Saying she hadn’t had much occasion to embroider likely meant that the most recent embroidery she had done was probably the handkerchief she had given to him. Feeling somehow that he needed to keep listening to the conversation, Dietrich lingered without choosing any items.

The store staff watching Dietrich and Lysith couldn’t help but find it strange.

If the two of them had been in the same space before, it would have been Dietrich looking elsewhere, and Lysith gazing at his profile.

It wasn’t just one or two people who had seen such scenes at parties, so rumors spread in an instant.

At the boutique, which was at the center of the rumors, there was no gossip they hadn’t heard, and among them, of course, were stories about the Grand Duke and the Duchess. It had been such a poignant unrequited love that even those who heard about it felt sorry.

But how about now? It was the Grand Duke who was looking at the other person, almost as if he was begging her to look his way.

At this clear reversal of roles, the onlookers swallowed hard.

Amidst this intriguing atmosphere, a brown-haired man entered the boutique, creating a slight crack in the strange mood. His steps were clearly hurried, but his face looked extremely awkward, causing some staff members to swallow their laughter at the discrepancy.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Um, Your Highness the Grand Duke…”

“……”

When his aide approached him with a distressed look, saying they had to leave, Dietrich briefly closed his eyes and then opened them, hastily choosing one of the handkerchiefs he was holding before slowly moving his feet that seemed reluctant to leave.

The aide, who had briefly made eye contact with Lysith when she turned her head at the small commotion, was surprised and offered a light greeting. She nodded curtly to acknowledge his greeting, though it had seemed she might ignore it, before turning her gaze away again.

As expected, her attitude suggested she wouldn’t pay much attention whether Dietrich left or not.

Since they’re in the same space, if he wanted to receive a farewell, he could certainly get one. But strictly speaking, she had already bid him farewell, and he hadn’t said anything. No, he hadn’t been able to say anything.

Even if he were to call for a farewell here, it wouldn’t improve their relationship.

“…I’ll be going then.”

Dietrich, half-listening to the Madame’s farewell as she followed him, climbed into the carriage with a heavy body and swallowed a sigh that seemed about to burst forth.

Whether he’s aware of his superior’s mood or not, the aide muttered while rubbing his forehead.

“No, why suddenly… You weren’t even interested in the Grand Duchess, I mean, the lady.”

That was true. He had been so uninterested that he couldn’t even answer his aide’s question that wasn’t really a question. But why, suddenly, did he impulsively jump out of the carriage, and in the store, only gaze at that woman’s profile…

“…Handkerchief.”

“Pardon?”

“The handkerchief the lady gave me. Don’t you know?”

“How would I know about that…”

The aide’s face seemed to show disbelief. During their marriage, the aide had felt quite sorry for her, who was treated coldly by him, and had served her very attentively, addressing her as ‘Your Highness, the Grand Duchess.’ A few times, he had even openly asked why he treated her that way.

Of course, at that time, he completely ignored the aide’s words.

“I told you so, Your Highness.”

“What did you say?”

“I said not to do things you’ll regret later.”

“I’ve never regretted it.”

It seemed that his superior didn’t even realize what kind of expression he was wearing. Well, how could one see their own face anyway.

He had a look that said he didn’t know what to do, deeply hurt by her ignoring him, but it seemed he couldn’t accept it at all. If it was going to be like this, why did he act that way in the first place?

The aide glanced at Dietrich once and then closed his mouth as if there was nothing more to say.

After riding in that heavy silence for some time, the carriage finally arrived at the Grand Duke’s residence and slowly came to a stop.

Returning to the mansion with slightly quicker steps than usual, Dietrich hesitated for a moment as he entered, then told the butler who was receiving his coat that he had something to ask in a low voice and to follow him.

Arriving at his office with equally quick steps, he repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, struggling to speak.

Although one might find his behavior frustrating, the experienced butler in his 50s maintained a consistently calm attitude, still waiting for his master’s question. Seemingly calmed by the butler’s composure, Dietrich asked with difficulty.

“…Um, do you know where… the handkerchief, the one the lady gave me… is?”

“By ‘lady’, do you mean the former Grand Duchess, Lady Gronevelt?”

“…Yes.”

“About that….”

At the butler’s slight pause, Dietrich swallowed dryly. Embarrassingly, since he couldn’t remember, he could only hope that the butler knew. Although he found it a bit strange that he was looking for a handkerchief that she had supposedly embroidered without knowing why, he felt that having that handkerchief would make him feel a little better.

Unaware of Dietrich’s feelings, the butler casually delivered to him what could be called……

“Didn’t Your Highness throw it away?”

A death sentence in the name of truth.

“I’m not exactly sure if you disposed of everything……”

“Threw… away. Did I?”

“Yes.”

He tried to move his tongue in his parched mouth. Threw away? Threw away… What he couldn’t understand even in this situation was that he couldn’t remember when or where he had thrown it away.

Did she know too? That he had treated the affection she had given him in such a way? …Of course she must have known. That’s why she had become so cold, no doubt.

After dismissing the butler, Dietrich sat in a chair in his dimly lit office without turning on the lights, cradling his forehead.

He couldn’t tell where things had gone wrong. He couldn’t even understand his own emotions, and consequently, he couldn’t understand why he was acting this way now. It felt like the first time in his life that he had felt so lost.

Even when he felt inferior after repeatedly losing to the Emperor, it wasn’t like this. It was a completely different sensation.

It felt terribly frustrating and strange. It was an incredibly empty and dizzyingly painful sensation, as if something he should have possessed had slipped away from his hands.

Recalling the woman he had met at the boutique, there was something that came to mind.

“Two colors…”

Usually, cufflinks were often matched to be the same color as one’s eyes. This was especially true for gifts. It was the most common color choice.

Two colors. The implication of this was all too clear.

Given the considerable distance, and more decisively, because she hadn’t paid much attention to him, it was obvious that the lady wouldn’t have thought he had heard the conversation with the employee. Contrary to her expectation, he had heard most of it, but that was beside the point.

Anyway, there was only one person who would give a pair of cufflinks with different colors as a gift.

“Tower Master Ashites…”

He was an imperial guest who visibly disliked him.

A man who, unlike usual, hadn’t returned to his country and was still staying in the empire.

…People in high society unanimously said that the reason he was still staying here was because of Lady Lysith Gronevelt. Dietrich hadn’t paid much attention to those words, but after the recent series of events, he had no choice but to believe it.

In his memory, the two seemed to get along well on the third day of the banquet. It was clear that they hadn’t met before that.

His thoughts were long, but the deliberation was short. Since it was obvious that both of them would have attended the first day of the founding anniversary event, he ordered his aide to investigate their actions on that day. The results came faster than expected, and Dietrich heard the report in his office that night.

However, despite having completed the investigation and returned, the aide, Adiz, was hesitating, wondering if he should really tell this to this person.

“…Do you really need to hear this?”

“Tell me.”

“No, this is a bit…”

“I said do it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

This really doesn’t seem like something I should tell him. Glancing once at Dietrich’s dark expression, Adiz swallowed a sigh and recited the investigation results.

“Well, at the imperial palace… they provide a guest room for the Tower Master, don’t they?”

“Yes. They do that every year.”

“Yes. He used the guest room when he came last year after being newly appointed as Tower Master.”

“And?”

As Dietrich tilted his chin with sharp eyes as if to say get to the point, Adiz moistened his lips before relaying the facts he had uncovered.

“…The morning after the banquet, the two of them were seen coming out of there together. The lady was wearing the Tower Master’s robe.”

“…Ha.”

“And according to the servant who witnessed it, strangely…”

“……”

“The lady seemed uninterested in the Tower Master, and it looked like the Tower Master was trying to stop the lady from leaving…”

He couldn’t help but rub his face. What had happened was too transparent. It was something that happened occasionally. A man and woman in their prime meeting at a banquet and spending the night together. It was certainly a bit shocking that the protagonists of this act were the Tower Master and the lady, but still.

And what…? No, couldn’t the witness’s eyes be wrong?

To think that man, who became famous for his temper just a year after his appointment, had fallen… he’d rather believe that the Emperor had spent a whole day focused on a single task.

Dietrich closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, trying to calm his turbulent insides. It’s okay, after all, after all… After all, she’s just a woman of no significance.

She was no longer related to him, and he didn’t regard her as special. Lysith Gronevelt was just someone he had married out of necessity and then separated from because they weren’t compatible.

…That’s how it should have been.

And so the man, without properly facing the emotions he had felt, let it pass. Unaware of what consequences this current avoidance would bring later.