Benjamine gave a subtle signal to one of the maids standing nearby, who picked up on it and bowed her head.

‘My nanny should suffice as the only one to keep an eye on me.’

Cecilia found everyone who had come with her from the grand duchy unpleasant.

They would return and report every little thing they saw and heard here.

To distance herself from them, she used an emotional excuse, knowing no one would question it since everyone was aware of her stubborn, unpredictable nature.

‘Soon, I should have the servants stationed near my bedroom moved as well.’

Cecilia’s bedroom was in the east wing, while the kitchen and dining hall were on the ground floor of the central wing.

At the corridor exit of the east wing, Helen was waiting and bowed as Cecilia approached.

Cecilia followed Helen to the dining hall.

It was not the large dining hall she had seen earlier during the tour of the central wing, which was spacious enough to seat over a hundred people with plenty of tables.

Helen had explained that dining hall as the ‘place where everyone gathers to eat’.

The dining hall Helen led her to was a modestly-sized room with a round table in the center, large enough to seat three or four people at most.

But there was only one chair.

The table was set with a single place setting.

‘Ha.’

Cecilia was taken aback, seeing that the table was prepared solely for her.

She had several reasons for requesting her meals to be prepared in Lagos Castle’s dining hall.

The main reason was to reduce her dependency on her nanny and the servants of the grand duchy.

Additionally, she had hoped it would give her a chance to observe the man who was now her husband.

Cecilia had assumed that if she dined in the dining hall, he would naturally join her—after all, even those with irregular meal times generally have dinner.

Besides, today was their first day meeting after their marriage. On such a day, it would only be polite to share a meal together.

Did he not even know that much courtesy? Or did he just not want to sit and eat with her?

As Cecilia stood there, lost in thought, those around her began to gauge her reaction carefully.

She considered leaving right then and there.

But suddenly, a memory surfaced of having dinner with him at the grand ducal manor before their wedding.

Cecilia had disliked the man who was to be her husband.

He was unlike anyone she had encountered in her twenty-one years.

He never smiled at her, and there was a ferocious quality about him.

He was the first person who made her truly understand the meaning of the word ‘intimidating’.

Because of that, she had clumped together her feelings of fear and unfamiliarity into simple dislike.

But she’d had to attend that dinner, forced by Grand Duke Jericho.

She had felt that she would be sick if she ate anything that night, so she hadn’t touched any food during the meal.

Remembering her childish behavior back then, Cecilia’s anger softened, and her face grew warm with embarrassment.

She should have handled it more wisely and shown consideration.

‘It couldn’t have been a pleasant experience for him.’

He must have found it quite distasteful.

‘Could he really be immature enough to seek revenge for that today?’

Or perhaps he was simply being considerate by allowing her to dine comfortably alone.

Cecilia tried to think positively.

She sat down at the table, and soon the maids brought out the dishes.

Benjamine and Helen were both watching her closely. Benjamine hoped she would be displeased, while Helen wished the opposite.

But Cecilia, deep in thought, barely tasted the food.

Though she tried to think optimistically, her frustration only grew.

‘If he avoided me because he thought I’d be uncomfortable, he should have at least asked for my opinion first.’

She decided that this rudeness couldn’t be ignored.

After eating about half her meal, she set down her utensils and asked Helen,

“Where is the Lord?”

“The Lord is out, Madam.”

“…What?”

Cecilia took a deep breath.

“Are you saying he’s not in the castle?”

“Yes, Madam.”

“When did he leave?”

“Around noon.”

Cecilia swallowed down the surge of anger rising within her.

It wouldn’t be the behavior of a refined lady to shout or take it out on Helen here.

If Cecilia were still the same twenty-one she had once been, she might have acted out her feelings, unaware that displaying emotions to a subordinate could make her seem petty.

“Bring Hoffman here. Now.”

Sensing the deadly intent in Cecilia’s tone, Helen quickly responded and exited the dining hall.