On opening day of the Royal Hunting Grounds, the sky appeared clear and the weather seemed pleasantly warm. Since Countess Rachel had already seen Damian with her the other day when she was out, she saw no problem with accompanying her within the hunting grounds when the Countess offered to take a stroll with her on the opening day. 

As it was an open to the public event, the spacious, beautiful forest was full of people, both common citizens and aristocrats alike .

The two ladies walked side by side with one attendant right behind them.

“The snow has been melting over the span of the past few days; I can’t wait for the flowers to begin blooming. I hope there will be many kinds of beautiful flowers to see soon.”

“Yeah, and I hope the weather gets warmer too.”

Rowena responded before turning to look at Damian and Joanne, who were following behind them from a distance. Damian’s hand held the leash of his newly adopted puppy.

After a while, the Countess noticed Rowena’s gaze that had peered back and asked in a low voice.

“The young master seems quite shy, doesn’t he?”

“Oh, yes. He is more of the sensitive kind…”

“I see, by the way…”

The Countess, who has now gotten her attention wrapped her arms around hers before lowering her voice to whisper to Rowena as she dragged her along slowly. 

“Miss Philone, You’re smarter than I thought.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Rowena tilted her head to the side at the sudden comment. Grinning, the Countess, looked at her dismissively while smiling at her.

“You know what I mean.”

“I’m asking because I really don’t know what you mean.”

“The rumor has already been spread; it says that in the department store yesterday, his excellency, the Duke, had been holding your hand the entire time you were there.”

“Ah.”

“He doesn’t seem like the kind to do that at all. but then again, men do seem to change when they fall madly in love with a woman. I was astonished when I heard that! Did you know that everyone has been buzzing about it ever since the both of you were seen yesterday?”

The Countess’s teasing giggle made Rowena’s face turn red. Though she was aware that baseless rumors spread quickly, she had not anticipated that what happened yesterday had already been circulated to such extents, already. As Rowena hesitated on what to reply, the Countess laughed and pulled her arm away from her shoulder.

“Well done; you will only need to continue doing so from now on.”

 Instead of replying, Rowena smiled faintly as she finally knew what the Countess was meaning to say.

“Even if she is the daughter of a Marquis, if she does not receive the affections of her husband-to-be, she would hold no true power. Even if it is a marriage only for appearance sake. Miss Philone, you have been by his excellency, the Duke’s side for a long time, and furthermore you’re very beautiful. So you have a rather advantageous position here. There is no need to go out of your way and try to protect her dignity or anything.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Rowena asked directly, stopping any more straightforward advice that would be thrown at her.