In the situation that occurred in an instant, Roina reconsidered what had happened to her.

Unable to contain her anger, Daphne had poured the water from the vase on the table onto herself.

As if she had rehearsed the situation, the woman smiled with a twisted expression, then covered her face with a pitiful look.

Just as the noble ladies were returning to the greenhouse garden, Daphne raised her voice as if overcome with tears.

“You’re really going too far, duchess!”

The women looked back and forth between Roina and Daphne, trying to understand the current situation.

But soon they noticed Daphne’s wet hair and dress and hardened their expressions.

Though she should have said something, Roina couldn’t open her mouth, which was tightly closed in bewilderment.

With her mind gone completely blank, she felt the stinging gazes touching her cheeks and looked around.

All the women at the tea party startled and averted their eyes when they met Roina’s gaze.

‘So this was it. The way you isolated me.’

Roina had always been curious. How they could isolate someone who was the eldest daughter of a powerful family and the mistress of the Asheter household.

But faced with Daphne’s actions, which seemed to answer that question, she could only swallow her inward sigh.

Roina soon spoke to the women gathered in the greenhouse garden in a clear voice.

“Though it’s enough to cause misunderstanding, I didn’t do that.”

But the tide of the tea party had already turned in Daphne’s favor. Perhaps even the goodwill of those who could have viewed Roina favorably.

“Lady, you should dry yourself first.”

At the words of a young lady who offered a handkerchief, Daphne’s red eyes, filled with tears, briefly met Roina’s.

As if no matter how much she provoked her, nothing would change anyway.

Daphne Clovis was clearly trying to isolate Roina from society again.

‘Since there’s already a precedent, the second time will be easier.’

Feeling as if she’d been hit in the head, Roina swallowed a shallow sigh.

In this situation that seemed like a well-orchestrated play, it seemed like no one would believe her no matter how she tried to explain.

She could clearly hear the whispered words about her, suddenly branded as the perpetrator.

“Making the lady like this and still being so shameless.”

“Exactly. What a conscienceless person.”

Roina, who felt like her throat would close up at any moment, quietly hung her head.

‘I must have lived like this all along.’

Since no one here would take her side, she now had to face reality and resolve the situation.

Yet feeling at a loss about what and how to do anything, a self-deprecating light appeared on Roina’s face.

It seemed the purpose of this tea party was to make her realize that there was no place for her anywhere.

The rumor that Duchess Asheter had caused trouble at a tea party would soon spread through the gossip sheets.

If that happened, Conrad would become even more disgusted with her existence.

‘I didn’t want to cause you any more trouble……’

Just as Roina was biting her lower lip over her situation that ultimately wouldn’t change—

Thud, thud—

Heavy footsteps began to be heard in the tea party hall that had frozen cold.

The murmuring of the women at the entrance of the greenhouse garden soon spread to others.

“Isn’t that Duke Asheter?”

“Why would His Grace be here……”

The steady footsteps gradually approached and soon stopped near Roina.

“……!”

At her husband’s unexpected appearance, her agitated eyes began to shake mercilessly.

‘Why are you here?’

The man, who bowed his head slightly with his usual indifferent appearance, murmured quietly enough for only Roina to hear.

“What is this situation right now?”

“Well……”

Roina was confused about why Conrad, who should have been at the construction site, was here.

But since he would be the only one who might listen to her story, just as she was about to continue her answer—

“Please behave befitting the mistress of a ducal house.”

As if the current situation was merely bothersome, Conrad whispered softly in her ear.

“……”

She had momentarily forgotten. That this man would never take her side.

Unfortunately, Conrad Asheter was someone who had no intention of listening to his wife.

He was simply looking at the pathetic woman who brought shame to the family’s reputation with contemptuous eyes.

‘What was I expecting from this person?’

Roina reproached herself for feeling relieved just by seeing him in this difficult situation.

Conrad might have come here simply to meet Daphne.

On one hand, she was afraid. That he might create the situation Daphne wanted in front of everyone.

Though she was certainly his wife, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being an outsider between them.

‘Still… I’m your wife for now.’

The women at the tea party seemed to think Conrad would help Roina.

A young lady who had been looking disapprovingly at the Asheter couple finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.

“I’m telling you in advance to avoid misunderstanding, but the duchess poured the water from the flower vase on the lady.”

At the woman’s kind explanation, distorting what had just happened, Roina swallowed a hollow laugh.

Though the current situation was terribly unfair, there was nothing she could do about it.

In this place, Roina Würetti wasn’t allowed the opportunity to explain herself.

Just as she was wondering whether she should just storm out of there—

“So did you see it directly?”

Conrad’s cold golden eyes turned toward the young lady who had been explaining the situation.

“No, that’s not it, but……”

Perhaps having nothing particular to say, the young lady stepped back and bowed her head.

Roina blinked, trying to understand his attitude.

‘What is this man trying to do right now?’

But as always, Roina couldn’t read his mind.

While she was lost in thought for a moment, this time a noble lady asked Conrad:

“Then are you saying Lady Clovis lied?”

The man, who had maintained a cold and indifferent attitude, soon looked at that lady.

“Even if my wife did that, I don’t see what the problem would be.”

At Conrad’s arrogant yet cold voice, the tea party hall was momentarily filled with silence.

Lifting one corner of his mouth slightly, he again sent his gaze to Roina.

“Tell me yourself.”

“……”

But when no answer came from her, Conrad slightly narrowed his brow and asked:

“Did you make the lady like that?”

Meeting his cold gaze, Roina swallowed dryly. Then she continued her answer in a slightly trembling voice.

“No, I didn’t. It wasn’t something I did.”

The man silently observed her earnest appearance. Then he slowly nodded.

“My wife says that’s not the case.”

Conrad quickly sorted out the situation. So that no one could make a fuss about this matter.

Then he suddenly turned his head to look at Daphne.

“It seems the lady has no right to speak. Considering there are only representatives overflowing.”

“……!”

At those words, the group centered around Daphne flinched and stepped back, and the lady avoided his gaze with a stiff expression.

Why Conrad had come here, for what reason he had taken her side instead of Daphne’s—

Roina was simply bewildered.

But she thought getting out of the tea party hall was the priority right now.

In an atmosphere that was like thin ice, Conrad simply silently led her outside.

The women who watched their retreating figures were speechless for various reasons.

※※※

In the carriage filled with bleakness, Conrad, who had been lost in thought, narrowed his brow and spoke.

“Tell me once.”

“What?”

At Roina’s question, the man asked back with a face that showed he couldn’t understand at all.

“Why did you just stay still?”

He seemed quite displeased with Roina, who had just taken it quietly at the tea party.

This would directly affect the Asheter family’s honor.

At his cold voice that seemed like an interrogation, she swallowed a shallow bitter laugh.

‘Do you… really not know and are asking?’