“Impressive loyalty.”

He wiped the blood from his sword once before sheathing it, then walked toward Olivia.

“I have come to escort you.”

The man also wore a mask. And there were no markings on his sword or clothing to indicate that he was one of Kaiden Arendt’s people.

Still, Olivia had no choice but to trust him – for now. After all, he had protected her from Eric Anderson’s men.

“Alright.”

“If you leave now, you won’t be able to come back to the orphanage.”

At these words, Olivia looked back at the orphanage. But she quickly turned her head forward again.

“It’s okay. Let’s go.”

“Anything you need to bring? Anyone you need to say goodbye to?”

She had neither. Olivia wasn’t Sarah.

‘Besides, leaving quietly is better for the kids, too.’

Getting involved now wouldn’t do them any good.

When she shook her head, the man didn’t push any further.

Olivia followed his lead and boarded the carriage, which was headed for an unknown destination.

But the carriage didn’t arrive at the ducal estate of Arendt in the capital. Instead, it stopped at an inn on the outskirts of the city.

Though confused, Olivia followed the man inside.

Kaiden was on the top floor of the inn, lounging on a sofa.

“You were right.”

He said, without even offering her a seat.

“Scarlett Evelyn and Eric Anderson were having an affair. They were together the day Lady Grosvenor died.”

“I told you – it was all true.”

“You said you wanted revenge, didn’t you? Fine. Let’s do it.”

Only then did he gesture for Olivia to sit down.

“So how exactly are you going to help me?”

“I’m going to get close to Scarlett Evelyn and dig up information.”

“Dig up information?”

“Scarlett Evelyn is not a cruel person by nature. She probably wants to break up with Eric by now, but doesn’t have the guts to do it. I’m going to drive a wedge between them – and make her tell the truth in court about what really happened that day.”

Kaiden played idly with the cane he was holding and muttered disinterestedly, “‘Not cruel,’ you say. That’s a pretty generous judgment for someone who had an affair with her friend’s fiancé.”

“Having an affair with your friend’s fiancé and turning a blind eye to her murder are two different things. At least Scarlett Evelyn isn’t the kind of person who could forget her friend’s death.”

Kaiden suddenly pulled on the handle near the top of the cane – and with a sharp metallic sound, a shiny blade slid out from inside.

Olivia, who had thought it was just an ordinary cane, was startled into silence.

“You speak as if you knew Scarlett Evelyn well.”

“Lady Grosvenor once told me about her friend.”

“And do you know Lady Grosvenor well?”

“To some extent.”

There was probably no one who knew Olivia better than she did.

Kaiden seemed to fall into a moment of thought. Meanwhile, Olivia watched his sword with fascination.

Finally, with a sharp click, he sheathed the blade and stood up.

“Alright. Then let’s do this.”

With a snap of his fingers, the man who had been waiting outside entered the room.

Gray hair, blue eyes – it was Henry.

“As of today, you are a noble. You will reside at the Arendt estate for the time being, under my patronage. The debutante season is coming up – it would be best for you to make your debut then.”

“A noble? But how is that even possible…?”

“Status can be fabricated easily enough.”

Well, with the power of the Arendt ducal family, forging a noble identity would be no problem at all.

The real problem lay elsewhere.

“But there is a problem.”

“What is it?”

“Eric Anderson might recognize me.”

Even if no one else did, Eric Anderson had seen her up close.

Besides, she had told the truth about that day.

There was a good chance that Eric would remember her.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

When Kaiden signaled to Henry with his eyes, Henry opened the bag he had brought with him.

Inside the bag were several small glass vials, each about the size of a finger.

“What is this?”

“It’s a potion that changes the color of your hair and eyes.”

“But he might recognize my face.”

Kaiden let out a short laugh – almost a mockery.

“There are plenty of people who can’t recognize someone just because their hair and eyes are different. Besides, doesn’t Eric Anderson see you as a humble commoner? If we dress you up as a perfect noble, he probably won’t recognize you.”

Olivia asked, instinctively responding to his confident tone:

“Is that from personal experience?”

Kaiden didn’t answer.

Instead, as if to avoid the question, he rose from his seat and carefully handled one of the glass vials.

“How about platinum blonde? I hear a lot of ladies in high society are going for that look these days.”

Ever since Olivia Grosvenor’s debut, many had envied her platinum blonde hair.

But Olivia cried out without a moment’s hesitation:

“I don’t want platinum blonde!”

“Why not? That’s a pretty firm stance. If you had the same platinum blonde as Olivia, it would be easier to win Scarlett’s sympathy.”

“That’s because…”

The reason was simple.

Every time she saw platinum blonde hair, she was reminded of her own death.

If she saw another face with the exact same platinum blonde hair as ‘Olivia’, she might lose her mind without even realizing it.

She hesitated for a moment, then made up a lie.

“That’s why it won’t work. There are a lot of women going platinum blonde these days, so people might think I did the same thing. I’d rather go with a normal blonde.”

“Blonde, huh? That works too. Then let’s go with purple eyes.”

He took two vials out of the bag and held them out to Olivia.

“Drink.”

Olivia had heard of this potion before.

Drinking it would change your hair and eye color for a month.

She knew that much, but still couldn’t quite shake her doubts.

“It’s not poison, is it?”

Without a word, Kaiden snatched the purple vial from her hand and drank it in one gulp – before Olivia could even stop him.

A potion worth half a year’s living for a commoner simply disappeared into his mouth.

Soon, his golden eyes turned purple.

“Is that enough proof?”

“Did you really have to drink it yourself?”

“Actions speak louder than words. That’s more convincing, isn’t it?”

This time he drank a clear potion – a potion that erased everything.

His eyes returned to their original color.

After a moment’s hesitation, Olivia downed the yellow vial she was holding.

Her hair, which had been a rich acorn brown, quickly turned golden.

When she drank the purple potion Kaiden handed her again, her brown eyes turned purple as well.

Olivia was startled as she looked into the mirror Henry handed her.

‘It really is different.’

Her appearance had changed completely, though only her hair and eye color were different.

More importantly, her once rather ordinary appearance had softened.

With proper grooming from now on, she could easily carry the air of a noble.

“There are still four months until the debutante ball. During that time, you’ll stay at the Arendt Mansion and learn how to behave like a noble. Do you think you can handle it?”

Of course she could.

Olivia was so well versed in etiquette that she was praised even in high society.

Her problem lay elsewhere.

‘For now, I’ll have to pretend to be a mess.’

The problem was that she wasn’t good at it.

If she slipped even once and displayed perfect etiquette, it would *rouse Kaiden’s suspicion.

Olivia gave a deliberately vague nod.

“I’ll just have to learn, then.”

“Good.”

He extended his right elbow in her direction. It was the posture of an escort.

Olivia knew that, of course, but pretended not to.

What is this?

“It’s an accompanying gesture. Take my arm.”

She could have done it perfectly, but Olivia deliberately placed her hand on his arm a little awkwardly.

“Not bad for a first try.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”