The men who had crowded around me dispersed in surprise at the arrival of Duke Kreundel.

Even though his faces were covered by masks, they seemed to be overwhelmed by the aura that surrounded him.

The serious aura that cannot be ignored was indeed that of a matriarch leading a family. Some may mockingly say he assumed the position of the family head due to his parents’ early demise, but I never thought that way.

‘If he hadn’t had any talent, he would have been torn apart by the greedy bastards who coveted the family fortune by now.’

Having cleared away such interference and firmly established himself as the leader of the four major families, he could indeed be considered a significant figure.

 “My, you had a partner. But… is this really your partner?”

The man looked back and forth between me and Duke Kreundel with suspicion in his eyes.

 I must have looked too surprised and awkward.

 Duke Kreundel seemed to desire a pleasant partner act; it wasn’t something I couldn’t handle.

 “Yes. This person is my partner. So, could you all please step back?”

Meeting my cold gaze, the men flinched and took another step back.

 I naturally held out my hand to Duke Kreundel, demanding an escort, and spoke grumpily.

 “It is unkind of you to leave a lady alone for so long, my lord.”

 “My apologies, my lady.”

 “I must hear why you are so late.”

 “Yes. As the lady wishes.”

Duke Kreundel, who escorted me, pushed aside the people and headed towards the mansion’s balcony.

The balcony was a secluded meeting place for lovers, an enclosed space for private conversations.

As soon as the curtains were drawn, I let go of Duke Kreundel’s hand.

 He squeezed his empty hand once, feeling its emptiness, and then looked back at me.

 “Lady. May I speak frankly, even if it’s a bit intrusive?”

“Speak, Your Grace.”

“In the future, when receiving anonymous letters like this asking for you to come here, please don’t.”

Huh? I lost my words in the absurdity of the situation.

He seemed to know how ridiculous his statement was and quickly added.

“Of course, it might sound contradictory for the sender of such a letter to say this to you, but…”

“You’re well aware.”

 “I just thought this would be the most inconspicuous way to meet. After all, there have been some speculative articles about the lady and me.”

The Duke of Kreundel seemed to be paying attention to the engagement or marriage articles.

 I assumed he wasn’t interested because he didn’t respond, but there was something I didn’t understand.

“There are other ways to contact without being noticed. You could have used a communication magical device to contact me.”

 “…….”

 “……?”

What, this silence.

I looked up at Duke Kreundel’s face to see what it meant, but I couldn’t tell what his expression was because he was wearing a half-mask that covered his face. I hurriedly added an explanation, wondering if there was an error in the conversation.

 “I gave you the code! The code for the communications magic tool.”

 “…….”

“Could it be that you don’t know about the communication magical device?”

The century’s masterpiece, invented by the genius inventor Isis and funded by me, a brilliant investor, the communication magical device that was being flooded with love calls even from overseas?

“No. I have it.”

Right.

 You’re a duke of one of the five most powerful families in all of Wallentian, so you must have it.

“But why didn’t you contact me? Using a magical device is less risky and more convenient than going through a ball like this.”

Then the Duke rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“I only receive… incoming calls. I don’t know how to use it well. I thought the code you gave me was just a password.”

“A password?”

“Yes. I tried to decipher it, but it wasn’t easy.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy! Because it’s not a password! I looked at Duke Kreundel with new eyes.

He felt refreshing, like a character type I hadn’t encountered before.

I had thought deeply, considering that there might be a significant intention hidden in selecting Madame Montgomery’s masquerade as the location. Still, it turned out that it was because he didn’t know how to use the communication magical device.

A mechanical illiterate. (T/N: Someone who is bad with Tech. How do you call that?)

Here, it should be called a magical device.

But that was only for a moment. I was ignited by a sense of duty as the sole investor in the communication magical device.

Since he might become a big player in the future in selling magical devices, I couldn’t just leave him without knowing how to use the magical device.

 Let’s teach him how to use it and sell a lot of them!

As soon as I said that Greed responded like a ghost.

 [Kyu].

Yeah.

 I don’t know why you didn’t burp.

 Anyway, we hadn’t talked yet, but it didn’t hurt to give him a way to communicate in case he needed a way to contact me later.

 “Your Grace, do you have the communication magical device with you now?”

“Yes.”

“Give it to me.”

When I confidently demanded it, Duke Kreundel hesitated for a moment, then took out the magical device from his pocket and handed it to me.

“I’ll teach you.”

Approaching him to make the magical device clearly visible, I felt his gaze on me.

“Are you uncomfortable?”

“No.”

“Then watch closely, I’ll show you.”

As an investor in the magical device, I skillfully demonstrated how to use it.

It was a method of attempting communication with another magical device by entering a code.

“Just do it like this! It’s quite easy, right?”

 “…….”

The duke stared at me as if he were looking at a strange creature.

I understood the meaning of that gaze in an instant.

‘Well, yeah. No one can be perfect in everything.’

Like a granddaughter explaining how to use a mobile phone to her grandmother, I gently and affectionately explained the usage step by step.

“Now, would you like to try?”

Duke Kreundel clumsily fiddled with his communicator, then tried to contact me as I had instructed.

 Fortunately, he succeeded in connecting with my communicator without much trial and error.

“Success, Your Grace!”

I exclaimed as I pulled out my communicator. However, Duke Kreundel just stared at me in silence.

Once again, with the mask covering his face, I couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

I coughed, wondering if I was the only one getting excited, and put my communicator back in my pocket.

 “If you do that, you can contact me directly.”

 “Thanks to the lady, I know how to use it.”

“Wasn’t there anyone around you who could teach you?”

 “No. ……I have no one to ask about such trivialities.”

I realized how lonely Duke Kreundel must be. Losing his entire family at a young age and becoming a duke.

 He couldn’t afford to be vulnerable, lest he be looked down upon or ignored.

Yet, he couldn’t rely on his subordinates for comfort either.

‘It must have been lonely.’

A twinge of sympathy washed over me, but I pushed it away and changed the subject.

 “It’s a good choice of location, though. We’re wearing masks, so we won’t be recognized immediately, and it’s crowded and noisy. Besides, if a man and a woman move together, it’ll look like they’re meeting in secret, and they won’t care…….”

 “Lady. You might want to watch your language.”

I giggled at the unexpected advice.

 “What phrase? Secret meeting?”

“Haa….”

Duke Kreundel let out a sigh as if dealing with a naive younger sibling.

 ‘It was said I was his sister’s age, so I guess that’s how I come across.’

If I felt like a younger sister, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

 In fact, it was good, because what I was about to say happened to be a relevant topic of conversation.

“The reason you called me here is to indicate your willingness to comply with my proposal, isn’t it?”

“Are you still unable to tell me the details of the deal?”

It seemed he hadn’t made a final decision yet.

I could understand where Duke Kreundel was coming from.

 He couldn’t just agree to a deal without knowing the terms.

 “I know that the person you are looking for is your sister.”

At the mention of the word sister.

 “……How do you know that?”

Duke Kreundel’s mood changed in an instant.

 Without flinching at the somewhat sharp change in atmosphere, I met his gaze squarely.

“I know that because I have a capable ally.”

“Is it an informant from Perdia?”

“No, it’s not. It’s my personal ally. Since they have excellent information, they can assist you in your search.”

Duke Kreundel couldn’t deny it either.

They easily uncovered the identity of his target, a secret he had kept well hidden.

“The benefits I gain are confidentiality about the fact that I have made a deal with a sin and access to information. What is it that the lady desires?”

“Sloth. I need the power of your contracted sin.”

 “What?”

It was absurd to ask for the power of sin after using it to blackmail him.

 “Sloth’s ability is related to dreams. Can that power wake up someone in a state of unconsciousness?”

“I haven’t tried, but… it’s worth a shot.”

“That’s enough.”

It’s not perfect, but my hand has revealed everything.

Now it was time to wait for Duke Kreundel’s decision. Just then, unexpectedly, the curtain was swiftly drawn back, allowing the indoor light to pour onto the balcony.

 “Excuse me for a moment.”

The Duke of Kreundel wrapped his arms around my waist and turned his head as if to kiss me. In an instant, the distance between us closed.

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Our faces were too close.

Close enough for our breaths to brush against each other.

In a precarious situation where our lips seemed on the verge of touching, I simply widened my eyes.

“Oh, my apologies!”

As Duke Kreundel had intended, someone ran away after seeing us, perhaps mistaking us for lovers having a secret affair. Immediately the Duke let me go and apologized politely.

“If I startled you, my apologies, Lady. This is the surefire way to drive people away.”

If he had startled me one more second, my heart might have leapt out.

 It was the moment when I was about to give a vague reassurance.

Shyaaack! This time, before we even had time to pretend to kiss, a man staggered in.

Observing Duke Kreundel in his masked disguise, the man began to exaggerate and act out.

“Oh? Aren’t you Hendrik? Hey, Hendrick, you finally managed to entice a woman to fulfill your wishes. Congratulations! Lady, hold onto this guy tightly. Surprisingly, he’s the real deal. Occasionally, he might resemble a gentleman…!”

I glanced over at Duke Kreundel, who was looking at the boisterous man, and saw a slight frown on his well-groomed face behind his mask.

Soon, he sighed and escorted the drunken man away.

“I’ll be back shortly, Lady. It won’t take long.”

“Take your time.”

After Duke Kreundel left, I looked down at the garden with scattered lights beyond the balcony railing.

‘I haven’t received a definite confirmation for the deal yet.’

Leaning against the railing, I felt the chilly breeze. It was when the light streamed in from behind, and I turned around.

“You came quickly, Duke Kre-.”

I couldn’t finish my sentence.

The person who entered wasn’t Duke Kreundel.

A man wearing a plain black mask with no embellishments. In the midst of it, our eyes met, and his deep purple eyes held an ominous warning.

‘Dangerous.’

It was an instinctive alert.