Anna’s anger sought out a familiar opponent instead of an old friend. Anna tried to remain as unmoved as possible, but she couldn’t stop her fierce glare at Diego.

“You two are so close, you look alike. The Countess of Avril still has a habit of prying into other people’s homes.”

Diego took it in stride. It was a sneer at the women who pounced on men who already had wives. The term ‘companion’ was just as laughable as the women who called themselves the ‘government.’

“A friend would have words of concern at a time like this. You don’t realize how you’ve violated the most basic of ties.”

Anna smirked. Diego grinned and returned the favor.

“Ah, so you helped the Countess of Avril have an affair. Quite the friendship.”

It was a fair exchange of blows, but it was clear who had suffered the greater damage. Anna, who had been so high up in the sky before Duke Estella’s death, was now on a precipice. Diego savored the sight of her wretchedness. He said, in an act of benevolent kindness.

“Love. A good word. Everyone says there’s nothing like finding your other half and settling down.”

“You, this……!”

“That’s why I’m getting engaged sometime next week.”

Anna froze with her mouth open. It took her a moment to realize what Diego was talking about. Anna repeated, stunned.

“Engaged?”

“We’re getting engaged at the end of this month. We haven’t decided when the ceremony will take place, but I don’t think it will be too far away.”

Diego explained with a smile. Indeed, Diego was in a very good mood. He asked, feigning sadness.

“I’m sure father would be happy to hear this news, wouldn’t he?”

Anna jumped to her feet. She could no longer hold back the rising tide of humiliation.

She remembered clearly the words she had heard from Diego as she stood before the Duke of Berta’s grave. He had whispered to her, as she wept, exactly these words. He had said that he had sent him to a good place, and that if she wanted, she could join him. It was a declaration, a display.

The moment Diego’s words left her lips, Anna lost all sense of reason under the scornful gaze that poured down on her. When she woke up from her frenzied rant, the funeral was over. She hadn’t even gotten to say a proper goodbye to her husband.

Anna gritted her teeth and said.

“Now that you’re engaged, what do you think you’re going to do? Do you think you’re going to be able to live happily ever after like normal people?”

Anna cursed through clenched teeth. She leaned in toward Diego and spoke in a low whisper.

“I will admit that neither your father nor I were the most upstanding individuals. Especially your father, he was truly an unworthy figure. But that’s what you grew up with, Diego.”

One cannot control one’s environment, yet one is profoundly affected by it. Anna was very aware of that cursed quality of humanity. No matter how much you hate them, children always take on some aspect of their parents. Anna sneered.

“Do you even realize that you killed my husband? You were destined to become that kind of person in the end.”

Diego thoughtlessly contemplated her words. ‘My husband,’ she called him. Considering that she was more accustomed to using the term ‘your father,’ expecting the latter role was perhaps foolish.

Looking at Diego’s silence, Anna was amused. And without pause, she continued.

“Do you think you can have a family and live like a normal person? You’re a scoundrel, you’re the essence of this horrible family. Try having a child just like you. I don’t think you’ll ever have a decent one.”

Anna gasped as she spoke. Diego returned her gaze, his eyes emotionless. Diego asked, his voice unwavering.

“Are you done venting?”

Everything Anna said was something Diego had already thought about. Hearing his old worries in the other’s voice shouldn’t have shocked him. Diego laughed at her coldly.

“Since I’ll never have children, your advice is useless. Thank you for reminding me that curses that you have no power to carry out mean nothing.”

As he spoke, Diego pulled a letter envelope from his arms. Anna didn’t have to look hard to recognize the royal seal on it. He had already opened the package, but he hadn’t bothered to bring the useless wrapper for show. Diego waved the envelope in front of Anna’s eyes as if to show off.

“Do you know what this is?”

“I’m not interested, so put it away.”

“It’s a royal letter granting me succession to the title, which means that as of today, I am the true master of this manor. The only thing left to do is to take a new oath to His Majesty.”

With that, Diego grabbed Anna’s hand and pulled her toward him. Anna struggled to pull away, but Diego forced the good news into her palm. Diego locked eyes with Anna and explained in a coy tone.

“I’m lifting the ban. Because no matter who you go back and forth with, you’re not going to be able to reverse this.”

“Get off me, Diego.”

“By the way, there’s nowhere for you to go. The mistress’ room has already been given to my fiancé.”

“How impertinent!”

Diego let go of her neatly. Anna stumbled backward, unable to overcome the recoil. Diego stared into Anna’s furious face, his eyes cold, his warning blunt.

“Live as if you’re forgotten by everyone, as if you’re dead. If I were to forget your existence, would you be able to age disgracefully just like that?”

With that, Diego turned and walked away. He didn’t storm out, but the sound of the door opening and closing was unusually dull.

Anna stared at the closed door, then opened the envelope with trembling hands. The contents were exactly as Diego had described. The letter was accompanied by a lengthy greeting, announcing that the process of transferring the title was complete.

In the moment when Anna caught sight of the sentence that wished eternal luck to the new head of the family, she tore that paragraph apart. Soon after, a desperate scream echoed through the air.

* * *

“Wow, it’s spacious…….”

Despite her best efforts not to sound tacky, Estella couldn’t stop her spontaneous exclamation. Barely able to contain her gaping mouth, Estella slowly looked around her new room. There large bed in the center of the left wall and an old-fashioned couch and table on the right. It was spacious, but it didn’t feel empty at all, with tasteful decorations and artwork scattered throughout.

Estella’s favorite feature was the small tea table on the terrace. With only one chair, it felt like a place where the owner would treat themselves, not their guests. The good light was a bonus. It was like a princess bedroom from a movie. Not the pink baby princess room with the lace canopy, but the real royalty room.

The flood of sunlight completely woke her up from her half-awake state. Meanwhile, the space she was stepping into felt like a dream. It must be because Estella woke up in a room less than half the size of this one until this morning.

The gradual move dates back to this morning. The maid who was now showing her around had knocked on her door as soon as it was light. Using the previous day’s experience as a benchmark, Estella gets back under the covers, but the voice outside the room is a little different than she remembers. It was too thin and adult to be a boy’s, to be precise.

It was then that Estella realized it wasn’t Cedric who had come for her. Hurriedly, Estella opened the door, and the maid who had been waiting immediately relayed Diego’s message.

“The Duke has ordered the room to be moved, as everything is ready.”

As Estella scratched the back of her head in confusion, the maids burst into the room, gathered up her belongings, and led her to another floor. It was the third floor, the one Estella rarely set foot on except to visit the study, and the reason she didn’t bother was simple. It was the original residence of Duke Estella and his wife.

A sudden sense of unease made Estella pause in the doorway. The maid, who was pulling back the curtains at the window, glanced in her direction. Her face was full of curiosity about the woman whose life had changed overnight.

Aware of the stares, Estella straightened her back. She didn’t want to make a move, but the last thing she needed was to appear condescending to the servants. Estella patted the back of the couch and asked nonchalantly.

“Whose room was this originally?”

The maid hesitated, unable to come up with an answer, as if it were a cursed room from a story. It was objectively well-appointed, and there was no way Diego, the man who had given her that precious ring, would have given her such a strange bedroom. Estella asked in a disbelieving voice.

“Was this the former Duchess’s room?”

“Yes……. That’s right, Miss Estella.”

The maid hesitated before answering. The incident where Estella had slapped the Duchess Anna was known to everyone in the mansion. Depending on the person, it was considered audacious to linger in the place of someone they disliked.

But it wasn’t the identity of the previous owner that surprised Estella, it was the unconventionality of the space. Estella was Diego’s fiancée, a title that could mean different things in different contexts, but in this one, it seemed to fit. She doesn’t know what Diego was thinking when he gave her the mistress’ room. She’d believed him when he said he’d vacated a usable room for her to move into, but this wasn’t a usable room.

Now that she think about it, it’s strange that the short-tempered man asked her to wait another day. Apparently, they’d spent the day changing and rearranging the furniture. It would have been no small feat to change the entire configuration of a room this large.

“So that door leads to the Duke’s room, then?”

Estella asked, pointing to a door in the middle of the right-hand wall, a passageway of some sort, apparently intended for the couple’s use. As Estella had expected, the maid politely said yes.

“Has the Duke moved rooms as well?”

“I believe the room next door is still being organized.”

It seemed that the timing of moving rooms was not much different for Estella. She seemed to know the reason behind his sudden decision to relocate.

The patriarch’s room had been empty ever since Duke Estella’s death. Diego hadn’t inherited the title and had remained in the position of heir apparent. The royal family has delayed approving the inheritance, so Diego hasn’t been able to take full control of the household.

However, at the last ball, the king abruptly changed his attitude. Eduardo VI was very harsh with Diego, telling him that he had been busy and hadn’t been able to grant the authorization. He even promised to resolve the matter as soon as possible.

Now that the king himself had come out and recognized Diego as the heir, there was nothing to lose. From that point on, Diego would have been determined to move into his father’s chambers. Estella would be a bonus.

It was only now that she realized that she was about to become Diego’s fiancée. Estella looked at her ring finger for a moment. It was a thick diamond that she’d been meaning to take off for fear of cutting her finger, but she’d left it on for fear of someone stealing it. At least here, she thought, she could take it off in peace.