Feeling the glances directed towards where Serena and Magnus were, the two had to stare at an empty space and then look back at each other with awkward smiles.

Fortunately, thinking their voices couldn’t be heard, the huddled group leaned in with their ears perked up.

The banquet hall was divided into two groups, or broadly speaking, three groups.

Serena and Magnus as one group.

And most of the attendees as another group.

Some people weren’t approaching closely but were clearly listening to the conversation while maintaining the atmosphere.

The story of Serena and Magnus was a hot topic in social circles and quite popular.

As the young ladies who started the story began to receive attention, those who couldn’t join in tapped their feet impatiently while listening.

“There’s talk that she’s trying to make amends by supporting those prosthetics belatedly.”

“Surely not… That Duchess?”

“But think about it. Otherwise, what reason would she have to show interest in prosthetics? How much money could that be worth?”

It is worth money.

Serena suppressed the urge to correct them.

If they were to do business with a small number of people, it could certainly be big money since it’s not cheap.

And Serena, regrettably, had never considered charity work.

“It wouldn’t be bad to start like that for promotion at first.”

Magnus, who had been quietly listening, spoke as if he had thought of a good idea.

Serena fixed her gaze on Magnus’s chest and kept her mouth shut.

“……”

It was the first time she had been misunderstood in a good way, and Serena felt strange.

Looking at Magnus, he shrugged his shoulders quite proudly and grinned.

Serena’s lips twisted slightly at that proud expression, as if to say ‘See?’

Not out of mockery, but because that proud expression was so ridiculous.

“The Duchess of Kelahinum must have really changed a lot…”

Serena’s face turned bright red.

‘I just tried hard because I didn’t want to be entangled with the original story.’

Such a thought suddenly occurred to her.

She thought that no matter how hard she tried, it would be useless, but it was strange to have it proven otherwise.

Of course, this wasn’t the result she wanted.

It was curious that her reputation had improved even though she hadn’t managed to shake off any of the people she actually wanted to.

“I heard that the Marchioness of Lavernia’s incurable disease was also cured, and there’s talk that the Duchess did it.”

“I heard the Duchess has been having regular audiences with His Majesty the Emperor lately… Could that be why His Majesty’s health has improved so much?”

“Ah, I heard about that too. I saw him out for a walk not long ago…”

It felt strange that there was no hostility in the chattering voices.

It was unbelievable that the things she had done without much thought had turned out like this.

Serena rolled her eyes in embarrassment and eventually bowed her head deeply.

“I told you, there are definitely things you’ve changed.”

“…Yeah.”

Serena nodded at Magnus’s words.

Magnus smiled faintly as he looked at Serena’s reddened earlobes.

“You changed it. So you can have confidence in yourself.”

“Yeah…”

Her cheeks tingled involuntarily with the uplifting feeling. Serena took a deep breath and slowly raised her head.

“Thank you for saying that. Thanks to you, I thought that today might really be happy all day long.”

So she thought that her jinx might be completely broken.

“I made a few business proposals and was surprised to receive quite polite rejections.”

“Come to think of it, I also dropped something while out shopping in the street, and the person who picked it up for me was the Duchess.”

“Oh my, really?”

“Yes, I was too flustered to recognize her properly at the time. But thinking back on it later, it was the Duchess.”

Hearing those words, Serena recalled her visit to the boutique not long ago.

She had stopped someone who was about to leave the store without realizing they had dropped an old and worn pendant, and returned it to them.

After all, it looked like an heirloom or something very precious judging by all the wear on it.

“It was actually given to me by my late grandmother, so it’s one of a kind and very precious… I’m so glad I didn’t lose it.”

“In the past… she would have pretended not to see such things and stepped on them or kicked them away.”

At another young lady’s words, the young lady who had met her at the boutique opened her eyes wide.

“But when I talked to her, there was no sign of that. Of course, she wasn’t particularly friendly…”

The young lady spoke slowly, as if recalling the memory.

“Still, I wasn’t scared or afraid. Rather, it was interesting how straightforward she was.”

“…Really?”

“Yes, if anything, she was very comfortable to talk to. Just… um, she seemed to be a person of few words.”

The young lady who recalled the memory said with a faint smile.

The Duchess, who had handed over the pendant with a slightly tense expression, relaxed her face slightly and gave a light response when she saw the young lady receive the pendant and bow her head deeply, then turned away.

“Thinking about it again, I’m really grateful. Since I’ve been able to meet her like this, I should thank her again if I get the chance later.”

What are they saying when they’ve already heard everything?

‘Do they really think someone else can’t hear them?’

Serena thought somewhat incredulously.

This was because the banquet hall was structured in a way that sound carried quite well, and everyone was holding their breath, so if one had sensitive hearing, it was a voice that could be heard sufficiently.

While thinking how ridiculous it was, Serena looked at Magnus while pressing down her trembling lips.

Magnus let out a chuckle.

“I’m glad your efforts seem to be recognized.”

“…Yeah.”

“The world won’t change overnight, but it’s clearly changing little by little.”

“Yeah.”

Magnus took her hand and lightly kissed the back of it.

The young ladies who were glancing this way screamed “Kyaa!” which pierced their ears.

At the same time, the faces of Magnus and Serena, who had momentarily forgotten the situation, turned red together.

Magnus slowly put down her hand with effort and let out a small sigh.

He ran his hand over his face once as if troubled, then looked at Serena’s expression and opened his mouth.

“I’ll make sure to silence the servants when we return to the mansion.”

“…It’s okay. Rumors will spread anyway. We can’t monitor every move of the servants anyway.”

“Still…”

“And… actually, I like that what I’m hearing isn’t bad. Hearing these kinds of things, well. Yeah. It might be a first for me.”

A gentle smile appeared on Serena’s lips. Seeing this, Magnus’s eyes widened and he smiled back faintly.

“Is that so?”

Just as Serena was about to nod at Magnus’s soft words…

“Oh my, she just smiled. Did you see that?”

At that sound, Serena’s naturally smiling lips stiffened again. Magnus’s eyes also twitched slightly.

However, they couldn’t suddenly become serious because that would prove they were listening, so the two looked at each other with wavering gazes, froze for a moment, and then slowly tilted their glasses.

“Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I’ve seen that Duchess smile.”

“What about His Grace the Duke? I’ve never seen him smile either.”

The young ladies and gentlemen watching the two spoke excitedly.

After all, Magnus had been something of a hero to many young gentlemen since his days as a young duke.

“To think he could smile like that…”

“…That’s right, they say love changes people, could that be why the Duchess has changed?”

“It’s so romantic and dreamy…!”

“That’s right, who would have thought that Duchess could change like that.”

Serena rolled her eyes in embarrassment at the stories spreading from here and there.

“I heard! They say His Grace confesses his love every day. Several times a day!”

“His Grace… the Duke, you say?”

Some of the young gentlemen asked in disbelief.

The young lady nodded with sparkling eyes.

Her eyes were so bright and innocent that Serena picked up a finger food in front of her and chewed and swallowed it hard to divert her attention elsewhere.

“Yes, that’s right. He says it every day, and every time he does, the Duchess’s face turns bright red and…”

The girl who was whispering like that lowered her voice as much as possible.

“And that night, in the bedroom…”

As she spoke, the young lady stamped her feet in excitement, and at those words, Serena’s head finally dropped.

“…I’ll make sure to silence them.”

“…Yeah.”

This time, Serena didn’t reject Magnus’s words.

It was the moment Magnus’s sigh deepened.