'I don't know why she got into a fight in the first place when she is such a coward.'

'Well, I do have a past where I listened carefully to such words of her.'

Yvonne's history of disfiguring Iona's appearance was quite long.

From the time Iona entered puberty, Yvonne mocked her by calling her nicknames such as Ugly, Monster, and Skeleton.

Thanks to that, until her debut season as a socialite, when she received dance requests from many men, Iona really thought that her face was ugly.

But of course, it wasn't fortunate at all for Iona because, from that day, Yvonne's accusation changed to 'A vulgar bitch like your mother'.

Iona put her fingertips on the wall and whispered to Yvonne as if to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Yvonne. The count wouldn't tolerate it any longer if his son and then his daughter were both suppressed. I have that kind of understanding."

Yvonne gritted her teeth as if indignant, but she couldn't stand up properly, as if her legs were weakened, and only her toes were twitching.

Just as Marsha came out into the hallway, she heard the sound of a door from behind.

Iona turned her back on Yvonne without regret.

It was only then that Yvonne's maid hurriedly came and helped her master to stand up.

Yvonne, who was halfway up, was annoyed and pushed her maid away.

“You ignorant and vulgar bitch! How dare you say such stern things to me?”

Iona went downstairs, ignoring Yvonne's profanity.

In response, Yvonne hurriedly ran to the front of the stairs and grabbed hold of the railing.

"Wait! Wait!”

Still, as Iona did not stop, Yvonne's eyes closed tightly and she became frustrated.

In spite, Yvonne screamed in a thunderous voice.

“You ruined our entire family!”

“…”

“But what did you do well? You walk around with your head high in this house. You can’t blame us for anything! You are nothing!”

After a high-pitched voice that resonated throughout the mansion passed by, everything fell silent.

Iona stopped at that point and was looking up at Yvonne across the stairs.

Yvonne bit her lip and said.

"Do not forget. Because of you, we didn't even see her at last her moment.”

It was a topic that Yvonne often brought up whenever she wanted to resent Iona.

Watching Yvonne's hands shaking on the railing, Iona suddenly thought she was bored.

Having to go through these things over and over again, that's why she had to think over the cause again.

According to Yvonne, countess Modrov, who had died five years ago, was looking for the one at the last moment of her life, was neither her husband nor her own children, it was the cursed illegitimate child her husband had brought in long ago.

The fact that it was Iona, and no one else, who watched over their mother's deathbed, angered Nils and Yvonne for a long time.

Yvonne had originally hated Iona, but from that day on, she had added more plausible grounds to her grudge.

Every time Yvonne spoke of her mother's death, Iona thought, perhaps it would have been better to reveal the Countess' last message to them.

However, what came out after much thought was the same conclusion as always.

“I'm sorry. I am the only one who remembers her last will.”

Iona answered as if she brushed her hat down. She then took a step further down the stairs.

Fortunately or unfortunately, there was no sound of footsteps following.

***

“… Haha. My youngest must have been jealous when Iona said that she had a connection with a young and wonderful person like the Duke. She was originally a calm kid, but that's really, ha...”

Count Modrov, who seemed to think it was an excuse that didn't make sense even when he thought about it, weakened his words.

The last laugh was almost a sigh.

Looking at the opponent's completely earthy face, Leroy admired it inwardly.

'I didn't hear it wrong?'

He didn't expect the imperial family to introduce him to a proper family, but this was beyond his imagination.

'Is it normal to encounter family quarrels when you come to officially meet the woman you're going to marry?'

Leroy couldn't listen to all the conversations, but a few expressions that caught his ears were enough to leave a strong impression.

'You ignorant and vulgar bitch! How dare you say such stern things to me?'

'You ruined our entire family!'

'What did you do well… … That's how you hold her head upright...'

Leroy didn't know, but he was sure that these were not the words that could come out between close family fights.

'Should I consider it fortunate that it wasn't the voice of my marriage partner?'

But after all, Leroy couldn't be happy to hear such a unilateral rant.

"Okay."

Leroy replied briefly.

He didn't want to say something because he didn't mean to save the man in front of him from trouble.

Leroy's cold attitude made Count Modrov break into a cold sweat.

Perhaps this situation would be very unfair to the opponent.

Hayden wouldn't have expected that the duke would arrive 10 minutes earlier, not keeping the manner to come on time.

It wasn't that Leroy had no excuses, though.

Earlier he and Jonas talked about it.

"You'd better go inside and wait."

“Is it polite to arrive early and look at the unprepared appearance?”

“If they knew that the carriage with guests was only going round and round around the area, they would be horrified on that side as well. Is that polite behavior?”

“If the other person doesn’t know, of course, it is.”

Leroy suppressed Jonas' argument, but he was not in a particularly imposing position.

Arriving an hour earlier and wandering around was excessive, no matter which country's standard of etiquette.

Leroy, who peered out the window repeatedly at the scenery passing by, decided to stop admitting that he had been looking forward to today's meeting.

In the end, he decided to commit the rudeness of arriving 10 minutes early - or using it as an excuse - for Jonas, who was complaining of back pain.

Thanks to this, he even learned the inner circumstances of the count's family, so even if this was a small harvest of information, it was good.

“Rather than that, Duke, let's not talk here and go to the drawing room. If you are resting comfortably, I will call my daughter...”

“It doesn't seem necessary. She seems to be coming down.”

Leroy cut off Count Modrov's invitation and looked up at the top of the stairs.

Just then, the sound of footsteps approached from upstairs.

The moment the woman turned around and reflected on the landing, Leroy reflexively paused.

'Is it because of the changed outfit?'

A woman with a completely different impression from the one he had encountered in the corridor of the imperial palace a few days ago entered his field of vision.

'If the situation was not like this, I might have proposed marriage right away.'

Recalling the not-so-funny family, Leroy quickly suppressed his embarrassment.

No wonder the woman was a great beauty enough to evoke such a reaction.

She stood out even when she was wearing a rugged uniform, so it was only natural that she would attract attention when properly dressed.

Leroy, who was staring at the thick lips the same color as her eyes, intentionally looked away. Because he couldn't deny that he was giving the woman a disrespectful look.

Leroy wasn't the only one who recognized the other person's existence, but the woman who came down to the lobby also had an agitated expression.

Realizing that the guest had arrived earlier than expected, the woman reflexively looked upstairs. She seemed conscious of the quarrel that had just occurred.

But the delay was short, and the woman soon approached them with steady steps.

Count Modrov greeted his adopted daughter with an exaggerated attitude.

“Iona. I was about to send someone up, but you came just in time. The duke has just arrived.”

“Hello, Lord Leroy. I apologize for the delay in welcoming guests. I would have come down sooner if you had given me a message in advance.”

“I apologize for coming earlier than the time. I was looking forward to today's meeting very much.”

Leroy, who naturally followed Count Modrov, held Iona's hand.

After lightly kissing the back of her hand, he raised his head and saw the other's smiling face.

It was an expression that seemed to know that the greeting he gave was not his intention.

He didn't expect the other person to blush like all the ladies, but this reaction was unexpected again.

“…I have been waiting for the day when I will see you again.”

She answered slowly in a calm voice.

The red eyes that were revealed, were full of welcoming emotions.

'She is also a strange woman.'

'What's more, the lies she gives seem to be sincere.'