Diana sipped her tea before speaking up. "So, how have you beenâno, thatâs a pointless question. Of course, youâve been fine, havenât you?"
Beside her, Nika and Beatrice were quick to fill in the gaps, doing the tasks that a maid would normally handle. However, given my presence, Beatrice, who also served as the head attendant, insisted on taking care of things herself. After all, there wasnât a maid in the Crate family who would dare refuse her.
"Of course, Iâve been fine. But why ask all of a sudden?"
"I heard some news. They say even Lady Aihenhart Renitus is involved with you now?"
"Iâm not sure what you mean by âinvolved,â but if youâre talking about the summer festival, then yeah, we had a duel to decide the free sparring order. Thatâs about it."
Seeing Kang Yuna like thisâcalm, composedâmade me feel a strange sense of unease. The only time I had seen her act like this was when she received a bonus that was 800% more than expected.
Despite having known Diana for nearly 20 years, the familiarity I felt seeing Kang Yuna, after only 20 years apart, seemed to prove that blood truly is thicker than water.
"Impressive, Mira."
"What is?"
"My darling little brother is not only involved with the Agnes family, but now youâre also pulling the Renitus family into your orbit. How can I not be impressed?"
"I already told you, itâs not like that. What part of my explanation didnât you understand?"
"Isnât it? I just figured you were trying to pull Renitus family members into your circle too. People are saying you seemed pretty close with Lady Aihenhart during the summer festival."
"Sheâs devoted to the Crown Prince. Thereâs no way I could interfere, even if I wanted to. Wait, this is going to be misunderstood again. Even if there were something, I wouldnât do it. So, tell those people to shut up and back off."@@novelbin@@
Diana pondered my words for a moment, then clapped her hands softly.
"I get it now. They approached you to get closer to the Crown Prince, right? That explains why you two met privatelyâso the Crown Prince wouldnât find out."