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The scene in front of me began to change.

The Duchess's hostile attitude and smug behavior towards me disappeared after she lost to the intimidation I had given.

With the appearance of Sirius, who could have suddenly injured her in the darkness of the night, it make my room filled with the light of a magic lantern that shone brightly.

The dim light that filled my room was now filled with the spotlight of a magic lantern that filled my room with light that did not produce a shadow.

After the situation became calmer, several of the Duchess's guards began to show their faces that were hiding behind the hood.

Mio, who had understood the current situation, could only silent and hold back her feelings of annoyance towards the Duchess. With her status as a woman who worked as my Exclusive Maid, it would be a little difficult for the Marquess Rommel family to have a conflict with the Duchess family by Mio action... when it happen.

While letting go of the misunderstanding wrapped in a naughty joke like that, the Duchess also released several Maids who were tied up in the closet.

"Fufu... do you like jokes like this, Lily?" the Duchess asked with a smile and a trembling look in her eyes at me.

"Not really, jokes like this are too much for me," I replied in a cold tone.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure Lily likes jokes like this. Isn't that right, everyone?" the Duchess replied while looking for a voice of support that would make her look right.

"..."

"..."

The only support the Duchess got was silence, and her embarrassment, which didn't get any encouragement from her guards.

"Ugh, I guess that's too much. I just understood this," the Duchess grumbled in a tone of resignation in this situation.

Sraaatt...

While waiting for the situation to run more normal than being filled with awkward glare, I glanced at the Maids who had been tied up and held as captive earlier.

"Are you all okay?" I asked while looking at the rope marks on their hands that were clearly visible.

"W-We're fine, Lily-sama," they replied with tired faces and low tone.

"If it's alright with you, could you help Mio prepare a cup of hot tea that suits my taste?"

"O-Of course, Lily-sama."

By throwing away some innocent people about this matter, it seemed like I could calmly approach the Duchess and give her an sweet intimidation that made her look like a cat facing death before her eyes.

Mio, who heard this, seemed to want to protest something, but I immediately cast a magic formation from my magic storage to take out some Darjeeling tea leaves for calming this tense and hot conflict situation.

Swiirrll...

Swiippp...

By taking out the box of Darjeeling tea that I liked, I gave an order to Mio to make a cup of hot tea that suits my taste.

"Mio, make the tea like you usually do," I said with a gentle order that made Mio unable to refuse.

"Uuuhh, Lily-sama is cunning when she has done something like this," Mio replied while giving me a sulky look.

"Hmm? You want to refuse my order?" I replied while giving Mio a sweet smile.

"No, Lily-sama, I will gladly make the best tea for you. Even though the quality of the water in this place is different, even though the equipment in this place is different, even though I am forced to do this to fulfill the order given by my own Master, I will make sure the give the best tea to you, my beloved Lily-sama," with a speech that showed signs of her sulking at me, Mio took the Darjeeling tea storage box from my hand with a polite and elegant attitude.

"Then, please enjoy your free time for a sweet and polite discussion, Lily-sama," Mio said while giving a graceful and elegant bow.

After giving such a graceful and elegant bow, Mio immediately withdrew together with the other Maids who had previously been tied up and held captive by the Duchess.

Klaapp...

After the door of my room was tightly closed, all that was left in the room was me, the Duchess, and her guard.

Taking a deep breath and trying to calm my mind that was flying here and there, I did not understand what made the Duchess want to make a deal with the Marquess Rommel's family.

With the Duchess's noble title and assets, they should be the ones whom the Marquess Rommel family should ask for help from. Not the other way around like this.

With my mind wandering without getting such an answer, I gave an opening sentence that would lead to the pact between the Marquess Rommel family and the Duchess family.

"First of all, let me start with a small introduction from me. I'm sure the Duchess already knows me well. If not, the Duchess would not have sat quietly waiting for me in the room provided by Earl Timoti and deliberately spread several Assassins around the hallways of Earl Timoti's residence, right?" I said with a smile that made the Duchess look panicked and restless.

"I apologize for that, Lily. Usually, something like this doesn't happen when I want to talk nicely with someone. Even my guards have shown their faces that are rarely seen from their hoods," replied the Duchess with an answer that sounded gentle and elegant.

Along with the hand fan covering her lips, I could read her intentions as she was trying to hold back her panic after previously being captured by Sirius.

The wound that Sirius deliberately gave her neck had become a sign that I could attack her at any time. Especially with Sirius's slime body part that had already became a tapping device on his neck necklace.

"That was after you did up something nasty before, right?" I replied, making the Duchess stunned for a moment.

"Fufu... that's true. Who would have thought that my famous great self would lose so badly in this case?" The Duchess replied, closing her hand fan to reveal a wide smile on her face.

Sraatt...

By showing that wide smile, I could see the Duchess' weakest side, which was full of gaps.

Her wavering gaze looked different from before.

The twitching of her cheek also showed that she was thinking about something complicated that had happened in her territory.

Even with the wound still bleeding on her neck, a new drop of blood began to flow back down her neck.

"I'm sure this isn't the first time you've lost in this, isn't it?" I asked, just guessing.

"Kuuhh!!"

Even in my random guess, it seemed to be a validation of her having lost before.

"In this case, at least I've only lost three times, you know," replied the Duchess, piquing my curiosity about this.

"So I'm the third person, huh?" I replied after getting her answer.

"..."

"..."

Griitt...

Sraaatt...

The atmosphere returned to calm and heated up more than before. With the intensity of this hot conflict, I could feel the turmoil of anger given by the Duchess, but the wound on her neck that felt sore made her calm down again.

She, who was almost exploding emotionally, was immediately brought to her senses by her guard, who had patted her shoulder.

"Duchess, defeat is a common thing. Being perfect without defeat is impossible," said one of her guards, who began to calm her mood, which was filled with her emotional annoyance.

"I know that, but this time it's different, we have to succeed before our territory is destroyed!" shouted the Duchess, who exploded her feelings that felt annoyance.

"If we don't act soon, our residence will be destroyed by that savage monster!" shouted the Duchess, who suddenly looked at me with her eyes as if begging for my help.

"Lily... no... Lily-sama... please help us!" said the Duchess while bowing her body, which seemed to have fallen into the abyss of despair.

I don't know what happened in her territory, but it seems like it will be a big problem later if I don't listen to her.

Seeing the weakest condition of the Duchess, who had been shaken and fallen into despair then bowing like this, it made me glance at her with a cold gaze as if judging whether she was acting or not.

"First of all, I don't know why I must help you, Duchess."

"I don't know what happened to you and how can I help you?" I answered by giving her a cold gaze to find a gap in her acting or not.

"Uuuhh," by pushing her body to lean back in her chair, the Duchess suddenly snapped her fingers until a newspaper appeared with a news that had been experienced by the Duchess.

Plaaap...

Plaappp...

The falling newspaper made the small table containing the warm teapot and some sweets disappear.

"Do you know about this incident?" asked the Duchess as she tried to get up from her despair.

I picked up one of the newspapers and read the headlines.

[ Today's Breaking News: The Duke and Duchess fund research on plants that can thrive in extreme winter! The Duke's territory's technological civilization is advancing! ]

[ Today's Breaking News: The plant trials are going quite well! Farmers are happy to be able to work in the winter to grow crops! ]

[ Today's Breaking News: A monster plant mutation has been detected! All affected areas must evacuate to safety! ]

[ Today's Breaking News: The curse has descended! Plants are turning into monsters and causing chaos! The Duke has imposed martial law on all of his territories! ]

[ Today's Breaking News: The war with the plant mutations is fierce! The Duke falls on the battlefield! ]

The more I read the newspaper the Duchess gave me, the more I understood what the Duke and Duchess had done in the past.

Based on the date written in the newspaper, it was at least around the same time as Marquess Rommel's family vacation.

At the same time as Marquess Rommel's family vacation, I felt like this was an old plan that happened to come together when we were on vacation and not socializing with other noble families after deciding to become a neutral noble family.

"I think this is enough to make you grieve over the natural disaster that has happened," I said to comment on what the Duchess and her family had experienced.

"A single mistake that can bring fortune and disaster, is there something that triggered it?" I asked the Duchess further.

Snapp...

With a snap of her fingers once again, I saw a rough sketch of a mysterious group that I recognized.

Without answering the Duchess, I seemed to begin to understand the root of the problem that the Duchess was experiencing.

"Oh, this, isn't Princess Anastasia taking care of this?" I replied indifferently to the Duchess.

"Yes, but I am also responsible for being deceived by them. I believe they are starting to use their involvement in this incident to blackmail us."

"Yes, it is indeed mostly your fault," I replied with an answer based on factual evidence.