Recently, their hot topic was undoubtedly the young lady who was scheduled to be adopted into the Vicheravali family.

“Was she cute today too?”

“She was really cute!”

“I’m so jealous…… I heard that when you see her up close, she’s so dazzling that you can’t see properly, how was it?”

“Yes! I could barely look at her directly. I managed to endure the dazzling light and look at her, and just as Jane said, her skin was extremely white, and her cheeks were so cute that I wanted to squish them like marshmallows.”

The other maids looked with envious eyes at the maid with light yellow hair who was explaining about the ‘Miss.’ Then someone among them asked.

“It’s fortunate that Miss came to Vicheravali.”

“Right? The young master seems happy too.”

“Though he runs away from her every day.”

Giggle giggle. The maids laughed.

“But don’t you think he’ll surrender soon? Miss has such incredible momentum.”

At one maid’s words, the other maids nodded. Indeed. Miss’s actions were extraordinary.

Honestly, if it were them, they wouldn’t have been able to approach the young master like she did. Despite still being a young boy, the young master had an overwhelming innate aura befitting a member of the Vicheravali family that made one’s heart chill just by looking at him.

Yet Miss didn’t even blink. Rather, she made people smile with her bright smile.

It was truly admirable to watch.

“I think the young master will give up within a week.”

When one maid spoke emphatically, comments poured from here and there.

“I say three days!”

“I say tomorrow!”

Then everyone started giggling. While the maids gathered in the corner were whispering, Reibella’s voice could be heard from far away.

“Royan! Look at that! There’s a rainbow!”

It was a lovely voice that naturally brought smiles to the faces of the people of Vicheravali.

* * *

“What exactly do you want?”

Exactly one week after Reibella started following Royan around. After running away here and there, Royan finally surrendered and stood in front of Reibella.

Reibella looked at Royan standing in front of her. As if he couldn’t bear it anymore, he stood crookedly with an expression full of dissatisfaction, glaring at her.

She first handed him a towel. But Royan roughly swatted away the towel she offered, this time too.

“You must want something from me. Stop doing useless things and state your business.”

For Royan, this could be considered as bowing his head quite a bit.

‘What should I do?’

Should she say she had no ulterior motives and just wanted to be friends?

To mend the relationship with the Duke, it would be better to first become friends with Royan. That way, he would follow more willingly when she arranged a meeting. He might also listen to her words more.

But she didn’t know when that would be, and as Reibella who had to leave here soon, she wanted to resolve this situation quickly.

So she decided to get straight to the point.

“What do you think of the Duke?”

“……You’ve been tormenting me like this just because you’re curious about that?”

He laughed in disbelief. Then he glared at Reibella with a vicious look.

“Why? Are you here to spy on my feelings?”

“No. I was just curious.”

Reibella told the truth, but to Royan, she seemed to be perceived as a spy for the Duke of Vicheravali.

His expression as he clicked his tongue and turned his head showed he was thoroughly angry.

If things continued like this, she didn’t know when they could talk again. The day she had to leave was approaching, but far from clearing up the misunderstanding between the Duke and Royan, she couldn’t even get the two in the same place.

Additionally, due to the Duke of Vicheravali’s busy schedule with work and welcome ceremonies, she hadn’t even been able to mention the word ‘magic stone’ from the magic stone mine, nor had she received sword training.

Reibella urgently called out to stop him as he turned his back.

“I’ll sing in front of your room every morning!”

“……What?”

“Also, I’ll interrupt during your class time, steal your answers, and keep following you around!”

“You really……!”

“If you want me to disappear, tell me. Then I’ll give you a nice gift too.”

“I don’t need gifts……!”

“It’s about Her Highness the Princess.”

“……What?”

Royan’s reaction changed when she mentioned the ‘Princess.’

The boy who had been acting like a petulant three-year-old suddenly turned fierce like an angry lion. His voice was more threatening than ever before.

“Who are you to mention her?”

“What do you mean? She’s my life savior.”

She didn’t particularly want to act intimate with the princess and show off, but since Royan was being so prickly, she had no choice.

The only option was to enhance her authority by highlighting the apparent facts.

When Reibella smiled smugly and boasted about her connection with the princess, Royan glared at her with tightly sealed lips. He seemed very displeased with the ‘life savior’ remark.

After a long staring contest, he finally took a step back. He asked in a somewhat subdued voice.

“What’s the matter related to Her Highness the Princess?”

“If you want me to open my mouth, tell me your story first. That’s the order.”

“……Ha.”

Royan swept back his silver hair, exasperated.

But he seemed to be inwardly contemplating. Whether to answer that question or not.

She thought he was as stubborn as a 100-year-old tree, but to think he would sway like a reed at the mere mention of the princess.

Reibella regretted the past week immensely. If she had known this would happen, she would have mentioned the princess’s name from the start.

Indeed, it seemed that even the male lead, said to be the most perfect man in the world, becomes a fool in the face of love.

She was looking at the fickle male lead with cold eyes when Royan, having finished his deliberation, revealed his secret as if with a sigh.

The content was not just beyond expectations, it was shocking.

“Because that person killed my mother.”

……What?

When Reibella opened her eyes wide and looked at Royan, he emphasized again.

“The Duke of Vicheravali killed my mother.”

* * *

“He is truly busy today, and I have been ordered to reject all other meetings.”

Immediately after hearing Royan’s story, Reibella urgently sought out the Duke of Vicheravali. But what came back was Henan’s awkward smile and words refusing the meeting.

‘He heard.’

Although they had talked in a quiet place, there was no way there wouldn’t be eyes watching the young duke of Vicheravali within this household.

Given how Royan’s mother had died, it was only natural.

‘I thought it would be fastest to hear the truth from the person directly involved.’

She could ask people in the mansion, but she felt it wasn’t right to dig into sensitive content like a background investigation without the permission of the person involved.

Besides, even if she did investigate, the Duke of Vicheravali would surely know, so she wanted to ask him directly.

So she came, but to think she would be rejected without even seeing him.

Now she had no choice but to investigate behind the scenes again.

Reibella clenched her fist and looked up at Henan, asking.

“You know, don’t you, Henan? Why I came here.”

“……Well.”

“Please tell me. Please?”

When Reibella pleaded with her hands clasped together, Henan made a troubled expression. He seemed to be both finding it difficult and wanting to speak.

‘If the young duke and the Duke have a bad relationship, Henan can’t help but be concerned too.’

……Maybe if I ask a little more?

After thinking for a moment, Reibella proposed to him.

“If you tell me, I’ll give you the information you need. Of course, only what I know.”

“……Information?”

“Have you forgotten? Thanks to me, you caught a spy who had infiltrated Vicheravali.”

“That’s true, but……”

After contemplating for a moment, he bent his knees to match her eye level. Then he asked in a whisper.

“Then do you know anything about the accountants raised by Felicity?”

“You mean the ones who are still alive? Yes. I know about them.”

Felicity had valued education for generations and had raised talents in various fields. Whether they openly supported them or secretly helped them varied, but the fact that they were talents produced by Felicity remained unchanged.

Since she had studied with some of them, providing information wasn’t difficult.

“Are there capable people among them?”

“Hmm. Yes. There’s a prodigy who entered the academy at the age of 10. Would three people be enough?”

“That should be sufficient.”

“They’re currently working for other families, but you could bring them in, Henan, couldn’t you?”

“Of course. If you just tell me……”

Then Reibella closed her mouth tightly and stared at him. With a look that said, that’s not how we make deals.