Chapter 28
Sierra, weak to temptation, almost fell for Cassius. But Sierra shook her head inwardly. There was one reason the people of this mansion, including Cassius, treated Sierra so well.
It was because of Hanael, a baby who mistakenly thought that she was from a noble family. The people of this mansion, the godmother, maybe even Cassius.
‘Never fall for it, Sierra. You may like me for a moment, but your feelings will only last for a short time.’
The love between commoners and nobles never ended well in real life.
She needed to quickly find a suitable woman for him.
“Yeah. Cassius. I have something to tell you…”
“What?”
“When you open a salon, let’s send invitations.”
“Yes, you don’t have to worry about that. I intend to invite the nobles separately.”
Sierra shook her head and pretended to be pitiful. “I’d like to participate in sending invitations too… May I?”
She lowered her eyebrows. Sierra was very grateful to Cassius, and wanted him to be happy with friends and a lover.
It would eventually be revealed that Hanael wasn’t Cassius’s child, and she hoped he wouldn’t feel left alone when she left the Duke’s residence.
“Of course, you can.” Cassius nodded.
Unlike the peaceful Duke’s residence, the inside of the Imperial Palace was in a state of chaos. Among them, the angriest was the Princess. In a splendid secret room decorated with gold-thread tapestries woven by craftsmen, she sat alone with a man nearby.
She drank the hot tea that the maid gave her, and slowly closed her eyes, gesturing at the man to sit across from her.
“Ijel, what happened?”
“Well, Your Highness…”
The Princess gritted her teeth and muttered,
“It’s an odd thing to buy a salon, but it could have been a business decision. However, she was even given a temporary status.”
Semi-nobility was a class between commoners and aristocrats. Although it was a temporary title, its weight was by no means light.
“What are you thinking about? Even if you have the title of semi-noble, it will not proceed until marriage.”
“…What are you planning, Your Highness?”
Because Cassius was a chaste and honest type, she intended to make him his concubine.
Of course, she wasn’t kind and sweet, that’s why she wasn’t the type to look away from what she liked.
That was the Princess’ point.
“I guess he is Your Highness’ first love?”
The Princess looked at the hot steam from the teacup and recalled the story she had heard in the salon.
‘…The other women who were trying to become the duchess turned into dogs chasing chickens, right?’
Young Lady of the Avanture County, who had made her debut too early and had yet to use her social skills properly, looked around and smiled mischievously at the Duke.
Both the Princess and the Duke reacted impassively that time.
Lady Macbeth, who claimed to be his first love, also failed to get the attention of the Duke.
“What are you worried about, Your Highness?” His eyes twinkled and shone.
The Princess, who looked at his beautiful smile, soon came to her senses and clenched her teeth.
“It’s a situation to worry about. Is this interesting to you, Ijel?”
“Of course.”
Ijel laughed, lowering his gaze.
“Isn’t Your Highness interested? The Duke of Ideos has a weakness.”
“What?”
“Those who have weaknesses are easily destroyed.”
Ijel took the fan that the Princess had in her hand. He gripped it so tightly that it dented.
“The cracks are the weakness of this fan.”
He held the fan in one hand. It didn’t even need much strength to completely break it.
All that was left in Ijel’s hands was a crisp wood.
“If you attack their weaknesses, they will easily fall apart.”
The Princess glared at him.
“I’m not trying to destroy the Duke, Ijel.”
“I know, Your Highness.”
Ijel raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Weakness makes us human. Hasn’t the Duke been too carefree so far?”
The Princess frowned slightly.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be easier to dig into it?”
After speaking, Ijel smiled elegantly.
“Let’s go to the salon first.”
“Is it possible? It’s going to be organized mainly by those who are close to the godmother.”
“If it’s impossible for you to attend, I’ll try.”
Duke Cassius Ideos did something unexpected, but there were no major problems with their plans. He put the broken fan down on the table and got up carefully.
“Sure, Your Highness. I’ll see you there.”
“Where are you going, Ijel?”
“I do not know,” he answered vaguely, but in fact, he was going to the salon.
A salon that will be designed exclusively for Sierra. Because he was thinking of digging into the truth.
‘I will meet the Duke of Ideos, finally….’
What he was doing now was just a part of fulfilling the request of the Princess. But Ijel had one more important duty. He hid his smile.
On the other hand, the atmosphere of the Duke’s house was calm and gentle. Hanael, Sierra, and Cassius were sitting side by side in the warm drawing room in the Duke’s mansion, on a small sofa.
Sierra on the far left, Hanael in the middle, and Cassius on the right. The three of them sat together like a friendly family and had a serious conversation. They were discussing which nobles they would invite to Sierra’s party.
“It’s the list of nobles. You can choose who to invite.”
Cassius looked at Sierra with a proud expression on his face.
Sierra grinned.
‘Cassius is so kind, there’s a chance he’ll definitely make friends!’
“I brought you whatever you want.” He kept handing over the list over and over as if he wanted compliments from her.
But Sierra did not praise him. The praise belonged to the person who would become friends with Cassius. The stern look on Sierra’s face made Cassius a little gloomy.
She pretended not to notice, directing her attention to the bookshelf. Of course, Cassius, with his indomitable will, did not give up because he did not receive a compliment.
He was looking at her with twinkling eyes.
Sierra, who tried to ignore his expression, coughed a couple of times, then whispered earnestly,
“First of all, I want to invite people our age.”
“Our age. Yeah, I get it.”
Cassius nodded, grabbing a quill and a notepad from the table opposite the sofa.
“What else do you want?”
“Um… I wish that the number of men and women would be evenly matched.”
He didn’t seem to have anyone who could be a lover or a friend. She thought it would be appropriate if it was an equal ratio.
Cassius, who was holding a quill and writing something down on a notepad, quietly raised his head.
“…Why?”
“Huh? I just thought it would be more fun.”
It seemed that Cassius had seriously misunderstood her thoughts.
‘Why do you look so sad?’
Sierra awkwardly scratched the back of her head.
Cassius explained softly.
“You don’t usually invite a lot of men to the salon.”
“Ah… I didn’t know that.”
He looked at Sierra’s expression gently. Then he lowered his eyes and nodded.
“But I’ll do whatever you want.”
His eyelashes twitched slightly as he spoke. Sierra quietly looked through the list of nobles, trying to find a suitable person to be Cassius’ friend.
“There are pictures and names, so look for them carefully.”
“Huh.”
Sierra smiled softly and shrugged her shoulders.
“I’ve been thinking about it.”
“…?”
Sierra lifted her head from the list and looked at Cassius. Cassius’ gaze was focused on the list of nobles, not Sierra.
“I think I can definitely have a good relationship with the people I invited that day.”
She felt a little uncomfortable with his words.
“Well…”
“If you will not have a great relationship with them, I’ll make it happen.”
‘I can’t let him do that…’
Even the expression on his face was quite terrifying. What to do? Cassius seemed to have a tendency to be aggressive.
‘If you want to have a good relationship, you shouldn’t be intimidated…’
No matter how one looked at it, he lacked social skills because of the war. So, before Cassius and Sierra set foot together in the social world, she was convinced that she needed to nurture him socially.
“Um, thank you. And I have a small favor, Cassius.”
“What is it?”
“On the day the salon opens, you can’t just stay by my side.”
“…Why?”
“Well…”
She couldn’t just say, ‘I have to find your new partner.’
Sierra held her breath for a moment, then exhaled. She was in the middle of trying to figure out what kind of excuse she would make.
“Why would you do that?”
Hanael said, who was reading a children’s book. Sierra looked down at Hanael with a bitter expression.
“You want to make friends while you’re away, Mommy.”
‘…Not really? You mean Cassius wants to make friends?’
However, Hanael didn’t stop poking around.
“Because she doesn’t have any friends.”
Sierra was mortified at Hanael’s innocent voice. No, that’s true, but… isn’t it too honest?!
“It’s just me.”
Hanael shamelessly raised her chin.
Sierra pinched her soft cheeks.
“Hey, who told you that? And I told you to call me aunt!”
“Tsk.”
Hanael puffed out her lips, but Cassius looked into the air.
Sierra became serious, fearing that there might be another misunderstanding.
“I don’t have many friends. By the way, don’t worry, I’ve lived well without any friends.”
She was sincere.
Wasn’t it unnecessary to always interact with friends?