‘What? Why that reaction?’

She had chosen her words deliberately to imply that the lady’s shoulders were too broad, which was hardly fitting for a noblewoman. Yet the woman behaved as though she hadn’t even noticed the insult. It was absurd.

Could it be true, then? Had she lived among commoners for so long that she could not even grasp something this obvious?

“…Did you truly understand what I said? Just now, I remarked that your shoulders were broad.”

“I heard you quite clearly, Lady Calante. For someone like me, who still finds noble society unfamiliar, I can only be grateful that you went to such trouble to put it so kindly.”

“What are you—!”

The Marquis’s daughter almost lost her temper before forcing herself to breathe and calm her voice. Like so many others, she had hoped to flaunt her closeness with Delphius and see despair twist across Ilenia’s face. But that was proving difficult.

Her lips pressed together in frustration.

“I had thought to linger here a while, to savor the memories of my return… but now that the lady of the house is present, it would hardly be proper for me to remain so long in Delphius’s home while he is away.”

When the Calante Marquis’s daughter rose from her seat, Ilenia sprang to her feet as well.

“Ah, no—it’s fine. You haven’t even seen Delphius yet. If you wish, you may stay a little longer.”

“In a house without its master, I can’t impose endlessly. Instead, when Delphi returns, would you tell him?”

Her smile curved sweetly.

“Tell him Ariella was here.”

Even after the Marquis’s daughter of Calante—Ariella—had departed, Ilenia remained for a while in the drawing room. Beside her, Meg quietly refreshed the tea each time it cooled before speaking in a low voice.

“For your first reception, my lady, you handled it well.”

“…Did I?”

“Of course. So well, in fact, that it could serve as an example to others.”

Her praise was genuine—though it was directed less at Ilenia’s composure and more at the fact that she had managed to crack the pride of Lady Calante. Still, Meg hid her satisfaction as she reheated the tea.

“…Does the Calante young lady often visit this house?”

“Given the close ties between the houses of Lukehardt and Calante, yes, she comes from time to time. Her health is frail, and so even when she acts somewhat heedlessly, few ever stop her.”

It had always been that way ever since her master had lived in the main house. Ariella knew she was weak, and she was well aware that her frailty drew sympathy from others. Each time she fell ill, she threw tantrums, and her stubbornness was indulged as she grew older.

She was the Marquis of Calante’s ailing daughter and his tenderest concern. For her sake, he showered her with material comforts to compensate for her physical limitations.

The result was a young lady so heedless that she now imposed herself on Meg’s master too.

“…So you needn’t trouble yourself over her, my lady.”

“…I see.”

Ilenia murmured softly, fingertips tracing the porcelain rim of her cup. Smooth and cool, the line of it slid beneath her touch.

······ ✦ ✧ ✦ ······

“Who was here?”

“Lady Ariella of the Calante Marquisate. She stopped by around midday.”

“…I see.”

Drip. Drip.

Heavy droplets fell with a dull sound.

“From now on, forbid it.”

“…Pardon?”

Startled, Ilenia turned her head to look at him.

“If she comes without an appointment, send her back.”

“Is that all right?…Even so, she is the Marquis of Calante’s daughter.”

And, from what she’d heard, his childhood friend. Her voice, grown small, trailed as if testing the waters.

“What does that matter? This is not the Calante estate, and she is hardly my fiancée.”

Delphius reached out, brushing her hair lightly.

“Her noble birth doesn’t grant her the power to trample on even the most basic courtesies of Mateo Empire.”

His fingers threaded into her hair, long digits slipping between the golden strands, appearing and disappearing.

“So, from now on, if she comes without notice, ask whether she has my permission. If she says no, you may turn her away at once.”

“…You mean it’s truly fine to send her back at the door?”

“Yes, Ilenia.”

Her lingering doubt drew a quiet laugh from him.

“While I’m away, the mistress of this house is you, isn’t it? That means you’re free to act as you see fit.”

“…All right.”

Ilenia exhaled softly. She didn’t dislike Ariella, but she found her visits tiring. Just months ago, she had been a mere commoner. Playing hostess and greeting a noble guest came easily to her.

Whether he was aware of her unease or not, Delphius’s hand moved through her hair and stroked the nape of her neck.

“Your sleeve is wet.”

“I know.”

Unlike Ilenia, who was completely n*ked, Delphius stood with his shirt buttoned up to the neck, murmuring as if nothing were amiss.

Beneath the water’s surface, her pale nape rippled.

She had started to bathe while waiting for him, thinking he was late. Suddenly, Delphius entered the bath before she had even realized he was home. For a long time, he simply stared at her in silence.

He had stood unmoving for minutes, only to break it with that single question—What are you doing?—leaving her utterly flustered.

To ask when it had been so obvious all along, and yet he had remained this way ever since. His immaculate attire — shirt, vest and full gentleman’s dress — only served to make her own nakedness burn more fiercely. She pulled her knees tightly to her chest as if she could shield herself from the contrast.

“Nothing else?”

“…Pardon?”

“Didn’t she say anything else?”

“I don’t think so… no.”

Ariella’s words and gestures had barely made an impression on her.

Whether commoner or noble, titles and estates still held weight, though the line between the two blurred more with each passing day. She had never expected to win their approval.

The childhood tales shared between Delphius and Ariella were no different. Whatever her own birth, she was, in the end, of Hildebalt. Who could envy the bond between Lukehardt and Calante, houses that stood so far above her reach? It was only natural that the two had known each other since childhood.

“…If anything, she was quite forthcoming.”

“Ariella?”

“Yes. She told me stories of your childhood. Explained them in detail, as though afraid I might not understand.”

‘Ariella, thoughtful of another?’

At the thought, his lips twisted faintly.

No one knew better than he did how Ariella treated the young ladies who had once sought his favor. Regardless of their social standing, she had humiliated every single one of them, always using her long-standing relationship with him as a weapon. There was no way she would suddenly start treating Ilenia kindly.

“And besides?”

She even complimented me on my dress. She said it suited me well. She said that my broader shoulders were lovely and would only become more admired as fashion trends shifted.

“Pfft—!”

Delphius burst into laughter.

“Delphius?”

His booming laughter rang through the bath, echoing against the tiled walls.

“Well done, Ilenia.”

Ariella Calante.

The only daughter of the Marquis of Calante—his frail darling. To Delphius, she was a longtime childhood friend, a sister in all but blood. Because of an incident long ago, he had always shown her leniency in a way he did for no one else.

The Marquis would grant her every wish. And Delphius, gentle only toward her, indulged her whims as well.

Emboldened, Ariella never left any woman who dared to come near him alone. The bullying and scorn that began in childhood continued unchanged into adulthood. In fact, it had only grown more vicious.

The result was clear: a trail of women who had left him behind in disgust, unable to endure his narrow-minded cruelty.

Delphius himself had never interfered. In truth, he even made use of the suffocating walls Ariella built around his dealings with women.

But Ilenia was different.

She was someone he could not afford to lose, and he had no intention of letting her go.

If Ariella dared to lay a hand on Ilenia, she would be warned. Perhaps it wouldn’t come to that, though.

He could picture Ariella’s flushed, frustrated face as she stormed out. The thought alone stirred a strange, bubbling amusement in him once more.

Still dazed, Ilenia could only look at him. He gently cupped her cheek, leaning down to brush her lips with a fleeting kiss. When he pulled away, the nape of her neck was flushed a vivid, heated red.

Despite everything they had shared, she sometimes looked at him with unguarded innocence, as though she knew nothing at all. Yet beneath the brightness of day, they had already traced each other’s bare bodies with their eyes, committing every intimate detail to memory.

“…Do you like cute things?”

“Cute things? Why ask me that all of a sudden?”

His hand moved downwards, gliding from her shoulder to her br*ast and causing her breathing to become heavier.

“I heard you’ve liked cute things since you were young.”

“Me?”

He could guess at once who had said it.

It had always been Ariella—asking him if he found her charming, if he thought her pleasing.

“Cute… not exactly. What I liked was having something trapped in my grasp, unable to do anything. I always found it adorable the way they would look up at me helplessly.”

He liked small, fragile creatures who completely relied on him, even to the point of ignoring their own instincts to stay with him.

In that sense, Ilenia was a perfect fit for him.