Ingrid was reading the report Prince Aleric had previously given her when the sound of shattering ceramic disturbed her. She turned to see the servant, who had been carrying the tea, lying on the floor, her hand red from the scalding hot water of the broken teapot.

  "Forgive me, my lady," said the maidservant who fell, her eyes welling from the burning pain as another servant helped her up.

  "Take her to the infirmary," Ingrid commanded. Then her eyes shifted to another maidservant behind the one who fell. "Flog her twenty times."

  It took everyone a few seconds to process what Ingrid had just said. They looked at the maidservant named Rea, unsure what she had done.

  "Do I have to repeat myself?" Ingrid frowned.

  Rea instantly prostrated herself on the ground in fright.

  "My lady, what have I done wrong!" she exclaimed.

  Ingrid looked at the maidservant holding the injured one and said, "Go now."

  "Y-yes, thank you, my lady."

  The two glanced at Ingrid one last time and left in a daze. Meanwhile, Ingrid shifted her attention to the maidservant kneeling on the floor.

  "I do not condone bullying in my palace."

  Rea's pupils trembled as she realized she was caught. Cold sweats trickled down her back. She thought she had been stealthy with her action. Even the other maidservants did not notice what she did. Unfortunately for her, Ingrid's sharp eyes did not miss the subtle movement of her foot.

  "Forgive me, my lady! I will never do it again!" Rea exclaimed while bowing, hitting her forehead on the ground, in hopes that the young lady would pity her like always.

  But Ingrid's gaze remained limpid.

  "If I can recall, you are a repeat offender. This isn't the first time that you've done such a hazardous prank against your peers. Don't you think you deserve some sort of consequence?"

  Rea fell silent. Despair gripped her heart.

  "Leave now."

  "No, no! My lady! Please!"

  Two guards came and dragged the screaming Rea away.

  The rest of the maidservants cleaning her chamber looked at each other nervously. Ingrid has never used corporal punishment as a means of discipline before, so the maidservants couldn't help but fear. Before, they only felt that the young lady was somehow different, but now they realize that she had changed a lot.

  Ingrid went back to reading the report that Prince Aleric had sent her like nothing happened.

  As she expected, there is a traitor in their residence.

  Based on the information that leaked to the imperial family, there's a high chance that the informant is a servant in her palace. Only a select few knew exactly what happened to her. The palace not knowing her specific condition meant that the informant isn't among those the grand duke trusted.

  That somehow relieved Ingrid. She's well aware of how pained her father was when he learned of Lady Joan's betrayal.

  Ingrid hoped for the grand duke not to lose trust in the people who have accompanied him through many lives and deaths.

  "My lady! My lady!"

  All eyes turned to Lily as she burst inside Ingrid's chamber while waving something in her hand with a joyous expression. If it were another maidservant, they would have already received a strict reprimand from Ingrid. But because it was Lily who grew up with her and was considered her closest friend, she simply smiled.

  Ingrid carefully folded the letter Prince Aleric sent her and placed it in her mother's royal treasure box before facing Lily.

  "My lady, look!" Lily excitedly waved a thick red envelope. "It's an invitation! An invitation!"

  Lily seemed more excited than Ingrid at receiving an invitation. She can't help it. It's been years since some nobles last invited Ingrid on anything.

  On the other hand, Ingrid stared at the envelope with a peculiar gaze.

  The last time she received an invitation was three years ago, for Lady Alecia's birthday, a daughter of a Marquess house under their territory. She never planned to go, but the grand duke did not want to completely isolate Ingrid from society, so he convinced her to attend.

  And so, Ingrid attended the party.

  Everything surprisingly went well. She even managed to talk to a few of the ladies and saw some hope in finally finding new friends apart from her lady-in-waiting, Lily.

  The ladies promised to be in touch with Ingrid, but a few months passed, and their letters did not come. She also stopped receiving party invites from anyone.

  A few months later, a huge scandal erupted within their territory. Apparently, Lady Alecia's fiancé broke their engagement. The reason? He fell deeply in love with someone else to the point of becoming lovesick. So his parents had no choice but to break their son's engagement in fear for his life.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Barely a week later, a letter arrived for Ingrid, overflowing with the ridiculously poetic pronouncements of love from the same man. He'd apparently caught a glimpse of her face when she'd momentarily lowered her veil and fallen instantly and madly in love.

  Ingrid burned the letter in utter disgust.

  Unfortunately for the young man, the young lady is allergic to the word 'love.' Ingrid did not even reach the end of the letter before she retched at the sight of it.

  Since the issue, the nobles treated Ingrid like one of those monsters in old folktales parents warn their children about. Young ladies, married or unmarried, were told to distance themselves from the daughter of the House of Lennox, or else they will lose the man that they love.

  Ingrid stared at the envelope in Lily's hand. Though she isn't as excited as Lily, she is still curious. She wondered which sane person sent her an invitation.

  Ingrid took the envelope from Lily and carefully opened it.

  Ingrid chuckled upon reading the words written in elegant cursive. "It's an invitation for the wedding of the duke and duchess of Pembroke."

  If she remembers correctly, the duchess-to-be is a commoner. Their marriage announcement made quite the sensation in the capital a few months ago, in a negative way.

  Nobles are egotistical creatures who are all about keeping their bloodline pure. To them, marriage to a commoner was an unthinkable transgression.

  As expected, the prideful nobles took the union between the duke and his commoner fiancée personally. They even went as far as writing a petition to the emperor to pressure the duke to break his engagement or risk losing his noble rank.

  But they underestimated the duke's resolve. He was more than willing to trade his nobility for his woman. The duke even began returning the gifts and rewards he received from the empire, which further infuriated the nobles.

  The nobles weren't really trying to strip the duke of his noble status. They were merely threatening him, thinking it would make him back out of the marriage. After all, the grand duke is among the most prominent pillars of the empire. Losing him is tantamount to losing one of the empire's arms.

  In the end, they didn't have a choice but to take a step back and agree to the marriage while choking in their anger.

  Ingrid's laughter echoed in the four corners of the room. It wasn't a pretty or elegant laugh, but because it was Ingrid, it still sounded beautiful in the hearer's ears.

  Astounded faces filled the room, however. Their mistress never laughed. The most she ever does is smile regardless of how humorous something is.

  Ingrid wiped the tear from the corner of her eye as she inspected the letter once more, unaware of the complicated gazes of her servants.

  "It seems not everyone in the House of Pembroke is a fan of their new duchess."

  If the noblewomen in the empire were forced to choose only one social event that Ingrid must never attend, they'd definitely choose their wedding. They feared she'd cause their grooms to abandon them at the altar and that, even in rags, she'd outshine them all—a near certainty.

  Whoever sent Ingrid the invitation was attempting to use her as a pawn to spoil the duke's wedding. She didn't understand why they thought their plan would work, though. Do they think she's dumb? Are they assuming that she's thirsty for attention?

  "Do they think I'm the empress?" Ingrid scoffed. Even without people saying it, she knew she was beautiful. She doesn't need anyone's validation.

  "You're going right, my lady?" Lily asked with an expectant gaze.

  Ingrid understood Lily's excitement—she loved parties and longed to experience the noble world. It was a cruel irony that her mistress's stunning beauty had banished her from society, depriving her of the chance to see the world and display the lovely gifts Ingrid had given her.

  Ingrid, however, has to disappoint Lily once again.

  "No." Ingrid folded the invitation and was about to discard it in the trash when a sly idea struck her.

  "Eros," Ingrid called to the wind.

  In a matter of seconds, a man with a slender frame wearing a camouflage uniform with only his brown eyes showing appeared. There was a taint of wonder in his eyes as he bowed before Ingrid.

  Eros was the captain of the Shadow Knights, who, as in their name, protected Ingrid from the shadows.

  It seems that the changes in the young lady brought out many firsts, for that was the first in six years since Ingrid summoned Eros.

  When Ingrid was a child, she would often summon the knight's captain to play. The young Ingrid even gifted him some of the animals she rescued after she found that the deadly knight is fond of cute animals. But that changed after her abduction.

  "Your order, my lady?" Eros lowered his eyes to hide the overwhelming emotion in them.

  For six years Eros waited for the day that the young lady would summon him once again. To think that his long hope would be fulfilled today.

  "Find out the source of this letter and report it to me immediately," Ingrid commanded and handed the letter to Eros. "Oh, and do you know where Papa is?"

  "I believe the grand duke is currently in his office," Eros answered.

  Grand Duke Rasmus has been stuck in his office for days with Elias set on running him ragged.

  Ingrid stood and walked out the door with hurried steps. But as she reached for the door's handle, she paused and turned towards the Shadow Knights captain.

  "Oh, I'll visit Little Leaf some other time," she said with a smile before leaving the knight's captain, whose eyes were brimming with tears.

  Little Leaf was the name of the tortoise that Ingrid gave to Eros as a gift.

  "Papa!" Ingrid burst inside the grand duke's office unannounced.

  Though Elias very much adores Ingrid, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her arrival. He finally got his stubborn donkey to work on the documents that had piled up into a mini mountain in their office. Any and every kind of disturbance will surely receive his unwelcoming gaze.

  "Sunshine! What brought you to my office?" The previously grim-looking face of the grand duke instantly turned to a wide grin.

  Grand Duke Rasmus was especially glad upon his daughter's arrival. He has been working from early morning until late at night for several days straight, so much so that he even dreams of working. Any and every kind of disturbance he would gladly welcome.

  "Papa, don't you have noble titles you haven't awarded to anyone yet?" Ingrid asked as soon as she sat.

  "Indeed, I have a few. Why?"

  "How about giving one to the family of the future duchess of Pembroke?"

  "You mean the family of that girl Aeri that lad Alestair is about to marry?" Grand Duke Rasmus asked with furrowed brows.

  "Uh huh." Ingrid nodded her head like an excited puppy.

  "What for? Though her family might not be ennobled given the opposition their union is getting, I'm sure that the lad would not neglect his wife's family."

  "So you won't do it?"

  Grand Duke Rasmus was stunned to see Ingrid acting cute in front of him.

  "Ehem, well, it's not that I can't. But it will be so much work. Besides, the other nobles would not take it lightly. Additionally, what reason should I give for suddenly giving a common family I barely knew a title?"

  Elias shoulder sagged as he listened to the father and daughter's conversation. His eyes lingered on the mountain of work on his table while crying inside. They still haven't made a dent in their work yet, and now his master is adding more.

  Ingrid flashed a mischievous grin. "Just tell them your lovely daughter asked you to."

  The grand duke stared gloomily at the closed door of his office for a long time after Ingrid left.

  "Don't you think Ingrid seems so much happier these days?"

  "I heard she laughed this morning. It had become a sensation among the servants today," Vernon remarked without lifting his head from the pile of work on his table.

  But the grand duke couldn't hide his worry. Lady Joan's words kept haunting his mind like a persistent ghost.

  "There is no point in worrying, my lord," said Elias with a sigh, knowing full well what was going on in the grand duke's mind. "Lady Joan is a lying old snake. We can't trust everything that comes out of her mouth."