The carriage sent from the Granville ducal estate arrived in front of the Hartfield estate at precisely the agreed time to collect Liane.

Liane said her farewell to the young maid who had attended her and boarded the carriage the duke had sent.

She had done nothing more than step into the duke’s carriage, yet she already felt short of breath, standing before Tristan’s blue eyes in her mind.

She was afraid.

Liane dreaded meeting with Duke Tristan de Granville.

The shape of this fear was different from the dread she felt when she thought of Arman, but the way her heart pounded harder with every step closer to the Granville ducal estate was something she could only describe as fear.

‘What does the duke intend to do with me…….’

She sat staring blankly at the floor, sinking into a low mood, and before she knew it the carriage had arrived in front of the duke’s estate.

When the carriage door opened, the head steward and maids came out to meet her and greeted her with a bow.

“Lady Liane Aspel, welcome. Please come in.”

“…Thank you.”

Liane stepped down from the carriage and stood before the estate, looking up at the grand main gate she had never passed through before, having previously lived there as a servant, and felt a wave of unease wash over her.

“Please follow me. His Grace is waiting.”

“…Yes.”

She felt as though something had lodged in her throat, but Liane did her best not to let it show and followed behind the head steward.

She climbed the wide and imposing staircase slowly and came to stand before a large, ornate door, where the head steward raised a hand and gave a light knock.

A presence stirred from within, and the head steward opened the door and guided Liane inside.

She entered what appeared to be a study, and there was Tristan, seated on a sofa, handing a document to an older aide.

“Good afternoon, Your Grace.”

“Good afternoon, my lady. I apologize for not coming to meet you. There was something I needed to attend to urgently.”

Tristan rose from his seat and gestured toward the sofa beside him, inviting Liane to sit.

“I will bring tea as soon as it is ready.”

The head steward finished speaking, and both he and the aide left the room. The large door closed firmly behind them.

Liane had been staring at the door with a tense expression, but she realized she could no longer put off being alone with Tristan and turned to look at him.

The afternoon sunlight coming through the window fell at a slant across the lower half of his face. The light reflecting off his neck and jaw made his pale skin look all the brighter.

“Um… Your Grace, where is my maid Lucille?”

“Lucillia Doberin is waiting for you in another room right now. You may see her after we have finished speaking.”

“Ah… yes.”

A silence settled between them, then a knock sounded and the maids entered. They set a teapot, teacups, and dessert neatly on the table.

Contrary to Liane’s hopes, the maids prepared the tea and cookies with practiced hands and left the room promptly.

“I thought this was not a conversation for others to overhear, so I had everyone step out.”

Liane realized she had been watching the maids’ retreating figures with an anxious expression as they closed the door behind them, and she flushed and gave a small nod.

“Yes… of course.”

Watching Tristan reach for his teacup, Liane pulled out a folded piece of paper she had tucked into the folds of her dress.

“Um… please accept this, Your Grace.”

“……?”

Tristan set his teacup back down and took the folded paper Liane held out to him.

He opened it and read the contents, then tilted his head slightly and looked at Liane over the top of the paper.

‘A written pledge. She does something unexpected at every turn.’

“My lady. Does this say that you will not seek any form of compensation from me for what happened that night, and that I need not involve myself in whatever may follow?”

“Yes, Your Grace. I had a feeling that my words alone would not be enough for you to trust me.”

Tristan glanced at Liane, who sat with a composed posture and her eyes averted, then looked at her signature at the bottom of the paper.

“Understood. I will respect your wishes. I will hold on to this for now.”

Liane watched Tristan rise from his seat and walk to the desk behind him, and let out a quiet breath of relief without meaning to.

Tristan looked quietly at Liane’s profile as she carefully lifted the teacup in front of her.

He set Liane’s written pledge, which he found utterly absurd, on one side of the desk, folded in half just as it had been, and returned to his seat.

He noticed the tension in Liane’s expression ease, as though handing him that pledge had given her some great comfort, and Tristan let out a small laugh and lifted his teacup.

“Your Grace, then I will take my leave… and return to the Aspel estate with my maid.”

At Liane’s words, Tristan lowered his teacup from his lips and asked.

“My lady, did you accomplish what you set out to do when you left the estate?”

At Tristan’s brief question, Liane’s green eyes wavered widely.

“Well… that is…….”

“From what I hear, you set out to find a partner of your own choosing because you did not want an arranged marriage. Have you found the one you wanted?”

Liane had been staring blankly at Tristan’s face with her lips slightly parted in bewilderment, but she flushed and lowered her gaze.

“Well, that is none of my concern, I suppose. But I found myself curious, having gotten involved one way or another. And I do hope everything works out the way you want it to.”

Liane’s flustered expression, unable to find an answer, was for some reason putting Tristan in a pleasant mood.

He had never taken pleasure in unsettling others, but the blonde young woman sitting across from him was, strangely, entertaining to watch in a number of ways.

And so he had asked a question he did not particularly mean.

Watching Liane sway so visibly at a single word from him was fresh and interesting.

“I…….”

With the corners of her brows drawn down, Liane kept her gaze lowered as she began to speak.

“I only came to realize how lacking I am. You must have found it quite troublesome to be caught up in all of this, Your Grace.”

“…….”

The moment she set her teacup down with trembling fingertips, a faint clink sounded.

“Thank you, and I am sorry.”

Tristan spoke to Liane, who was bowing without meeting his eyes, looking ready to rise from her seat at any moment.

“Liane Aspel.”

“……?”

Only then did Liane lift her head and look toward Tristan.

“My lady, if we are going to act as though nothing happened between us, would it not be stranger to go out of your way to avoid me?”

“…….”

“There will be a banquet held at this estate in two weeks. It is not a grand affair, but it would be an honor if you would attend and grace us with your presence.”

“Oh, I… well…….”

“I will send the invitation to the Aspel count’s estate in good time.”

Tristan spoke as he watched Liane hesitate, her hands clasped so tightly together that her knuckles had gone white.

“Do you need an escort?”

“I… I am fine. For the escort… I will ask Lord Emilio.”

At Liane’s answer, Tristan’s eyes widened slightly.

Emilio Hartfield’s name coming up here, of all places……

Tristan’s expression returned to its unreadable state as he said he understood and rose from his seat.

Liane rose from her seat after him with a complicated expression and walked toward the door.

When the door opened, Tristan gestured to the head steward standing in the nearby corridor.

“Please escort Lady Aspel to where Lucillia Doberin is waiting.”

After passing on the instruction to the head steward, Tristan shifted his gaze to Liane.

“My lady, I apologize for not seeing you out, but I have work to get back to. I hope you will understand.”

“Yes, Your Grace. That is perfectly all right. Thank you for having me.”

Liane gave Tristan a proper formal farewell and began walking down the corridor behind the head steward.

Tristan closed the study door and returned alone to the room, then walked to the desk, picked up Liane’s folded pledge, and held it up to eye level.

‘Liane Aspel. She seems to think of Emilio Hartfield as some kind of fixer she can call on whenever she finds herself in difficulty…. He may be the Hartfield family’s fixer, but he is not yours. Would he really want to get this involved with Liane Aspel, a stranger to him?’

My answer is no. He is not that kind of person.

Tristan dropped the pledge onto the desk and walked at an unhurried pace to stand before the window.

Outside, Lucillia was talking to Liane without pause as she helped her into the carriage.

Without casting a single glance toward the window where he stood, Liane’s rippling golden hair disappeared into the carriage, and Tristan lost interest and stepped away from the window.

***

As the Aspel count’s estate came into view through the carriage window, Emilio let out a short sigh, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the seat.

It had all started a week ago when a letter arrived from Liane Aspel.

Absurdly enough, Liane was asking Emilio to escort her to a banquet hosted by the Granville ducal household.

Had I seemed that close to this woman?

It was not easy to refuse a count’s daughter’s request without reason.