rom the Viscounty of Ventlen to the capital till the moment he entered the teahouse and met the duke. 

Every moment of silence that hung in the air was sucking his blood dry. 

As though he could read his mind, the Duke of Winfried smiled by only raising one corner of his lips. 

But that smile disappeared as soon as it appeared. 

“It’s nothing much.
I just wanted to give you a piece of advice.”

“… Advice?”

“Yes.”

With his hands still placed on the table, Winfried stood up.

‘What’s going on?’

Had he always been this big? He thought he had been of a bigger build when he had been sitting earlier but he never imagined that he would be this big. 

Looking up at the duke, Viscount Ventlen held his breath. 

“Viscount.”

However, shock had overcome his fear at the words that the duke soon uttered.

“You will have an eligible heir soon.”

At the duke’s shocking statement, Viscount Ventlen asked again. 

“Pardon, what do you mean by that?”

Though he asked, the duke did not answer.
He merely stared back at him as though to ask, “Don’t you already know what I’m talking about?’

No way. 

Viscount Ventlen gulped nervously. 

“I am not fond of conniving things.”

Upon Winfried’s beckoning, the waiter ran over and helped him with his coat as though they had been waiting.

“Well then, take your time with your meal and be on your way.”

That was the end of it.
Winfried left his seat and after a moment of silence, thud, something had fallen on the ground. 

The startled waiters hurried past the duke towards the noise.

 

“Did you manage to wrap up your meeting?”


Leaving the teahouse behind, his coachman who had been waiting at its front asked. 

He was a man with memorably long brown hair. 

The duke gave a slight nod. 

“In any case, will you be alright threatening him like this so openly?”

The brown-haired coachman furrowed his brows as he stared at the teahouse from which  commotion could still be heard. 

“I’m sure he will be retaliating now that he knows that the Lady of the Leonid House is still alive.”

“I suppose he will.”

“It would have been better if we had hidden her existence till she was ready…”

“If we wait to prepare, there will be things we miss.”

They were all shrewder than rats. 

Viscount Ventlen had left traces of his bold moves–ones that made him almost seem like he was taking a gamble. 

It was possible that he moved recklessly because Azen and Leira had died in battle. 

If only one of them had still survived, Viscount Ventlen’s plan would have failed. 

But the god of fortune smiled upon Viscount Ventlen. 

“…..”

That was why he had to shake him. 

So that he would do something he had never done before, so that he would make mistakes. 

“Leo, I’ll leave this to you.
Put pressure on the viscount by cutting him off from his investors and partners.”

The more viscount struggled, the more he would reveal his faults and weaknesses. 

Understanding the Duke of Winfried’s command, the knight, named Leo, loosely interpreted his words. 

“Yes, your grace.”

Nodding, Winfried climbed up the steps to the carriage. 

***

‘I couldn’t sleep a wink.’

Irina could only blink at the sunlight peeking through the window.

This was the first time she could not bring herself to sleep. 

Irina had always lacked sleep.

She would have to serve liquor in Ben’s inn till dawn and then wait on tables for food early in the morning. 

It was because of that, Irina only had a few hours in a day to sleep. 

That was why she would knock out the moment she laid down. 

To think that she would not be able to sleep on this soft bed of all places. 

Rising from the bed, Irina fished out the locket she had hidden underneath her pillow. 

‘What did the duke press again?’

There it was.
When she pressed on a protruding lever, the locket popped open. 

Within was the portrait of the amicable family she saw yesterday. 


Pursing her lips a couple times, Irina struggled to find the words to say. 

“… Good morning.
Mom, dad.”

That was the first time she had ever said that before. 

Mom and dad. 

She could not understand why she found it difficult to say words others could so easily utter. 

Still, after such a long time, she could finally say them.

“…..”

Irina stared at the portrait for a while with her lips tightly closed before soon getting out of bed.

Maybe it was because it had only been a day since she discovered her real name along with her parents’. 

Even though she had not slept a wink, her body felt light as a feather. 

Slipping her feet into fluffy slippers, Irina looked around the room. 

‘It’s pretty.’

She had been too frazzled yesterday to look around her room. 

She had first thought she was in Baron Barodon’s estate only to learn about her parents from the duke afterward. 

She even learned her real name.

That was why it took a whole day for her to take in her room’s interior. 

Not only the furniture in the room, but every small ornament and even the walls. 

Even though she knew nothing about luxury, she could tell that the room was adorned with expensive items. 

However, what caught Irina’s eyes was something else entirely. 

‘There’s dust here?’

In a nutshell, the cleaning in this room was a mess. 

Should she say that it was clear that the room had only been briefly swept and only places that were visible were wiped? 

She spotted dust between the creases in the curtain and the windows were not thoroughly cleaned either as there were handprints along its frame. 

Even though the low table looked wiped, there were still water stains as it was not thoroughly cleaned. 

Noticing the traces of someone who was inexperienced and had cleaned in a hurry, Irina tilted her head.

“…..”

Shouldn’t people cleaning up after aristocrats usually be good at cleaning? 

But why was the room tidied so haphazardly?

“Knock, knock.”

While she inspected the room, she heard something from the door.
Instead of actually knocking, the visitor announced her arrival with ‘knocks’.
It was Delphia. 

“Young miss, are you perhaps awake?”

“Ah, yes!”

Shaking the dust off her hands, Irina answered.

“Then, I shall be coming in!”

The door opened and Delphia, dressed in a light tunic, entered. 

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