Mei Lin’s troubles were actually quite simple.

She had run into that detestable man again—the one who had once pursued her, telling her he liked her more than anyone. At the time, Mei Lin had thought he came to her with a sincere heart—

And even though the man wasn’t particularly outstanding, she had been a little moved.

Such ardent affection was a rare and precious thing.

No one knew that she had come so close to wavering because of his pursuit.

Until one day, by chance, she overheard the men from some minor noble circles talking about her. It was only snippets of conversation, but it was enough for Mei Lin to piece everything together.

Something about the Duke’s only daughter being spoiled, arrogant, and having a bad personality. That she was high-maintenance with nothing but a pretty face, but marrying her was as good as marrying the duchy itself, and so on and so forth.

These words infuriated Mei Lin. ’What are these people thinking, marrying me to get a title? Am I an idiot? Why would I give away the title I’m supposed to inherit to someone else?’

Annoyed by this, it then reminded her of what her father had told her before.

That she had reached a certain age, and if there was a suitable person, she could try spending some time with them.

Her father was about to start introducing her to those wretched men.

That was the true source of Mei Lin’s vexation.

But in the midst of her frustration, she suddenly saw the young housekeeper coming toward her with a captivated look on his face, and the vexation in Mei Lin’s heart seemed to instantly dissipate.

"What are you looking at?" Mei Lin reached out and poked Jiang Jiang on the forehead. "Who gave you permission to look at the Young Miss like that?"

Jiang Jiang instantly averted his gaze, lowering his head and quickly admitting his mistake. "Forgive my rudeness."

"As long as you know it was improper."

"But it’s gotten late, Miss. You should be resting."

"Rest?" Mei Lin huffed, pointing to her face. "How long did you watch me do my makeup this afternoon? And look at this dress—how long does it take to put on? Do you remember how long it took me to get ready to go out?"

"I remember. It took two hours." Jiang Jiang didn’t understand why Mei Lin was asking this, so he just followed his intuition and offered a compliment he knew she usually liked to hear. "The Young Miss was certain to be the most dazzling socialite at the ball tonight."

Caught off guard by the compliment, Mei Lin froze for a moment, unable to stop a hint of a smile from appearing in her eyes.

"Of course. I spent all that time getting ready to go to the ball and stun everyone with my dancing."

"But I didn’t get to dance today. Four hours of trouble, back and forth, all for nothing. If I take off my makeup and go to sleep now—"

Mei Lin stood up, the hem of her skirt rustling as it fell around her. "This entire afternoon will have been wasted."

"But you can’t go without rest, Young Miss. If you don’t rest soon, it’ll be past midnight..."

"I’m not going without rest, Jiang Jiang. Housekeeper Jiang." Her gaze swept over him. "You’re quite handsome, you know."

"Do you know how to ballroom dance?"

"That’s right, you graduated from Federal Main City University, didn’t you? There’s no way you don’t know how to ballroom dance."

With that, Mei Lin raised her arm, assuming the starting posture for a dance, ready to place her hand on his shoulder.

Jiang Jiang didn’t understand her meaning at first and just stood there, motionless.

"Aren’t you going to come here?"

"I want to dance. Come here."

"This... Young Miss..." Jiang Jiang’s hand tightened slightly. "Isn’t this... inappropriate?"

"I’m not discussing it with you. I’m ordering you. Get over here!"

As if unable to resist the command—or perhaps, unable to resist his own desires—he quietly walked toward Mei Lin.

With no music, just within the four walls of the room, the two began to dance.

In this dance, Mei Lin was the one leading. She led Jiang Jiang through spins, drew him close, raised his hand, and guided his steps. Setting aside their statuses, the princess in the taro-purple gown and the handsome, if humbly dressed, prince were actually quite a match.

But outside, Duke Dais, who had been summoned by the old housekeeper to urge his daughter to go to sleep, saw this scene through the crack in the door, and his expression changed instantly.

His hand rested on the ornate doorknob, and for a long time, he did not move.