Aiden, the eldest son of the Corellin family, and his wife Adeline were standing next to Dale. The couple’s outfits were also in red tones like Brian and Bellisa, and Dale and Dorothy. It seemed the Corellin family had all decided to coordinate in red tones today.

“It’s been a long time, everyone.”

“Youngest Miss, are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, I’m completely fine. It felt like I wasn’t even sick.”

Aiden and Adeline looked at Dahlia and smiled affectionately. Then Aiden tried to drag Dale to where Brian and James were.

“Then we’ll be going now.”

“I’m staying here.”

“Don’t be tactless and butt into the ladies’ conversation, you.”

After finishing talking with family members who were worried about her illness, Dahlia moved seats with James to greet his acquaintances.

“That guy really shows his face everywhere.”

Felix came into view of the two as they rested with their drinks. James’s voice was laced with displeasure. He felt uneasy around Felix, who harbored an inferiority complex toward him. James didn’t want to provoke anything or cause unnecessary trouble. He tried his best to avoid him, but in crowded places like this, it was inevitable.

“Your face looks even better, Luperton.”

“Is that so? You look very good too.”

Felix extended his hand toward James first. And the moment they clasped hands, they entered a power struggle. The childish grip contest was quite obvious, but Dahlia pretended not to notice and made her arm link with James more secure. She planned to endure this uncomfortable atmosphere appropriately while smiling brightly.

“Are you taking any supplements these days? Your strength has gotten better.”

In that short time, Felix lost. He laughed awkwardly and made jokes, but Felix’s face showed a strange displeasure.

“You flatter me.”

James, who studied abroad, and Felix, who stayed domestic, entered the Foreign Ministry in the same year. Attention was drawn to the two from good families, and they were naturally compared. Public opinion, which had enjoyed weighing them, gradually leaned toward James, who had handsome looks and handled work like a knife. Now the two worked in different agencies, but for a while, James had been a wall Felix needed to overcome.

“It’s really been a long time, Mrs. Luperton.”

“It’s the first time since the horse racing competition.”

Dahlia also knew that James didn’t like Felix. No one would like a former workplace colleague who had been wary of them and spread malicious rumors. Indeed, even from her perspective, Felix wasn’t someone who could easily gain favor. Even though he was smiling broadly, he didn’t look like he was smiling. Moreover, his impression wasn’t good either.

“Um, isn’t that someone you know, honey?”

“What? Where?”

James hurriedly left the spot to avoid creating a more troublesome situation.

“Oh my. Lia, I can see everything like this.”

And the problem was that the person they met was Mikaela.

If James had Felix, then Dahlia had Mikaela. Wasn’t there a saying that being too talented and excellent was bad because many people would be envious and jealous? That moderate things were good in everything.

It was the same when creating the image of ‘Dahlia Corellin.’ The title ‘youngest daughter of a wealthy noble family who grew up receiving only love’ was extremely excessive. James had expressed concern that there would definitely be people who would envy her for that. It was also dangerous for a former spy who needed to hide her identity to receive too much attention.

However, Mikaela’s relationship of being jealous of Dahlia was also a tremendous selling point that could divert attention. What about the gossip that followed the two women? Everyone focused on Dahlia’s present. They concentrated on what dresses they wore now, what accessories they had on, and what conversations they had. So Dahlia appropriately accommodated Mikaela and used her for packaging her own image.

“Hello, Ella. Didn’t Mister Miles come with you?”

“My dear husband is a bit busy investing these days. Today he’s also busy meeting business partners.”

As far as Dahlia knew, Mister Miles wasn’t someone who could invest anywhere. He had neither foresight nor abundant funds. The Miles family was a noble house but not an influential one. Mikaela had probably drawn on her family’s financial power from running various factories and given her husband something to do.

“By the way, are you alright?”

Mikaela asked Dahlia in an excessively worried voice. She drooped her eyebrows down disgustingly and maintained a kind voice. At this, Dahlia just smiled leisurely. This was also hypocrisy created by Mikaela’s vanity.

“I heard you were sick recently. You should take good care of your health. We’re not at an age where we can stay young forever.”

The intention was clear, but Dahlia didn’t waver. She knew well what words made Mikaela feel the most envious. Moreover, even without making up stories, just telling the same things she had told her family would mercilessly turn Mikaela’s insides upside down.

“You remember our daughter Isabel, right? She took the early admission exam for the royal school this time. Her score came out so high. 95 out of 100.”

As expected, after her husband, she was bragging about her child. It was also the only thing Mikaela could show off in front of Dahlia. Six-year-old Isabel, like her nephew Terry, was quite clever. Because of that, Mikaela seemed to often be greedy.

“That aside, you still have no news?”

Even at the tone that conveyed both pity and superiority simultaneously, Dahlia remained calm.

“I’ve been unwell, and we still feel too much like newlyweds. We want to take our time with children.”

Dahlia thought the most necessary thing when raising children was the family’s generous love. If their married life had been like that of other couples, she might have had at least one child. Most of all, James didn’t seem to want children. She had no intention of having a child just to satisfy her own desires. James, who had briefly left, happened to come back with water.

“Drink this, honey. You drank a lot of beverages, so I brought water this time.”

Even though she should be used to it by now, Dahlia was sometimes amazed by James’s appearance when he spoke gently, his eyes filled with boundless affection. His cold expression when they were alone was so transformed by warmth that it felt like a different person altogether.

“How did you know I was thirsty? Thank you, honey. I’m touched.”

Of course, if you looked at it that way, Dahlia’s acting was also top-notch. Both showed talent as if they had put on perfectly fitting masks. Dahlia also smiled brightly toward him like bright sunshine.

“I think I recovered quickly because my dear husband nursed me all night. Even though it’s his day off, it’s not easy to do that.”

The hand holding the black shawl trembled. Since Dahlia had prepared a blue dress with a white mink shawl, Mikaela had prepared a burgundy dress with a black mink shawl. She had deliberately dressed to not overlap. Nevertheless, sparks flew from her eyes.

She must have prepared for today much more carefully than herself, but she would probably be the most dissatisfied. Dahlia felt sorry for Mikaela, who had an excessive inferiority complex toward her, while using her at the same time. Facing that twisted passion for a long time was even tiring, so she didn’t have confidence to deal with her for long either.

“We’ll be going now. Mom is looking for us.”

Still, she could somewhat understand why Mikaela pushed herself that far. The longing for ‘real family,’ the thought that she shouldn’t make mistakes as a spy. Because she sometimes acted obsessively due to such things. Every time she saw such aspects reflected through others, perhaps she wanted to turn away even more because of the sense of kinship she felt.

“What are we going to do if we actually go to mother-in-law?”

Trying to escape that situation somehow, Dahlia had chosen someone comfortable for herself.

“Ah…… I couldn’t think of another excuse. I’m sorry.”

But hadn’t James also led her earlier and made her encounter Mikaela? She apologized out of habit, but felt a little wronged. This much would be a one-to-one tie.

“Just stay by my side.”

“Yes……”

As though she was never dissatisfied, her cheeks grew hot at that single word without pretense. It was good that they could speak honestly and without pretense when whispering so only they could hear each other, but such side effects always followed.

“Your face is red again today. Are you sure you’ve recovered?”

“Of course. You heard what Doctor Jones said.”

“It’s an external event. Don’t cause any problems.”

“Yes.”

Although James spoke firmly, he was equally tense. Selini, his mother-in-law, was sitting not many steps away.

“Lia, my baby.”

Selini held Dahlia’s hand without fail. Affection was clearly felt from her warm and heavy hand. Dahlia lightly embraced Selini and covered the back of her hand.

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s talking with people he knows over there. I was sitting because my legs hurt.”

The day after Catherine and Brian visited, Peter and Selini came to see Dahlia. When she was young, everyone said children grew up through minor illnesses, and Dahlia was no exception as she often got sick. But as she grew older, she became so healthy it was as if none of it had ever happened. So the news that their daughter, who had seemed so sturdy you’d wonder if she could ever fall ill, had been bedridden for two days came like a bolt from the blue.

“You’re alright, aren’t you?”

“I’m perfectly fine. I’m so fine that I even went to a tea party gathering yesterday.”

Only then did Selini smile brightly as if relieved. Then she looked at her son-in-law, whom she always pushed to the back.

“You came too.”