Adelaide hugged Draco tight as it rubbed its snout against her nose, then let it go.

“Even so. Yesterday it went all the way to the training grounds where Viscount Lavota practices and burned the entire floor.”

“And how much does it cost to relay a floor?”

“Viscount Lavota nearly got hurt too, my lady.”

“That boy needs to get properly hurt once. That’s the only way he’ll break his habit of faking injuries.”

“It’s Draco that needs to break a habit, not Viscount Lavota.”

Hearing Lionel’s infuriating name first thing in the morning put her in a foul mood on its own.

Adelaide considered knocking over the washbasin, then thought better of it. It was obvious who would suffer for that.

“My lady!”

Lionel’s name alone had already soured her mood, and now his voice came through the door along with a knock.

“I really need to go to his teacher and demand to know what exactly he’s been learning in his etiquette lessons.”

She could picture it clearly: Lionel knocking and bouncing on his heels outside.

Adelaide deliberately said nothing and signaled Amy to stay quiet as well.

“My lady! I learned how to ride a horse! Let’s go to the riding grounds!”

Amy rolled her eyes. Learned, my foot, she muttered to herself, but the thought showed plainly on her face.

“Lionel, since when do you ride horses?”

“Since before I asked you to teach me, my lady.”

Amy promptly tattled on Lionel’s lie. Adelaide’s patience had grown somewhat longer than before and she held back once, but she had not grown enough to hold back twice, and she knocked over the washbasin. She instinctively pulled Amy into her arms to shield her, so the water soaked Adelaide alone.

“My lady? Are you all right? My lady, I’m coming in!”

Lionel flung the door open and bit his lip at the sight of Adelaide holding Amy in her arms.

“Are you hurt? It was Amy’s fault, wasn’t it? How were you holding the basin to soak my lady like that?”

Lionel shoved Amy. He had grown considerably stronger, and Amy lost her footing and fell.

“Oh…”

Lionel, who hadn’t realized his own strength, froze in dismay. Amy was, in her own way, the closest thing to a friend Lionel had made at the Berthier estate. And he had just shoved her hard.

Adelaide pushed Lionel aside and helped Amy to her feet.

“You have a bad habit of letting your hands fly first, Lionel.”

“I, I just… Amy, are you hurt? I didn’t mean to, I mean, what I’m trying to say is…”

“I’m fine. Nothing’s hurt.”

Amy smiled only at Adelaide to reassure her, then picked up the basin from the floor.

“The whole floor is flooded. I’ll go get a mop and clean it up right away. Please wait up on the bed, my lady.”

Amy left without sparing Lionel a glance. Lionel stood helplessly, his eyes darting back and forth between the door Amy had gone through and Adelaide.

“My lady, I…”

“Amy is my personal maid. Do you know what that position means?”

“The person who serves you from the closest distance.”

“That’s right. In this house, even Benjamin the steward cannot treat her carelessly. So who do you think you are, barging into my room without permission, laying hands on my personal maid, and making me lose face?”

“I, I didn’t mean to…!”

“I don’t want to hear it. I’ve always felt this way, but today especially, I can’t stand the sight of you. Get out, Lionel.”

“I’m sorry, my lady! I won’t do it again! I’ll apologize to Amy too…!”

Lionel crumpled to the floor and grabbed Adelaide’s ankle, begging.

Adelaide struggled to pull her ankle free, and when she realized she stood no chance of winning by force, her anger flared even hotter.

“How am I supposed to care for you when you treat my words like they’re worth nothing!”

“I’ll listen, I’ll apologize, so please don’t throw me out, my lady…!”

She hadn’t meant to throw him out of the Berthier estate, only out of the room, out of her sight. He had to know that, and yet Lionel didn’t budge and let his tears fall.

“Lionel Andreas Lavota!”

“Don’t call me that! I hate Andreas and I hate Lavota, and I hate Viscount too!”

Adelaide could no longer hold back the curse she had been forcing down and sank to the floor in front of Lionel. She barely managed to stop short of pulling the boy into her arms.

“Lionel.”

“Yes, my lady…”

“If you care for me, don’t try to play me.”

“My lady…?”

“Your schemes are plain to see, and all they do is make me resent you. When you care for someone, you give in to them completely. You’re not supposed to calculate what you’ll get in return.”

Adelaide found it almost funny, even as she said it. Here she was, scheming and plotting without restraint to win Duke Berthier’s attention. But that was a different matter when the target was Duke Berthier.

Adelaide flipped her position with ease.

‘You can be played. I can’t.’

That was Adelaide’s motto in life. Lionel stared at her blankly, then gave a small nod.

“Yes. I won’t do it again. I won’t try to play you again, my lady.”

“Can you promise me that?”

“I promise. I swear it.”

“Good. Then go apologize to Amy and bring me proof that she’s forgiven you.”

“Proof?”

“Why would I take your word for it after you’ve been deceiving me all this time? If you can’t do it, then forget it.”

“No! I’ll bring it, the proof!”

Lionel rushed off to find Amy, clearly afraid Adelaide might change her mind. Adelaide snatched Draco out of the air as it tilted its head in a way that was far too endearing and poured out a suffocating amount of affection.

“Kyuu~~~!”

“Yes, I love you too, Draco.”

And what she loved even more was herself, now that she had finally figured out how to put Lionel to use.

‘That’s just who I am. There’s nothing I’ve ever wanted that I haven’t gotten my hands on.’

Adelaide’s improved mood carried her through breakfast with Duke Berthier without so much as an upset stomach.

Several days passed after that. Amy accepted Lionel’s apology with maturity, but said she had nothing suitable to give Viscount Lavota and refused to hand over any proof.

Thanks to that, Adelaide was free to make good use of her days without Lionel clinging to her.

The first step was to sound out Violet about how to get in contact with her cousin who worked at the Mage Tower.

“My cousin? It’s been well over ten years since I’ve seen her myself. Thanks to my father donating the mine for research, we were barely granted permission to exchange letters, but meeting in person would probably be difficult.”

“Violet. This is a very important matter to me. Think carefully. There must have been obstacles even when you got permission to write letters. But Count Armetia was granted an exception.”

“That’s true, but… can’t you tell me what the problem is? As your friend, I’ll do my best to find a way to help you, Adel.”

Adelaide slumped back against her chair. She hadn’t set her hopes too high, but Violet had been her only thread of hope, so the disappointment was not small. A pair of large eyes that reminded her of a gentle doe looked over Adelaide with concern.

“It’s nothing. Even if I told you, Violet couldn’t solve it, so consider it unsaid.”

Violet, who would normally have dug in stubbornly insisting that friends didn’t keep things from each other, went quiet. Adelaide wiped the tears brimming in those pale violet eyes with her fingertips.

“I’m sorry. Not because of you, Adel. I’m just so useless…”

“I didn’t ask, Violet.”

“You’re so kind to me, and yet I have no value as a friend or as a lover…”

Adelaide was not being kind. She genuinely could not understand it.

The curse only affected her actions. She might wipe away Violet’s tears or push the nicely baked cookies closer to her side, but everything she said was always sincere, so why did none of it ever count for anything?

“Violet. From the beginning until now, I have never expected anything from you as a friend.”

“Adel…! You don’t have to make excuses for me.”

“It’s not an excuse.”

“If you knew what a ridiculous thing I’ve done…! No, friends shouldn’t keep secrets from each other. You care for me this much, so I won’t deceive you any longer.”

Violet was a kind of person Adelaide had never encountered before. Lionel’s thoughts were transparent enough to make her angry, but he wasn’t difficult to handle.

This doe, however, kept coming to press its head against her without realizing it was nuzzling up to a predator, and the complete absence of any ulterior motive was what left Adelaide at a loss.

“Adel, I met Romer again.”

“What?”

The shock knocked the formal speech right out of her. Adelaide hadn’t paid close attention to the story of Violet’s failed past romance, but she had understood that it had ended at the right point, given that it had already fallen apart.

“Romer, Adel. I ran into him not long ago on my way back from a tea party Lady Vivian had invited me to. He said he’s still working as a postman in a different district.”

“Violet. If you care at all for my sanity, tell me you walked right past him.”

Violet shattered Adelaide’s sanity with a dreamy, faraway expression.

“I had my carriage stop right away. The poor Romer burst into tears the moment he saw me, his face going white. I had intended to be angry at first, but a man breaking down emotionally on a busy street in broad daylight, not caring who sees, must have a reason for it, don’t you think?”

“Most men are emotional. Look at Lionel.”

“Viscount Lavota is sensitive, that’s true. Anyway, Romer couldn’t calm down for a long time, and I brought him into my carriage.”

“I’m starting to wonder just how far your foolishness goes, Violet.”

Even Adelaide’s sharp tongue wasn’t enough to quiet Violet’s joy at the reunion.

“Please at least don’t tell me that worthless man had his reasons.”

“Romer had his reasons, Adel.”

Adelaide dropped her head onto the table. It was an unambiguous gesture that said she had heard enough.