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"How has His Highness the Crown Prince been doing lately? I imagine he must've been quite disheartened because of Duke Averil's incident. Is he all right?"
"He's still not completely recovered, but he's getting better. You don't have to worry, Letty."
Seeing that Ezkhiel's complexion wasn't pale, it seemed to be true. If even Matthias caused a scene on top of everything else, it would've been an absolute disaster, so it was a relief that things were calm.
"Still, if His Highness ever takes his frustration out on you, tell me right away, okay? If it gets bad, I'll go straight to His Majesty the Emperor and tattle on him."
"…I'll take the thought, Letty. Thank you for worrying about me."
Ezkhiel gave her an awkward smile as she held his hand. When Letticia left the parlor and stepped into the entrance hall, she saw Lenard standing by the open door, and across from him, Ariette greeting him politely.
"Well then, I'll be off. Thank you for seeing me out, young lord."
Before Letticia could call out, Ariette had already stepped outside. Letticia stood there looking puzzled, wondering if Ariette had shown up without notice. The door closed, and as Lenard turned around, he noticed Letticia and approached her.
"Ezkhiel, are you heading out now?"
"Yes. But what's going on with Lady Averil? I didn't hear that she'd be visiting today."
"She came to see me. Said it wasn't proper to apologize through the communicator and that she wanted to meet in person."
However, Lenard didn't look particularly pleased for someone who'd just received an apology. Ezkhiel seemed to notice as well, and asked with a confused look.
"Then why do you look like that? Was her apology not sincere?"
"No, she apologized properly. She even promised that her brothers wouldn't cause any more trouble for me because of her visit, and that she wouldn't inconvenience me again in the future."
"Then it doesn't sound like she said anything strange… so what's wrong?"
"…I don't know. Honestly, I have no idea."
Instead of explaining further, Lenard just went upstairs. It was unlike him, usually he was sharp and composed about everything. Watching him go, Letticia turned to Ezkhiel.
"What's wrong with my brother? He didn't seem that angry at Lady Averil."
"I know. But if he says he doesn't know, there's not much we can ask."
Ezkhiel shook his head, looking equally unsure. Then, after a moment, a troubled look crossed his face.
"By the way, were Lenard and Lady Averil close?"
"I'm not completely sure, but… considering they exchanged messages and he even gave her rides in his carriage, I'd say they were. Brother Ken said that Brother Ren never goes on dates with women except to dance with them at balls."
"I thought so… sigh."
Ezkhiel pressed his temples as if a headache had hit him. For someone supposedly just lamenting a friend's social life, he looked far too serious, enough to make Letticia uneasy.
"What's wrong, Ez? Did His Highness say something about Lady Averil?"
"How did you know that, Letty?"
Startled, Ezkhiel glanced around and leaned closer to Letticia's ear, lowering his voice even more than hers.
"…His Highness got particularly upset while hearing the report about this recent incident, specifically the part where Lenard escorted Lady Averil home in his carriage. I told him that Lenard only did so because she's your friend, and since in the end, His Highness turned his anger more toward the duke, I think it'll be fine."
"Wow. They're not even a couple, and yet he's jealous already."
Letticia scoffed sharply, and Ezkhiel awkwardly tried to calm her down.
"His Highness will probably come to terms with it soon. In the current situation, there's no way he can go through with a political marriage with the House of Averil. So even if he does love the lady, there's no justification for it."
"Well, since His Highness doesn't acknowledge love marriages, if the political one's impossible, that basically means he can't marry the woman he loves at all."
"…Honestly, it's a pity. If he keeps insisting that he can't marry someone without proper status or justification, he'll only regret it later, after she marries someone else."
Letticia squeezed Ezkhiel's hand gently, offering comfort, but inwardly, she didn't agree.
Would Matthias really regret it?
'If it were the Matthias from the original story, he would've made up every excuse possible to keep Ariette from marrying anyone else.'
A man capable of stepping aside for the heroine's happiness wouldn't be called an obsessive male lead in the first place.
No matter how you looked at it, being with the kind, second male lead type would've been far happier. But that kind of man never wins, because the obsessive male lead drags the heroine into his thorn-filled path and traps her there in the name of love.
The Duke of Averil's case at least had a slim chance of change, since the duke's exile had shaken things up. But as for Matthias, nothing had happened that could alter his course, and that uncertainty left her uneasy.
Still, since he was doing his job properly, she could only hope he'd stay as he was, keep his head straight and not end up getting himself banished like the duke.
***
After Letticia became the sole representative, the perfume business finally began in earnest.
The perfumers of Eskis, using magical tools provided by the Magic Tower, started developing real products based on Ariette's concepts, mixing traditional ingredients like flowers and honey with fruit essences to create new scents.
Once the results were ready, Letticia planned to present the investment proposals to the "March Blossoms" group.
Since she didn't overestimate her own abilities, Letticia limited her role to investment acquisition and publicity, while delegating the practical work—writing proposals, market analysis, and business planning—to Kenneth, the hired staff, and the personnel sent from the House of Averil.
Fortunately, the people Alexander had personally selected were highly competent. Whenever they were given a task, they executed it flawlessly. Ariette, meanwhile, watched them working to bring her ideas to life and felt deeply proud.
'Looks like Alexander really intends to keep his promise that things will be different now that the duke is gone.'
But the most surprising moment came during their second meeting after restarting the project, when Ariette suddenly spoke up.
"I… I'm planning to debut this autumn."
The shocking statement left everyone speechless. Especially Letticia and Dayna, who were familiar with the capital's high society, couldn't help but call it reckless.
"My lady, why are you suddenly talking about debuting? You know your current skills aren't ready for that! And you didn't even major in etiquette or culture, you graduated from the administration department! The high society circles are brutally snobbish about that!"
"I know. But even so, I have to make my debut."
Letticia tried to dissuade her, but Ariette wouldn't budge. Seeing this, Seraphina furrowed her brows, quietly set down her teacup, and asked.
"Then let's start with your reason. Why do you want to make your debut?"
"Because I have to fulfill the role of a lady of the house. I can't do that unless I'm officially introduced into society."
"And what brought on that thought all of a sudden? More importantly, did you discuss this with Sir Averil first?"
"Yes. I talked to my brothers about it. I even brought a letter."
The letter Ariette handed over was indeed written in Alexander's handwriting. It included his request for them to assist with her debut and was even stamped with the seal of the acting head of the family.
As Letticia carefully read the letter, Ariette looked toward Seraphina with earnest eyes and began to explain.
"After Father went down to the territory, my brothers have been attending social gatherings and gentlemen's clubs almost every day. But since we can't host guests ourselves, I haven't been able to help them in any way. So I asked Countess Freke if there was anything I could do and she said that unless I debut into society, there's absolutely nothing I can do."
"So that's why you want to debut? To be of help to your family?"
"That's part of it… and also…"
Her words trailed off. Ariette bit her lip before continuing with difficulty.
"Because… I can't just stay under my brothers' protection forever."
"Protection?"
Letticia echoed the word, and Ariette answered with a somber expression.
"I asked the Countess for the details, why our family's reputation was so terrible in the capital, and why the nobles there resented my mother so much."
"…Come to think of it, wasn't the late Duchess originally from a newly risen noble family? No, wait, wasn't she technically only semi-noble when she debuted?"
"Yes… At first, I thought that was the reason our reputation suffered. But according to the Countess, that wasn't the whole story."
Ariette lowered her head gloomily and clenched her fists. Seeing this, Seraphina—who was from the West and unaware of the circumstances—looked puzzled, so Letticia explained on her behalf.
"At the time, His Grace the Duke earned quite a bit of resentment by being cold and dismissive to every woman except his wife. Ridiculous as it sounds, instead of blaming him, the social circles turned their scorn on the Duchess."
"How disgraceful. To fear the duke but take out their spite on a semi-noble woman? That's hardly befitting of nobles."
"You're right. But the real problem was that His Grace didn't protect her from it. I heard that she ended up leaving the capital entirely."
At Letticia's cool remark, Ariette nodded, her fists still trembling.
"The Countess said that when Brother Alexander came up to the capital to attend the academy, our family's reputation was even worse than it is now. There was even someone who insulted our mother right in front of him, and everyone else just laughed along."
When Ariette lifted her head again, tears had gathered in her eyes, tears filled with sadness, regret, and anger.
"…I didn't know any of that. Not until the Countess told me."
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