Whoosh.

Camilla opened her eyes wide in the cold wind that blew through her room while she slept.

“Who is it? Someone forgot to close the window!”

Obviously, it was her first encounter with the maid.

There is no more dedicated maid who acts as Camilla’s hand and foot after Emma, Sandy, and Laura were tragically kicked out.

The maid-in-law who had been following her by her side abruptly left the castle, claiming they were ill, and the maids who had been following her returned home, claiming misfortune in their family.

“Won’t you close the window right now?”

The annex was filled with the sound of  Camilla’s rage voice.

But there was no maid on the run.

Camilla eventually awoke in the middle of the night and huffed her way to the balcony.

Camilla’s face was flushed as her peaceful sleep was disrupted.

“Useless things!”

She entered the balcony after pulling back the white curtain.

“……!”

She saw a maid lying unconscious.

Camilla, surprised, hurriedly turned away, as if trying to flee.

“Countess.”

Her ankles were frozen in place when she heard a voice from above.

“I have come to pledge allegiance.”

Scared Camilla grasped the pillar and turned her head slowly.

She then noticed a large man standing on the balcony railing.

He had his back to the moonlight, so she couldn’t see his face clearly, but his physique and voice were unmistakably him.

Valhail.

Camilla creased her brow.

She was aware that the man still saw Selina frequently.

However.

‘You’ve come to pledge your allegiance……?’

She met him for the first and only time.

The man, Valhail certainly showed no regrets at that time.

Furthermore, this man must be aware that she had severely punished Selina. So his late arrival and pledge of allegiance was suspicious.

‘But… there’s no harm in having him by my side.’

He had a lot of talent.

There won’t be many people who can quietly infiltrate the top of the annex at this time, no matter how good an assassin is.

It was not unreasonable, given that trained body.

‘I could have a White Eagle Knights easier if I had this kind of talent earlier.’

Camilla had heard that this man’s sudden appearance had disrupted the Count’s Guard’s hierarchical order.

Even though he was in the midst of a new recruit, it was because of his exceptional power.

‘Yeah, there’s no way this man is being used and asked to come to me with an ulterior motive. By that sluggish, dimwitted idiot.’

Camilla, on the other hand, thought it was fortunate that Selina wasn’t using this man.

The gleaming eyes in the darkness were unsettling.

“You must have changed your mind.”

Camilla inquired adamantly, with her honorable demeanor.

“How come?”

Valhail jumped down from the railing and knelt on one knee.

The response came out as if it had been planned.

“I want Selina.”

Camilla smirked and burst out laughing.

That is perfectly reasonable.

Although she was not her own daughter, Selina was really a beautiful child like a goddess.

Even when she saw her sitting still with her mouth shut, she questioned her as if she were a handcrafted doll.

There was no reason not to desire that beauty.

She is a woman who craves that beauty, so how much can a man stand that beauty?

Camilla’s mouth twisted up in one corner.

Even after she married her off, she was still trying to figure out how to get Selina to obey her.

‘No one likes products with scratches, no matter how beautiful they are.’

That’s what her father, Duke Maple, told her.

If you want to manipulate another person, use that person’s secret.

Camilla’s specialty was holding a person’s fatal secret, threatening them, and extorting what she wanted.

“I will let you have her.”

Camilla lifted her chin after saying her confident affirmations.

“Instead, you will have to prove your skills.”

“What do you want?”

Camilla spoke as if she had been expecting an immediate response.

“Cedric has a dagger he treasures. Please bring it back. Right now.”

“It’s not that hard.”

Valhail lowered his head, as if trying to conceal his expression.

Camilla couldn’t see the cold eyes that stared at her with contempt because of the shading on her face and sharp curves.

⇺⇺⇺⇼⇻⇻⇻

“Mother can’t do this to me!”

The quiet county became noisy early in the morning.

“I’m not going north! I’m not leaving! I won’t go!”

Shannon cried all night after learning that his mother was planning to marry him to the Marquis of Shadows.

She cried and blew around looking for Camilla as soon as the sun came up.

“Where’s my mother?”

“M-my lady.”

Shannon’s eyes will be wide open, gripping the maid who passes by and inquires about Camilla’s whereabouts.

“The Madam is in the Commander’s study…… Kyaaa!”

“Get the hell out of my way!”

Shannon shoved the maid aside and made her way to the study.

However, an escort in front of the study prevented her from entering.

“They are in the middle of a conversation.”