He had been in such a good mood when Elena accepted his confession. She looked beautiful holding his hand tightly and saying yes. Her tightly closed eyes were lovely, and he wanted to bite her small nostrils. And he wanted to devour her lips whole.

If only Sekyan hadn’t appeared, his good mood would have continued.

As soon as the door closed, his fist cut through the air and hit the wall in the enclosed space.

The murky, unpleasant emotions transferred directly to his fist. With a heavy ‘thud,’ decorations fell from the wall and the partition cracked.

His mood plummeted because of the shocked face of his former aide approaching him.

The gift containing his mark, which he had intended to give along with his confession, remained in his pocket, and he couldn’t drive Sekyan away because he was watching Elena’s expression.

“A woman?”

To think that the once proud male aide had come wearing a dress. Unaware of this, he had mentioned his name to Elena. As footsteps approached, Rudfelix went to the sofa. Just as he sat down, the door opened, and Quiet and Sekyan appeared.

“I came quickly, didn’t I?”

While Quiet exhaled roughly, Sekyan entered gracefully, holding her skirt.

“I knew you would look for me.”

So she had been nearby and called out to Quiet when she saw him looking around.

Sitting across from him, Sekyan smoothed down her skirt ostentatiously and straightened her back. Her cleavage bounced elastically with her movements.

“What’s your name?”

“Sekreya. Sekreya Emeth.”

Marquis Emeth had brought his daughter as an aide.

“What were you thinking when you became my aide?”

He asked in the past tense. Because she clearly wasn’t his aide anymore.

“I thought it would be interesting.”

Aren’t you glad to see me again? The words mixed with her smile irritated Rudfelix’s nerves.

She was smiling casually as if she had forgotten the scene from earlier.

“You’re still incredibly rude.”

“Your Highness, that’s not nice to say. Especially not to me.”

Sekreya immediately countered Rudfelix’s words. She expressed her displeasure by snapping her fan shut and placing it loudly on the table.

“You disappeared without fulfilling your contracted term as an aide, and then you show up arbitrarily and act however you please. ‘Rude’ seems like a very appropriate description, doesn’t it?”

“I had my reasons.”

She pouted and grumbled, but Rudfelix’s response was merciless.

“Then you shouldn’t have come back.”

Sekreya faltered under his fierce gaze. Since he had always been indifferent to everything, Sekreya had never faced such an angry look from him.

“Don’t say that when you don’t even know why I left.”

“You didn’t tell me, yet you expect me to know? How shameless.”

Her personality was truly close to infinite selfishness. Rudfelix crossed his legs and leaned back.

When his posture, which was usually straight when facing others, became crooked, Sekreya exclaimed angrily.

“I was afraid I’d be your aide forever. I left because I hated that more than death.”

Her agitated gestures revealed her anger, disheveling her carefully chosen dress.

“I struggled with feelings I had never experienced before. I saw you as a man and wanted to make love to you. That’s why I left.”

As if her excitement was rising again, Sekreya clutched her chest as if tearing at it.

“But you confess to another woman while leaving me behind? How could you do this to me?”

“You’re completely insane.”

After hearing all of Sekreya’s outpouring words, Rudfelix briefly expressed his feelings.

“I…… I’m insane?”

Muttering with an incomprehensible face, she collapsed onto the sofa.

Rudfelix decided to shatter Sekreya’s expectations, which were trapped in her own delusions.

“This is the last courtesy I’ll show to someone who was once my aide. Don’t have any expectations of me from now on.”

“Rud!”

“My name is Rudfelix Raion. Sigh, from now on, address me properly. Otherwise, just disappear.”

His eyes clouded as if looking at an inanimate object. In doing so, he made Sekreya realize that she had no right to call him Rud.

Rudfelix rose from the sofa and left the reception room. As he left without giving her any lingering attachment, Sekreya exhaled roughly.

Quiet, who had been watching the entire situation like a shadow leaning against the wall, finally moved. He understood what had happened and grasped how he should act. Having directly heard why his superior had hardened his face, he now needed to move efficiently. From behind such a Quiet, Sekreya ruffled her hair and spoke to him. Not a greeting after meeting again after a long time.

“Give me some water.”

She ordered him to fetch water.

Wanting to cool her burning insides with cold water, Sekreya acted according to her old habits.

“Lady Sekreya Emeth?”

“What are you doing? I said bring me water.”

Even though she was forcibly suppressing her boiling insides, Quiet didn’t move.

“So you were a marquis’s daughter.”

That’s why ordering people around came so naturally to her. Quiet nodded and wrote Sekyan’s real name in his notebook.

“Aide Quiet.”

Already in a bad mood, Sekreya’s voice continued to rise as even Quiet wouldn’t move as she wanted.

“It’s Viscount Quiet Millennium, my lady.”

Quiet drew a line between himself and Sekreya by observing formalities.

“I am not your servant, so get water yourself.”

There’s a bell cord over there, so call a servant yourself. Quiet turned coldly. As he was about to leave the reception room following Rudfelix, he tilted his head, noticing the cracked wall.

“Why are the decorations fallen? Who did that to the wall?”

With Quiet’s muttered conclusion that Rudfelix was most likely responsible, he slammed the door shut.

“Even that person is ignoring me?”

Sekreya stared at the door with bewildered eyes.

She had shed her unflattering clothes and appeared as a praised marquis’s daughter, yet somehow the treatment was even worse.

* * *

The debutante ball held at the Grand Duke’s residence was as grand and magnificent as those held by the imperial family. Compared to the imperial debutante balls that overflowed with majesty, the Grand Duke’s residence was filled with delicacy and had its own special procedures.

While it was an occasion to celebrate coming of age, it was also intricately entangled with future political and strategic marriage interests.

A diverse crowd gathered—nobles trying to gain favor with smiles, noble ladies hiding their true intentions behind fans, and young people vigilantly watching for opportunities.

Elena, who peeked at the ballroom by slightly lifting the curtain, exhaled deeply.

“Did half the imperial palace come here instead? Why are there so many people?”

In the Grand Duke’s residence, the protagonists of the coming-of-age ceremony would appear together by lifting the curtains, so Elena was also waiting separately.

Lady Schmie entered the waiting room and approached closer while receiving greetings from others.

“Lady Schmie.”

“You’re nervous. Your hands are cold.”

She naturally took Elena’s hand and patted the back of it. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t nervous. Even though the coming-of-age ceremony could have been held on a smaller scale, it was her first time.

“Thank you.”

She was grateful to Lady Schmie, who took care of her so well that she didn’t feel her mother’s absence.

“You’re my son’s person, so it’s only natural.”

She said that since her son had asked Elena to hold her debutante here, how could she just stand by and watch.

‘But it seems like she could have just called me an aide……’

Elena just smiled, understanding why Lady Schmie had spoken that way.

It was clear that referring to her as “my son’s person” instead of “aide” was meant for others to hear.

“I heard the Grand Duke said yesterday that he wanted to see you in a dress, and indeed you look beautiful.”

Lady Schmie deliberately complimented her beauty, even though she had been present when they chose the dress and during the fitting. Her words drew people’s attention again.

The Grand Duke wanted to see her in a dress? People were curious about what that meant, so they paid even more attention to the conversation between Elena and Lady Schmie.

“The Grand Duke must have said I look beautiful, right?”

“I can’t remember whether he said such words or not.”

‘I’m not just trying to brush it off; it’s really true.’

It wasn’t that Lady Schmie’s words made her uncomfortable and she was trying to avoid them by claiming she couldn’t remember.

Her head was so full just from his confession that she wasn’t sure what he had said about the dress.

It seemed that regardless of Elena’s answer, Lady Schmie raised her hand.

“From head to toe, you’re perfect to be my daughter-in-law.”

Lady Schmie said this while smoothing Elena’s flowing hair.

“Ah……”

Though the words were sudden, she wasn’t surprised because she had heard them repeatedly.

Lady Schmie confirmed several times a day that her desire to make Elena her daughter-in-law was no lie.

She had asked questions like “Do you have a fiancé?” so belatedly and casually, as if the answer was already decided. Instead, she said “Where have you been all this time before appearing before me?” more often than greetings.

“Wait a moment. I should see you once more before you go out. I should call the Grand Duke.”

“No. It’s fine.”

Elena raised her hand to stop Lady Schmie, but the murmuring only grew louder. Thinking it might be because she had touched the former Grand Duchess’s body without permission, Elena quickly lowered her hand. Yet the commotion didn’t subside, so Elena looked around.

“Your Highness, the Grand Duke.”

The young people gathered in the waiting room and their parents spotted someone and paid their respects.

With the appearance of the person with the highest authority in the current Grand Duke’s residence, everyone stared at him intensely.

The culprit of the commotion brazenly ignored all the eager gazes directed at him. Elena felt awkward that she was the one person receiving his undivided attention.

Rudfelix, who stopped one step away, slowly lowered his gaze from Elena’s head.

Yesterday her hair had been loose, but today it was beautifully combed, giving a different impression. A pair of small earrings illuminated Elena’s face brilliantly, and her glistening lips on white skin held Rudfelix’s gaze the longest.

“You’re as beautiful as yesterday.”

“Thank you.”

It would be better if it ended right there, but.

When he extended his hand, she recalled their conversation from yesterday.

‘Ah, that’s right. He said we’d enter together.’

She didn’t know why she had forgotten. Given the location, Elena tried to calm him down first.

‘If I show that I received a confession yesterday, things will get bigger. I need to stop him first.’

“Your Highness, could we talk for a moment……”

With a wish that he wouldn’t open his mouth for a moment, she grabbed Rudfelix’s arm. However, Rudfelix’s eyebrows rose, and eventually the words came out.

“Of course I, as your lover, should escort you.”

“Your Highness.”

She called him urgently, but everything was already revealed.

“Oh my.”

Lady Schmie covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes sparkling.

“So you’re not just an aide after all.”

Elena made a tearful face. Not only Lady Schmie but everyone in the waiting room had heard. Surprised, they didn’t say anything, so a brief silence enveloped the waiting room before disappearing.

‘I wanted to let people know gradually.’

As she fidgeted with her dress, Lady Schmie added that it would be suitable for an engagement ceremony.

Instead of celebrating her coming of age, it seemed like she would be announcing that she had become the Grand Duke’s lover.