Though Hailey thought something was strange, she hadn’t been too suspicious since she had actually witnessed a letter with the seal of the Duchy of Valverde arriving for Axel.

‘I just want to buy you something nice. You’re excessively frugal.’

‘I already have more than enough, there’s no need to waste. Besides, I don’t know how much that jewel costs, but it looked extremely expensive. Buying jewelry too seems a bit much.’

‘If we suddenly cancel now, strange rumors might spread that House Winchester is in financial trouble.’

‘Please just leave the banquet preparations to me next time. I’ll go along with it this time.’

Hailey had no way of knowing how much her frugality had hindered Axel’s secret wedding operation.

Anyway, the grand ducal castle was now busier than when they had prepared for the visit of Lady Madeleine, who had become the empress.

Hailey still couldn’t shake off her doubts about why welcoming the couple from an unfamiliar distant duchy was such an important event, but she never suspected there might be another intention behind it all.

Hailey didn’t have much to do, and though it seemed excessive, the banquet preparations appeared to be progressing peacefully without any incidents.

Finally, the day before the couple was scheduled to arrive at Winchester Island arrived…..

Just when Hailey had been feeling a strange tension throughout the castle for several days, an unexpected situation occurred that completely diverted her attention.

“Madam! Madam!”

Hailey was working on a budget with butler Dora in her office. Suddenly, Roto came looking for her urgently, on the verge of tears.

Roto wasn’t the type of child who would barge in while she was working unless it was a serious problem.

Hailey immediately realized something had happened to Theo.

“So-something terrible happened. Yo-young master has co-collapsed!”

“Collapsed? What do you mean? Why suddenly? When? How? Never mind. Where is Theo now? Let’s talk as we go.”

Hailey put down everything she was doing and stood up immediately.

Walking quickly with the tearful Roto toward where Theo was, she asked again:

“Tell me slowly. What happened?”

“I was playing with the young master, sob, in the forest. The Witch’s Forest. The three of us were playing hide-and-seek with the fairy. Um, I was it. But the young master must have seen some unknown flower while hiding. While waiting for me to find him, he must have been bored, so that flower. Sniff.”

“Don’t tell me he ate the flower?”

Roto nodded tearfully.

Hailey couldn’t even guess what kind of flower he had eaten. Theo wasn’t the type of child who would eat just anything, so she found it hard to believe.

“Theo isn’t that kind of child. Why would he do such a thing?”

“Ah. Well, you see. That flower had a sweet fragrance, and the young master had been curious about it for a while…… He said it might taste like chocolate, so he tried it!”

Roto, who had been tearful, paused momentarily at Hailey’s words and hastily added:

“Anyway, there was no problem when he ate it, and we returned from the forest together…… but then the young master suddenly said his stomach hurt and collapsed. I-I told the physician about the flower. But he said it only grows in the Witch’s Forest, so he doesn’t know much about it, but it could be poisonous.”

“Thank you for calling the physician quickly and letting him know.”

“I’m sorry. I should have watched the young master more carefully.”

“No. Who could have known he would suddenly eat a flower?”

When Hailey arrived with Roto, Theo was lying straight on his back.

Seeing him like that reminded her of the time when Theo had slept for a long time to recover his depleted magic power, and her heart sank.

“How is Theo?”

“I’ve given him an antidote. Fortunately, he didn’t eat much, so even if it was poison, only a small amount seems to have circulated. Right now, he’s just sleeping due to the medicine’s effects, so please don’t worry too much. However, it may take a few days for the detoxification to complete, so he might complain of stomach pain for a day or two.”

“Isn’t there any medicine to stop the stomach pain?”

“I can prepare some, but since the antidote is so strong, taking it with other medicines might be too much for the young lord’s body. It’s not actually an upset stomach, it just feels that way because of the poison, so drinking plenty of warm water for a day or two would be better.”

Hailey went to Theo’s side and firmly held his small hand.

With Theo sick and collapsed, Hailey stopped all her work that day and had to leave the twins entirely in the care of their nurse.

Due to past memories, she couldn’t bear to leave Theo while he was collapsed.

When Hailey had briefly left to get some sleep, she remembered the day Margaret the archmage had tried to kill Theo, so she stayed by his side all night.

When Theo woke up, he complained of stomach pain intermittently, groaning just as the physician had predicted.

Hailey fed Theo a transparent yellow liquid that the physician had left, saying it would help ease the stomach pain.

‘Mommy Hailey. Theo’s tummy hurts. It seems to hurt a lot. Want more medicine. Is there more medicine?’

Though she found it strange that a child who normally disliked medicine was gulping it down so well, she thought perhaps he wanted to get better quickly.

The day the couple from the Duchy of Valverde was supposed to arrive came, but Hailey couldn’t move an inch as she was taking care of the sick Theo.

“Mommy Hailey! Theo hurts! Theo medicine!”

“Is it still stabbing you? That’s strange. Why does it seem to be getting worse?”

Hailey caught Theo making a momentarily guilty expression.

Just then, Roto made a ‘Ah-ahem. Cough!’ sound behind her. Hailey looked at the suspicious medicine-filled water. The slightly murky color made it look just like apple juice.

“Ughhhh. Theo hurts…… Oh my, it hurts.”

Hailey couldn’t understand why Theo kept saying he was in more pain when he seemed to be getting better. He wasn’t the type to fake illness.

‘Could it be that he wants attention because I’ve been focusing too much on the twins?’

Hailey had been feeling something was off since yesterday about the kind Theo who couldn’t even break a flower petal, yet had gone so far as to eat a flower.

After thinking about it all night, she concluded that Theo must have done it to get attention.

Hailey couldn’t scold him.

“Theo. Important guests are coming to the castle today, so I need to go for a bit. It won’t take too long, but please rest here with Roto in the meantime. I’ll be back soon. Is that okay?”

“Y-yes. It’s okay.”

“Roto, I’m counting on you to look after Theo.”

“Yes, madam! Don’t worry!”

Hailey handed Theo the suspicious medicine-filled water one last time and left the room. She needed to change her clothes quickly to welcome the guests.

‘If it seems like it will take too long, I’ll have to excuse myself and come back.’

When she arrived at the room to change her clothes, Hailey was shocked to see the completed dress for the first time.

“You’ve arrived, madam.”

“Is this the dress I’m wearing today?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Wait. Isn’t there some mistake? This dress is almost……”

At that moment, Hailey paused and swallowed her words.

The dress was excessively white and dazzling to be worn at a welcome banquet.

The elegant pure white dress somehow sparkled as if it had jewels embedded in it.

Though there weren’t actually any jewels, it was clearly a dress made with the finest fabric spared no expense, as anyone could see.

Even though Hailey didn’t finish her sentence, everyone in the room quietly looked at her as if they already knew.

She turned to the head maid.

The moment she saw the head maid with a pleased smile, Hailey was certain this was not a dress for a welcome banquet.

“Where is the young lord now?”

“The young master is also changing his clothes.”

“And the couple from Valverde……”

“I don’t know for sure, but I believe they’re enjoying their honeymoon in their homeland.”

This meant that the story about the couple from the Duchy of Valverde coming to Winchester was all a lie.

“……What about Theo? Then our Theo.”

“Young Master Theo also worked hard for today. It seems he enjoyed the apple juice that the chef put his heart and soul into making.”

When she heard those words, tears welled up in Hailey’s eyes.

She had been completely fooled. There had been many strange moments, but she hadn’t expected they were plotting something like this behind her back.

Hailey changed into the dress with the help of the maids.

After her hair was styled and makeup applied, she faced the jewelry that Axel had insisted couldn’t be canceled. An elegant necklace and earrings made with dozens of diamonds.

When all preparations were complete, everyone in the room gasped in admiration.

Hailey was pretty even without much makeup in everyday life, but today she was so beautiful it was dazzling.

“How is it? Is it okay? I hope it doesn’t look like I’m having a second wedding.”

Hailey joked to ease her tension.

The maids responded with admiration:

“Madam, you’re truly so beautiful! I’m worried the young lord might get a nosebleed again.”

Thanks to that maid, Hailey burst into laughter.

“Madam. It’s time for you to go now.”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Finally, today’s protagonist, Hailey Winchester, took her first step.