“Nothing… at all.”

Donovan cleared his throat with a face that crossed between surprise and bewilderment.

“I’d like this proposal to be delivered to Conrad under your name.”

Roina believed her husband would trust the head butler’s words more than hers.

However, Donovan firmly shook his head and answered.

“I’m afraid I cannot comply with this request.”

“What do you mean?”

As Roina tilted her head in puzzlement, the head butler respectfully expressed his opinion.

“I would prefer if you spoke to him directly, Madam.”

“……”

“His Grace will certainly be pleased with it.”

Roina had no confidence that Conrad would listen to her.

Nevertheless, she decided to follow the head butler’s advice this time.

After hesitating briefly, she nodded and replied.

“Very well. As you say, I’ll speak to him directly.”

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

On an early winter day with a palpable chill in the air, Roina was sipping warm tea in her bedroom.

Recently, she had been busy as Conrad positively received her proposal.

Therefore, she was enjoying a rare moment of leisure when.

Knock knock—.

“Madam, the crafted jewelry has arrived.”

“Come in.”

The maid who entered the bedroom handed Roina a box.

It seemed the debutante gift she had prepared for her sister had finally arrived.

“Thank you for your work. You may leave now.”

“Yes, Madam.”

After the maid bowed and closed the door, Roina carefully opened the lid of the box.

Inside were earrings crafted with blue gemstones that emitted a brilliant light.

Gently handling the gift for her sister, she smiled faintly.

‘It will suit Aila perfectly.’

Looking at the blue gemstones that shone brilliantly like her sister’s eyes, her heart felt heavy.

Roina hoped that at least her sister would not walk the same path as her.

“How can I protect you?”

Recalling Aila’s face, she closed her eyes firmly before opening them again.

She had considered giving Conrad the documents containing the marquis’s misconduct.

However, if she hastily handed them over, he might misinterpret her intentions.

‘You still wouldn’t trust me.’

Moreover, those documents alone were insufficient to distance the marquis from politics.

The father Roina knew was not someone who would easily fall.

Therefore, she needed to move cautiously without arousing Marquis Würetti’s suspicion.

Roina strengthened her resolve with clear eyes.

“I must solve this myself.”

She hoped her precious people would no longer be hurt or put in danger.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

A quiet yet tense atmosphere filled the carriage racing toward the imperial palace.

Roina’s heart sank heavily at the realization that her sister’s debutante day had already arrived.

With conservatives, progressives, and even neutrals all gathering in one place, she couldn’t relax her vigilance.

‘After all, social gatherings are busy places for pursuing self-interest.’

Apart from celebrating the debut of noble children, it was also a place to discover each other’s intentions.

Moreover, since Marquis Würetti might have set the stage, Roina needed to monitor the situation.

Though knowledge would help her prepare, she simply couldn’t fathom her father’s mind.

Just as she unconsciously narrowed her brow and clenched her hands, Conrad’s dry voice reached her.

“You seem nervous.”

“What…?”

“Were you like this at your own debutante ball?”

Her eyes widened slightly as she turned toward the man sitting across from her.

Soon, her gaze became entangled with his emotionless golden eyes.

Trying to gauge her husband’s intentions, Roina simply answered calmly.

“I don’t think I was.”

Recalling that time, she had been quite compliant, moving as Marquis Würetti directed.

She had personally experienced that the more she rebelled, the more difficult it became for those around her.

During that time, when she had to endure interference even in her meetings with others, she always felt suffocated.

Moreover, right after her debutante ball, rumors about Roina’s birth spread secretly.

‘It was because I didn’t resemble my father.’

In a situation sufficient to cause misunderstandings, the marquis and his wife strove to quell rumors about their daughter.

Therefore, most of Roina’s time was spent attending unwanted exchange meetings and building connections with noble children.

The unchanging daily routine felt extremely boring and stifling to her.

It had always been that way during that time. Until she met Conrad at a charity gathering.

Biting her lower lip firmly, Roina took in the man before her with her eyes.

The past days she spent with Conrad were times when she could be most herself.

‘Of course, you wouldn’t understand such days.’

Turning her gaze away from him, Roina wore a sorrowful smile.

She knew well that those brilliantly radiant times were meaningful only to her.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

“Your Grace, Madam. We have arrived at the imperial palace.”

When the coachman announced their arrival through the sliding window, Roina took Conrad’s hand and descended from the carriage.

Though she tried not to show it, perhaps because faces she would soon meet came to mind, her fingertips trembled slightly.

As if noticing this, Conrad’s hand, which was escorting her, gradually applied pressure.

“It would be better to manage your expression.”

His puzzling words made it difficult for Roina to grasp the flow of the conversation.

She wondered if he was being sarcastic, yet there was no particular malice to be felt.

“……?”

As she blinked her eyes slowly, Conrad simply added in an emotionless voice.

“The Würetti young lady might worry about you instead.”

“Ah….”

His words were not wrong. She couldn’t attend the banquet with a constantly dark complexion.

After sighing briefly and nodding, the man continued indifferently.

“The Second Prince won’t harm the marquis’s daughter right away.”

A person with a sound mind wouldn’t cause a disturbance at an event meant to introduce oneself to the nobility.

Of course, whether common sense applied to Benjamin Duke Kaldebaum remained uncertain.

Swallowing a shallow sigh, Roina suddenly stopped walking out of curiosity.

Then, looking up at Conrad, she asked without hesitation.

“But why are you telling me this?”

Roina knew well that his behavior, which seemed to be concerned about her, was merely her misunderstanding.

At that moment, Conrad stopped walking and turned around with a somewhat hardened expression.

After looking at her for a moment, his complex and subtle gaze soon fell on the banquet hall.

“We’ve arrived at the banquet hall.”

Conrad simply uttered his words softly.

As they reached the entrance of the banquet hall, a doorkeeper checked their invitation and announced their visit.

“Duke and Duchess Asheter are entering!”

As the massive doors opened, the gazes of the nobles inside the banquet hall simultaneously focused on one spot.

Roina felt even more nervous under the bright and splendid chandelier lights filling the banquet hall.

She glanced at Conrad with a deliberately calm expression.

His face, without any sign of tension, was as emotionless as usual.

Perhaps sensing her gaze, he raised one eyebrow obliquely.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No. It’s nothing.”

Roina lowered her gaze without showing any particular reaction.

Perhaps because it had been a while since she attended an imperial banquet, she felt suffocated by the nobles’ gazes.

“How unusual for the two of them to enter together.”

“The duke must have reluctantly accompanied her.”

Public interest in the Asheter ducal couple—the union of conservatives and progressives—seemed to persist.

Accustomed to the whispers directed at her, Roina reached the center of the banquet hall with Conrad.

“We greet Duke and Duchess Asheter.”

As if they had never behaved otherwise, the nobles showed proper courtesy and subtly began discussing their family businesses.

Conrad, like a capable businessman, continued serious conversations with them.

Feeling somewhat awkward, Roina glanced at her husband, and his gaze met hers.