Her voice was a little hoarse.
Tia stood still, as if caught in a daze and confusion.
She stammered, her voice slightly trembling.
“I, I…”
Lina seemed to be losing patience.
She whispered, “Tia, if you don’t agree soon, I’m going to run out of patience.”
Run out of patience?
What did that mean?
A threat?
Just as many nobles were rallying to Tia’s defense, an elegant female voice came from the main entrance.
“Is that so?”
The voice was not loud, yet it reached the ears of everyone present.
They turned to look at the doorway.
Lina’s smile froze on her face.
“Who?!”
At the entrance stood two women.
The one in front appeared to be in her early thirties, dressed in a deep purple gown with intricate golden patterns embroidered on the hem.
Her features were dignified and elegant, her eyes carrying the calm of years.
She stood there without looking at anyone, simply gazing at Lina and Tia in the center of the hall.
But that single gaze made Lina’s heart panic.
She recognized that face.
Mrs. Lasalle.
The widow of Duke O’Ryan, one of the oldest ducal families of the Empire.
After her husband’s death, she had taken sole control of the entire O’Ryan family’s power.
In the aristocratic circles of the Imperial Capital, even marquises bowed to her.
What was she doing here?!
Behind Lina, a maid with a stern demeanor stepped forward and said coldly, “Hmph! Fool! You don’t even recognize Mrs. Lasalle?”
The name elicited gasps across the hall.
“Mrs. Lasalle?”
Someone in the crowd exclaimed in disbelief.
“Is she the wife of Duke O’Ryan?”
“It must be her!”
Another voice chimed in, barely containing excitement.
“Who else could it be?”
“Why would she come to Hela City? Could it be… for Tia?”
The nobles exchanged glances, their eyes filled not only with shock but also with a thrill of amusement.
Mrs. Lasalle walked slowly into the hall and finally stopped in front of Lina.
“Little girl from the Claude family, just now you said you’ve run out of patience?”
She repeated the words calmly, but they sent a chill down Lina’s spine.
The color drained from her face bit by bit.
Earl Harris hurried forward, his face barely concealing his shock.
He stopped in front of Mrs. Lasalle and bowed deeply.
“Mrs. Lasalle, I had no idea you were coming. I failed to welcome you properly. This is truly…”
Mrs. Lasalle raised a hand and waved lightly.
“No need. I came uninvited.”
Her gaze passed over Earl Harris and landed on Lina in the center of the hall.
She asked again, “Lina, tell me, what would happen if you ran out of patience?”
She only repeated the question, but everyone could see that she was annoyed.
The annoyance of a duchess was no small matter.
Lina did not answer.
She put away the diamond ring in her hand, averted her eyes from Mrs. Lasalle, swallowed, and murmured, “Mrs. Lasalle, why are you here?”
“Hmph.”
Mrs. Lasalle let out a cold snort, then said casually, “I heard that you, as the daughter of Marquis Claude, were using your influence to force a daughter of a count into marriage. So I came to have a look.”
She glanced at Lina and smiled. “And it turns out to be true.”
Lina’s face grew even paler.
“Mrs. Lasalle, please, let me explain…”
Mrs. Lasalle raised a hand to stop her.
“Explain? Do you think I’m blind? Pulling out an engagement ring like that—aren’t you ashamed to show your noble face? Is that how Marquis Claude taught you?”
Lina opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but found herself speechless.
She just stood there, pale, her fingers trembling slightly.
By force of influence?
The power of the Claude Marquis family could indeed bulldoze through the Imperial Capital, but the Duke O’Ryan family was on a different level.
She could look down on Earl Harris, do as she pleased in Hela City, and act arrogantly in front of anyone—but before Mrs. Lasalle, she was nothing.
Mrs. Lasalle looked at her, the disdain in her eyes growing more intense.
“You don’t need to say anything more. I know the whole story inside out. To put it plainly, I came here for Tia.”
Earl Harris was shocked, while Lina’s pupils contracted sharply.
“You…?”
“No need to be so surprised.”
Mrs. Lasalle did not look at her.
She looked at Tia instead, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
“I just want to tell all of you: Tia is under my protection. Her marriage is her own choice. No one can force her.”
She then glanced at Earl Harris as if by accident.
Clearly, that “no one” included the count.
“If I find out that anyone tries to force her by any means, don’t blame me for being rude.”
If it were another noble saying this, they might have sneered.
But a duchess… no one dared to challenge her authority.
Stripping a noble of their rank would be almost as easy for her as it was for the Imperial Royal Family.
The hall was dead silent.
No one dared to speak.
Mrs. Lasalle withdrew her gaze, and her face regained its elegant smile.
She clapped her hands lightly, her voice returning to its usual gentleness.
“Alright, everyone, let’s pretend nothing happened. Please continue with the banquet.”
The tension in the hall dissolved at that moment.
Many nobles began to exchange glances, planning how to get closer to the duchess.
Earl Harris hurried forward, his face unable to hide his excitement.
“Mrs. Lasalle, please take a seat of honor.”
“I came just to have a look, but since Earl Harris is so kind, I’ll oblige.”
Mrs. Lasalle took two steps forward, then stopped.
“Tia, come with me.”
“Yes.”
Tia was momentarily startled, then quickly followed.
Earl Harris walked behind them, still wearing a shocked expression.
Tia felt much the same, though she had already guessed that the duchess was none other than the Grand Witch Rose.
She had thought Rose would use some underhanded method to make Lina back off, but she never expected this…
A duchess’s warning—this would absolutely be a permanent solution.
In the VIP seat at the back of the hall, Mrs. Lasalle sat down gracefully.
Earl Harris stood beside her, his posture respectful and humble.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally dared to ask, “Mrs. Lasalle, may I ask how you came to know my daughter?”
Mrs. Lasalle took the wine glass a servant handed her and took a light sip.
“I don’t know her, actually. A friend asked me to look after Tia.”
Earl Harris frowned.
“A friend?”
Mrs. Lasalle did not answer.
She took a small badge from her pocket and weighed it in her hand.
It was a silver badge engraved with intricate patterns and a soaring eagle.
The national emblem of the Kingdom of O’Ryan.
She turned to Tia, who was standing nearby.
“Here, Tia. Catch.”
She tossed the badge lightly.
Tia caught it instinctively.
Looking down at the small badge in her palm, feeling its cool touch, her confusion deepened.
“This is…”
“The emblem of the Kingdom of O’Ryan.”
Mrs. Lasalle smiled.
“With this badge, the capital of the kingdom will open its doors to you. You can get a fifty percent discount on everything in the capital, and you can even summon some of the capital’s guards.”
Earl Harris’s face changed.
“This, this is too precious!”
He stepped forward, looking at the badge in Tia’s hand, alarmed.
“Tia, you can’t accept this!”
Mrs. Lasalle raised an eye and glanced at him coldly.
“Earl Harris, this is a gift from me to Tia. What are you meddling for?”
Earl Harris wanted to say something, but could only shake his head helplessly.
Mrs. Lasalle snorted.
When she looked at Tia again, her gaze softened, but gradually that softness turned playful.
“Besides, she’s very close to the friend I mentioned. Even if I didn’t give it, that friend would probably give it to her.”
Earl Harris took a deep breath and finally couldn’t help asking again, “Mrs. Lasalle, pardon my boldness, but who is this friend you speak of?”
Mrs. Lasalle raised her glass and took a light sip.
“Some things are best left unsaid. The identity of that friend is not something ordinary people can know.”
“Yes, yes, of course. Mrs. Lasalle is right.”
Earl Harris forced a smile and asked no more.
After that, Mrs. Lasalle and Tia chatted more warmly.
The atmosphere of the banquet reached an unprecedented peak.
Nobles raised their glasses, drank, and whispered, their gazes occasionally drifting toward the VIP seats.
At the same time, they tried every way to approach Mrs. Lasalle, even just to exchange a word.
Besides that, people kept congratulating Earl Harris, and some lamented Tia’s good fortune.
On the other side, the former center of attention, Lina, stood at the edge of the crowd, her face ashen.
She looked at Mrs. Lasalle in the VIP seat, at the O’Ryan badge gleaming silver in the light in Tia’s hand…
Her hands clenched until they turned white, and a fierce anger rose from the depths of her heart.
When had she ever suffered such humiliation in her life?!
So what if she was a duchess?
She had relatives in the Imperial Royal Family.
She took a deep breath, turned, and left the hall, planning to rethink her strategy.
But the next day, a letter delivered by fast horse from the Imperial Capital landed on Lina’s desk.
She opened it, her eyes scanning the words, the color draining from her face bit by bit.
If her maid Xiao Ai hadn’t caught her in time, she would have collapsed to the floor.
The letter said that her father, Marquis Claude, ordered her to leave Hela City immediately and hide in a more remote place.
The reason was…
Because of what she had done in Hela City, the House of Marquis Claude was being investigated by the Imperial Royal Family in the capital.
Imperial investigation!
Those four words exploded like a thunderbolt in her mind.
She slumped into a chair.
The letter slipped from her fingers and fluttered to the floor.
An imperial investigation was no trivial matter.
If handled improperly, or if problems were found, the House of Marquis Claude could be stripped of its title at any time!
Then she, the daughter of a marquis, would be sent to the execution ground… or at best, permanently stripped of her noble status and reduced to the lowest of commoners.
She jumped up and paced the room, her face pale, cold sweat beading on her forehead.
How? How was this possible?
Mrs. Lasalle was powerful, but she could never have orchestrated an imperial investigation of the Claude family! Besides, after coming to Hela City, all she had done was pressure a daughter of a count—that was already restrained for her…
Unless, behind that daughter of a count, there really was someone with immense power!
She stopped and looked out the window at the thick night.
Her heart turned completely cold.
That night, Lina left Hela City without a sound, taking only a few attendants.
No farewell, no notice, not even a word left behind.
Only a mess in the temporary residence.
In the study of Harris Manor.
Earl Harris sat behind his desk, looking at Tia standing before him.
With a hint of probing, he asked, “Tia, who exactly is this friend of yours?”
Tia shook her head, a blank look on her face.
“Father, I don’t really know.”
Earl Harris frowned.
“You don’t know?”
Tia nodded.
“I don’t seem to know anyone of high status. The friend Mrs. Lasalle mentioned might be someone around me who is hiding their identity?”
Earl Harris looked at her, his gaze growing more scrutinizing.
But soon, the scrutiny faded, replaced by resignation.
“Forget it. You may go.”
He thought of a certain Inquisitor who had a grudge against him.
Maybe only she would know a great noble like the duchess.
Tia gave a slight bow and left the study.
The door closed softly behind her, and she let out a quiet breath.
Back in her bedroom, she shut the door, leaned against the cold wood, and felt much better.
With Mrs. Lasalle’s intervention, Lina’s incident should be resolved.
Now it was time for her to carry out the Witch Council mission.
Only three days remained before the mission failed.
Far away, the lights of Hela City flickered in the darkness.
She walked to the window and looked out at the heavy night.
She thought of the badge Mrs. Lasalle had given her.
That friend?
A faint smile curled at the corner of her mouth.
She knew very well who that friend was.
But she couldn’t say.
She couldn’t tell anyone.
Opening the window, she stepped onto the sill and leaped out.
At the same time, her moon-white dress turned into a pitch-black gown.
The daughter of a count transformed into the mysterious witch.
Finally, she could carry out the mission.
She had been waiting eagerly.
That night, she transformed into the witch Celeste and left Harris Manor.
But she didn’t know that shortly after she left, a silhouette slowly appeared in an alley near the manor, staring at the direction she had gone, muttering softly, “Hmph, what a familiar Witch Aura.”