“Can’t you do anything right?!”

A sharp, high-pitched sound was followed by a loud crash. Kyron and I instinctively looked inside the booth.

“Your filthy nails scratched my skin!”

The commotion was caused by a middle-aged woman sitting in one of the inner seats. Judging by her thick fur coat and extravagant accessories wrapped around her, it was clear she was a noble.

At her feet, a woman who appeared to be a maid knelt with her head bowed. The maid clasped her hands together, pleading.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing has gone right since I came here.”

The middle-aged woman fanned herself furiously, looking ready to boil over with anger.

“The food smells strange; I can’t even tell if the meat is fresh, and now I have to mingle with commoners in this filthy space. It’s infuriating.”

“My apologies, Madam. I will treat the injury on your foot, but for now, please move to a more comfortable place outside…”

“You expect me to walk on this foot?!”

From what I overheard, it seemed the maid’s nail had barely scratched the skin on the top of the woman’s foot, but she was making a scene as if she couldn’t even walk.

“That’s Marchioness Critch,” Kyron said, recognizing her before I did.

Marchioness Critch. So that’s her.

She was someone with ties to the Duke’s family.

She had been a close friend of the first wife of the late Duke—the mother of Kyron’s half-siblings.

At one time, Marchioness Critch had been inseparable from the Duchess and frequently visited the Duke’s estate. Now, she didn’t come anywhere near it.

“Hurry up and apply the ointment here,” she ordered the maid.

“Yes, I-I’m sorry.”

The maid kept repeating apologies as she searched her bag for ointment and began applying it to the top of the Marchioness’s foot.

It seemed the maid had scratched her while helping her put on her shoes.

“They begged high-ranking nobles like me to attend, but for a festival like this, I shouldn’t have even bothered coming.”

The Marchioness continued to spew complaints.

She had chosen this booth herself and walked inside, yet she had so much to complain about. It seemed less about disliking the festival and more about wanting to flaunt her authority in front of commoners.

I clicked my tongue at her foolishness.

It was clear we wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything in such a noisy booth, and there was no benefit in getting involved with the Marchioness, so we decided to move on.

The next booth we entered showcased various new tools powered by magic.

There were tools that allowed people to leave messages for each other from far away and others that could capture a moment from the past like a photograph.

After briefly looking around, Kyron’s aide informed us that the event was about to begin, and we needed to return to the venue.

But on our way back, we ran into Marchioness Critch again—this time face-to-face.

“Your Grace, the Duke? Duchess?”

The Marchioness recognized us first.

She was walking perfectly fine, despite the earlier fuss. Of course, she hadn’t been seriously injured to begin with—it was nothing more than a tiny scratch.

“It has been a while, hasn’t it? I believe the last time we met was at your wedding?”

“Indeed, it has been a while, Madam.”

There had been so many people at the wedding that I didn’t even remember her face.

From my perspective, this was practically my first conversation with Marchioness Critch.

“Have you both arrived already?”

“The event is about to start. We came on time.”

“Ah…”

The smile on the Marchioness’s lips faltered slightly. Her eyes darted between me and Kyron. Then, she spoke again.

“Your Grace, I’ve heard that you’ve been staying within the Duke’s estate more often these days. For a while, it seemed as though you were avoiding it.”

“I never avoided it. I was simply occupied with other matters.”

“With so many deaths in the Duke’s estate, it’s understandable if it feels ominous.”

The Marchioness ignored Kyron’s response and carried on with her own words, which were quite pointed.

It wasn’t a pleasant topic to bring up upon meeting someone.

The “deaths” she referred to were those of the late Duchess, who passed away from illness, and Kyron’s half-brother.

“I don’t believe this is the appropriate place to discuss such matters, Madam.”

“Vivian passed away at an early age, and the second Duchess…”

Vivian was the Marchioness’s friend and the first wife of the late Duke.

The Marchioness had never approved of the second Duchess, who came after her friend’s death. Naturally, she also disliked Kyron, the son of the second Duchess.

When Kyron ascended to the Duke’s position after the death of his half-brother, her disdain only deepened.

She had contributed nothing to the Duke’s family yet harbored resentment toward Kyron. Her disapproval of me becoming Duchess was a given.

She believed that the position her friend’s son should have inherited had been taken by us.

Should I call that a beautiful friendship?

“I saw you scolding a maid earlier. Did that issue get resolved?”

Kyron deftly ignored the Marchioness’s comments about the past and changed the subject.

“Oh, did you see that?”

“It was hard to miss with all the commotion.”

“One of the maids scratched my foot, can you believe it? So I had to reprimand her.”

“Was the injury severe?”

“Severity isn’t the issue, Your Grace. The audacity of her filthy, dirt-ridden nails scratching my skin—she must have been out of her mind.”

“It seems the maid wasn’t very delicate.”

“Indeed, which is why I dismissed her immediately. There’s no need for such a maid.”

“That’s unfortunate for the maid.”

“Unfor—what?”

The Marchioness reflexively responded, but before she could say more, Kyron’s aide approached.

“Your Grace, there’s something I need to inform you about. May I have a moment of your time?”

The aide seemed to have urgent news to share, whispering quietly to Kyron.

Well, it seemed Kyron was finally working diligently.

I watched with satisfaction as Kyron and his aide exchanged serious words.

“Go ahead and discuss it,” I said, practically pushing Kyron away so he could focus on the matter.

As Kyron spoke with his aide, the Marchioness approached me.

“Duchess, may I have a word with you?”

“What is it you wish to discuss?”

“I’ve been meaning to have tea with you, but since I haven’t had any reason to visit the capital, the opportunity never arose. Now that you’re the Duchess, I thought it would be good to share some insights about the Duke’s family.”

“Insights about the Duke’s family, from you?”

It was obvious she wanted to dredge up the past.

“The Viscount’s family is quite different from the Duke’s. Since I was friends with the late Duchess, my advice could be very helpful to you.”

“I’m doing just fine as it is.”

“Are you really? I’ve heard that you developed an illness just a year into your marriage.”

“If it’s about my health, I think advice from a doctor would be more helpful than yours.”

But the Marchioness wasn’t one to back down easily.

“Listen carefully, Duchess. The women of the Duke’s family have all passed away at a young age. Do you know why that is?”

“I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make, Madam.”

“It’s because they had too much.”

The Marchioness lowered her voice, her tone dripping with warning, as though she were revealing a great secret.