“Congratulations on your marriage, Duke and Duchess.”

“The gift from House Lansfield was well received. I have sent a separate card to the Marquis, but I hope you will send my thanks to them when you go back to the capital.”

“I will pass it on.”

Patrick’s gaze shifted to Rosetta. She was looking at Gerald with a thoughtful face, not even glancing at him. It was like she was deliberately trying not to look at him.

‘I guess. It’s a good thing.’

He cringed at the thought of persuading her to ask her about Michael. From his point of view, she’s just someone he doesn’t like.

‘I told her not to write to me and to not go near me… yet  now I show up out of the blue and say that.’

‘I could have at least not said it was a disgusting letter….’

She was not a person of few words. She had a habit of sending hundreds of letters in a month, but she hadn’t sent him a single one in response to his disapproval. She hadn’t even spoken to him beyond a cursory greeting.

It struck him as odd that the rumor of her fondness for him was so widespread, to the point where he wondered if she had been saying it herself among the young ladies.

“Anything else?”

Michael’s question was directed at Patrick. Patrick was looking at Rosetta. Rosetta glanced from Michael’s gaze to Patrick’s.

She frowned slightly. He looked away unwillingly, but he could clearly see a blush spread across her face as their eyes met.

‘Don’t tell me she still has feelings for me?’

If she did, it was unsightly. To be married yet have another man in mind….

‘There’s no way Prince Michael would put up with that. There must be some other arrangement between them.’

Michael’s gaze shifted from Patrick to Rosetta. She wasn’t frowning, but he could see a slight flush spreading across her face. She was averting her eyes, but she wasn’t embarrassed.

‘Is she… upset?’

He’d known her for a short time before they were married, but she’d been a constant since. Rosetta’s moods were closely monitored, so he could tell if she was blushing with anger or embarrassment.

‘You don’t like it.’

That brief realization made Michael pleased, but he did not express it. Gerald, on the other hand, looked uneasy; he hadn’t been watching Rosetta’s expression closely enough to discern this.

‘No way, she’s still….’

When Patrick told Rosetta to stop sending him letters, Gerald was at a distance, so he knew Patrick had said something to her, but he didn’t know what.

He could only assume from Rosetta’s panicked expression that he had said something unpleasant.

Since then, Rosetta hasn’t even turned her head in Patrick’s direction, so he doesn’t think she liked him still. Despite his suspicions about the malicious rumors, Rosetta kept her distance from Patrick.

‘The rumor must have spread because of the accusations that were made against her.’

Unless she was in love with Patrick, there was no reason for Rosetta to harass Iris.

It suddenly occurred to him that maybe Isabelle had started the rumor as well, but it was hard to tell from Rosetta’s reaction now.

“No, my lord”

Patrick stepped back, hiding his expression. Michael had a vague feeling that he had misunderstood Rosetta’s demeanor, but he couldn’t be sure.

Gerald also bowed and followed Patrick out of the room. Seeing the door closed by the servant, Michael turned his gaze to Rosetta. Rosetta still looked displeased.

“…Shall I send him away?”

Rosetta’s eyes widened at his soft whisper. She didn’t need to be told who Michael was referring to.

“No. It’s okay, they were sent by His Majesty.”

Her face, hot with displeasure, was regaining its color. At the trust in Rosetta’s eyes, Michael felt a tickle in his chest.

There was no need to be anxious. It’s him she likes now, and rejoicing in that fact, he kissed Rosetta’s forehead.

* * *

The rumors about the Marquis of Mirse had spread like wildfire. The identities of the witnesses and the content of the rumors had spread to the capital in less than a week. The Marquis of Mirse, who was the subject of the rumor, wanted to smash his nose in a saucer.

“Is it true, my lord?”

“Of course not!”

The Marquis of Mirse shouted in response to a question from a fellow aristocrat he had met in the Duchy of Arden, where he had been subjected to a combination of unwarranted questions and suspicion.

The Marquis of Mirse was forced to give an explanation that he had already repeated many times. The Duke had misunderstood what he had said in his absence, the servants had tried to drag him away, and his clothes had been torn as he tried to fight them off.

He couldn’t tell the truth.

Men’s corsets were widespread, but the Marquis of Mirse had insisted that he did not wear them. He had even mocked a fellow nobleman for wearing one.

How could he tell him that his corset had burst during his struggles? It was as fatal to his reputation as the rumor that he had undressed to play a trick on Prince Michael.

‘I’ll never tell! I’ll take that to the grave!’

It was a secret that would be ruined if the servants of the Duke of Arden’s house were to speak of it, but not the Marquis of Mirse.

“Are you sure it is not true?”

“No! I am not mad! I have never harbored such feelings for Prince Michael!”

He had dreamed of having him as a son-in-law, but never in that way. After all, he had two other mistresses.

“Hmph. That’s good to know, I never believed those rumors.”

Count Rowen stroked his mustache as he said it, but his eyes were still full of distrust. The Marquis of Mirse scowled in exasperation.

“How can things be so out of hand, that cruel man, Prince Michael!”

“Did you accomplish anything?”

He asked, not unreasonably, after such a mess. At Count Rowen’s words, the Marquis of Mirse gritted his teeth quickly.

“I didn’t even see a shadow of the Duchess! I just met the prince and it was a disaster!”

“Hoho…. You mean you had an appointment with the Duchess and the Prince showed up?”

In fact, Rosetta had not made any appointment with the Marquis, but the Marquis of Mirse said yes. Count Rowen looked puzzled.

‘I was going to invite only the Duchess to meet her in secret, but…. Isn’t this going to make me look like the Marquis of Mirse?’

It would be difficult with his name, he thought, but it might be possible if he invited her in the name of another nobleman.

“I see. I must go.”

The Marquis of Mirse rolled his eyes at Count Rowen, who turned away as soon as he had finished telling him what he wanted to hear, but Count Rowen pretended not to notice.

Rumors about the Marquis of Mirse had already spread through the capital’s social circles, so there was little point in looking at him.

“I’ll let you know if I get any good information….”

With that, Count Rowen disappeared. The Marquis of Mirse let out a grunt and slumped into his seat. Trying to get the Duchess of Arden’s signature only brought him stigma, so it was as if he was trying to get it off.

‘Let’s see how you do!’

The Marquis of Mirse fervently hoped that Count Rowen would also be doomed.

???

Due to the matter of Marquis Mirse, the nobles gathered in Lugin became more cautious. They decided that it would not be good to rush in directly. After all, there was a rumor that Prince Michael was wooing the Duchess of Arden.

It was natural for a husband to want to protect his wife, but more than half of the capital’s nobility believed that Prince Michael had married Rosetta for an ulterior motive, so they figured that even if they went in, he wouldn’t protect her.

But the sight of the Marquis of Mirse, who had barged in first, made them nervous.

They did not believe in the rumors about Marquis Mirse. There are rumors that he was involved with various mistresses, and there was no man among them, which was the reason.

Of course, Prince Michael’s appearance was enough to sway the hearts of those who were not, but he was the Emperor’s favorite brother. He’s even an archmage, the Duke of Arden…. They didn’t think the Marquis of Mirse would do something so foolish.

“Then what are we going to do?! We’ve already been called back to the capital!”

Lady Reina, a lady of a Viscount, stamped her foot and became hysterical. To be precise, she had been ordered to return to the capital to be investigated.

“Oh, Reina, my daughter~, isn’t your father working so hard? You should go up to the capital and report to….”

“No, no, no, I will be investigated for doing something wrong!”

Seeing Reina sobbing, the Viscount and Viscountess Hound couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

She was their daughter who was so dear to them. Their poor dear daughter, who even had her engagement broken off because of this incident.

‘What did she do wrong?’

Reina was twenty-one years old, hardly young, but in their eyes, she was always young.

‘The only evil one is that Princess Carulias, even targeting my dear daughter!’

“Still, we must return to the capital. If you are not investigated, you could be taken to prison like Princess Carulias.”

“Prison!

The mere thought of it was horrifying, and Reyna gasped and grabbed Viscount Hound’s arm.

“Father, please save me! I’ll never go to prison! I’m so…. I’m only guilty of doing what Princess Carulias told me to do…. heuk….”

“I know, I know, my good daughter was just innocent and was taken advantage of…. Never mind, I’ll have this father grab the Duchess of Arden by the skirts and make her sign a letter of forgiveness!”

Viscount and Viscountess Hound barely persuaded a crying and tantruming Reina to return to her room. They couldn’t let her go alone, so the Viscountess would accompany her to the capital.

“Are you sure you can do this? It’s our Reina’s life on the line! That bitch…. Oh, no! If you don’t get the Duchess of Arden’s signature….”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get her signature even if I have to die in front of the Duchess! I can’t let my only child become a prisoner!”

The Viscountess looked at Viscount Hound with a distrustful glance as he spoke so confidently. It was rumored that the Duke of Arden was protecting the Duchess.

‘There’s nothing I can do about it right now, so….’

The Viscountess didn’t actually say it, but she was thinking that Reina might as well go to jail for once.

She had been raised by Viscount Hound and had no fear of the world, but there was still a part of her that was afraid of people with a higher rank than her, so she had become arrogant and insecure lately.

Her heart sank when she heard that she had participated in accusing the lady, who had a higher status than her, behind their backs.

‘She didn’t even tell me what she was threatened with….’

The number of times she participated seemed to indicate that she had been caught with an unusual weakness. She was also worried about what that weakness was.

“I trust you.”

The Viscountess looked at the Viscount Hound with concern as she said this.

???

Patrick had never approached a woman before, except Iris, because young ladies had spoken to him before he had a chance to speak to them.

So when he traveled to the Duchy of Arden, he was apprehensive.

He thought that if they lived in the same castle, Rosetta would come to see him first, at least once.

However, he was given shelter in a castle in the north of the duchy, but Rosetta never came to visit him for a week. Only dear Gerald watched Patrick suspiciously, and no maid or servant was sent to deliver him letters.

‘Was it my imagination, or did she seem to blush as soon as she made eye contact with me….’

A person’s heart is uncontrollable, so she can remain fond of him. But it is commendable, Patrick thought, to keep one’s composure and not be swayed by it.