The current Duke Landon is not yet married. The "Duchess" mentioned by the old butler actually refers to the old Duchess, but the old butler is still used to calling her that due to habit.

However, the habitual choice of words actually has a better effect.

"I am... the Duchess...?"

Helena blankly repeated the old butler's words, as if she still couldn't fully understand the meaning of the sentence.

The hairpin used by the young girl to secure her hairdo had loosened during her recent actions, barely retaining the basic hairstyle. Her dark blue hair was disheveled, and her pale face showed a bewildered expression, making her look quite pitiful.

Yet, even though her consciousness was still in chaos, she shivered subconsciously due to the familiar address and recovered from her collapsed state.

It was clear that something was off about Helena's reaction toward the person who had adopted her.

"How... How could this be..."

Helena muttered nervously, then fell silent as if she had thought of something.

She looked completely awake now, slowly straightened her body, raised her hand to tidy up her loose hairstyle, and removed the shaking hairpin. She then let her messy long hair fall like a waterfall over her right shoulder and smoothed the wrinkles on her skirt.

After completing this series of actions, Helena seemed to return to normal as if nothing had happened before. Her chin slightly raised, she said, "Have someone clean up the room."

The old butler also bowed as if nothing had happened, as if he hadn't said or seen anything just now, "Yes, I'll get to it right away. However, there's one more thing. The young master, ahem, the master ordered me to move some files from your room...”

Helena's slender fingers twitched, and she restrained herself to tighten the fabric of her skirt behind her back, then spoke slowly, "If Landon needs them, just move them. I'll go with you.”

She needed to apologize to Landon.

Landon was right, he was now the head of the family.

In the past, there was no mistress of the house, so she took the place of her mother to handle some "female diplomacy". As she continued to help, her father saw her competence and assigned most of the work to her...

Now that Landon had inherited the title, her position was somewhat less legitimate.

However, it didn't matter, she was a little impatient just now and shouldn't have been so blunt. She could actually wait for Landon to encounter some problems that he couldn't handle before speaking up.

When Landon comes to her for help, then he would know that he can't live without her.

That's right, without her, Landon wouldn't be able to do anything.

Perhaps because her mind was too tense, an auditory hallucination that had disappeared for many years but still occasionally appeared in her ears, quietly sounded.

【"What use are you?"】

【"Couldn't someone else do these things?"】

【"Is this all you can do?"】

【"What makes you think you can stay in the Stuart family?"】

...

……

Helena, who was enveloped by the hallucination, was momentarily confused, as if she had returned to her childhood. She couldn't help but respond to the questioning from many years ago across the river of time.

"I am very useful... I have the value to stay... Because Landon... He can't do without me... Only I can do it..."

Her voice was as subtle as dust, so light it barely settled. The old butler didn't hear clearly and could only ask apologetically, "Miss Helena?"

Helena was startled awake. She smoothed her hair and asked, "What files does Landon want?"

Under Helena's guidance, the old butler found the files that Landon had specifically asked for.

During this time, Helena had already had the maids help her get dressed again, leaving no trace of her previous dishevelment. She was still radiant, graceful, and elegant.

The two headed towards Landon's study.

At the entrance, Helena signaled a maid with her eyes to open the door for her. However, the maid hesitated and reported the news.

"The master has a guest."

Helena raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Who?"

"Rowland Tott, sir."

Helena recognized this name as one of Landon's playboy friends, the son of a businessman. He was known for his debauchery and had often taken Landon to unsavory places.

In the past, Helena would have called Landon out and asked him not to associate with this kind of person anymore. However, now, Helena hesitated to say anything and kept trying to convince herself in her heart.She didn't come to quarrel with Landon, but rather to appease his emotions. She couldn't let Landon reject her any longer; otherwise, if Landon continued to be willful and no one dared to control him, the Stuart family would be the only ones to suffer.

With her mindset ready, Helena knocked on the door and entered the study.

As expected, a young man with short hair was inside, and he stood up to greet her when he saw her.

Helena returned the salute and asked the old butler to place a stack of documents on Landon's desk: "I had a misunderstanding just now. It's actually great that you're ambitious... These are the documents I've sorted out. If there's anything you don't understand, feel free to ask me."

Since there were outsiders present, Helena couldn't be too blunt, but Landon seemed to get her message.

Landon felt a little helpless because he thought Helena's apology wasn't much different from Flora's. Both seemed to follow the same routine after apologizing. Still, seeing Helena taking a step back and showing humility, Landon didn't refute her offer for help and responded naturally, "Alright."

Helena gave a relieved smile and whispered, "Then I won't disturb you and your friend from discussing serious matters."

Rowland embarrassingly touched his nose, and as soon as Helena left and was out of earshot, he immediately complained, "Your sister still dislikes me so much!"

Although her actions seemed to follow etiquette, the underlying feelings were hard to conceal.

Landon, flipping through the documents just sent, spoke quite casually to his trustworthy friend, "Who told you to go to such a place? I was misunderstood because of you."

"What kind of place? It was just a street, and I didn't do anything! I even brought my fiancée to your sister to testify for us! Who would bring their fiancée to such a shop? But she just doesn't believe us, and I don't know what to do."

Rowland sighed, "I'm sorry for ruining your reputation, but I really don't understand. She had no evidence, so why did she think we were lying? Does she think that I, as a businessman, have no credibility?"

Landon also sighed, "It's fine; that's just how she is. I've been framed for many things; one more won't make a difference."

Rowland sympathized with Landon and curiously asked, "Speaking of which, I heard you got beaten up? What happened?"

Landon repeated his explanation to Helena.

Unlike Helena, Rowland didn't doubt Landon's story and immediately believed him, "I knew it was a heroic rescue. It's a good deed, but the rumors outside are terrible... Where's the person you saved?"

"I don't know; they never showed up. As long as they're okay, that's fine."

Rowland shook his head, "They should have come forward to help your case... But with your sister acting the way she does, if they did come forward, she might think you bribed them. At least this time, no one tried to blackmail you, so that's a plus."

Landon gave a bitter smile.

Rowland couldn't help but lament, "I've realized that since becoming a duke, you've at least saved a lot of money from not being blackmailed – your sister is simply too gullible! She believes whatever people say and compensates them willingly. Is she some kind of money-spending child?"

As the son of a businessman, Rowland sensed a business opportunity in this situation:

All you needed to do was find an attractive girl, somehow associate her with Landon, and then go to Helena claiming that Landon had harassed her. With Helena's track record, wouldn't that be a guaranteed profit?

Moreover, once there's a successful case, others would imitate, and the more cases there were, the more Landon's reputation would be affected.

... But clever Helena seemed to be unaware of this.

How could she not react to such an obvious truth?

Rowland instinctively felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't say anything without evidence. From then on, his feelings towards Helena became complicated.

Landon actually guessed that Cain was operating behind the scenes and explained on Helena's behalf, "Someone must have given false testimony, and she just trusted the wrong person... Anyway, let's not talk about that now. Let's focus on the matter at hand."Rowland didn't plan to argue with Landon on this and changed the topic smoothly: "Come on, just tell me, you've always got so many cunning ideas, I'm curious too."

Landon pulled out a document from the drawer and handed it to him.

"Take a look at this first."

Rowland took it and at first read quickly, but soon his reading speed slowed down and he became completely absorbed.

"This is what I mentioned to you before... can we really do this? It seems like it might work... If it works, it would be like a resurrection! Even if the effect is only half, it would be enough..."

He was both amazed and doubtful, looking back and forth two or three times before finally cooling down from his excitement and suddenly looking up at Landon.

"How did you think of this? Can I use this method?"

"Of course," Landon replied slowly, "but I have a better suggestion - let's work together. I have something I need to do some experiments on."

——————

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!

I have previously hinted that there is some inside information about the male lead's reputation issue, which is revealed a little in this chapter.

Thank you for the rewards and monthly tickets; there will be an additional update tonight.