Click.

The door to the guest room closed behind him.

Adrian walked toward the chair on the opposite side of the table and settled into it, jaw resting against his fist as he studied the room’s occupant.

Liora stood at the left corner in her maid uniform, her expression unreadable as always.

But she was not the focus of his attention.

"It is an honor to finally meet you, young master of the Vane household."

The guest spoke first.

She set the small white animal she had been cradling down onto the chair beside her, rose to her feet, and inclined her head in a composed bow.

"My name is Valentina Roswell. Daughter of Baron Gared Roswell."

Adrian’s eyes sharpened just slightly.

Roswell.

His gaze moved over her in one measured sweep.

She was tall for her age, with long dark hair tied at the back, the rest of it falling over her shoulder in a clean, unbroken line.

A black dress fitted to her frame, gloves drawn up to the elbow.

Noble bearing from the way she held herself, not just from the clothing.

Her features were striking.

That, too, was difficult to ignore.

"Roswell," Adrian repeated, a note of quiet recognition in his voice.

"I remember your family. Your father used to supply crops to the county when we needed them."

Valentina smiled at that.

"That is correct. I am glad the name still holds meaning to you, Master Adrian."

Adrian glanced away for a moment, turning the thought over.

The Roswell family had been granted their baronage by his grandfather.

It had never been a close relationship, more of a practical arrangement than anything resembling alliance.

They had kept their distance, fulfilled their obligations, and little else.

Which made the presence of the baron’s daughter in his sitting room all the more difficult to read at a glance.

Why would he send her here, of all places?

"To what do I owe this visit?" Adrian asked, returning his gaze to her.

Before she answered, Valentina glanced briefly toward Liora, the look carrying a faint expectation. Liora did not move.

She simply returned the glance with one of her own, calm and steady, and made no indication of leaving.

Valentina let the moment pass, and a small smile returned to her face as she looked back at Adrian.

"My father has long carried sympathy for your household, even more so following the passing of the late count. I felt the same. Your father and mine were colleagues for many years, after all. And we were the same."

Adrian paused at the word.

He looked at her more carefully now.

She did seem familiar, in the vague way that recurring faces from childhood sometimes did.

During his birthday celebrations, it had been customary for baronies under his father’s county to pay their respects.

She had come along with her mother more than once, trailing quietly at her side.

But they had rarely spoken directly to one another.

Barely enough to justify being called acquaintances, let alone anything more.

"You say we were friends," he replied, letting the words sit between them without judgment.

"Of course, Master Adrian." Valentina took a step forward, her smile widening with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm.

"When I heard you would be competing in the Dai Jo against the count’s son, I knew I could not stay on the sidelines. I placed my bet on you. And I was right to do so."

Adrian’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You were the one other person who voted in my favor?"

"I was." She reached for her purse with a short, pleased laugh, producing her betting card and extending it toward him as proof.

He took a moment before responding.

"Why would you bet on me?"

The question had a secondary purpose.

She was the sole reason his winnings had been reduced to fifty million cens rather than something considerably more substantial.

He would have liked to understand what logic, or sentiment, had led her there.

Her answer was not what he anticipated.

Without a trace of hesitation, Valentina lowered herself onto one knee and bowed her head.

"Because it was the clearest way I knew to show you where my loyalty stands, Master Adrian. My parents raised me with purpose. Everything I have learned, every skill I have been given, was in preparation for this. I wish to be of use to you."

Adrian went still.

It was not an unfamiliar concept.

Lower-ranking families had long practiced the tradition of grooming their heirs to serve under a greater house, attaching themselves to the rising tide of a higher nobility in hopes of carrying their own name upward with it.

He had read of it often enough.

But the logic broke apart when he applied it here.

Ashmere was a county in decay.

Its name carried little weight and even less promise.

For a baron to invest years into shaping his daughter toward the service of a forgotten lord’s even more forgotten heir, there had to be something behind it that he was not yet seeing.

’Analyze.’

The confirmation came without delay.

[Target has been scanned.]

[Name: Valentina Roswell.

Class: A-Rank Mage.

Potential: SSS-Rank — Grand Magus, Fourth Circle Caster.]

Adrian stared at the result for a long moment.

A mage.

That alone was significant.

But her potential reached Grand Magus, a designation that appeared fewer than three times across every historical record he had ever studied.

And she was kneeling in front of him.

He exhaled slowly, thumb pressing against the line of his jaw.

If he accepted her and bound her under contract, he could provide the conditions her potential required.

The path toward that ceiling existed, but only if she was given the right foundation.

Without him, that potential would remain sealed indefinitely.

She would live and die as an A-Rank mage, unremarkable in the grander scale of things, never knowing what she had been capable of becoming.

Both Valentina and Liora seemed to notice the weight of his silence. Neither of them spoke.

After a moment, he exhaled and rose from his seat.

"I will accept your offer," he said. "But first, you will need to demonstrate something of your usefulness to me. I will not take someone at their word alone."

The smile on Valentina’s face faded, replaced by a composed and attentive calm.

"I will do anything you ask.."

"Tomorrow, you will accompany me somewhere. If your father has no objections, you are welcome to remain at the mansion overnight."

"He will not object," she said without hesitation. "You have my word."

"Very well." Adrian moved toward the door, pausing just before stepping through the frame.

He glanced back at her once.

"I hope your understanding of finance at least rewarding."