When the Marquis’s family saw Antes, who returned to the home for the first time in ten years, they were shocked. Meanwhile, Luna, who had stepped down from the carriage, courteously greeted them.

“It’s been a long time. Have you been doing well?”

“Ah…! Yes, we have been well. Thank you for visiting us.”

The Marchioness, who had been stiff, hurriedly greeted Luna. The Marquis also greeted her courteously, though his eyes were fixed on Antes standing next to Luna.

They thought they wouldn’t have a chance to see each other unless they bumped into each other at a New Year’s party like before, but here Antes was, voluntarily returning to the mansion.

Antes just showed an unpleasant expression but didn’t express any complaints or cause any trouble.

The atmosphere had been quite warm upon arrival, but suddenly, when the Marquis’s family couldn’t control their expressions, a baffled Baron spoke up.

“The mansion is really splendid. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such an impressive mansion.”

“Ah! Thank you. If it’s not a bother, shall I give you a short tour?”

“If it’s not too much trouble, a long tour would be fine as well.”

Originally, the plan was to offer a tour of the mansion first, starting with the garden and slowly continuing the conversation. But everything got twisted with the sudden appearance of the eldest son. They even forgot to ask Luna to look around the mansion.

Due to that, quite amusingly, the Marquis and Marchioness left Luna and Antes at the front door and headed inside with the Baron.

Just by showing up, Antes ruined the schedule smoothly, a horrified Rosemary poked his side and asked.

“Why on earth are you here?!”

You had said you would leave home and never show your face again! Why did you crawl back here?

“I just accompanied the young lady since she was coming here.”

Rosemary held her forehead at his very simple answer.

‘If that was the case, why didn’t you just come back earlier and ease our parents’ minds?’

“I told you to just stay still, I’d help! You don’t plan to ruin a rare dinner occasion, do you?”

“What help. Why are you meddling unnecessarily? When did I ever ask for it?”

“Unnecessary? You are so clueless about everything, brother!”

Wait a moment, why are both of you acting like this? They just arrived at the mansion and suddenly two siblings started fighting, Luna intervened between them.

“Rosemary, is it because I didn’t tell you that I would be coming with the young lord? If so, I’m sorry. I was so happy to find the mine that I forgot. It’s my fault.”

“Lady Luna! That’s not the…”

As Luna apologized, a flustered Rosemary hurried to explain, but unfortunately, before she could, Antes, who had placed his hand on Luna’s waist, moved towards the interior of the mansion, shaking his head.

“The young lady has nothing to apologize for. It’s weird that Rosemary suddenly got angry. I don’t understand why she is scolding me so.”

“No…!”

Seeing Rosemary, who had rashly picked a fight, only to be humorously responded to by Antes, was quite amusing.

If possible, Antes, who seemed ready to pretend to be pitiable, left Rosemary with her mouth agape, unable to breathe properly. She hurriedly chased after him.

“That’s because of brother’s past behavior! Scolding mother, getting angry at father, cursing, and never admitting fault! Is that all? Just when we managed to fix things, you came and ruined everything again!”

Rosemary exploded, saying the household situation had been unbearable because of that. Despite being young, they had to be cautious and work hard in such a thin-ice atmosphere.

“It begins again. I never thought this was the reason I left home.”

Upon this, Antes genuinely appeared annoyed. Unlike at the time of arrival, the fight had become quite serious, and Luna intervened between the two again.

“Stop it, stop it! Why are you fighting and making a scene again?”

Although not sure about the details, Luna was also frustrated at this point.

“Both of you, if you want to fight, do it outside. We visited with good hearts alongside father, but if you keep this up, we won’t visit again.”

The siblings closed their mouths and glared at each other as Luna seemed ready to grab the Baron’s hand and leave immediately.

“Besides, you’re family who will see each other for a lifetime, so if you have piled-up issues, you should discuss and resolve them well. It would be understandable if the both of you were hopeless at communicating, but you both speak well, so why are you behaving like this?”

If she only knew Antes from books, it would be understandable, but having experienced it firsthand, it seemed like the two could find a common ground through conversation and avoid further fighting.

Luna, who seemed to have thrown a fact bomb, removed Antes’s hand from her waist and strode forward.

Wondering if Rosemary and Antes felt bad since she scolded them without knowing the exact circumstances, fortunately, they both silenced and hurriedly followed behind Luna.

It was as if Luna had become the owner of a large, ill-tempered dog and a brawler of a small dog, while taking a walk. She wished for peace to return to this darn place as soon as possible and let out a sigh.

* * *

Thanks to Luna’s intervention, the worries of the Marquis’s family didn’t materialize.

Antes, having received a threat that he would be driven out if he fought again, was very well-behaved. Rosemary didn’t even look in his direction.

However, that didn’t mean the meal became peaceful. Antes, who returned home after ten years, was the center of attention for the Marquis’s family, and even the servants made minor mistakes out of nervousness.

“I’m not sure if the meal suited your taste,” the Marquis inquired.

The Baron responded with great enthusiasm:

“Of course, it was delightful. The dishes were truly exquisite! I would love to visit and dine here every day if I could. Haha!”

Not knowing how things were turning out, it was the most appropriate response. Luna sighed with relief, thankful that the Baron seemed oblivious.

“I don’t know if we, or Antes, have caused some kind of disrespect.”

“You need not worry. Young lord is treating me very well, so I’m living comfortably.”

“That’s good to hear. Nevertheless, if you ever feel uncomfortable, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“Haha! There might not be such a need, but I appreciate the sentiment.”

Even now, it seemed that the Marquis and Marchioness considered Antes as the black sheep, and they were continually focused on him.

Despite his humility and respectful attitude, it was more like they were trying to lower Antes’s worth, assuming he had done something wrong.

This could potentially hurt someone’s feelings, especially Antes, who was suddenly devalued.

“You don’t have to worry, really. Young lord is doing very well. Thanks to him, he even brought wealth to me, who was a random passerby.”

Luna, wondering if there was a need to keep doing this, joined the conversation.

No matter how immature he was in the past, he was doing very well now.

Rosemary is like that, and the Marquis and Marchioness are like that too. Luna took his side, saying she didn’t know why they kept mentioning the past instead of looking at Antes in the present.

“I decided to entrust the newly discovered diamond mine to the young lord. We need to go down there to get the specifics, so I was considering accompanying him. Of course, it depends on the young lord’s schedule, but…”

Luna smiled softly at Antes sitting beside her, leaving the option open for him to decline. However, Antes had no choice but to agree, as he couldn’t refuse.

“Even if I have to make time for it.”

“Thank you. I feel relieved.”

“Is it really so? I guess it also puts my mind at ease if the young lord accompanies us. Even if we hire excellent mercenaries, we’d want the young lord alone.”

“Now that you say that, I just can’t refuse.”

Thanks to this, the Marquis and the Marchioness could no longer show any worries. No, not only that, but they even were speechless because the Baron trusted Antes so much and treated him so friendly.

They  always thought that they should do that, but they had never taken Antes’ side ever since before.

It was unbelievable they would make this mistake again when they hadn’t even seen their own son, who was hurt because of that, for over ten years.

They were truly unworthy of being parents.

“Baron Peils, I apologize, but something urgent has come up. Could we postpone the after-dinner activities for the next opportunity?”

With that, the Marquis encouraged the guests to finish their meal, genuinely expressing his regrets, and promising to extend another invitation soon.

“Ah, I see. Very well, I understand. You should do what is necessary. Thank you for inviting us today.”

“No need to thank me. I’m grateful for your visit.”

Why all of a sudden? We haven’t even started the proper conversation yet!

Rosemary’s eyes wandered, but after Luna gave a threatening message telling her to stay quiet, she remained silent.

Besides, with the Marquis’s sudden mention of business, Luna and the Baron, along with Antes, were already prepared to leave.

“Father…?!” Rosemary called out, confused about the situation. 

What business did they have, when they got this opportunity, so why are they sending them out like this without even getting to the point?

“Hold your tongue, Rosemary,” the Marchioness restrained her.

Now wasn’t the time.

“Thank you for your hospitality today. We shall take our leave. May you remain in peace until we meet again.”

Ultimately, the guests, having barely concluded their meal, made their way back to the carriage.

Antes, who had grabbed Luna’s hand and boarded the carriage, glanced back at Rosemary and the Marquis couple with a cold, disapproving gaze.

* * *

Despite settling the agreement with the nobility smoothly through persuasion and pressure, Duke’s mood remained incredibly uncomfortable

There was no need to ask why. It was always Fersen who made problems for the Duke.

Upon hearing the news that even Seira had left due to Fersen’s idiotic behavior, the Duke dislocated Fersen’s arm, which had been healing.

The Granada Marquis and Marchioness reassured the Duke that their daughter’s heart would soon soften, but the Duke knew that without a change in Fersen, this wretched situation would repeat.

However, Fersen wouldn’t change; he was born foolish.

‘It would have been better to attach that Luna Peils to him, even as a concubine. Rather than end up with such a mess.’

If he had known that Luna Peils would be fortunate like this, he would have immediately attached her to Fersen when he felt that Fersen liked her. Instead, he had ended up with nothing but results that didn’t make sense for his family’s status.

In any case, if he left it like this, he would undoubtedly hear that she was of lower rank than a concubine. That was absolutely unacceptable. So, there was only one solution.

“Your Grace, have you summoned me?”

Recently, the atmosphere in the mansion had been gloomy, so the anxious-faced butler bowed deeply to the Duke. In response, the Duke sighed deeply and began to speak to the butler.

“Where is Lady Granada?”

“Um… I’ve sent her a few letters, but she hasn’t replied.”

The butler, who answered, swallowed dry. It wasn’t his fault, but he had to bear the Duke’s anger several times just because he was in charge of it.

Fortunately, the Duke didn’t get angry anymore. Instead, he unexpectedly brought up another matter.

“Find a woman who meets the conditions written in this note. As soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

The butler replied and checked the note. Then, he couldn’t help but ask the Duke inquisitively.

“Is this… about Lady Luna Peils, Your Grace?”

The conditions written in the note were very similar to Luna’s appearance: black hair, blue eyes, slightly raised eyes, fair skin, and so on.

The only difference was the condition that she must be willing to do anything for money.

What in the world was the Duke planning to do with a woman who resembled Lady Luna Peils?

The butler’s eyes wandered, but the Duke simply motioned for him to hurry and go.