‘I already have my favorite character right here in the flesh.’

Thinking that, Raelia smiled with her eyes.

“Well, I’d say it’s about time I graduated from that strange situation, wouldn’t you?”

Raelia didn’t say much more. Seria was perceptive enough to understand.

“Miss, actually……”

“Something wrong?”

“Juan sent word through me that he’ll be attending to you again starting tomorrow.”

Raelia was genuinely taken aback.

She’d clearly told Seria to be the only one attending her!

“When I asked if you’d given that order, he said you’d want him to attend to you.”

“The nerve of him.”

“So you don’t want that, right? I’ll try to stop it.”

But it wouldn’t be easy for Seria to handle on her own.

“No.”

Juan hadn’t properly obeyed even Raelia’s direct orders. To him, Raelia wasn’t truly his mistress either.

‘He really is an infuriating man.’

Should she just tell him she was moving to the grand ducal residence tomorrow? If she was honest with Cassian, it seemed possible.

The door opened and the head maid stepped in.

“Miss Raelia, the marchioness is asking for you.”

Sara had called for her at just the right moment. Raelia glanced at the calendar without thinking.

The banquet for Archan’s debut was only a few days away.

“Understood.”

Sara’s reason for calling was obvious.

She let out a quiet breath. Thinking about Juan left a weight on her chest.

But relying on Cassian wasn’t a real solution. Something like this was better settled within the household.

She’d save the Cassian option as a last resort and see Sara first.

* * *

Sara had been her stepmother for a long time, but they’d almost never shared tea like this. That was how awkward things had always been between them.

Raelia looked around Sara’s room, which she was entering for the first time. Tasteful paintings hung on the walls, and a sculpture caught her eye.

“That’s a piece by Elishado. A sculptor who’s been rising lately. I’ve been a patron of his since he was young, and he sent that as a thank-you when his latest exhibition went well. He made it to mark my birthday.”

Sara explained the sculpture Raelia had been looking at.

“The piece is called ‘A Woman Dreaming.'”

It depicted a woman lying with her head against a pillow, hair spilling down. Only the neck was sculpted, but its presence was striking.

“The name suits it perfectly. It’s so beautiful I couldn’t look away.”

Raelia smiled as she said it. Sara nodded and gestured for her to sit.

“Sit down.”

“Of course.”

Sara poured Raelia’s tea once she was seated.

‘Pretty.’

Raelia looked at the teapot and cups.

Both were different from what the Lorentz household used. They reflected Sara’s own taste.

Sara lifted her cup.

“Let’s drink first, then talk.”

Raelia picked up her tea, hiding the slight tremor in her fingers. Sara’s hand was trembling in much the same way. She was clearly nervous.

“I called you here about the Darhan comital family’s banquet.”

“I thought as much.”

“Are you really going to bring Archan?”

Sara’s voice was serious and measured. Raelia looked at her and spoke.

“Yes, I am.”

“There’s only one invitation. How do you plan to bring him?”

“It’s acceptable to bring someone as an escort to a banquet.”

Raelia said it calmly and glanced at Sara. Sara would already know that, of course.

‘Archan and I are siblings, but we’re not close. We grew up like strangers.’

But that needed to change going forward. Raelia looked naturally at the teacup and spoke to Sara in a friendly tone.

“Mother, your taste really is wonderful.”

“Mother?”

“We’re going to be close from now on, so I should call you that. I can’t keep calling you ‘madam’ forever.”

Raelia came in without warning. Sara’s hand trembled just a little more visibly.

“Mother, what if we make Archan and I look like a close family before the banquet? People will be curious about the story behind it and want to invite us to other banquets too.”

“What are you trying to do?”

“This will be my first banquet since my mother passed away too. What if we went to a shop together, you and I, to pick out matching outfits for Archan and me?”

Sara heard Raelia’s suggestion and laughed, her shoulders shaking.

“You’re not wrong. You’re getting married soon, and there are things I should do as the mistress of this house.”

Whatever Raelia’s motives were, Sara decided it was better to have her approach like this than to keep things as they’d been.

“It would be good for you and Archan to wear similar outfits.”

“Then everyone will be curious about us, won’t they?”

“Most likely.”

Sara matched Raelia’s tone.

What Raelia was saying was interesting and appealing. It surprised her that a child who’d always been so timid and quiet had this side to her.

“Is there anything you want, by the way? Something you’d like me to help resolve around you, for instance.”

This time Sara pressed into Raelia’s situation. When she’d noticed the change in Raelia, she’d naturally looked into things around her first. And she’d found out that Raelia was avoiding Juan.

Raelia hadn’t expected an offer like this, and her eyes wavered for a moment.

But she met Sara’s gaze steadily.

“Please send Juan away.”

“Of course.”

Sara nodded.

“I should have handled that the moment you said you were going to the matchmaking meeting. I’m sorry.”

“I told him not to attend to me personally, but today he insisted to Seria that he’d be taking over again.”

Sara grasped the seriousness of it.

“Unbelievable. I’d been watching him because word got out that he’d been getting too familiar with one or two of the maids.”

Sara studied Raelia quietly.

“You’re not still attached to him, are you?”

“Not at all.”

“Good. He’s not a good man.”

Sara nodded and spoke to Raelia.

“Honestly, I still don’t know what your ultimate goal is. But Archan and I need to work with you, and you’ve got nothing to lose either, so that’s why you’re doing this.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s go to the shop together tomorrow. This will be the first time I’ve gone somewhere like that with a daughter since I married in.”

Sara smiled for the first time without any pretense, though it was a little stiff.

“I’m counting on you.”

“Likewise. And I’m getting married soon, so it’s better to have a family to come back to. Living as if I have none would be too bleak.”

When there was no personal warmth yet, speaking in practical terms was the fastest way forward.

Sara understood, just as Raelia had predicted.

They made plans to go to the shop the next day, and Sara immediately reassigned Juan.

* * *

Juan’s eyes went wide. He had to ask again because he couldn’t believe what the servant was telling him.

“I’m going where?”

“The marchioness has asked you to leave the capital for a while and go clean up the villa.”

The news was so unexpected that Juan asked once more, unable to accept it.

“Who ordered this?”

Had Miss Raelia arranged it?

“The marchioness gave the order.”

Juan’s expression hardened for a moment. If Sara had given the order, pleading with Raelia wouldn’t change anything.

Sara was the actual mistress of the household.

“We’ll miss you too, you know. Things are going to be busy with the young lady’s wedding coming up.”

The servant who’d been delivering the news in a stiff, formal tone suddenly spoke in a lighter, almost grumbling voice, and Juan shook his head.

“Miss Raelia is being forced into this marriage.”

“You’ve been a bit suspicious for a while, but surely you haven’t gone and developed feelings for the young lady?”

Juan said it with what sounded like genuine concern.

“No, nothing like that. I just feel terrible for her.”

The servant gave a small, sly smile.

“Take a look at your own eyes in a mirror. No one’s going to believe that with a look like that.”

The servant watched Juan’s expression go rigid.

“Either way, think of it as clearing your head and go.”

The servant left with those words.

Unaware that Juan had clenched his fist hard enough to draw blood.

* * *

Seria gasped at the clothes laid out on display. Raelia smiled alongside her.

“Did the marchioness really buy all of these for you when you went shopping together?”

“She went to the shop herself and bought everything she thought I’d like or that would suit me. She said she wanted to take care of me since I’m getting married soon.”

Raelia rarely went out, so she had very few clothes. Sara, knowing this, had taken the opportunity to set her up with a full wardrobe of outfits for going out. She’d also set aside a specific outfit for the upcoming banquet.

Seria spotted a dress embroidered with shining thread and asked.

“Is this the one you’ll wear when you visit His Grace?”

“How did you know?”

“It just felt that way.”

Seria looked between the dress and Raelia, then nodded.

“It really suits you. Wearing something like this, His Grace is sure to like you even more.”

‘I already like him. I’m not so sure about the other direction.’

Still, he’d promised to give her his trust and respect. That was enough. There was nothing worse than someone who didn’t respect you.