“Did you hear? Apparently Miss Reynolds and Miss Grenville got into a hair-pulling fight yesterday.”

“Really? I thought it was just a rumor. Was it because of Young Lord Damon, by any chance?”

“Almost certainly. They were both on close terms with Young Lord Damon.”

Nate attended a tea time at the Marquis Lovitz estate for the first time in a while. All sorts of topics came up. Among them, talk of Damon, practically the jewel of the nobility, was never going to be absent. Nate quietly brought her teacup to her lips, her expression a little stiff.

She knew Miss Reynolds well enough. She was the very person Nate saw with Damon in the back garden of the imperial palace building just the other day, engaged in that indecent act. And Miss Grenville was the one who clung to Damon’s arm at yesterday’s party and deliberately pressed herself against him.

She never imagined the two of them would actually come to blows over Damon. Nate found herself making an awkward face. It was largely because most of the nobility already knew she had feelings for Damon.

“Oh, does this sort of talk make you uncomfortable, Miss O’Hara?”

Sure enough, McCoy, who first brought up the topic, ventured the question to Nate. But the one who answered was not Nate.

“Oh, it’s fine. Miss O’Hara declared to Young Lord Damon just yesterday that she was giving up on him, didn’t she?”

Lilia Lovitz, the hostess of today’s tea time, smiled as she spoke. McCoy’s eyes went wide.

“My goodness, is that true? I couldn’t make it to the party yesterday, unfortunately. I had other plans.”

Other plans, really? Probably not. Most well-bred young ladies did not attend the party that took place the previous night. Nate attended solely to see Damon.

And Lilia herself, who so casually brought up Nate’s business with a smile, was one of those who regularly attended that sort of free-spirited gathering.

“You missed quite a sight. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Miss O’Hara was the star of the party yesterday.”

Lilia’s words drew the curious eyes of every other young lady in the room toward Nate.

“Is that true, Miss O’Hara? Have you decided you no longer have feelings for Young Lord Damon?”

“Wow, that’s remarkable. You’ve liked him for such a long time. Isn’t it hard to let go?”

The questions kept coming without pause. Nate met the young ladies’ eyes one by one, then answered with a soft smile.

“Yes. I’ve decided to give up on him. It won’t be easy, since it’s a feeling I’ve carried for so long, but it’s something I have to face.”

Despite her composed outward appearance, there was an unmistakable strength of will in her words. The young ladies rallied around her with warm, encouraging energy.

“The only way to get over a man is with another man.”

Lilia looked at Nate and curved the corners of her eyes in a smile.

“Have you ever considered meeting my younger brother Roderick? He seems to have taken quite an interest in you lately.”

It was not Nate who reacted to that, but the other young ladies at the tea. They murmured among themselves that Roderick was currently the second most sought-after man in society after Damon, and their interest was plain. Nate, who had no intention of seeing anyone else just yet, could only manage an awkward smile.

Just then, Lilia glanced past Nate and let out a small sigh.

“Oh my…… Of all times, the very people at the center of our conversation are heading this way.”

Every gaze followed Lilia’s line of sight.

Nate turned her head and her eyes widened slightly at the sight of someone she did not expect. Roderick, Lilia’s brother a year her junior, and Damon were walking over to greet the young ladies.

“Sister, there you are.”

Roderick said warmly, acknowledging Lilia. Lilia moved to rise from her seat at the sight of Damon standing beside Roderick. The other young ladies did the same. But Damon stopped them first.

“We only came to say hello, so please stay seated.”

The noble young ladies flushed and marveled at even that small courtesy of his.

Lilia smiled and spoke to Damon.

“I didn’t hear from Roderick that you’d be visiting the estate, so I was surprised. Did you come to enjoy some hunting?”

The answer came not from Damon but from Roderick.

“Oh, did I forget to mention it to you, Sister? I must have slipped my mind. We were planning to go hunting after some time, but it seems Nini came down with a cold.”

Nini was Roderick’s horse. With Nini out of sorts, the hunt was naturally off the table. Lilia looked at Damon with a sympathetic expression.

“Then you’ve come all this way for nothing, Young Lord. What a shame.”

Damon curved his lips in a smooth smile.

“It’s a shame, but I don’t mind. By chance, I’ve been given the honor of greeting the young ladies here.”

It was the sort of line perfectly suited to charming a woman. The young ladies, who were already stealing glances at his striking face, all turned shy at once.

His indifferent blue eyes, at odds with his words, swept lightly over the young ladies before landing on Nate, who sat at the far end.

Under ordinary circumstances, the moment Nate spotted Damon she would have been staring at him endlessly with an almost dazed look. But right now, she was not giving him so much as a glance.

Damon knew she was deliberately withholding her gaze. What made him say something he had no real reason to say to her was perhaps nothing more than stubbornness.

“Miss O’Hara, we meet again today.”

His sudden address made Nate’s shoulders flinch as she turned to look at him. Her gaze, which so rarely reached him, finally turned his way, and only then was Damon satisfied.

The young ladies nearby, and even Roderick, all turned to watch the two of them. Nate forced a smile and replied.

“Yes, Young Lord. I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Is that so?”

An ambiguous answer. It was likely because Nate used to follow Damon wherever he went. Just to be safe, she added quickly.

“I only mention it so you don’t misunderstand, but today I’m here because Miss Lovitz invited me to tea.”

Damon smiled and answered.

“I don’t misunderstand.”

“…I see.”

Nate quietly lowered her gaze from him. They had barely exchanged a few words, yet her heart was already pounding without rest. She silently hoped Damon would not speak to her again.

Just then, Roderick, who was watching the two of them, casually turned to Nate.

“Miss O’Hara, does the tea suit your taste?”

Nate looked at Roderick with wide eyes. Damon’s blue gaze, which had been on Nate, shifted sideways to Roderick.

Nate nodded and replied.

“Oh, yes. It suits me very well. The refreshments Miss Lovitz prepared are delicious too.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Those refreshments are actually something I brought back from abroad with my father.”

“Really? So they’re from abroad.”

Nate gave a small sound of admiration. She and the other young ladies had been saying how delicious they were from the very first bite.

Roderick smiled and said.

“If they suit your taste, why not take some with you when you leave?”

He then turned to Lilia with a request.

“Sister, please set some refreshments aside for Miss O’Hara when she goes.”

Lilia replied to Roderick with a dry look.

“Roderick, even if Miss O’Hara is the only one you can see right now, isn’t it a bit too obvious? It’s hardly polite to the other young ladies.”