Although Duke Lu Xia’s reputation in the Empire wasn’t exactly stellar, when you got down to it, which of the Empire’s females really had a good name?

Their Rafaelde family was just a noble house with a rather special bloodline. They lived off their ancestors’ legacy—rich, but without real power.

Their ability to attach themselves to Duke Lu Xia was entirely thanks to her public reputation. She was known to be "amorous," and the Rafaelde family happened to be famous for their beauty.

What was frustrating, however, was that they had assumed Smelian’s beauty would be enough for him to be favored as one of Duke Lu Xia’s husbands. The reality was, she didn’t even remember his name.

The reason she had sent the old butler to bring Smelian back was that she knew something had happened to him, and as his Female Master, she ultimately owed them some form of accountability.

In Enor’s opinion, Duke Lu Xia at least knew how to act with propriety.

But as for the matter of Duke Lu Xia forgetting who Smelian was, Enor chose to keep that to himself.

"In that case, let’s have Smelian see a doctor first. It wouldn’t be right for him to see Duke Lu Xia in this state."

Enor shot Smelian a meaningful look.

But Smelian stood there as if he hadn’t received the signal, until the Raphael Family Leader spoke up. "Listen to your Male Father. Go."

*

The next morning, Lu Xia woke up much later than usual because she had gone to bed quite late the previous night.

By the time she had gotten ready and come downstairs, the old butler had already left for the Rafaelde residence.

Graces had changed into a black shirt with its sleeves rolled to his elbows, making him look tall and imposing. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

When he heard her and looked over, his normally indifferent black eyes flashed with tenderness. "You’re awake. Breakfast is ready. Shall we eat now?"

"Alright. I’m going to the No. 1 Institute later. Why don’t you come with me?"

Graces’s body needed another examination. Plus, she had brought back the gene fusion agent and could begin her analysis, not to mention the Fire Spirit Gene.

Suddenly, her to-do list had grown quite long.

Graces, of course, had no objections. He only asked, "Aren’t you going to wait for him to come back?"

Lu Xia paused, not immediately registering who "he" was. She gave Graces a questioning look, and before she could even speak, Graces realized she had forgotten what the old butler was doing today.

"Smelian might be back today."

The reminder jogged her memory of what she had told the old butler to do last night. She nodded. "Ah, I almost forgot. Still, I don’t know if he’ll actually come back, or when. We’ll leave in a bit and try to get back early. The butler should be able to get him settled in."

’It really makes no difference whether I’m here or not,’ she thought.

’If anything, my being here might just make him nervous.’

Graces knew that testing Lu Xia’s attitude like this made him seem like a vile creature slithering in the shadows.

But he couldn’t help himself. He needed to confirm her attitude toward others to satisfy his own possessiveness.

Seeing that Lu Xia showed no particular concern for Smelian’s impending arrival, the flames of jealousy that had begun to burn within him slowly died down.

He knew very well this was only temporary.

He suppressed those unseemly thoughts and put on a display of friendly magnanimity. "I cleaned out the upstairs guest room this morning. He can move in anytime after he arrives."

Lu Xia was a little surprised he would do that. She looked at him. "You seem quite eager for his arrival?"

A resigned look crossed Graces’s face. "He’s had a difficult time, too."

Hearing this, Lu Xia understood immediately. Graces must have been empathizing with Smelian’s situation.

’So because he’s been caught in the rain himself, he wants to be an umbrella for someone else.’

She nodded, not asking any more questions.

"Let’s go. I’m finished." Lu Xia wiped her hands and stood up. Seeing this, Graces said, "I’ll go get the car. Please wait a moment."

What Lu Xia hadn’t expected was to find a crowd of reporters waiting outside the main gate when they arrived at the No. 1 Institute.

Graces noticed them and advised, "We should go in through the back."

Lu Xia nodded. Unsure of why the reporters were there, it was best not to face them directly for now.

Just then, Kela, the director of the No. 1 Institute who was responsible for handling the reporters, saw Lu Xia get out of the car and hurried over to greet her. "Good day, Duke."

"What’s going on outside?" Lu Xia asked, telling Graces to take the secure case to the lab and wait for her.

"The reporters outside want to interview the person in charge of the beauty cream. They want to know why the cream we launched is so effective."

That was something Lu Xia hadn’t expected.

Still, it wasn’t a bad thing. "Send the leader of Team 2. It’ll be good publicity for the beauty cream."

Kela breathed a sigh of relief when Lu Xia didn’t object. Just as she was about to turn away, Lu Xia added, "In the future, you can make the call on matters like this yourself. You don’t need to wait for my orders."

"Yes, I understand."

Kela had been the director of the previous research institute, but she was laid off for a time after it went under. When the No. 1 Institute was founded, Lu Xia had invited her back. After all, she was a veteran and already familiar with how things worked.

Lu Xia didn’t give the matter another thought and turned to go to the laboratory. When she pushed open the door, she saw the fresh pinprick of blood on Graces’s fingertip. Looking at the nearly full vial of blood next to it, she immediately understood what had happened.

"We don’t need this much," Lu Xia said, but she quickly placed the sample in cold storage, not wanting to waste his effort. "I haven’t asked yet—how are you feeling today?"

This question had become something of a daily ritual for them lately.

Lu Xia had to document Graces’s condition for her records.

"The change today is... I think I can control the transformation in my hand." As Graces spoke, his left hand, under Lu Xia’s watchful gaze, morphed into a sharp-taloned claw. Black scales spread up his arm, stopping at the elbow.

This wasn’t the first time Lu Xia had seen Graces’s transformed claw, but on the previous occasion, he hadn’t been able to control the power.

This time, however, he could control it at will.

’His gene fusion degree must have increased again,’ Lu Xia thought.

"Any other parts besides your hand?"

Graces didn’t answer with words. He showed her.

In addition to his hands, Graces could now make scales grow on any part of his body. In other words, he could enter a state of partial beast transformation at will.

"It looks like you’re recovering very well. With this, you should be able to change your identity information, right?" With his current condition, Lu Xia thought, he should be able to shed the "defective" designation.

But Graces shook his head. "I don’t want to change it yet."

She hadn’t expected him to refuse and was a little surprised. "Why? Shouldn’t this be a good thing for you?"

"It is a good thing, but it would be a hassle for you."