In other words, it was the perfect kind of story to gossip about.

‘… this is dangerous.’

The reason Nathan Colta’s issue wasn’t made public was simple. The tabloids feared my father.

But there was another reason hidden behind that.

If Nathan Colta were in his right mind, he wouldn’t spill why I did it or where he saw me before.

He probably hadn’t even heard any leads worth clinging to.

Unfortunately, Lady Declamen was the exact opposite of Nathan Colta.

‘She’ll try to explain everything that happened and her current situation.’

Hoping to exaggerate and reveal everything at the most dramatic moment.

So, I couldn’t afford to naively believe the newspapers would stay silent this time.

‘What’s more troublesome is…’

If Lady Declamen made a fuss, it would inevitably spread that I was there. People loved a good story.

In the process, the fact that I wrecked the floor of the pastry shop would come to light again.

If someone dug into that, this time, the shocking scandal that Duke Chelsiers’s daughters grew up as commoners might rock Rom…

I consciously stopped my thoughts from spiraling into gloom.

‘I can still manage this.’

Knowing Leah Fawcett was doing her best outside, my job here was to silence Lady Declamen.

Somehow.

Just as I was refining my logic and reasoning, there came a knock on the door.

“Miss, the guest has arrived.”

Emerson bowed politely. He walked over, grasped the door handle, and looked back at me for a final confirmation.

I nodded calmly.

“… I shall take my leave, Miss. It was an honor to meet you.”

With a courteous and composed farewell, he opened the door.

The old woman’s eyes revealed beyond… glinted with a strange metallic sheen.

“Nice to meet you.”

Those were the woman’s first words as she hastily pulled open the door Emerson had slightly opened.

I lowered my gaze to the table. Knowing Louis standing behind the sofa would speak for me.

“Mind your manners, Lady Declamen. This is Duke Chelsiers.”

Thud.

Emerson fully exited and closed the door.

Hmph.

I heard a snort. And footsteps approaching at a steady pace.

“If we’re talking manners, you shouldn’t be standing there. Have you no conscience? Serving Ashel’s daughter is absurd.”

“Lady Declamen.”

“After my dear sister who favored you died, you shamelessly stuck to Ashel, parasitizing.”

Lady Declamen said with a sneer.

“Well, then. Though you are my granddaughter, I shall show courtesy. Your Excellency Duke Chelsiers. May I take a seat?”

I slowly raised my head.

Lady Declamen’s face was more ordinary than expected.

She didn’t look like someone who would beat innocent employees with an umbrella or hurl abuse at Louis out of irritation.

She just looked like an ordinary old lady.

‘… they don’t look alike.’

Not in the slightest bit like my father.

If someone said this ordinary old woman was related to a man as cold and elegant as ice standing in a snowfield… no one would believe it without suspicion.

‘People who saw the earlier commotion might have trouble judging by appearance alone if they don’t know the details.’

The black eyes that met mine with a cool guess narrowed slightly, distorting their resemblance to my father.

“… you do resemble Ashel.”

I replied calmly.

“I hear that often.”

Behind me, I heard Louis hastily stifling a laugh. Though I didn’t say it to amuse him, I didn’t mind his reaction.

The seated old woman’s face turned red in an instant.

“I am your great-aunt, and you show no manners…”

I raised my eyebrow slightly.

How about you?

Realizing this inconsistency as she spoke, she didn’t finish her sentence.

So, she knew shame. An unexpected revelation.

But the beginning was smooth.

“Very well. Are you seeking Duke Chelsiers’s courtesy?”

Her narrowed eyes deepened like furrows.

“… yes.”

“What kind of courtesy, exactly?”

The ensuing question made her eyes gleam more brightly.

Hope.

The most beautiful emotion in a person.

Just as a water lily rooted in mud is beautiful, hope based on muddy greed was equally radiant.

Wasn’t it fascinating?

Her excited lips quickly uttered.

“Treatment as family.”

“If you mean family.”

“I am your family. Didn’t you know? I raised Ashel.”

“…”

“When my sister and brother-in-law tragically passed early, Ashel, who inherited the title by order, was young. Swindlers who tried to deceive a young Ashel for his wealth, like the one behind you…”

“Please get to the point.”

Louis’s low, calm voice clearly showed his boredom.

For a moment, Lady Declamen’s wrinkled lips twisted openly. The chilling malice dripped like poison from her slightly protruding mouth.

It was like looking at a snake’s mouth.

The well-sharpened fangs of malice. The tongue split and flickering with greed. The glistening jewelry covering the body like scales.

A snake’s mouth spoke human words.

“Anyway, Ashel was very young. Young. Poor thing… even if it’s Astariol, at such a young age, they wouldn’t have discernment.”

… hmm.

Did she really expect to be believed?

‘No, well. If that’s how she wants to portray it.’

Honestly, it was a bit laughable. Neither Louis nor I laughed out of respect for my deceased grandparents.

Did she really say <poor thing> in front of my father? Probably not.

I suddenly felt like I was watching a short play. I signaled Louis not to interrupt.

Let’s see how far she went.

Then there was more.

Did she think my simple rejection meant siding with her? Lady Declamen’s voice grew more dramatic and exaggerated.

“Young Ashel was a truly lovely child. The only regret was that my sister raised him poorly, making him unaffectionate. Every time he called me <Aunt>, I vowed to raise him as my own… but it wasn’t easy.”

The old woman glanced at my face, looking for a reaction. She was disappointed by my indifferent expression.

“Perhaps I couldn’t fully understand the heart of a child who lost his parents.”

That seemed correct.

The long-winded tale continued for a while.

How cold and heartless young Ashel was.

How my paternal grandmother found my unchildlike, aloof father uncomfortable.

How, conversely, she adored Louis…

Without any personal memories of my father, she endlessly slandered others.

After her once clear voice grew hoarse, Lady Declamen finally got to the point.

With a pitiful, long-winded voice.

“Let me return to Chelsiers. I lived there for ten years from when Ashel was ten. So, technically, I am one of your family.”

Then what of the current emperor who hid as a knight in Chelsiers for five years to prepare for the coup? Was he half Chelsiers, then?

An emperor who was half-Chelsiers—what an honor for the family.

“Ashel must be missing the one who raised him.”

The only person my father ever truly missed was my mother. I swore by Fermata.

‘If she’s saying such ridiculous things, she must have run out of things to say.’

Out of courtesy, I asked.

“Are you done?”

At first, she surely had expectations. But as my expression remained unchanged, Lady Declamen’s tone grew more desperate.

And now.

The dark eyes of someone who had their hope taken away were chillingly gloomy.

Eyes that inflated a hope never given, quickly turned to resentment, and finally hatred.

“I thought you only resembled Ashel, but you also resembled your mother a lot. Nothing good comes from resembling a woman like that.”

Being told I resembled my mother? It was the first time I heard that in my life.

Although the tone wasn’t fitting, I almost felt grateful.

Louis’s voice lowered further.

“Lady Declamen. There are many ways to show you the value of what you have. Do we need His Excellency to arrive for you to stop such rude remarks?”

Oh. He sent someone to my father. Whispering something to Leah earlier…

That was so like Louis.

Despite being flustered, he didn’t completely lose his composure.

Anyone with common sense would give up by now. But Lady Declamen wasn’t such a person.

She glared at Louis with bloodshot eyes.

Inferiority complex.

The intense jealousy towards someone loved by her sister, trusted by her nephew, and sharing life and death with the Chelsiers family.

And a moment of fierce impulse.

The desire to ruin this solid bond.

‘She’s going to do something.’

As that premonition passed, Lady Declamen laughed sharply.

“No wonder.”

Her sharp gaze turned to me.

“Don’t trust the one behind you too much. What do you think he thinks of you, having been involved in an adultery trial with your mother?”