“Have we arrived?”

When I got out of the carriage, a magnificent white main gate appeared with a vast forest stretching beyond it.

I could barely see the mansion above the trees in a straight line beyond the gate, but even that glimpse showed how enormous it was.

Nobles typically lived in their provincial territories and came to the capital during the social season to stay in town houses.

To own such a large mansion in the capital—the Grand Duke’s residence was truly different.

“What is your business?”

As I stood overwhelmed by the size, a soldier approached.

“I’m Ivy Rabbit. I’ve come to see His Grace Grand Duke Kaien Blemer.”

“There is no such name on today’s visitor list.”

“I didn’t make an appointment, but if you tell His Grace my name, he will meet me.”

“If you don’t have an appointment, you cannot enter. Please make an appointment and visit again.”

The soldier was adamant.

“This is a matter of life and death, so I didn’t have time to make an appointment.”

“Everyone says that. It’s the rule—we cannot open the gate for unexpected visitors at our discretion. I apologize.”

The soldier treated me in a businesslike manner, suggesting this happened frequently.

I had thought I would naturally be able to meet Kaien if I came to his residence, but I couldn’t even pass through the main gate.

‘I can’t just go back like this.’

I lifted my chin and demanded strongly once more.

Though it was just the soldier’s routine response, it felt like Kaien himself was rejecting me.

I didn’t want to be treated this way even before he met the female protagonist.

“Please just tell His Grace that Ivy Rabbit has come to see him. If you don’t tell him and I leave now, will you be able to handle the consequences?”

Reading my determination not to back down, the soldier sighed heavily, clearly annoyed.

“It will take a long time. Even if we inform the mansion, there’s no guarantee the message will reach His Grace immediately. You might have to wait until evening. Is that acceptable?”

He probably hoped I would give up and leave, but this was a matter of my father’s life.

“Yes, I’ll wait.”

“Haa, very well.”

The coachman, who had been quietly listening, watched the soldier enter the guardhouse with concern.

“Miss, will you be alright? If I leave now, you’ll have to walk quite a distance to reach the main road. Whatever your business is, this is the Grand Duke’s residence. Perhaps it would be better to come back another time.”

“You can go. I must see him today.”

“Don’t blame me later for leaving you here.”

The coachman hurriedly left the front of the Grand Duke’s residence, afraid I might try to stop him.

I wondered if I should wait at the main gate, but then a soldier approached.

“Follow me. I’ll guide you to the waiting room.”

“Waiting room?”

The soldier led me to a side room attached to the guardhouse.

The small room had two windows, a table, and chairs. Three women were already seated there.

A pregnant woman, a woman with a child who had dark brown hair, and a flashy woman wearing an expensive shawl but smelling like a water merchant.

As soon as I saw them, I immediately understood why the soldiers had seemed so annoyed.

“Wait here. Would you like some tea?”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Offering tea was quite generous.

Soon the soldier carelessly placed a crude wooden cup filled with brown tea in front of me and left.

“Ah, a wooden cup.”

I was sitting in a shabby, undecorated waiting room attached to the main gate guardhouse, unable to enter the Grand Duke’s residence.

‘I was reckless because Kaien has been treating me well.’

I had been confident that I could meet him if I came.

That I, of all people, could meet him.

‘I’m really shameless.’

Though I rejected him because he was the villain, I felt upset when I couldn’t even meet him.

This was the distance between Kaien and me.

I was reluctant to drink the tea, but as I was about to, I heard the sound of a carriage outside.

A carriage with the emblem of the famous Manchester family, recognizable by its crest alone, smoothly stopped at the main gate.

“Lady Rozian Manchester. She has come to see His Grace the Grand Duke.”

The coachman announced imperiously to the soldier without even getting down from the carriage.

“I’m sorry, but there is no Manchester family on today’s visitor list.”

He recited the same words he had said to me, but when a red-haired lady poked her head out of the carriage window, the atmosphere changed.

I had seen her at a debutante ball—she had sharp eyes that made her look strong-willed, and she looked even more splendid now than before.

“I couldn’t make an appointment, but can you really turn me away like this? His Grace will be furious and cut off your head if he learns you turned away Manchester.”

I had said something similar, but this time the Manchester family name carried weight.

The soldier hesitated, looking back at the guardhouse, not wanting to offend a noble’s sensibilities.

Someone inside must have been listening because the magnificent gate of the Grand Duke’s residence, which hadn’t budged for me, opened smoothly without even a metallic sound.

I had to watch from outside as the Manchester family carriage passed through the main gate.

“What about you? Are you His Grace’s lover?”

The flashy woman, glad for the distraction from her boredom, looked at me with sparkling, curious eyes.

“If you came hoping to just see His Grace’s face, give up. This waiting room is where idle people like me come to drink tea and have lunch.”

“Lunch?”

“If you had come a bit earlier, you could have gotten some brown bread. In the evening, they’ll take you to the nearest town by wagon, so don’t worry about getting back.”

“Ah, thank you for letting me know.”

The woman seemed pleased that I was talking to her and became more talkative.

“I came here partly for business and partly because I was bored, but you don’t look like someone who would come to a place like this. Are you also His Grace’s lover like those women?”

There was a sneer at the end of her question.

The people she pointed to were the pregnant woman and the woman with the child.

The pregnant woman had striking features and wore a dress made of expensive fabric, but her hands were rough, and the hem of her dress was dirty.

The woman with the child looked tired and exhausted.

Both were young women who could be quite beautiful if they took care of themselves.

When I looked at them, the woman with the dark brown-haired child sharply said while hugging the child,

“This child is His Grace’s!”

‘Kaien’s child?’

Kaien has a child? There was nothing about that in the novel!

Alarmed, I examined the child closely.

The woman had light brown hair, so the child could have dark brown hair, but the eyes were different.

The mother had blue eyes, but the child had light brown eyes.

Even to my untrained eye, this was definitely not Kaien’s child.

This must happen frequently, as the child remained calmly in his mother’s arms despite her loud voice.

The flashy woman, displeased by the sight, clicked her tongue and sneered.

“Say something that makes sense. You’d be better off working to feed your child than wasting time here.”

“What! You’re no different from me! You came here targeting His Grace too!”

“I told you I came because I was bored. It would be even better if I could entice one of the mansion staff to become my customer.”

“How vulgar!”

The pregnant woman frowned and turned her back.

The flashy woman snorted dismissively.

“Isn’t that more respectable than someone who doesn’t even know who the father is but comes to cling to His Grace the Grand Duke?”

“I am His Grace’s lover. When he comes, he’ll recognize me and take me away from here. He couldn’t possibly forget the passionate night we spent.”

“Hmm, was that person really His Grace?”

Suddenly, the pregnant woman pointed at me.

“At least I’m not as unconscionable as that woman. At least I’m pretty.”

The spark suddenly flew to me, who had been watching with interest.

Is she saying I’m unconscionable because I’m not pretty?

“That woman also came to meet His Grace. She’ll probably claim to be his lover too. Isn’t that right?”

“Well, that……”

I am his lover, currently I am his lover.

But since we’re not supposed to spread that we’re lovers, I hesitated and couldn’t speak, which made the pregnant woman triumphant.

“See! That woman is the one who shamelessly showed up with a face like that. I spent a passionate night with His Grace and have evidence in the child I’m carrying.”

“If it was so passionate, why didn’t His Grace take you with him?”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. I have the beauty that will make His Grace fall in love again just by looking at me. But what does that woman have to show? She’d be lucky if she brought a common pendant sold in the market as proof.”

“Really? Do you have a pendant?”

The flashy woman asked me with a mischievous smile.

“I don’t have anything like that.”

Wow, this is unfair.

Why is she attacking me when I’m just sitting here quietly?

My face might be ordinary, but it’s not so bad that my conscience should be questioned based on my appearance.

I was too dumbfounded to protest.

I wonder what she would say if she saw the emblem on my choker.

Seeing me remain quiet, the pregnant woman must have thought she had caught me off guard and continued to sneer.

“Hmph, see? That woman really needs to come to her senses.”

Her logic was weak, but she spoke with such confidence that even I started to think, ‘Could she be right?’

I became dejected, remembering how Lady Rozian had passed through the main gate confidently despite not having an appointment, unlike me.

“She’s just picking on you because she feels guilty. Ignore it. Many people like that come here. Would anyone in their right mind come here claiming to be His Grace’s lover? He’s the ‘Cursed Blemer’ after all.”

The flashy woman spoke without restraint, even though the Grand Duke’s soldiers could hear from outside.

“Do you come here often?”

“When I’m bored. Many of the Grand Duke’s retainers are second or third sons of noble families. Even commoners who work for the Grand Duke’s household have stable jobs, high salaries, and neat appearances. They make perfect customers.”

I remembered the subordinate who had been beside Kaien the day I discovered his identity.

He had spoken cruel words with a grin, but his appearance was impeccable.

Especially his face.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Oh my, you know something. Interested?”

“Not interested, it’s just that this is the Grand Duke’s residence.”

“Someone who can tell that much, why did you come here? I heard earlier that you came to meet His Grace the Grand Duke.”

“Yes, why did I come? I’m regretting it now.”

“Don’t overthink it and leave with me later. You won’t see His Grace’s face even if you stay here for days.”

The flashy woman, with eyes gazing into the distance, continued with a sigh.

“You might fantasize about His Grace coming to get you on a white horse, but you need to face reality. In reality, the Grand Duke meets similar noble ladies or princesses. Even if he’s momentarily captivated by beauty, nobles are the ones who calculate more coldly than anyone.”

I smiled bitterly.

To others, he and I were worlds apart.

Even when I didn’t know he was a Grand Duke, I was happy to be dating such a person, even briefly.

When he didn’t stop me after I said we should break up without him ever revealing his identity, I thought I was just a woman he was seeing temporarily.

And later, when I learned Kaien’s identity, I thought he would come to like another woman, and naturally, any lingering attachment disappeared.

We were just passing ships in the night.

‘I should go to the Internal Affairs Department in the Imperial City about my father’s title issue.’

I felt pathetic sitting in this musty waiting room, relying on Kaien’s affection to meet him.

Though it was midday with plenty of time until evening, I stood up to leave the waiting room.

What was I expecting?

‘If I walk back, I should arrive before evening.’

Just as I was about to grab the door handle to leave, the waiting room door suddenly opened roughly.

“Ivy.”

Kaien stood there, smiling brightly.