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~Chapter 45~
In a banquet hall in the capital, women dressed in splendid gowns gathered in small groups, chattering away.
“Have you heard the news?”
“Yes. They say the Grand Duchess of Teabrite is hosting a tea party.”
Despite never having shown their faces in social gatherings, the Teabrite Grand Duke and Duchess were always a hot topic in high society.
Beneath fluttering fans, crimson lips showed no sign of closing.
“Do you think Teabrite will finally change now? Now that there’s a new lady of the house.”
“Will they start appearing in the capital at last?”
“Come on. That closed-off family?”
Apollion’s biological mother had long been gravely ill, and ever since Claire became Grand Duchess, the atmosphere had never allowed for hosting parties. The grand ducal ballroom had remained tightly shut for over ten years.
Naturally, they had never attended any social events held in the capital either.
“Oh, come to think of it, wasn’t the Grand Duchess’s former fiancé the young lord of Sonod from Quinton?”
“They broke off the engagement and she married the Grand Duke almost immediately.”
“She doesn’t seem like the type, but honestly… does she even think things through?”
Malicious gossip about the so-called monster Grand Duke and his wife drifted throughout the hall. At the same time, the name Sonod was repeatedly brought up as well.
“But still, the young Duke of Quinton was a bit much, wasn’t he?”
“That’s true. Honestly, I never understood why such a pretty and intelligent young lady was with him in the first place.”
“But surely he’s better than the monster Grand Duke, no?”
Paradoxically, the faces of those rattling off cruel rumors were filled with strange excitement and curiosity. All of them were people who had not been invited to the wedding and knew nothing of the real circumstances.
“Still, it seems the Grand Duchess wasn’t completely indifferent to the Quinton young lord. I mean, she married so conspicuously right after the engagement was broken.”
“I heard she rushed to find a groom. They say she sent out more than ten marriage proposals.”
The women exchanged stories they had each heard, exclaiming “Oh my!” as rumors swelled in an instant.
At that moment, one young lady who had been listening set down the glass she was holding.
The sharp clink of glass silenced the surrounding chatter.
She merely lifted the corners of her red lips into a seductive smile, without saying a word.
Instead, she brushed her long, wine-colored hair behind her ear. Seeing this, the woman who seemed to be the leader of the group forced an awkward smile and spoke up.
“Everyone, shall we stop standing around here and head into Marigold Hall? I hear they’re exhibiting artworks imported from the Eastern Continent.”
“Oh, that sounds lovely.”
The young ladies hurriedly nodded and dispersed. Groups that had been gathered nearby quickly scattered.
She unfolded her fan and raised it, concealing everything but her eyes. The gray gaze visible above it was cold.
She had gone out in a good mood for once. Linger here any longer, and it would only sour her temper. It seemed best to return home.
“Kady Tarea.”
At the familiar voice calling her name, the woman turned around.
“Oh my, Young Duke of Quinton?”
Sonod was leaning against a pillar near the entrance of the banquet hall, watching her.
Kady glanced at the grandfather clock hanging along the right side of the corridor. There was still plenty of time before the banquet ended.
“What brings you here so suddenly?”
“Suddenly? Since when did we ever bother with formalities when meeting?”
At that, Kady laughed behind her fan.
“Well, one must at least acknowledge how impatient you are.”
Sonod looked no different than usual. Still, Kady immediately sensed his agitation. His scarlet tongue unconsciously moistened his dry lips.
“Then shall we talk over a meal at my residence?”
When Sonod nodded, Kady turned first.
After issuing instructions to a nearby maid, Kady began walking toward the carriage with dignified steps.
Sonod followed, watching the deep green hem of her gown trail across the floor.
At the Tarea Marquessate’s private residence, soft light spilled from the dining room.
The two sat across a wide table, eating in silence.
Unlike Kady, who leisurely savored her food, Sonod fidgeted with his knife in obvious agitation. His plate remained untouched, the steak long since gone cold.
Kady observed him quietly before speaking.
“Does the food not suit your taste?”
At her voice so close by, Sonod lifted his head. Kady dabbed her lips lightly with her napkin.
Instead of answering, Sonod slightly furrowed his brow.
“No.”
It hardly looked like it. Kady gave him a curious look.
“The food hasn’t gone down at all. I thought perhaps it didn’t agree with you. I’m relieved.”
“…Do you think I called you here just to eat leisurely?”
“Then what was it?”
“You invited me, yet you’ve said nothing this entire time. Naturally, I assumed you meant only to dine.”
Kady lifted her wine glass. The color of the wine mirrored the red of her lips.
Faced with her smiling eyes, Sonod twisted his mouth into a crooked expression.
“You really haven’t changed. Still saying nothing but infuriating things.”
“People don’t change so easily.”
I’ve always been infuriating, after all, Kady added lightly.
Sonod let out a short, resigned laugh.
“The wine aroma is lovely, isn’t it?”
“…Enough. Let’s get straight to the point.”
His attitude was completely different now. Kady lifted her chin with elegance and nodded, signaling him to continue.
It was insolent behavior toward a young duke, but Sonod did not point it out. At the moment, he was the one in the weaker position.
“I heard you’re engaged.”
“Oh.”
A short exclamation escaped Kady’s lips. She could already guess where this was going.
“I sent you an invitation at the engagement ceremony, Young Duke. When there was no reply, I assumed you hadn’t known.”
She smiled sweetly, her tone subtly barbed.
“I hear your fiancé is a Phaendanton.”
“Yes. That’s right. Somehow, I’ve become connected to the imperial family.”
Sonod sneered inwardly.
Boasting over being engaged to a half-baked royal. Worse, Count Phaendanton had Northern blood mixed in—an outsider.
“Belated congratulations on your engagement, Kady.”
But Sonod did not voice those thoughts aloud.
“Thank you.”
She returned his words with an equally bright smile.
Hylos Phaendanton—
the only son of Princess Magnolia, the full-blooded sister of the late emperor and aunt to the current emperor, Blickshire Ignit.
A capable mage who had only recently been granted the title of count.
Kady was soon to welcome the greatest mage in the empire as her husband.
And neither of them was unaware that brief marriage talks had once taken place between Petunia and Count Phaendanton.
That was why Kady subtly narrowed her eyes. What, exactly, had driven this prideful man to seek her out?
“I said I’d get straight to the point, so I won’t waste time.”
“Please do.”
“I need your fiancé’s help.”
“….”
Kady’s gaze sank low. Though her lips still curved into a gentle smile, her eyes directed at Sonod were icy.
As she slid her empty glass aside, a servant refilled it with wine.
“What kind of help?”
“I’d like to discuss that directly with Count Phaendanton.”
Kady stopped midway through lifting her glass and set it down again. He had a real talent for ruining appetites.
“Young Duke, then I’ll be direct as well.”
“You seek help through me, yet you refuse to tell me anything.”
“I’m sorry, but I must refuse.”
Her words were spoken with a pleasant smile, so much so that Sonod nearly mistook them for agreement.
Grinding his teeth internally, he replied,
“…Isn’t that why I called it a favor?”
In suppressing his rising anger, polite speech that didn’t suit him slipped out.
“And isn’t that why I refused? A favor doesn’t mean I must accept it.”
“Besides, it’s not something I can decide on my own. What matters is my fiancé’s will.”
Yet Sonod knew full well that Count Phaendanton would never refuse Kady’s request.
Phaendanton was a half-blooded noble with foreign lineage. Even if he carried royal blood and was a mage, conservative nobles would never truly welcome him.
To establish himself within the empire, he would inevitably need the support of another house.
That was precisely why he had become engaged to Kady. The Tarea Marquessate could serve as the foundation he needed to take firm root in the Ignit Empire.
Sonod understood this perfectly—and that was why he had approached Kady first.
Rather than meeting Count Phaendanton directly, with whom he had no connection, it seemed easier to exploit Phaendanton’s need for the power of House Tarea.
As expected, however, Kady was no easy opponent.
“I’m not a philanthropist. I’m not kind enough to grant favors without compensation.”
Kady said this with a soft chuckle.
House Tarea, Kady’s family, possessed wealth second to none within the empire.
Every year, high-quality grapes were harvested in Tarea’s lands, and their specialty wine played a major role in swelling the family coffers.
Wine bearing the Tarea crest was of the finest quality, offered to high-ranking nobles and exported across the world.
Yet the aristocracy was a group that delighted in picking at others’ flaws.
Most nobles clicked their tongues at the sight of the Marquess of Tarea personally involving himself in business, calling it vulgar.
Obsessing over wealth was the behavior of a lowly merchant, not a refined noble.
Of course, many nobles dabbled in business.
But House Tarea controlled everything—from production to distribution to monopoly—under the direct command of the family head. It was undeniably a different approach.
They muttered criticisms behind his back, words they would never dare speak to his face.
The Marquess of Tarea, however, paid no mind. He would only laugh heartily.
After all, the wine flowing past their thin lips all came from Tarea’s lands.
And to point fingers at House Tarea as vulgar, when their reputation and power were so lofty, was laughable. No matter how much they sneered from below, not a single scratch would mar Tarea’s name.
That was the story Kady was telling now.
