Episode 39

As I exited the Duke’s office, having been strongly urged to request the Grand Duke as my partner, I heard raised voices from the nearby office of the young lord, Servi.

“Do you still not understand? Go and deliver the message!”

“Young Lord.”

The commotion was coming from Servi’s office, which wasn’t far from the Duke’s.

‘What’s going on?’

As I approached, I saw that Aria had arrived before me and was standing there, her eyes wide open.

“Oh, Mindia.”

Aria noticed me and acknowledged my presence with a slight nod. I returned the gesture just as briefly. Aria glanced around cautiously and then whispered to me.

“You know, Father is holding my debutante ball…”

“I heard.”

I responded in a way that conveyed there was no need to boast to me. Then, Aria said something just as unexpected as the Duke had.

“Could you deliver this letter to His Grace, the Grand Duke, for me?”

“A letter?”

Aria handed me a dainty letter. The envelope read “To His Grace, Grand Duke Chris Elzerian.”

‘It’s obviously a request for Chris… the Grand Duke to be her partner at the debutante ball.’

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“I’d like to deliver it to His Grace personally… but the maids suggested it would be better if you did it.”

“……”

“Since you’ll be delivering the letter, you’ll get to see His Grace’s face again.”

Aria spoke as if she were doing me a favor, giving me a jealous look.

“Oh, how I wish I could go see His Grace myself.”

I sighed inwardly at her expression.

The maids must have suggested that she have me deliver the letter because they were aware of the implications.

‘It wouldn’t look good for the precious daughter of the Reinhardt family to be openly courting the Grand Duke, who is their enemy.’

From the outside, it could make the Reinhardt family seem inferior to Elzerian.

But it didn’t matter if I delivered it. I was already madly pursuing the Grand Duke. Besides…

‘My actions could be dismissed as the disgraceful whims of a woman who isn’t even a true blood relative.’

The intent behind their suggestion was so transparent that I almost refused. But then, I reconsidered.

‘I should probe Chris a bit.’

I could use this opportunity to gauge whether or not he had feelings for Aria. The conversation around this letter would likely reveal the truth.

I decided to go through with it, intending to learn what I could and then think about my next steps.

A chill ran through my heart, only to subside quickly. Aria, with an innocent face, handed me the letter as if it were a great favor.

“Please.”

“…Alright.”

I carefully took the letter and tucked it away. I noticed the maids standing behind Aria whispering and giving me strange looks.

Meanwhile, the loud voices from Servi’s office started up again.

“Where do you get off acting so high and mighty…?”

‘Who could he be yelling at?’

Curiosity piqued, I discreetly peeked inside the office.

There were two people standing before Servi.

One was his secretary and attendant, and the other was…

The moment I recognized the second person, I quickly turned my body and moved to a position where I couldn’t be seen from inside the office.

‘It’s that man from the Oracle.’

He was the one guarding the door when I visited the Oracle’s headquarters alone. It seemed he wasn’t just a doorman but also a messenger. The man stood silently, not reacting to anything Servi said.

Servi spoke in a restrained voice.

“If you think you’re the only one with complaints, you’re mistaken.”

‘So the Oracle has expressed dissatisfaction to Servi.’

Could it be related to my visit? If so, how much had the Oracle’s leader told Servi?

I had gone in disguise, but…

‘It would be troublesome if they mentioned anything about me.’

It would be bad if they started investigating whether someone like me existed among the servants.

Aria, hearing Servi’s raised voice, turned away with a look of regret.

“It seems Brother is busy. I’ll go ahead. I have an appointment with Brother Seth as well.”

“My Lady, we should hurry. Young Master Seth said he would buy you only the finest jewels.”

“That’s right. Nothing but the best.”

Aria’s maids made sure to mention these things in front of me, giggling as they did. Aria smiled at their words and left with them.

I stood there for a moment, reflecting on my own debutante.

‘It was the worst.’

There was a tradition for debutantes in the Empire.

There was a tradition in noble families where the male relatives, usually an older male or brother, would choose jewels or flowers for the young lady making her debut at the debutante ball. If she had a fiancé, he would take on this task instead.

…In my first life, I attended my debutante ball with no flowers, no jewels, unlike everyone else.

The Duke, as well as Servi and Seth, had no intention of giving me anything affectionate or symbolic.

I could have asked my partner for something, but I was too stubborn and proud to accept anything that didn’t come from the Duke’s family. So, I didn’t ask.

At that time, my partner was a distant relative of the Duke’s family, chosen merely to save face.

‘Damn it, of all things, why did I have to be stuck with a partner like this?’

As soon as we entered, he left to mingle with the other young ladies making their debut, and I was so offended that I caused a scene.

If I hadn’t been a daughter of the Duke’s family and one of the main debutantes of that year, I would have been politely escorted out for my behavior.

‘Back then, I just wanted people to know I was there, even if it meant acting out.’

Looking back now…

That moment seemed designed to starkly contrast the beautiful, glamorous debutante ball of Aria, as depicted in the original story, with my own disastrous debut.

I smiled bitterly as I quietly moved on.

That’s when it happened.

“You.”

Servi called out to me sharply. He must have noticed me passing by his office.

My heart raced as I locked eyes with the man from the Oracle.

‘It would be troublesome if he recognized me.’

Servi glared at me with clear irritation.

“Why are you loitering around here?”

“I was just passing by. The Duke summoned me.”

“Then get lost. You’re in the way.”

The man from the Oracle looked at me indifferently. I couldn’t tell if he recognized me as the maid who had been in disguise.

Just as I pretended to cough and lowered my gaze, the man yawned slightly and turned his head.

‘…He hasn’t recognized me yet.’

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was about to leave when I remembered something I needed to say, so I quickly added, keeping my head down.

“Oh, and by the way, the Duke mentioned…”

I was originally going to inform Servi about the budget allocation for the dress, hoping to give him a heads-up so he wouldn’t cause a scene later.

But Servi cut me off immediately, his annoyance flaring up.

“Stop eavesdropping like a rat and get out of here!”

‘Well, it’s probably fine.’

Even if he got annoyed later, the Duke had approved it, so I wouldn’t be in any real trouble.

I quickly returned to my room. I didn’t want to stay any longer and risk being recognized by that man.

When I arrived, Marie was there to greet me.

“My Lady! Did the Duke say anything unreasonable?”

“Yes, but Marie, I have something to deliver to Chris… I mean, His Grace, the Grand Duke.”

I got straight to the point, and Marie’s eyes widened in surprise.

* * *

Servi was quite agitated.

Not only had the informant from the information guild shown up at the mansion unannounced, but he had also had the audacity to lecture Servi about managing information properly.

‘If Father finds out, it’ll be a disaster.’

The Duke was a proud man.

If he learned that a mere information guild had broken the rules he had set and came here, he would surely be furious and blame Servi for mishandling the situation.

‘I need to prevent that.’

Servi had already shared quite a lot with this guild. In his efforts to dig up dirt on other noble families, even without the Duke’s orders, he had ended up revealing many secrets of the Reinhardt family.

Servi suppressed his anger and lowered his voice. The realization that his office wasn’t far from the Duke’s made his heart pound.

He closed the door to the young lord’s office and whispered.

“I have nothing more to say to you. Go back and tell your oh-so-great guild master to mind his own business.”

“You don’t need to worry about us.”

“Ha! You tell me not to worry, yet you bring me poison of such poor quality?”

Servi’s outburst was a knee-jerk reaction, an attempt to deflect blame.

But the man from the Oracle raised an eyebrow meaningfully at his words.

‘That’s almost exactly what that maid said to the guild master.’

The maid who had boldly come to the Oracle’s headquarters alone and had said all sorts of things to the guild master. The maid who claimed to be from the Reinhardt Duchy.

‘…Did this guy really send that maid?’

In truth, the Oracle had sent this man for several reasons.

One of them was to confirm whether the maid who had come earlier had truly been sent by the Duke’s household. If she hadn’t been, it would mean there was a leak somewhere.

But as soon as he broached the subject, Servi had erupted in anger, delaying the confirmation.

“You sell us defective goods and then have the nerve to accuse us of not managing things properly?”

Servi continued to vent his misplaced anger.

Once again, it eerily matched the lies Mindia had spun. The man from the Oracle was now certain.

‘So she really was a maid from the Duke’s household.’

And at the same time, he thought:

‘If the master is this brazen, it’s no wonder the maid spoke so boldly.’

The more he thought about the things the guild master had heard, the more absurd it seemed.

This marked the beginning of a rift in the long-standing relationship between the Reinhardt family and the Oracle.

And Servi, preoccupied with the Oracle, completely forgot about his promise to Aria.