“Haha… In the end, you’re just sulking, aren’t you?”

“There’s no way I can. I…”

Aldin hesitated to speak further and soon trailed off. Violet waited for him to continue, tilting her head slightly.

Perhaps it’s a case of birds of a feather. Even though they weren’t particularly intoxicated, such words were coming out. Violet raised her glass again. This time, she couldn’t feel the burn of the alcohol that much.

“—You’re drunk.”

“I’m not.”

“…You are drunk.”

Aldin took the glass from her and downed it in one gulp. Violet considered applauding, but she refrained. For someone who claimed not to be drunk, her behavior was excessively that of a drunkard.

Violet smiled again. It was the same smile that Rajaden had advised against suddenly doing.

During the period before and after this banquet, she had made new friends. One of them was the country’s crown prince, and the other was a duke’s illegitimate child.

“You seem quite drunk. It’s better to go inside.”

“Do you really think I’d get drunk after just two glasses?”

“……”

“You’re too much, really.”

It wasn’t so bad. As a cool breeze blew, her silvery hair fluttered. Regardless of the conversations happening inside the banquet hall, this place was like a separate world.

“Alright, I’ll get some fresh air before going inside.”

“…I’ll accompany you.”

Violet, who paid no attention to the curious glances directed at her, smiled brightly.

* * *

After the banquet ended, Violet spent some time at home, as usual. Her daily life was ordinary and unchanged, but there were quite a few changes in her surroundings.

Even if Ducal Lady Everett had no interest in the outside world, the world did not lose interest in her. Stories about the ducal lady were published in various newspapers and magazines.

Most of the rumors were just that—rumors. However, there were also cases where the truth was cleverly mixed with malicious content.

While Mary was more angered by this than Violet, who found it bothersome to respond to such matters. Violet simply told her to let it go, even though she had some suspicions as to who were the people pulling the strings behind the scenes.

“Milady, you’re really popular. Everyone’s just jealous of you.”

“I don’t need this kind of popularity. Want to take some of it, Mary?”

“I don’t need it either! Seriously, everyone’s so jealous that it’s bad!”

Jealousy was jealousy, after all. After quickly scanning through the newspapers Mary had brought, Violet couldn’t help but admire this turn of events. She had simply acted as she pleased, yet her actions had a significant impact on their own.

Articles like ‘A new design that revolutionizes the fashion industry’ or ‘The villainess aiming for both the Duke’s and the Empress’s positions’ suddenly appeared with speculations about the reclusive Lady of House Everett, revealing various conjectures.

It was an innovative kind of popularity.

Violet’s interest was piqued as she read articles that even delved into her past actions, referring to her as a ‘villainess’ and a ‘witch’. Mary, who was just positively taken aback, snatched the newspaper away from her.

“Why, it was getting interesting.”

“T-This was a mistake! Milady, you should only read the good articles.”

“It’s fine. These are actions I actually took.”

“But still, I don’t like it. Even though, when you think about it, you haven’t done anything wrong, Milady.”

“Even if there’s nothing wrong in essence, there are things that can hurt people’s feelings. It’s words that gossip knowingly.”

“But…”

Mary had tears welling up in her eyes. Violet smiled and gently patted Mary’s head. Don’t worry about it, Mary.

But despite Violet’s affectionate words, Mary still had a sulky expression. Instead, Violet decided to change the topic of conversation.

“A lot of invitations came in. Have you seen them?”

“Why would I look at Milady’s invitations? But I did see them all. The second Young Master has already filtered through them.”

“Yeah, some people have said I should look at those personally, right? Since I remembered, would you bring them over?”

“Yes, yes!”

Though the sun had risen quite a while ago, the idling Violet declared that she would do something productive for the first time.

Soon after, when Mary cheerfully brought the invitations, Violet’s expression quickly sank. Even if these had already been filtered by Roen, the contents were quite something.

The high-ranking nobility in society had not sent many invitations. Even among those that were sent, they were nothing more than Roen’s way of saying, ‘There’s no harm in attending these events if you’re bored.’

Most of the invitations were from giants in the art world.

It was a diverse set of people. There were nobles who had discovered and sponsored numerous famous artists in the empire, capitalists who ran art museums, and intellectuals known as experts in art history.

The contents of the invitations were simple. They expressed that the painting showcased at the crown prince’s birthday party had left a deep impression, and they wanted to have close interactions with the ducal lady if the opportunity arose.

At the back of her mind, Violet also considered her life as a painter. So, she separately kept invitations from people who she would benefit from being acquainted with. She wondered if she’d be able to mingle with people from the ages fifty and above.

She promptly asked Mary to bring her a pen and paper. One by one, she replied, ‘Yes, let us meet someday if there is a chance.’

After rummaging through the invitations for a while, Violet let out a brief sigh.

“Oh, I have to go to this one.”

“Huh? What is it, Milady?”

“An invitation from the imperial family.”