The Grand Ducal Lady's Chilling Visit
Even now, Kallion was different from the children of ordinary noble houses. To begin with, his peculiar personality and lazy nature meant he avoided social gatherings like the plague. Meanwhile, the other young lords and ladies actively mingled through balls, hunting competitions, and the like.
And so, just like any other day, a social gathering was underway at a certain marquis’s estate when a particular rumor suddenly exploded across the room.
“Have you heard?”
“Heard what?”
“They say the second son of the Helios Marquisate has gotten engaged.”
The second son of the Helios Marquisate. Almost no one knew his face, yet every single person in high society knew his name.
“Who on earth would get engaged to that good-for-nothing?”
The marquisate’s infamous slacker. The news that the notoriously lazy and indolent second son of a prestigious marquis family had become engaged was positively thrilling to the bored young ladies.
“I heard it’s the young lady from Baron Floverhart.”
“Where even is Floverhart?”
The atmosphere in the hall warmed instantly. The engagement between the second son of the Helios Marquisate—who possessed a decent face but zero noble dignity—and some unknown young lady from a backwater barony had set the room ablaze.
“Oh, I know them. I heard the family head was originally a commoner merchant who bought his title with money.”
“Ah… so that’s what this is…”
The young ladies who had been chattering lowered their voices as understanding dawned.
“It seems the Floverharts are desperate to stand properly as nobles.”
“But one cannot become a true noble through the help of others.”
“Exactly. They say innate character can never be changed, don’t they?”
Soft giggles rippled through the group.
From Marquis Helios’s perspective, it had been an efficient and reasonable decision. From Serena’s perspective as well, there was no loss involved. Yet social gatherings were precisely this sort of place—a venue where people delighted in exposing and prodding at others’ shame. A world that believed only what it could see was real.
That was why everyone assumed today’s gathering would flow along in its usual peaceful manner.
“So the second son of the Helios Marquisate really has gotten engaged?”
The words were slightly different, but the seat of honor at any social gathering was always fixed. Unless the imperial princess herself attended, the position never changed.
The empire’s sole grand ducal house. Irien von Leonhardt, eldest daughter of the Leonhardt Grand Duchy, occupied that seat.
She attended social events with regularity but rarely spoke. She simply observed the young ladies’ chatter in silence, occasionally inquiring about the origin of a new tea leaf and nothing more.
Therefore, the moment Irien opened her mouth, every young lady in the hall froze solid.
“Ah, y-yes, Lady Irien! It is the truth. There is not a shred of falsehood in it.”
“……I see.”
One young lady answered Irien’s question in a frantic rush. As she did, Irien’s expression gradually hardened into something cold and rigid.
This is… no way…
Even Lady Irien has feelings for that man…?
The young ladies who witnessed her face began exchanging meaningful glances. Irien had offered no further comment, yet countless wild theories were already swirling through their minds.
She must have suffered some terrible humiliation…!
In truth, all of it was nothing more than groundless speculation. As everyone knew, Kallion never participated in public social activities. During the recent banquet at the grand ducal estate, he had trailed after his father for a short time before immediately activating stealth mode. Before that, he had not attended a single social event. The tales of his misdeeds that circulated through high society were all baseless rumors.
Yet with no one to refute them, the young ladies had come to accept every story as absolute fact.
“……I shall take my leave first.”
“Ah, yes, Lady Irien.”
Normally Irien would have remained until the end even if she never joined the conversation, but not today. After offering a brief farewell, she rose with a small smile and began to walk away.
Yet every person present noticed it—though her smile appeared as elegant and beautiful as ever, it was strangely stiff, almost brittle.
“Ughhhhh……”
Even after returning home, I couldn’t relax. The incident at Baron Floverhart’s territory had left me with a mountain of things to report to Father. The silver lining was that he hadn’t scolded me for acting on my own initiative. If he’d had some grand plan and I’d ruined it, I would have considered a couple of cracked skulls a fair price.
Only now had I finally finished writing the report and earned a moment of rest. I let out a long, lazy yawn and leaned back in my chair, blinking slowly.
“Home really is the best.”
It was like my soul could finally breathe. I probably wouldn’t run into Serena for a while, and Father was busy enough that he wouldn’t bother me. It felt like I could finally live comfortably.
I’d suffered plenty recently. Wasn’t it about time I got to relax?
That was exactly what I was thinking when—
Knock. Knock.
……Huh?
“Young master.”
“……What is it?”
Suddenly I felt uneasy. Hadn’t I just finished working my ass off? Why were they looking for me already? A strange chill crawled down my spine.
To my deliberately slow reply, the butler outside the door spoke with clear urgency.
“I believe you should head to the reception room immediately.”
“……The reception room?”
Something felt off. If something had happened with the Floverhart barony, there was no reason to call me to the reception room. They only summoned me there when there was a guest.
“……Young master?”
“I’m coming.”
There shouldn’t be anyone looking for me. With that thought, I straightened my clothes roughly, opened the door, and stepped out.
“……Do you need the bathroom?”
The person waiting for me was Valek, but his face was deathly pale and covered in cold sweat. When I asked if he had sudden diarrhea, he shook his head violently and began hurrying me along.
“You must hurry, young master.”
“Why? Did I do something wrong?”
Valek wasn’t the type to show much emotion. For him to be this flustered, it had to be something serious. But I really couldn’t think of anything I’d done wrong.
When I asked, he wiped the cold sweat from his face with a handkerchief and shook his head again.
“I am not certain myself.”
“……What the hell does that mean? Explain it properly.”
If I did something wrong, just say so. If not, then not. Why be so vague and scare the crap out of me?
“A guest has arrived in the reception room. However……”
“……However?”
“The guest appears to be connected to you, young master.”
“Who is it?”
In short, someone had come to our house looking specifically for me. But I didn’t have many acquaintances. And among the few I did have, none would cause Valek to panic like this by showing up at our door.
I frowned, lost in thought, and my steps slowed. Valek, pretending to be calm, spoke again.
“It would be best if you hurried.”
“……Fine.”
Whether Valek was simply flustered or he thought I’d bolt the moment I heard the guest’s name, he refused to tell me who it was. In the end, I had no choice but to go see for myself.
It’s not like I have any reason to run anyway.
No matter how much of a slacker I was known as in the Helios Marquisate, I had never done anything outside that would earn me real enemies. People might laugh at and ignore me, but no one actually wanted me dead.
With that relaxed mindset, I reached the reception room and watched as Valek—once again wiping cold sweat from his brow—knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock.
“My lord, I have brought the young master.”
“Enter.”
Father’s voice came immediately from inside. Hearing how calm he sounded, I felt even more relieved as I opened the door and stepped in.
What? He looks completely at ease.
That meant there wasn’t a problem, right? Without thinking much, I entered and saw Father sitting with a serene expression—and across from him, a woman.
Tsk.
This composition felt strangely familiar… Was it just my imagination?
The woman with light purple hair sat leisurely sipping black tea. I glanced at her, then turned to Father.
“I heard you called for me?”
A guest had clearly come. But I didn’t know her, so why call me? Father took another relaxed sip of tea before answering.
“The daughter of Grand Duke Leonhardt has come looking for you.”
“……The grand ducal lady?”
Now that he mentioned it, I did recall hearing that the young lady of the grand ducal house had purple hair.
“Me? Why?”
“It would be quicker to ask her yourself.”
The moment Father finished speaking, the grand ducal lady—who had also been savoring her tea—slowly turned her gaze toward me.
“…….”
Huh. Why did this feel so ominous all of a sudden?
Should I run away right now?