Arman was humiliated and furious at having been grabbed by the scruff of his neck and thrown to the ground, but he could not act rashly toward the son of a marquis family that outranked him, so he barely held his anger in check and spoke.

“Lord Emilio Hartfield. I believe there may be a misunderstanding. I am Arman Aspel, Liane’s brother.”

Emilio had been taking off his jacket and draping it over Liane’s torn shoulder, but he turned around and looked at Arman.

“There is no misunderstanding. I know who you are, Arman Aspel. I simply cannot permit rudeness toward my guest on my family’s estate.”

“This is a matter within the Aspel family. Please do not involve yourself in what is between family members.”

Arman snarled, unable to hold back any longer, and Emilio’s voice dropped a full tone.

“I will not say this twice. I will not tolerate this kind of disturbance on the Hartfield family’s estate. Arman Aspel. I’m afraid you will not be able to enjoy the rest of today’s event. Please leave.”

Arman opened his mouth to say something, but Emilio had already turned his back to him and was looking at Liane.

“My lady, let us go back together.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

Arman could do nothing but stand there, fists clenched and trembling, as Emilio and Liane passed by him.

Liane stepped into the annex under Emilio’s escort and finally felt the tension leave her as she let out a quiet breath.

“You should rest now.”

“Lord Emilio, there is something I need to tell you.”

Grateful for Emilio’s gentlemanly restraint in not pressing her for details about what had just happened with Arman, Liane called out to stop him.

“I… will be leaving for the Granville ducal estate tomorrow. It turns out the maid I had been looking for is there as well. I have been in your debt for so much. I am truly grateful for everything.”

Liane fidgeted with the edge of Emilio’s jacket draped over her torn dress and gave a bow. Emilio watched her for a moment in silence, then spoke.

“Are you acquainted with the Duke of Granville?”

“Well… I came to know the duke recently by chance, through a certain matter. It seems he has come to learn quite a bit about my situation, and he has asked to speak with me about it.”

Emilio had not responded to Liane’s words, but then he suddenly bent down and looked closely at her face, and Liane startled and let out a small sound.

“I… I’m sorry. You just surprised me.”

“No, I apologize. That was rude of me.”

The person who had decided to leave and accept the Duke of Granville’s help instead of his own was wearing an expression that looked ready to cry, and Emilio had bent down to check whether Liane, who had lowered her head, was actually crying.

‘…Well, it suits me fine not to have to deal with any more troublesome matters.’

“Understood. I will let the maid attending you know in advance. With this evening’s banquet and tomorrow’s schedule, it will be difficult for me to see you off in person. Allow me to say my farewell now. I wish you well.”

“Yes, thank you so very much. Lord Emilio Hartfield.”

Liane finished her bow, lifted her head, and smiled at Emilio.

***

Arman had lost Liane right before his eyes and had been forced to stand by as another man took her away. He ground his teeth on the carriage ride back to the estate.

‘Why did Emilio Hartfield have to get involved? And why was Liane at the Hartfield estate in the first place! It is a bitter regret that I could not search more actively because of Mother, who feared the rumors it might cause.’

Arman twisted and crumpled a handkerchief in his hands as he began to think about how to get Liane out of the Hartfield estate.

***

Tristan sat upright in his chair, listening to Marquis Bartori speak, while looking at the marquis’s daughter, Adel Bartori, seated across from him.

A ring set with a large green gemstone adorned the fingers of Adel’s hand as she flicked her fan. When his gaze drifted to that ring, Tristan found himself thinking of Liane’s eyes, red-rimmed as she had looked up at him in the greenhouse garden a short while ago.

‘She seems like an entirely different person from that night. To think she would bow her head and play the innocent like that. She stepped right outside the scenario I had expected.’

The corner of Tristan’s mouth curved faintly in what looked like a smile as he looked down at his own hand, and Adel flushed slightly with shy pleasure.

‘Liane Aspel. Which one is the real her? This is getting more and more interesting.’

When Marquis Bartori and Adel finished their conversation and took their leave, Cedric came over to Tristan’s side.

“My, Marquis Bartori is quite eager, isn’t he? He shows up at every official event and wastes no time pushing his daughter in your direction.”

“Cedric. Watch your words. This is a banquet hall, not your bedroom.”

Tristan picked up the wine glass in front of him and spoke quietly, and Cedric dropped onto the sofa beside him and glanced at Adel’s retreating figure.

“Well, Adel Bartori is a worthwhile prospect, I’d say. Her background and her looks are both excellent. There were probably dozens of men whose hearts stirred at the sight of her on the day of her debut.”

“And you were among them, I take it?”

Without shifting his gaze from the wine glass, Tristan spoke, and Cedric let out a snickering laugh.

“Of course I was. I have a fondness for all beautiful women. You can assume there is not a beautiful noble young lady I don’t know.”

When Cedric finished speaking, Tristan lowered his wine glass toward his knee and slowly moved his gaze to Cedric.

“Then, have you ever heard anything about the daughter of Count Aspel, who passed away not long ago?”

“The daughter of Count Aspel?”

Cedric set down his wine glass on the table, uncrossed his legs, and straightened in his seat.

“Well, I’ve heard she exists, but I’ve never seen her in person. I’ve never met anyone who claimed to have seen her either. I know there were some strange rumors going around briefly, but I wouldn’t put much stock in them. She never made her debut, and she didn’t seem to have any nobles she was close with.”

Cedric glanced at Tristan, who was staring down at his wine glass with an expressionless face, then rested his arm on the back of the sofa and asked.

“Why are you suddenly asking about Lady Aspel? Did you hear something?”

“Never mind, if you don’t know.”

“Why, what is it? Now I’m curious… Oh! I may not know anything about Count Aspel’s daughter, but I did hear something recently about his adopted son.”

Tristan took a sip of wine as Cedric started up again.

“I heard that at a banquet some time ago, the man who is Count Aspel’s adopted son caused a scene. Who was it I heard that from…….”

“That was probably me.”

A man in a sharp suit appeared from behind Cedric, looking at him with a mischievous expression as he approached.

“Ah, right. Damien was the one who saw it firsthand.”

Damien, who was on friendly terms with both Tristan and Cedric, took a seat across from Cedric and smiled.

“So what are you talking about? The adopted son of Count Aspel?”

“Yes, you said you personally witnessed that outrageous scene at the banquet last time. The one who caused it was Count Aspel’s adopted son, right?”

“That’s right. Some fellow I’d never seen before was making a racket, so I wondered what was going on, and it turned out Count Aspel’s adopted son had suddenly gone into a frenzy over something someone said about his stepsister.”

Tristan had been swirling his wine glass in slow circles, but he stopped when the word “stepsister” came out of Damien’s mouth.

Tristan rested his chin on the armrest and looked at Damien with an intrigued expression.

Damien noticed Tristan’s gaze and continued with growing enthusiasm.

“Someone must have been curious about Count Aspel’s daughter. His name was… Arman, I think. Whoever it was had been asking Arman about his stepsister and poking fun at the rumors, and he completely lost control, throwing a fit like he was having some kind of episode.”

“Isn’t the fault with the person who asked, though? I seem to recall the rumors about Lady Aspel weren’t particularly flattering.”

“True. The question about the young lady was certainly rude to begin with, but Arman’s reaction to it was a bit much. He looked like a man who had lost his mind. He ended up having to leave the banquet practically thrown out.”

“He must be very close with his stepsister to defend her like that. I think if someone called my sister a handful, I’d just laugh along.”

Tristan listened to Cedric and Damien laugh and looked down at the reflection of the glittering chandelier light in the wine glass in his hand.

‘It has not been that long since Count Aspel remarried and took Arman in as his adopted son. And yet they are that close? That cannot be right. It would be the opposite, if anything. If they were on good terms, Liane Aspel would never have done something as drastic as running away from home.’

Tristan uncrossed his legs, set his wine glass on the table, and raised his head, where he spotted the profile of a silver-haired man standing some distance away.

“Ah, Emilio Hartfield. The shadow of Hartfield.”

Cedric followed Tristan’s gaze, spotted Emilio, and leaned back deep into the sofa, lowering his voice.

“But for someone with a nickname like ‘the shadow,’ he has a remarkably striking appearance. He stands out in every way.”

Cedric heard Damien’s remark, took a sip of wine, and gave a wry smile.

“You must not know much about him. There are people who comb through the banquet guest list just to avoid him before they agree to attend. Apparently there are nobles who absolutely do not want to cross paths with Emilio.”

Damien turned his head and glanced at Emilio again.

“I know roughly what people say. Including that he is an illegitimate son brought in from outside.”

Before Damien could say anything more, Tristan spoke first.

“We are inside the Hartfield estate. Say nothing more.”

Both Cedric and Damien fell silent at Tristan’s words.