lady. Whispers rolled in like waves without pause. Growing louder, rougher.

“Say something! That carriage crest just now, I think I recognize the family!”

“Let’s go inside first, Miss!”

Radilt reached out and grabbed Erite’s arm. Beneath the swaying bouquet in her hasty movement, red petals scattered weakly. They painted red dots on the worn path.

The door just a few steps ahead felt impossibly distant to Radilt. Her sister-in-law constantly asking what happened, curious gazes, painful whispers thrown without filter.

In the midst of that dizzying whirlpool….

“What shameful display is this.”

A frosty voice pierced Radilt’s back. Her mother-in-law, Merdea, stared at her daughter-in-law with a frozen face. Her blue eyes filled with intense coldness tinged with contempt.

Radilt turned slowly. Her frightened heart pounded painfully beneath her pale face.

“……Mother.”

“You bring disgrace to the family. What are you standing there for? Get inside immediately!”

Merdea roughly pulled Radilt’s arm. The rose bouquet, having lost its support, fell onto the broken stone floor. Radilt reflexively reached toward the scattering petals. But her mother-in-law dragged her daughter-in-law inside mercilessly.

The door closed, and Merdea’s hand swung widely.

Slap!

Radilt’s pale cheek gradually turned red.

“Mom!”

Erite shouted. Merdea glared at Radilt with eyes burning with anger.

“How could you do something so shameless! You harlot!”

Expensive dress wrapped around a widow’s body. A rose bouquet clearly revealing the giver’s intentions. Jewelry adorning the ears and neck exposed beneath elaborately styled hair, rouged cheeks and glossy lips.

Merdea’s tightly closed jaw trembled with rage. To appear like that, to dare appear in such a vulgar manner!

“Lady Rizan lent you the dress? I thought it suspicious from the beginning. You’ve become so accustomed to blatant lies! Without even dreaming you were a loose woman desperate for a man, I!”

“……You sent me.”

Radilt, standing like a water-soaked reed, quietly opened her mouth. Merdea’s eyes grew fiercer, rising like hooks.

“What did you say?”

“You sent me to meet another man, Mother.”

The widow who had pledged to let time flow quietly without harboring a single stray thought, sent to the Plumen Party where men waited. To a gathering where men and women meet eyes, hold hands, and match steps. Hadn’t she personally pushed her reluctant daughter-in-law to go?

Telling her to earn money for her daughter’s dress.

Radilt calmly faced her mother-in-law. Her green eyes sank sadly but without trembling.

“You ordered this and now blame my appearance? Do you make me walk black muddy roads without a carriage or lantern, then become angry that my skirt is dirty?”

“You—!”

Slap! The sound of flesh being struck rang out again.

“How dare you speak so freely! Who is the man who dressed you! The man who removed your old dress and adorned you with vulgar decorations—”

“Sir Duston!”

The quiet Erite suddenly shouted. She even clapped her hands.

“Count Pendlore Duston! Yes, that was definitely the crest!”

“……Count Duston? No, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“How can it not matter!”

Erite frowned deeply and stood blocking Radilt. Merdea looked at her daughter in confusion.

“……Erite?”

“Stop scolding sister-in-law!”

“……What? Whose side are you taking now!”

“Oh, for goodness sake! Sister-in-law has wrapped golden thread around her fingers! Mom, my marriage is the most important thing right now.”

Merdea narrowed her brow at Erite’s bold assertion but hesitated, losing momentum. Radilt also blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar sight of her sister-in-law defending her.

Erite continued with a bright face while smoothing Radilt’s dress.

“This dress, these jewels, a wealthy nobleman who sends her home in a splendid carriage. Mom, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. No matter how young and pretty I am, our family is in this state. Finding a rich gentleman who would welcome a virgin without a penny of dowry would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

“Rite, dear.”

“But it’s Count Pendlore Duston! An ancient noble family, a businessman with overflowing wealth, and such excellent connections! He even has ties to the imperial family!”

Erite spoke passionately. Her round cheeks flushed red with desire.

“Just having a connection to such a great nobleman would raise the level of my marriage prospects by several steps!”

“……But how can I watch her meeting another man! She devoured my son, your brother!”

“Oh Mom, really. Would Count Duston actually marry sister-in-law?”

Erite spoke with a face tinged with laughter, as if asking what there was to worry about. Radilt, standing right behind her, might as well not have existed.

“He’s a young, handsome, wealthy nobleman in his prime, not remarrying or old. He’s the husband every woman in the capital desires—why would such a man take in a poor widow? Sister-in-law isn’t an extraordinary beauty, just somewhat pretty at best, right?”

Would he pick up a rotting apple fallen to the dirt floor when surrounded by so many excellent virgins?

Naturally, it made no sense. Anyone in the capital would shake their head at the very suggestion.

A fine gentleman deserves a fine virgin.

Merdea tilted her neck slightly at her daughter’s words. She examined the small figure occasionally visible behind Erite, as if appraising her.

“……That’s true.”

If the person were an unremarkable man, she would be more cautious. Men like shopkeepers scratching their shaggy beards, skinny clerks with ink stained into every finger joint, or farmers who swing sickles in fields and carry manure all day.

Meeting such insignificant men would make her mother-in-law think she intended to remarry and bring out the whip.

“I’ve heard of House Duston. They own more than ten large commercial buildings in the bustling district.”

“Those shops are merely one fish in a lake. Their trading ships are truly enormous. And they say his appearance is exceptionally outstanding.”

An immensely wealthy man from an ancient family with excellent looks, young and unmarried. Someone even exceptional virgins wouldn’t dare approach first.

Merdea clicked her tongue.

“She’s merely a temporary plaything.”

Plaything. That’s not it. This is a legitimate contractual relationship. Though she argued this in her mind, a long, thin pain scraped through Radilt’s chest like a blade.

Everyone who saw her and Pendlore would think that way. Of course they would.

“Oh Mom, really. Sister-in-law is a widow. And meeting at the Plumen Party isn’t even a flaw. It’s originally a gathering to sponsor widows.”

“Still, it’s shameful, shameful! When I was a virgin, widows never showed their bare faces to men in broad daylight. Let alone as someone’s plaything.”

Despite her words, Merdea took a step back. The possibility that this immoral daughter-in-law might remarry and leave the household didn’t exist. With that in mind, she thought she could briefly turn a blind eye for her daughter’s marriage prospects.

“Mom, didn’t you see the carriage? It had four horses. Each one a glossy, magnificent steed. We couldn’t buy even one of those horses if we sold our entire house!”