Landon left, dragging away the still-fuming nanny with him.

Flora finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

Problem was, they’d left, but the noble young ladies were still here. She still had to face a very awkward situation.

After a strange silence, the earl’s daughter covered her mouth and laughed softly.

“Oh my, I thought today was just an ordinary gathering. I didn’t expect something like this to happen… Your Holiness Saintess, how are you feeling now?”

Terrible, obviously.

But Flora was the type to die for her pride rather than admit defeat, her mouth stubborn as ever. “I’m fine. I’ve been giving him too much face all this time anyway. At least I can finally shake him off now.”

She had no choice but to talk tough. Otherwise, wouldn’t she have offended Landon just now for nothing?

Another noble girl said in a strangely sweet-and-sour tone, “Whatever the case, His Grace the Duke is definitely being obedient this time. You told him to leave, and he walked out right away, didn’t even hesitate.”

“Y-yeah.”

Flora forced herself to keep up her momentum, but from sheer embarrassment, her eyes were already a little red. Still, there were people around, so she grit her teeth and held it in.

“It’s just that I used to speak too tactfully. This time he finally got the message.”

Among nobles, everything was about tact and saving face. As long as it wasn’t a blood feud, people rarely tore each other’s masks right off. Everyone glanced at the mood in the room and decided not to push Flora too hard. She was still the Saintess, after all.

But someone still couldn’t resist poking at her. “Since you don’t like anything he gave you… in that case… shouldn’t you return them now?”

—No way, no way, Her Holiness the Saintess isn’t planning to keep the gifts and throw away the man, right?

Flora could almost hear that subtext.

Under the table, her fingers curled into a tight fist. On her pretty face, she forced a bright smile. “O-of course I’ll return them! It’s not like I need his stuff anyway!”

That was what she said. But after she’d finally seen the noble girls off and returned to her own room, she looked around and realized it was really hard to actually do it.

The sofa she was sitting on right now was something Landon had sent over the very next day after she’d complained that the standard wooden chairs and stone benches in the temple were too hard.

The sofa cover was apparently made from some rare magical beast hide. Warm in winter, cool in summer, it automatically molded to the body when you sat down. It was ridiculously comfortable.

Her four-poster bed in the bedroom was also sent by Landon. He’d heard from the nanny that Flora had bad sleeping posture as a child and often rolled off the bed in her sleep, so without waiting for her to say anything, he’d just had a soft, huge bed delivered straight to the temple… In truth, she slept fine now, but who would complain about a bigger bed?

Then there was this wardrobe, and all the dresses inside it. Landon had hired a tailor to come over and take her measurements. She could ask for whatever she wanted. The tailor went to the Stuart family once a year to settle the bill.

As for this vanity…

That vanity was something she’d pestered Landon to buy because she felt the temple’s standard-issue table was no longer worthy of her.

The carvings were exquisite and ornate; it even used mother-of-pearl inlay. Those shells had to be shipped from distant coasts, their yield very low. Under the sunlight, the inlaid pieces shimmered in all colors. Even the well-traveled noble girls were green with envy.

Flora opened the vanity drawer. Looking at the jewelry and accessories inside, she slipped into her memories.

The temple was never going to buy jewelry for a Saintess. So the first time she went with the Pope to meet nobles, seeing their lavish outfits, she couldn’t help feeling like she didn’t quite belong.

Landon saw she was in a low mood and took the initiative to ask what was wrong.

Flora stammered through an explanation. She hadn’t really expected him to buy jewelry for her; she just wanted him to help her borrow a few pieces from Helena to hold up appearances.

Instead, Landon had said firmly that a girl couldn’t possibly go without things to dress herself up. That very day he’d bought her several bracelets and necklaces, and told her that if anything was hard or uncomfortable, she shouldn’t swallow it. She should just say it.

At first, she’d been terrified.

Did she really deserve to wear these? What if she lost one or broke it by accident—how heartbroken would she be?

But soon enough, she was swept away by the praise of her girlfriends. Not only did she start to feel these pieces were what she deserved, she even began to feel they weren’t enough.

Going out with the same few pieces of jewelry over and over would get her laughed at.

Landon had tried to talk some sense into her a few times. When that failed, all he could do was keep buying more for her, helpless. Even after his allowance got restricted, he still did his best to grant her wishes.

And everything he did didn’t just adorn her; it became the highlight of her tea parties with her friends.

…If only things could’ve just stayed that way…

Flora bit her lip and rummaged through the drawer. She realized there were maybe only two or three pieces that were truly hers. Compared to what Landon had given her, they were pretty much nothing.

Even the hairband on her head was custom-made and woven by the most famous tailor in the Imperial Capital, a man who only worked for high-ranking nobles. He’d used the best materials and even threaded in thin strands of gold, the pattern absolutely one of a kind, dazzling to look at.

All because she’d once said some hair ornaments were too heavy, but cheap, ordinary bands were easy to mock…

“Your Holiness Saintess, the tea is ready…”

One of the maids, knowing she was in a bad mood, was standing there with a tray, trembling a little.

Flora’s gaze shifted and fell onto the teacup.

The cup was part of a full set. The body and saucer were crystal, with hollow gold filigree wrapped around the outside. You could see the color of the tea through it. Gorgeous and delicate, it was incredibly popular with young ladies… Landon had given her three complete sets of these. Even the cups they used at today’s tea party were all from Landon.

He’d “compensated” them after accidentally breaking the temple’s original cups.

Now, on the saucer next to the cup lay one of her favorite madeleines.

Seeing Flora staring at the cake, the maid whispered, “This was sent over by His Grace the Duke today…”

Flora’s chest tightened with a heavy, suffocating feeling.

Clothes, food, housing—aside from transport, where she still used the temple’s carriage, Landon had taken care of absolutely everything else.

If she really returned all of this… she’d have almost nothing left.

She glared at the teacup for a full five seconds, then suddenly asked, “Where’s Anna?”

She hadn’t forgotten. Anna had definitely done that on purpose today. If Anna hadn’t brought him over at exactly the wrong moment, she wouldn’t have had to face any of this mess!

The maid answered cautiously, “Anna took leave to go home. She probably won’t be back until next month…”

With a sharp smack, Flora flung out her hand and knocked the tray over in a fit of rage. The teacup and saucer on it shattered across the floor. The cute little cake rolled twice and then got kicked far away by Flora.

The maid hurriedly stepped back out of the way. She glanced down at the shards on the floor, heart aching a little, and couldn’t help muttering, “Your Holiness, if you break them now, no one’s going to buy you new ones anymore.”

Flora snapped her head toward her. A sheen of tears seemed to flash in those pink eyes, but she gritted her teeth and spoke in a fierce tone.

“Who needs anyone to buy me new ones! I don’t just not want them—I’m sending all of this back! Go find someone from the Stuart ducal house right now and tell Landon to send people to move these, and these, and these… all of it out!”

The maid’s jaw dropped. “Huh? Even the bed?”

“Yes, all of it! Landon can send people to move it!”

Imagining how empty her room was about to become, Flora felt more and more wronged and stewed in her resentment.

Look at all this stuff. Anyone could tell she was really mad this time. If Landon had any guts, he’d swallow the hassle, send someone over, and actually leave her with nothing but the floor to sleep on.

When that happened, she’d just take it as seeing his true colors for what they were—a scumbag through and through. All this would just be tuition for the lesson.