"If you're the lady of Valdormer, you should know how to lead the wives of the vassal families."
Well, that would apply to a normal lady of the house.
But I had no attachment or ambition for this mansion.
I didn't care whether those noblewomen insulted or ignored me.
However…
I sighed and frowned, thinking of Kallion.
Knowing him, he'd use words like duty and responsibility just to dig into me again. That thought alone already gave me a headache.
Rather than argue with him again, I figured it'd be better to face the wives directly—even if they insulted me to my face.
"Fine. Send invitations for a tea gathering to the vassal families' ladies. Schedule it for four days from now."
At my dry words, the head maid gave a polite bow and left.
***
Four days passed quickly.
It had also been four days since I last saw Kallion.
I sat at a lunch table set up in the garden, sipping tea while casually scanning the faces of the ladies seated with me.
Then, one of them looked around and asked,
"Where's Lady Schultz?"
"You didn't hear? Because of the recent security breach, the Schultz family was excommunicated."
"Oh my, really?"
The women who had been ignoring me now whispered among themselves.
They pretended not to notice me, but I could tell exactly how they were looking at me.
To them, I was the daughter of Valdormer's enemy, House Heister.
A woman was married off in a political trade.
On top of that, I had been connected to the recent information leak—just a symbolic lady of Valdormer.
That's how they saw me.
I didn't care to explain or make myself look good.
Whatever they whispered behind my back, I just sat there, calm and indifferent.
Feeling emboldened by my silence, they eventually started mocking me more openly.
"I heard Lord Kallion cherishes Lady Layla dearly. You must be proud, Lady Sorrento."
"Layla is very capable and responsible."
One lady said that deliberately loud enough for me to hear while speaking to Lady Sorrento.
It was already well known—thanks to recent banquets—that Kallion treated Layla more warmly than he did to me.
I just kept calmly sipping my tea as if I didn't care.
"Well, Layla and Lord Kallion have been close since childhood. If only Lord Darkin had allowed it, they could've been a lovely couple."
"Oh dear, you're saying that even with the Lady of Valdormer sitting right here? Hohoho~"
As I silently wished for the boring meeting to end, the woman who had first sent me a letter—Lady Highland—spoke to me.
"Lady, I hope you don't mind if I ask you something?"
She smiled sweetly, pretending to be friendly.
"Go ahead," I replied, uninterested.
"What's House Heister like? There are so many rumors—it makes me curious."
I looked at her, knowing exactly what she was trying to do.
She smiled at me with narrowed eyes.
"I heard Heister doesn't treat all children equally. They say unworthy ones are left to sleep in barns or even freeze outside. Is that true?"
The unworthy child she spoke of… was me.
Born among many children of Heister, with no mother and a weak body, I had to worry about both hunger and cold.
"I even heard they didn't feed those kids properly, so you had to pick leftovers from the kitchen."
Her words reminded me of the time I lived in a dark room, unnoticed by my father, surviving on leftover food from the kitchen.
I thought of the cruel abuse from my siblings and their mothers.
I had stayed calm even when these women insulted me—but now, their words unearthed my most painful memories.
I clenched my fist without realizing it.
Sweat started to gather in my palm.
Unaware—or perhaps fully aware—of my discomfort, the women kept laughing, giggling at each other.
Then, one of them accidentally knocked over the three-tier tray of cookies and finger foods with her fan.
"Oh my! I'm so sorry!"
The woman put on a fake sorry face as food spilled all over the floor.
I was about to calmly call a maid to clean it when—
Lady Highland interrupted with a smile.
"This little mess probably doesn't mean much to you, does it?"
A cruel jab. The others began giggling again.
Even I couldn't stay calm anymore, not after being insulted so directly.
I clenched my fist tightly, about to say something—when a familiar voice cut in.
"Did I just hear what I think I did?"
Everyone turned their heads in shock.
It was Kallion, looking furious, with a deep scowl on his face.
"Did one of the vassal family ladies just insult the lady of Valdormer?"
The temperature seemed to drop as Kallion spoke, his voice icy.
The ladies froze. Lady Highland, in particular, broke into a cold sweat.
"N-no! I was just commenting on the strange customs of House Heister…"
"So you're saying my wife's family is wrong?"
"I-I meant Heister as in our enemy…"
Kallion's sharp gaze made her stutter and stumble over her words.
"Isn't that the same thing? Are you trying to play word games with me?"
Terrified, Lady Highland suddenly stood up and dropped to her knees.
"Please forgive me! I misspoke!"
Not long ago, the Schultz family—a noble house like Highland's—had been excommunicated by Kallion's orders.
The Schultz head lost everything—title, reputation, and had to pay huge compensation.
Though not officially the family head yet, Kallion's authority was absolute.
Lady Highland trembled, biting her lip.
But according to the secret letters she had exchanged with the head maid, Vanessa, Kallion wasn't supposed to care about his wife.
Then, without a word, Kallion grabbed my wrist and announced to the room,
"This gathering is over. I've seen enough."
With that, he began walking off, dragging me with him.
I struggled to pull my wrist free once we were out of view.
"Let go."
Kallion looked annoyed as he sighed.
"Why did you let them talk to you like that? Don't you know that disrespecting the lady of Valdormer is the same as insulting Valdormer itself?"
So the pride of the house came first, huh?
I stiffly replied,
"I didn't think they were worth responding to."
That was why I kept quiet—until they brought up my past.
As I turned my eyes away, Kallion stared at me and said softly,
"I care, Yuliana."
I blinked, thinking I had misheard him, and looked up.
He was staring intensely as he added,
"Because you're my wife."
He probably only meant that as the Lady of Valdormer.
As he said, I was his wife in name, and insulting me was the same as insulting the house.
I was sure that's what he meant.
But for some reason, those last words… felt different.
A quiet silence settled between us.
It felt just like before.
Like standing on the edge of a blade—
Like the charged air between us when we had kissed.