Click.
At last, Ahwin closed the door behind him as he left the drawing room.
“...”
“...”
Yvette broke the silence first. “Was that... the Tower Master?”
Penelope frowned slightly but gave a small nod.
Emily’s jaw practically hit the floor.
Ahwin... That Ahwin is Irriel Ar Ahwin?!
She had assumed the name referred to a close friend or acquaintance, given how casually Penelope called him. She never imagined he was the Tower Master!
Of course, it’s Baroness Halo. Even her friends are extraordinary!
Penelope, her face flushed red, ducked her head and spoke in a quiet, embarrassed voice.
“I’m really sorry, but could you both pretend you didn’t see anything today?”
“Of course.”
“Don’t worry at all,” Emily and Yvette replied fervently, nodding with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.
Despite their assurances, curiosity quickly began to bubble up in Emily’s mind. Glancing at Penelope cautiously, she hesitated before asking, “So... are you and the Tower Master seeing each other?”
“What?! N-no! We’re just friends! ...For now.”
The last words slipped out before Penelope could stop herself. Even she wasn’t entirely sure how to define her relationship with Ahwin. And if she were being honest, her connection with Rianel wasn’t any clearer.
Technically, I’ve been putting off giving Rianel an answer to his confession...
That hesitation had dragged on longer than she’d intended.
Penelope had once believed that pursuing a romance while rebuilding her territory would be an impossible luxury. Back then, Halo Territory had been teetering on the brink of ruin.
But now? After a series of successful ventures, there was no longer a need to worry about the territory’s downfall. She had paid off all her loans from the Imperial Bank, acquired a townhouse in the capital under her name, received her title as Baroness, and soon a railway would pass through Halo.
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And yet, she still put romance on the back burner?
It was starting to feel uncomfortably like she was stringing both men along.
Am I... being a terrible person?!
A sharp pang of guilt pierced her chest.
Even so, she couldn’t imagine starting a relationship with either of them right away. Both were too overwhelming as potential partners!
I want to start on somewhat equal footing. If my status isn’t high enough, at least I don’t want to feel inferior when it comes to wealth.
Penelope suddenly realized something chilling: her pride was absolutely colossal.
So that’s why I’ve been maintaining this ambiguous middle ground. My subconscious is terrifying!
Meanwhile, Emily was lost in her own thoughts.
Just friends with the Tower Master? If they’re friends, then I guess I don’t have any friends at all.
Of course, she didn’t dare say that aloud.
Seeing a love triangle unfold before her very eyes made Emily’s heart race. She was ready to cheer for Penelope no matter who she chose.
Still, if they truly were still in the courting stage, Emily thought Rianel needed to put in more effort. From her perspective, Penelope seemed to care more about Ahwin.
Penelope, still preoccupied with her own concerns, hesitantly asked the two women, “Do you think it’s terribly rude among nobles to return a gift?”
“...”
“...”
Emily’s expression turned into one of deep concern.
“Do you not like the Grand Duke’s gift?”
“It’s not that... It’s just, I can’t play the piano.”
“Oh dear.”
Yvette, who had been quiet until now, couldn’t help but click her tongue.
Giving a piano as a gift without even knowing if the recipient could play it? It was effectively a useless, expensive decoration.
Just a moment ago, I was wishing for that pompous man to get rejected...
For a fleeting moment, Yvette almost felt sorry for the Grand Duke.
***
“It really feels like I haven’t moved at all.”
That was Penelope’s conclusion on the third day after settling into her new house.
Ahwin had taken to barging through her door without warning, appearing before her at any time of the day.
“Doesn’t Ahwin understand the basic etiquette of sending a message and knocking on a door?” Penelope asked, exasperated.
“You prefer it this way, don’t you?” Ahwin replied, casually holding up a round hairbrush he’d brought with him. It was modeled after a sketch Penelope had drawn in her notebook.
“What do you think? Is it usable?”
“If you comb your hair with that, it’ll get tangled beyond saving.”
“Really?”
Ahwin shrugged, setting the brush down on the table. At last, the all-powerful Tower Master had encountered a task he couldn’t perfect—making a proper hairbrush.
Ahwin frowned, as though unwilling to acknowledge this failure.
“I’ll remake it.”
“Just leave it to Pablo. If we introduce him to a craftsman at the workshop, he can handle it.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Why don’t you take a break? You’ve been working so hard on all my requests,” Penelope suggested.
Ahwin’s expression turned sour.
If I take a break, how will I have an excuse to visit her house?
This was his honest thought.
Since Penelope’s move, Ahwin had been struggling with a sense of separation anxiety. The idea of going even one day without seeing or speaking to her made him restless.
Thus, he kept finding trivial excuses to open a door and appear before her.
Penelope, however, worried that Ahwin wasn’t getting enough rest. She had no clue about his true intentions.
At that moment, Giselle chimed in.
“Why don’t both of you take a break?”
“Me too?” Penelope asked, looking up from her notes, where she had been jotting down ideas for hair essence ingredients.
Hands on her hips, Giselle replied with an authoritative tone, “You’ve both been working like maniacs. Baroness, you’ve been in the capital for days but haven’t properly explored it, have you?”
“...I haven’t.”
“Did you know there’s a festival happening in the central district today?”
“...I didn’t.”
Giselle sighed dramatically, shaking her head at the two hopeless workaholics.
She announced firmly, “Today, both of you will spend time with Young Master Sein.”
***
“Wow, look at those accessories! So many rings!”
“Sein, don’t run around in crowded places,” Penelope warned.
“But...” Sein pouted and shuffled his feet, his attention completely captivated by a toy train model displayed in a nearby shop window.
Sein’s tutor, Damian, gently held the boy’s hand and turned to Penelope.
“I’ll go with him. Don’t worry.”
“Please do,” Penelope agreed.
As soon as she gave permission, Sein grabbed Damian’s hand and dashed toward the toy display, with the knights eagerly following. They could have been mistaken for a small army charging forward.
Penelope sighed quietly. Beside her, Ahwin asked, “Why the big sigh?”
“If I’d known how happy this would make him, I would’ve brought him out sooner.”
“You’ve been too busy to breathe,” Ahwin pointed out.
“Still, I should’ve made time for him. I’m his only guardian; how lonely must he have felt?”
“...”
Ahwin had no response to Penelope’s enormous misconception. The truth was, Sein had been thriving, happily causing mischief around the house.
He’d spent days playing tag with the servants, learning swordsmanship from the knights, and even insisting on learning magic from the junior mages who visited. There was no shortage of company for the boy.
In fact, when the household staff heard that Sein was moving out, they had been genuinely upset.
Apparently, Penelope was the only one unaware of all this.
“He must really want that train model,” Penelope mused, stepping forward to approach Sein. Ahwin followed, shaking his head.
“Do you want it?” Penelope asked kindly.
“No, it’s fine. I just wanted to look,” Sein replied shyly, his face flushed red.
Ahwin smirked. This kid is such a little fox.
That’s exactly how you make people want to buy it for you.
Sure enough, Penelope was already pulling out her wallet.
“One of each type, please,” she said to the vendor.
“Wow, the young master must feel lucky to have such a generous sister!” the shopkeeper remarked enthusiastically.
“...You really didn’t have to,” Sein murmured softly, his voice barely audible. But Penelope heard him anyway.
“Don’t you like the train?” she asked, her brow furrowing.
“No, it’s not that... It’s just... Aren’t you poor? I heard you borrowed a lot of money from the bank and almost went bankrupt because of your business. And you must’ve spent a lot of money moving to your new house... I really don’t need it,” Sein said earnestly, his words tumbling out in a rush.
“...”
Penelope was left speechless, staring at the boy. Meanwhile, Ahwin barely managed to stifle his laughter.
It was obvious that Sein had overheard adults talking and drawn completely wrong conclusions.
Penelope crouched down to look Sein in the eye.
“Thank you for thinking about me so much. But the truth is, I’ve already paid back all the money I borrowed from the bank, and my business is doing very well. The money I spent on moving? That was just pocket change to me. I have a lot of money—so much money.”
“...Really?” Sein’s eyes widened in disbelief as he asked.