Published: August 15, 2025
With a steady, quiet knock, Mio’s voice came through.
“Excuse me, master. Lord Ruifeng and the others have returned.”
I responded immediately.
“Ah, thanks for the update. …Sorry for making you lie.”
Mio silently shook her head.
“Lying is the true duty of a maid.”
“...Is that so?”
“If it’s to make the master feel comfortable, I’d spin as many fairy tales as needed.”
...Somehow, it felt like I was being reproached through her words.
As my eyes narrowed halfway, Mio finally gave me a sharp, critical look.
“But what’s going on? It’s one thing to turn away your close friend Lord Ruifeng at the gate, but to make Lady Marie listen to lies too? If you had quarreled, you could just honestly say you don’t want to see them right now.”
“It's not like that. I didn’t want to show this face to him or Marie... I couldn’t even manage a polite smile.”
Saying that, I looked back down at the letter I had left open on the desk. Mio came closer and looked over it too, then quickly snatched it away and pulled it toward her.
“...The sender... Marquis Dario Alfonso...!?”
Her blue eyes were filled with sharp murderous intent.
Yes, it was an invitation from Marquis Dario.
With veins bulging in her hand, Mio gripped the letter tightly and read it aloud in a low voice.
“‘Dear brother-in-law, Duke Cyrus. Congratulations on your recent investiture as Duke Granado. At the same time, I am deeply saddened by the passing of the late Duke Alfred. I regret not having done more to spread and honor his achievements while he was alive. Though residing abroad, I neglected to keep in touch with Duke Alfred, which I now deeply regret. As a form of penance, I plan to convert my villa into a museum for the Granado family. Accordingly, I would like to consult you, his direct heir, for your opinion—’”
“‘Therefore, please come at the date and time specified in the enclosed invitation. We intend to hold a solemn memorial in a quiet location, with only family present. Please do not bring any private guards.’”
“What is this? This must be the top contender for the Suspicious Invitation Contest.”
“Don’t mock it with weird phrasing.”
I threw out the comment, but I understood well that I had to turn this into a joke to get through it. For hours after receiving this, my brow was furrowed tightly in worry.
The letter was long, full of overly polite yet rude greetings, and hard to parse. To summarize—he was basically saying, “Bring your wife and children to my territory.”
Mio’s face darkened further.
“If I don’t mock this, I’ll tear it up. Who is he to say he wants to honor Duke Alfred now? It’s a shame this came as a letter. If it had been face-to-face, I’d have kicked his jaw and bitten his tongue off.”
She said something quite violent, but I couldn’t blame her. My brother-in-law—Marquis Dario Alfonso, husband of my eldest sister Sophia—was hardly a sincere man. During Alfred’s life, he rarely accompanied Sophia on her visits back home. One could excuse that since he governed his lands abroad, but even so, his behavior was extremely unfilial.
Rumor had it he was living extravagantly under the Granado name, building villas everywhere. This letter seemed to confirm that.
“From start to finish, it reeks of suspicion. And just recently, he tried to sneak Ella Fuchs in here to scheme something.”
“Of course I can’t trust him. But it’s hard to refuse.”
I said this, and Mio narrowed her eyes in frustration. I smiled wryly and waved the letter.
“Of course, if he had just invited me for a visit, I’d toss him into the fireplace immediately. But if a foreign marquis calls upon me, now Duke Granado, this is the only reason. If he says it’s to honor the late Duke Alfred’s spirit and legacy, I have no choice but to respond.”
“...But we can’t take Lady Marie or Lady Lisa to that man without security...”
“Yeah, that’s probably why he explicitly wrote ‘family only’ instead of ‘alone.’ He wouldn’t dare bring his wife and children.”