Moreover, her checking their postures one by one looked intimate as if she had already built rapport with them.

“The knights who saw her spar with Hatsen last time bombarded even me with questions. Asking where we brought such a woman from. I roughly covered it up saying she was originally a soldier, but it seems they couldn’t hold back and asked her directly.”

A deflated sound escaped Claude’s lips.

“Is my knight order full of nothing but worthless men?”

Heriot turned his head, his expression questioning what the problem was now as the sudden words burst out. It seemed only strange that the Duke who knew Flora’s skills better than anyone was suddenly disparaging her.

“Didn’t Your Grace also see her skills? Honestly, among the knights currently in the mansion, who has the skills to defeat Flora?”

“No matter what, dark men are clinging to a woman and acting unsightly. And they call themselves knights…… Have they no shame.”

“……Pardon? But there are quite a few female knights as well. Honestly, what could Flora possibly lack compared to them, especially with her skills?”

By now Heriot was continuing to speak, highly praising Flora’s skills.

Claude quietly muttered, sighing.

“She’s not a knight.”

“Isn’t everyone curious because among all the knights, my lord entrusted his guard to that maid?”

“So…… you’re saying it’s my fault?”

Claude who had already withdrawn his gaze walked back the way he came.

Following closely behind him, Heriot asked wonderingly what this whim was about.

“Are you displeased that Flora freely comes and goes from the training ground?”

Claude who had been striding quickly stopped briefly to look back.

Her platinum blonde hair that hung long gleamed in the sunlight filtering through the green foliage.

Flora, with her gently curved eyes framing a clear blue gaze and her radiant, fair complexion, shone brighter than she had in recent days.

Seeing her clear face where sunlight had settled, his unpleasant feelings subsided a bit.

Claude realized he had reacted sensitively without even knowing it himself. If it was within his sight and nowhere else, what could possibly be a problem.

“Let her do as she pleases. It’s only within the mansion anyway.”

He muttered, tossing the words carelessly as he resumed his halted steps.

Though Heriot was about to ask what that meant, two prepared horses were already in front of them.

* * *

Rosaline bit her nail with a crack, recalling last night that ended in humiliation. It was because she couldn’t forget the woman who danced with the Duke.

‘So he was hiding another woman all this time.’

The more she thought about it, the more dumbfounded she was and words wouldn’t come out.

She who had tirelessly listened to rumors about women who shamelessly threw themselves at the Duke trying to get into his arms had inwardly believed in the Duke’s character.

That he was a man with noble character and strong patience who could reject women who ran to him n*ked.

But now it turns out he had a hidden mistress. The fact alone that the Duke who showed only lukewarm attitudes toward women personally took care of this woman greatly bothered her.

Moreover, after dancing, both of them disappeared without a trace. The woman vanished first, then the Duke hurriedly went outside and didn’t return until the party ended.

Because of that, her once-confident determination to receive the Duke’s first dance now seemed almost laughable.

As rumors must have already started spreading in social circles, she grew inwardly anxious, needing something to offset the humiliation she received.

‘But…… a commoner, not even a noble?’

While she was already furiously angry just from the unexpected woman’s appearance, the woman’s worthless status touched the inferiority complex deeply seated in her inner self.

Unable to bear the rising irritation, Rosaline’s hand threw the vase placed on the side table.

Crash!

Glass shards rolled across the floor with a loud noise. Rosaline, who crushed the pile of flowers spilled on the floor, had long stopped thinking about anything but last night’s party.

“And that woman, she strangely irritates me.”

Especially the moment she faced those blue eyes up close. Rosaline’s mood suddenly turned bad as if recalling someone she didn’t want to remember.

Furthermore, just as she was about to ponder that subtle feeling she received then, a knock sounded along with a maid’s voice.

“Miss, it’s Monica.”

“Come in.”

Rosaline stopped pacing and plopped down on the sofa.

Soon, Monica showed her face through the opened door. Seeing the room in disarray, she flinched and bowed her head even more politely.

“How did it go? Did you find anything out?”

Rosaline asked coldly while sitting comfortably with her legs up on the stool.

Monica was her maid whom she had sent to find out the identity of the woman who had been stuck close to the Duke.

Though sparks flew as rumors spread that the Duke brought a woman to the party, no one knew any definite information.

Monica quickly approached and quietly covered her mouth with her hand.

“The woman the Duke brought to the party yesterday isn’t a noble.”

“I already told you I knew that.”

Rosaline’s voice rose sharply, asking if that was all she found out.

“I tried probing some people working at the Duke’s mansion…… But nothing more would come out.”

“How long has it been since I told you to try persuading just one maid from there to our side and you’re still this slow?”

At her pressing voice, Monica’s eyes drooped, feeling  wronged.

“Miss…… As I said last time, the new ones are completely impossible.”

Previously it wasn’t difficult to get information thanks to maids who would freely talk about the Duke whenever they’re slightly bribed with money.

But for some unknown reason, after all the employees were completely replaced about half a year ago, they couldn’t even approach let alone build rapport.

Though they tried to somehow recruit the few existing employees and newly hired maids, it repeatedly fell through.

When they happened to meet at shops and tried approaching to talk, they were met with wariness first, and even when bringing up the topic, they would keep their mouths shut and hurriedly leave, making it difficult to even create opportunities.

“They’re so tight-lipped that there’s no reaction even when I discreetly show them gold coins.”

“So…… you just came back?”

Rosaline sharply raised her eyes. Monica who was suddenly startled hurriedly shook her head.

“So I secretly followed some maids going out in the afternoon, and they were talking about some maid who wasn’t there. Saying it would have been nice if she came along.”

“Do I look like I want to hear about some mere maid right now?”

As Monica noticed her sharp gaze lingering as if observing something completely useless, she nervously swallowed dryly.

Rosaline’s bare face was completely different from how she was known in social circles as beautiful and good-natured.

She had a temperament that absolutely despised losing to anyone, often finding herself in small conflicts with other nobles, whether knowingly or not. Moreover, she had no hesitation in venting her anger through acts of abuse, using maids as her targets.

Monica carefully opened her mouth to avoid upsetting her mood as much as possible.

“Listen. They were talking among themselves that the maid who wasn’t there would be tired from attending the imperial palace party.”

“……A maid went to the party? What’s that maid’s name?”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear the name. But they were saying something about how they helped that maid get dressed up.”

Rosaline carefully traced back her memories but hadn’t seen any servants accompanying the woman. It was also impossible that they would leave their mistress’s side at such an occasion.

At that moment, one hypothesis flashed through her mind.

‘Could it be that the woman who came to the party yesterday is a maid working at the Duke’s mansion?’

After sending Monica away, she fell deep in thought based on her hypothesis. More weight was given to the possibility that the common woman who accompanied the Duke was a maid.

“Wait…… If she’s a maid, that makes it easier.”

Men being enchanted by and taking maids to bed was too common to even be considered a flaw. She had seen countless tragic ends of maids who were beaten and chased out until death in the neighborhood where she lived as a child.

Rosaline’s red mouth corners rose meaningfully.

From the start, she had no intention of backing down whether he had a mistress or not. Even if she was a concubine, there was no way a mere mistress could become the Duke’s wife anyway.

Moreover, if she was a maid, there were plenty of ways to handle it easily. Crushing such a worthless woman like the flowers scattered on the floor was nothing.

And she didn’t plan to drag this out for long.