Whenever young Dante left Halpenrit Castle and returned, his mother would be on the verge of tears. He couldn’t lean on such a mother. During adolescence, he even secretly resented her seemingly insurmountable weakness.

‘That’s all in the past now.’

But now he had overcome much and matured. The most difficult times had passed, and he had survived safely.

Any hatred he once harbored had melted away like snow long ago. As he grew, he realized that not everyone’s heart could be as unyielding as iron.

Being delicate was no sin, and the weak were not sinners. Surely this was why God had given him the strength to protect the weak. To stand in for a distant God and protect the fragile and innocent.

“Who would know a mother’s personality better than her own son? She was always delicate and timid. Knowing how much effort it took her just to endure this far, how could I… how could I blame her…”

“Dante, you don’t need to explain further. I understand your sincerity.”

Dante’s nose stung at Esteller’s comforting touch. He forcefully swallowed the heat rising from his stomach.

“…I want to resolve this issue… But I don’t know how…”

Dante’s voice trembled.

He no longer felt resentment or bitterness toward his mother. He didn’t even wish for her to develop an extremely strong mind. The only thing he wanted now was for his mother to stop suffering and tormenting herself.

It didn’t seem like an excessive wish, yet he still didn’t know how to achieve it. He had no idea at all.

While gently stroking Dante’s slightly dark golden hair, Esteller suggested:

“How about we visit Kyler tomorrow?”

“Yes, that’s good.”

If they couldn’t penetrate Cecilia’s heart, approaching Kyler might be another solution. Esteller couldn’t confront Diana because Cecilia’s affection for her was still stronger than her feelings for Esteller.

This also meant that if they could just get Kyler to come out of his room again, Diana could be dealt with without Esteller needing to intervene directly.

⁕⁕⁕

After an eventful day at Halpenrit, the sun rose on another new day. Esteller woke to the bright chirping of birds singing “porong porong.”

The space beside her was empty. Dante had gone to the training ground as he had mentioned the night before.

Esteller had asked him to inquire about Rachel’s thoughts on becoming her lady’s maid while he was at the training ground.

“Yaaawn.”

Esteller stretched widely and pulled the bell cord.

The previous afternoon, the carriage that had departed from Sleion arrived at the scheduled time. Esteller immediately directed people to unpack their luggage. Afterward, with Rona and Meary’s help, she arranged paintings and decorations in the couple’s room according to her preferences.

Keeping her body constantly moving prevented her from dwelling on troublesome thoughts or emotions. Once the surroundings were neatly organized, she took a half-body bath in steaming hot water, applied smooth, fragrant oil that smelled of flowers, and returned to the room.

Then she fell soundly asleep in Dante’s familiar embrace.

She slept so well without dreaming that this morning, upon waking, her body and mind felt refreshed. In the process of dispelling fatigue, all negative feelings seemed to have evaporated without a trace.

“My lady, good morning!”

Before long, Rona and Meary arrived. Rona brought hot coffee and toast topped with sweet butter. She called out energetically with a beaming smile. Her skin looked as smooth as a boiled egg, as if she hadn’t lost a wink of sleep despite arriving in an unfamiliar place.

“Yes, good morning.”

Esteller replied with a gentle smile.

Meary, looking somewhat tired, greeted her as quietly as usual. Approaching Esteller, she opened the jewelry box and explained softly:

“Here is a hair net made with Leodinas pearls, and this shawl and lace gloves are made in the Eastern style. I thought clothes with friendly implications would be appropriate for the beginning… What do you think?”

“They’re perfect.”

Meary smiled when Esteller praised her. Gentle joy spread across her delicate face.

While Esteller ate breakfast and wrote a letter to Rupert, Meary skillfully combed her hair and helped her dress.

‘It was a good choice to review information about the main castle in advance while in Sleion.’

Esteller drafted official documents based on various materials she had checked during her stay in the capital.

The main point was to offer opportunities to become the Grand Duchess’s lady’s maids, with four candidates in total. Though there were four candidates, only three positions were available. And after reserving one spot for Rachel, only two positions remained.

Esteller decided to meet all four candidates and eliminate two. Of course, she wasn’t planning this troublesome process without purpose.

‘First, I’ll bring in someone from a family that has been consistently loyal…’

Becoming a lady’s maid to the Leodinas Grand Duchess was a great honor in itself. Once securing such a position, rising in status within Eastern social circles was only a matter of time. Since Cecilia had been ill and abstained from all social activities, the lady’s maid positions had remained vacant for a long time.

‘When news spreads that maids are being selected after so long, notable Eastern families will be stirred up.’

With such a golden opportunity, each family would naturally exercise caution. Unless they had lost their minds, they wouldn’t waste this chance by sending a young lady with obvious flaws in character or ability.

If each family conducted preliminary screening with great care, Esteller herself wouldn’t need to test and examine each candidate individually. She didn’t need to consider much beyond family background.

‘This man, Elias Ross, is well-connected among the collateral branches and good at spreading news. I should fill the remaining position from there.’

Elias was a sharp opportunist. He would likely change his stance immediately upon realizing that having his daughter selected as the Grand Duchess’s lady’s maid and receiving favors from Esteller would be far more useful than skimming small bribes with his collateral relatives.

And Elias had survived this far on nothing but quick wits and plausible rhetoric, despite lacking any remarkable abilities.

According to Rupert’s report, people who disliked Elias referred to him as a “slippery bat whose mouth would float if he fell into water.”

‘A bat with only a mouth? That’s exactly what I need right now.’

Not every situation called for a diligent, capable, and loyal person. What she needed immediately was someone loud-voiced who would turn away from the collateral branches and side with her the moment they spotted an advantage.

Someone like Elias Ross could quickly uncover the connection that the other two rejected candidates came from families who viewed Lyle and Diana as the real power holders within the grand ducal household and had been wagging their tails and flattering them.

‘Having disturbed a long-festering boil, fierce resistance will follow next.’

They had been operating with corrupt minds all along. It would be more suspicious if people who had been behaving this way suddenly repented and came to their senses just because the newly married Grand Duchess made one move. Esteller could guarantee they would engage in all sorts of malicious schemes to interfere.

So. What form would their schemes take?

In truth, Esteller was hoping her thoroughly provoked opponents would cause a major incident. The bigger the better. That way, she could drive out these conscienceless rats who couldn’t even read the changing tide, all at once.

Esteller blew gently on the slightly damp ink on the paper’s surface to dry it, then neatly folded it and placed it in an envelope.

“Rona, take this to Assistant Rupert and tell him to gather the administrators in the second-floor conference room by one o’clock.”

Whispers echoed in the corridor leading to the second-floor conference room.

“Why is Her Highness the Grand Duchess summoning people during lunch time of all times!”

Administrator Tracy grumbled.

“Maybe she wants to treat us to a splendid feast to honor the hard work of us administrators?”

“As if that would happen.”

Tracy rebuked Gaston for his absurd speculation.

“Oh, what’s so important about lunch! I wouldn’t mind starving every day if I could behold her beauty again.”

“Keuuu, that ethereal figure…” Tucker narrowed his eyes while letting out an indecent sigh of admiration.

He too had received news through the capital’s newspapers over the past few months. But how could mere text or illustrations compare to the real person? The Grand Duchess he had met in person was on an entirely different level from any description.

Tucker, notorious for his lechery, was thoroughly excited about meeting her again, regardless of why she had summoned them.

“Um… Administrator Cynthia, have you heard anything about this?”

Timid Archibald secretly questioned Cynthia, who had the most experience among them.

“No, I haven’t heard anything specific…”

Cynthia, the only one who had reached middle age among them, nervously fidgeted with her glasses frame, looking anxious.

Gaston, Tracy, Archibald, Tucker, Cynthia.

These five administrators had encountered Rupert Cole shortly after arriving at work today. Rupert was holding numerous sealed letter envelopes and appeared extremely busy, though they couldn’t tell what he was doing.

Rupert emphasized that the Grand Duchess herself had expressed her wish to meet them, so they must absolutely arrive at the conference room on time, without a single person missing.

The administrators were bewildered. They kept asking Rupert why she wanted to see them, but he coldly cut them off, saying he hadn’t heard anything about that either.