The maid Anna, who serves Her Highness the Saintess, received a notice that the Duke of Stuart was visiting. Anna was a little stunned before she realized who this person was. The young man was already a duke... He must be here to see Her Highness the Saintess. With this thought in mind, Anna couldn't help but feel a touch of jealousy.
She and the Saintess were both commoners, even part of the same group who passed the temple exam and became candidates for the position of Saintess. But it was only Flora who eventually became a Saintess, and the rest could only serve as her maids. This gap had already made it easy for people to become unbalanced - not to mention that Flora was not a very respectable person.
As Flora's maid, Anna was very familiar with Landon. Regardless of his poor reputation, Anna thought Landon had a good personality, without any aristocratic airs, from her interactions with him. Handsome and understanding Flora's temper, he was also a duke, and if it were her, she would have happily married Landon. It was just Flora, who relied on her status as a Saintess, who acted so stubbornly.
Soon enough, Anna saw the new Duke of Stuart. The handsome young man wore a double-breasted formal suit with a flowing single-shoulder cape on his right side, holding a magnificent cane in both hands, sitting upright in the guest room chair. Hearing Anna's approaching footsteps, the blond young man turned his head and showed a slight smile, "Miss Anna."
Anna's face turned red. Landon rejected the assistance of his nursemaid and stood up on his own, asking kindly, "Is Her Highness the Saintess here?" Anna originally wanted to say that the Saintess was having afternoon tea with some young noble ladies, and asked Landon to wait in the living room of the Saintess. However, seeing Landon's rare formal attire, which his nursemaid had chosen carefully to make Flora realize that Landon was already a mature man, and the Stuart family crest carved on his cane, Anna made a decision as her long-repressed grievances towards the Saintess turned into a demon tempting her.
Swallowing her original words, Anna said, "Her Highness the Saintess is in the garden now. Please follow me." Landon didn't doubt her and, together with his nursemaid, followed Anna toward the garden.
The temple's garden was lush and green, with luxuriant trees, like a maze. Anna led them through the garden; Landon, unfamiliar with the route, had no idea what was about to happen. He didn't even notice that there were people hiding behind the dense tree trunks and vines until he suddenly heard a key phrase. "Yesterday's funeral of the Stuart family, Her Highness the Saintess did not attend."
Realizing that he had entered a girls' tea party by mistake, Landon stopped in his tracks, considering whether to turn back. But then Flora's response made him freeze. "Huh? I don't want to go. If I do, he'll surely think too much of himself." The girls laughed, and no one seemed to think it was a problem. "He's a duke now, don't you have any feelings for him?" "Right, he's always been so good to Her Highness and listens to you." "Last time you said your necklace fell into the water, and he jumped in without hesitation to find it for you." "Oh, that time, I was just joking with him, but he took it seriously." Flora said smugly, "It's because he's so serious that it makes me too embarrassed to tell the truth. He was even apologetic when he couldn't find it and said he'd give me a new one."
"Did he really buy you a new one?" Flora laughed and said, "Of course, he's strictly managed by his sister and has limited pocket money, but he still managed to buy an expensive necklace for me... I didn't want his gift, but since he already bought it, I reluctantly kept it. I haven't worn it at all." "Wow, he really likes you!" The girls praised Flora. For Anna, who had served the Saintess for years, such talk had become routine. Rather, she had deliberately brought the duke here to let him hear firsthand what kind of character his beloved Saintess was, and she was prepared for this scene.Therefore, her attention was always focused on the other two people.
The Saintess's biological mother, who had never seen her daughter in this way, was pale and looked like she was about to rush in. The woman, always with a loving smile on her face, was now livid.
However, the duke stopped the wet nurse with one hand on his cane and the other holding her back.
He appeared very calm, but the handsome face that had been smiling just moments ago now seemed cold as ice.
"Keep listening."
The wet nurse reluctantly suppressed her impulse and forced herself to continue listening to her beloved little mistress being belittled to dust.
"Her Royal Highness the Saintess is really lucky to be so loved by the duke."
"Ah, where is the luck? It's annoying to death. Usually, he's quite obedient, but as soon as I tell him not to come to find me... This time when I went for treatment, I told him not to come. Can you believe that he will still come?"
Flora spoke in a seemingly complaining but actually boastful tone.
"He's just like a dog that won't leave after being acknowledged by its master--"
"Enough!!!"
Unable to bear it any longer, the wet nurse shouted angrily and rushed into the tea party, bypassing the trees that obstructed her view.
"Flora! Do you even know what you're saying?!"
Upon hearing her mother's voice, a figure immediately stood up subconsciously.
The girl was lively and charming, with dreamy pink hair. A few strands of hair near her cheeks were braided into delicate little braids that were rolled-back, pressing on the rest of her soft, hanging hair and tied with a bow at the back of her head.
Her eyes were standard almond-shaped, very close in color to her hair, and when she looked at people, she had a natural and unpretentious sense of innocence. Her tone was always spoiled, and even if she said something excessive, people felt she had no malice and could not help but want to forgive her.
Flora widened her eyes and habitually tried to make herself look a little more innocent: "Mom, mom... why is Landon here too?!"
Seeing Landon, who slowly walked over from behind, Flora almost couldn't hold back her expression.
She didn't want Landon to hear what she had said at all!
What's going on? Even if Landon had come, shouldn't they have let Landon wait for her in another room? Why did he appear here...
In a flash, Flora realized something and turned her head violently to look at Anna.
Anna lowered her head and hid behind Landon.
"Don't look at other people, first explain what you just said!" The wet nurse was heartbroken, "The young master treats you so well, is this how you treat him?"
Flora bit her rosy lips.
She couldn't see the expressions of the other young noble ladies from the corner of her eye.
Were they watching the excitement? Or were they ridiculing her?
Would her mother still call Landon "young master", sparking a reminder of her indelible commoner origin to the other girls?
It had been so difficult for her to make it into the circle of noble ladies...
Why didn't her mother know how to read the atmosphere? Why did she have to criticize her at a time like this? Couldn't she have waited until they returned to their room?
And Landon...
She had told him not to come! Why did he have to come now!
The wet nurse urged, "Flora, say something!”
"…What to say, I didn't say anything wrong!"
In desperation, Flora clenched her teeth and defended herself, sidestepping the main issue: "You ask Landon yourself, didn't I say several times that I don't want him to come!"
