As soon as Rosemary left, Royer swiftly brought up a new topic.

“By the way, Baron. Did you hear that Lady Luna has decided to invest in a free hospital?”

“A free hospital?”

“Yes! We are just waiting for the Emperor’s permission.”

“The Emperor’s permission? Luna, what is this all about?”

The Baron asked for an explanation, his eyes twinkling. Thanks to that, Luna, who was about to chase after Rosemary, was abruptly stopped.

“Oh, that’s… “

So Antes chased after Rosemary instead of her.

Fortunately, Rosemary, who is a bit shorter than average, was caught by Antes just before reaching the entrance. With a calm demeanor, she looked at Antes and asked:

“What’s going on? You’re escorting me out.”

“Don’t talk nonsense about escorting. What kind of scheme are you hiding to engage in such outrageous acts?”

The atmosphere suggested that if she didn’t answer properly, things wouldn’t end well. Rosemary was at a loss.

“It’s ridiculous. I am helping someone now, and you’re saying this? Do you think I’m doing this because I like it? I would rather have a meal with Lady Luna than running away like this?”

What are you talking about, seriously.

For a moment, Antes had such an expression, Rosemary spoke in a slightly aggrieved tone.

“You act sharp and pretend to understand everything usually, but you really don’t know what’s important. Think about it. If relations between the Baron’s family and our family improve starting from this exchange, who will benefit the most?”

“You.”

Antes’s answer came without a hint of hesitation. It was true, so Rosemary, feeling a little stung, coughed awkwardly and started lecturing again.

“No! It’s for my older brother, okay? If the families get along well, what kind of discussions will take place? Obviously, it’s a marriage proposal between my older brother and Lady Luna!”

“…What?”

Marriage? The conversation had taken an unexpected turn, making Antes frown.

“Just look, my brother is desperately clinging to Lady Luna. If I say I’ll help, shouldn’t you be saying ‘Oh, thank you!’ with tears in your eyes?”

You idiot! You fool! The Crown Prince, who’s much better positioned than you, is eyeing Lady Luna!

“So if someone helps you, gratefully accept it. Don’t act coy and regret it later.”

Having vented her frustrations, Rosemary left the conversation, deeming it worthless, and stepped out onto the carriage. Without any hesitation, she left Luna’s residence.

Marriage, Luna, and him?

Luna, who’s still contemplating breaking up with him, would surely be astonished to hear such talk.

Antes also just realized his special feelings for Luna after his recent birthday, so the idea of marriage was a bit sudden.

Struck by unexpected words, Antes spent a while in thought, unable to return to the terrace.

* * *

“It’s amazing that our Luna had planned such a great project!”

“It’s a big project indeed. It’s just a method thought of to reduce taxes slightly since I earn a lot.”

A while later, when Antes had gathered his thoughts and returned to the terrace, Luna and the Baron were still discussing the free hospital.

Noticing that he had finished his conversation with Rosemary, Luna asked Antes without moving her lips much:

“What was that about?”

There Antes hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

If he mentioned the marriage stuff Rosemary brought up, Luna would probably scream and avoid him for a year.

“She was just talking nonsense.”

“Ah, really. Why did she suddenly say that?”

Luna sighed deeply, mentioning that Rosemary sometimes causes trouble like this.

Then, seemingly helpless, she asked the Baron, who was being told by Royer about how amazing Luna’s charitable work was:

“By the way, father. Are you really going to visit the Marquis’s residence? Is there a need? You won’t be in the capital for long, do you have the leisure to do that?”

She tried to dissuade him from visiting, suggesting spending leisure time together in the capital instead, but the Baron elaborated thoroughly, stopping her from saying anything more.

“There’s a debt of gratitude, and it’s a neighboring estate so we need to exchange courtesies. It’s close, but commuting from Vincent to Peils wasn’t an easy task, so now I need to ask around and secure a proper plot in Peils estate.”

“…”

It was indeed a long explanation, and there was nothing more to argue about.

She even felt guilty for neglecting the Baron, who mentioned it was quite troublesome until now.

“Alright. But I’ll go with you.”

It wasn’t about letting him go alone, of course. She knew that the Marquis and Marchioness were nice people, but it was still their first meeting and she was worried.

“Oh, really? I was actually feeling a bit apprehensive going alone, but hearing this makes me relieved. Luna, with you accompanying, we can have more fruitful discussions.”

The Baron was pleased with this. No matter Luna had acquired two gold mines, the difference in status between them and the Marquis’s family was immense. It was true she’d feel suppressed if going alone.

While the father and daughter were having such a conversation, Antes, who had been quietly listening, suddenly chimed in.

“I will accompany you too.”

“…Yes?”

At that remark, not only Luna, but also Royer dropped the fork he was holding in shock, unable to hide his astonishment.

“No, you didn’t even properly greet your parents at the New Year’s party. But what do you mean by accompanying?”

Unable to talk about other’s family matters, Luna who couldn’t say anything hit the table lightly with her fingers, demanding an answer.

“Really? If you do so, I’d be happy. With Luna and young lord, I feel reassured.”

“Yes. Let me know when the date is set.”

But Antes didn’t give a clear answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to answer, but rather he was also confused because he had heard some nonsense.

Nevertheless, since Luna said she would go to the Marquis’s residence, his first thought was he should follow her.

It wasn’t about returning to the mansion and living there, so rather following along was more comforting.

“Miss, a letter has arrived.”

Meanwhile, a letter arrived in front of Luna. The sender was a mining company.

After finding the second gold mine, there hadn’t been any significant results, so Luna reviewed the contents with a light heart.

“…Huh?”

Then she froze and dropped the letter on the table. Laura, who had witnessed it, unknowingly swallowed her breath as the scene overlapped with what she had seen last time.

“Oh, Miss, what’s written in the letter? Did they find something in the mine again?”

Her voice was quite loud, so everyone focused on Luna. But unlike Laura, the eyes full of high expectations weren’t the same.

They weren’t gods of fortune; having found two gold mines, it seemed unlikely they’d find something again.

However, that didn’t mean they weren’t curious about the content, so with faces urging her to tell what was written, they waited for an answer.

Then-

“…It, it exploded.”

Luna spat out incomprehensible words. Laura became speculative and smoothly misunderstood Luna’s words.

“What?! Did the gold mine explode?! Was there an explosion?!”

Since there was a process of blasting mines with explosives during mining, there was no other way to interpret the answer.

“What?! Really, Miss?!”

“Luna! Exactly how much damage has occurred?!”

Others also took the meaning like Laura, asking how it happened and everyone couldn’t hide their shock.

It was a complete mess. Amidst that, Antes who realized Luna’s expression was a bit different from the rest picked up the dropped letter, read it and opened his eyes wide-

“The diamond mine finally exploded!”

Bang!

Luna who slammed the table and stood up shouted as if she couldn’t believe it.

“…What?”

“…Yes?”

Suddenly, the atmosphere turned cold. The diamond mine finally exploded, it was a phrase nobody understood.

But to explain the situation properly, Luna was too excited, so the communication between them wasn’t smooth.

With that, Antes who checked the letter and froze for a moment, read out loud the important part so everyone could understand.

“A significant amount of diamonds were discovered at the very beginning of the mine. This is the first time such a case has occurred, so you should come down and take a look.”