“Yes. I want it to look beautiful… Put some real effort into it.”

“Beautiful, My Lord?”

It was a strange request, one that didn’t seem to fit the cold, emotionless man Calix had become.

‘If it were during his younger days, I could understand,’ Lamot thought. But now, for this man—known for his ruthless demeanor—to care about beautifying a garden, it was a surprising and unusual change.

“Not exactly something you need to be so surprised about, is it?” Calix remarked.

“My apologies, Your Grace. It’s just that it’s been such a long time since you mentioned anything like this,” Lamot responded, still slightly taken aback.

“There will be a guest at the estate soon,” Calix said curtly. Hearing this, Lamot immediately sensed that someone important was coming.

For quite some time, apart from a few close relatives, the estate had remained closed off to guests. No one was allowed to approach without permission, and those who did were quickly turned away.

The Vartica estate held a prestigious position within the Moiran Empire. But ever since the former duke’s untimely accident, the estate had become isolated, almost like an island. The young Duke Calix, who inherited the title, had fiercely guarded it. Anyone who tried to break this rule was swiftly ejected, with no exceptions.

“As you command, I will instruct the gardener to spare no effort,” Lamot said with a respectful bow.

As he headed off to find the gardener, Lamot couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of curiosity.

‘A guest related to the garden? Who could it be?’ he wondered, but no specific name came to mind.

‘In any case, this seems like a good sign,’ Lamot thought as he hurried to summon the gardener. The gardener, who had only been maintaining the garden to keep it from succumbing to the cold, was excited to finally be able to showcase his skills again. He immediately set to work with renewed energy.

News of the upcoming guest spread quickly throughout the estate.

“Who could it be?”

“I have no idea. Other than the Duke’s aunt and uncle, we’ve never had a guest.”

“Could it be a young lady from some noble family? Why else would he want the garden to be prettied up? Doesn’t sound like a male guest.”

“Oh my, that makes sense!”

Although Calix had only ordered the garden to be renovated, the staff began to prepare not just the garden but the entire estate. The main building, including Calix’s office and quarters, and the other grand structures were all being cleaned and decorated.

Logan, Calix’s most trusted aide, stopped in his tracks when he entered the estate.

‘…?’

There was something different about the atmosphere. Everything was always spotless, but today something had definitely changed.

‘The curtains, which are usually drawn, are open?’

As he walked, glancing around, Logan suddenly stopped. The carpets had been replaced with new ones. The change was striking since he was so used to seeing the estate in its unchanging state.

‘What on earth is going on?’

Just as Logan was pondering this, Lamot approached him.

“You’ve arrived, sir.”

“Lamot, the curtains, the carpets—everything’s been changed. What’s going on?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lamot gave a small smile. “A guest is coming.”

“A guest? Who?” Logan’s eyebrows shot up.

“The Duke hasn’t mentioned specifics yet. But it seems this guest is very important, so we are preparing accordingly. The Duke also hasn’t objected to redecorating the estate,” Lamot explained.

Logan didn’t have any more information than Lamot.

‘Who could it be?’ Logan wondered as he headed to Calix’s office. As usual, Calix was reading through some papers, but something felt different today. There was a subtle shift in his demeanor, as if the cold air that usually surrounded him had softened.

“What’s keeping you from coming closer?” Calix looked up from his desk.

“Did something good happen at the Marquis Madrino’s party?” Logan asked as he approached.

“Why do you ask?”

“You seem to be in a good mood. The estate feels lighter, too,” Logan commented.

‘Something good… yes, there was,’ Calix thought. Eliana would soon be visiting the estate.

“I heard there was quite a confrontation with His Highness, the Crown Prince. I was worried, but it seems I needn’t have been,” Logan added.

He hadn’t attended the party but had heard later that tensions had flared between Cedric and Calix.

‘It wasn’t just any quarrel either. It all started because of a dance with Eliana Leiberte, the Crown Prince’s former fiancée,’ Logan recalled.

Even without having witnessed it firsthand, he could easily imagine how enraged Cedric must have been.

‘And it wasn’t the first time. There was also that altercation during the hunting tournament,’ Logan thought. Ever since his father’s death, Calix had focused entirely on strengthening his internal affairs. The recent string of conflicts was surprising to Logan, and he took them seriously.

He had arrived at work that morning full of concern, only to find Calix looking unbothered, even at ease.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got more important things to focus on,” Calix said, placing the document he was reading in front of Logan. As an aide, Logan was always careful to remain attuned to any subtle cues.

‘Could this have something to do with the guest Lamot mentioned…?’ he thought. Then it hit him—recently, Calix had taken a personal interest in matters involving the Leiberte family.

‘The hunting competition, Vero, and a dance with Eliana Leiberte?’

The recent activities pointed to only one person—Eliana Leiberte. If the expected guest was indeed her, decorating the entire mansion for her visit didn’t seem like a trivial matter.

Logan quietly observed Calix’s face, trying to read his expression and confirm if his assumption was correct.

“Logan.”

“Yes, Duke.”

Hearing his name, Logan stopped thinking.

“Is there something written on my face?”

“Oh, no, My Lord. I just heard that a guest will be arriving soon, and I thought it might be someone related to the Madrino party. Am I correct?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Calix didn’t reveal it right away. The fact that he refrained from mentioning it, even though they would soon know, made it all the more unusual.

“Everything is just speculation for now.”

Logan picked up the documents Calix had placed down.

“Should I hand this over to Thompson by the end of the morning?”

“Yes, make sure it’s not delayed. There’s plenty of other work to do as well.”

With such a vast estate, there were mountains of tasks to handle. Logan found it odd that Calix was concerned with anything other than the heaps of work related to the estate and wars, as those were the only things he’d ever known him to care about.

‘It seems certain that Lady Leiberte is coming.’

He had seen her several times. Due to Eliana Leiberte’s position, they often crossed paths. Logan began recalling even the small details he had previously overlooked.

* * *

When Eliana returned home after leaving Gerard Durnell’s office, Oliver was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the maid Doris came out to take her bags, sharing the load with Mila.

“Where’s Oliver?”

“The butler went to the storage room briefly.”

“Is that so?”

As she headed to her room, a stack of letters, sorted for distribution by Oliver, caught her eye. The letters were divided by recipient. Eliana paused when she noticed a letter addressed to Matilda.

Benroze Academy

Benroze was a place where noble daughters, who had fallen out of favor with their families, were sent for educational purposes. The tuition alone was expensive enough to boast about the high quality of education, but the reality was different from its promotions. The academy had a notorious reputation that wasn’t well-known to the public, but Eliana was aware of it. She had learned the truth through the gossip of her maids when she was the Empress.

The education wasn’t strict but rather harsh. It involved all kinds of methods to break and tame the students’ spirits, turning them into daughters suitable to the whims of their families.

‘That academy is in such a remote place, and there have been cases where girls, unable to adjust, ran away and went missing.’

What chance of survival would a sheltered young lady have if she ran away? Even if they did escape, they were no safer outside. Despite the academy’s glossy appearance, it ran on the sacrifice of these pitiful lambs.

‘Since it’s a girls’ school, Paul wouldn’t be sent there, and certainly not Sylvia either. So, it must be me.’

Eliana’s gaze grew cold. She recalled the time when Count Austin had suggested to Matilda that Eliana be educated outside to become a more elegant and dignified lady. However, with her connection to the Imperial Palace, that suggestion had quietly been dropped.

‘Are you planning to push through with that abandoned idea again?’

Eliana had told them she would leave the family if she became an obstacle to Paul’s and Sylvia’s futures.

‘I really do intend to leave this family.’

But she meant to walk out on her own terms, not to be locked up or controlled.

‘I have a trauma about being imprisoned.’

Eliana frowned. In many ways, Matilda was not someone she could just let be.

At that moment, a large hand scooped up the letters.