That evening, Lu Xia and Duke Leslie attended Prince Li Mang’s dinner party.

When they arrived at the Li Mang Prince Mansion, the banquet hall was already filled with people. Although Prince Li Mang had called it a private banquet for her closer friends, the number of guests was still quite substantial.

But the number of guests was still quite substantial.

After the attendant at the door led them in, Prince Li Mang, who was in the middle of a conversation, saw them and immediately came over with a smile. "My dear Lu Xia, Duke Leslie, you’ve finally arrived! Come in, come in. Let me introduce you to some friends."

It was a rare sight to see Prince Li Mang give someone such an enthusiastic welcome, and it naturally drew a lot of attention.

After sharing a light embrace with the enthusiastic Prince, Lu Xia was led around by Prince Li Mang to socialize.

Upon learning that she was the founder of the sensational No. 1 Institute Beauty Cream, many of the guests became much more enthusiastic as well.

Lu Xia didn’t let the attention go to her head. Maintaining a humble demeanor, she smiled and said to Prince Li Mang, "I brought plenty of beauty cream and hair growth liquid with me today. Your Highness, if you see anyone who might need them, please feel free to give them away."

Prince Li Mang naturally understood. Lu Xia hadn’t brought these gifts just for promotion; she was also giving the Prince a way to use them to strengthen her own social circle.

She accepted the kind gesture, unable to stop herself from thinking, ’Duke Lu Xia is so perceptive at such a young age. No wonder she’s been able to achieve so much.’

’Looking across the entire Empire, you’d be hard-pressed to find another female of her age and status who is quite like her.’

"By the way, my cousin is also here tonight. I wonder if you’ve heard of Lady Daina."

Graces had filled her in previously, so she wasn’t surprised to hear Prince Li Mang mention Lady Daina. What she hadn’t expected, however, was that Lady Daina was the Prince’s cousin.

’Of course, whether that meant a close cousin or a ridiculously distant one, she had no idea.’

"Of course I’ve heard of her. I never thought I would have the honor of meeting her tonight." Lu Xia’s perfectly timed display of surprise delighted Prince Li Mang, who took her by the hand and led her swiftly toward a small lounge off the main banquet hall.

After she knocked, a voice from inside called out, "Come in."

Pushing the door open, they saw Lady Daina was the only person in the spacious room. She wasn’t wearing an overly formal gown, just a simple red satin dress. With a glass of red wine in hand, she was apparently enjoying a drink all by herself.

Seeing this, Lu Xia’s mind immediately started working.

’Lady Daina came to a dinner party only to drink alone in here? Could she have been waiting specifically for me?’

Recalling what Graces had said about one of her husbands also being one of Lady Daina’s males, Lu Xia felt her skin crawl, though she was loath to admit it.

’After all, she had already been through this exact kind of awkward situation once before with the Rafaelde family.’

Despite her thoughts, she revealed nothing on her face. After Prince Li Mang made the introductions, Lu Xia greeted Lady Daina with perfect propriety, showing no trace of excessive flattery despite the other’s status.

This poised, neither servile nor overbearing, attitude earned a look of higher esteem from Lady Daina. "Duke Lu Xia, you’ve been the talk of the town lately. I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time. I didn’t realize you were so young in person. I hear the male from Duke Leslie’s family is now a Gene Fusion Expert?"

’To think even Lady Daina has heard about it, and she’s asking right off the bat. That shows how much she cares.’

’This gave Lu Xia a renewed appreciation for how much importance the Empire placed on Gene Fusion Experts.’

"Yes, it was a blessing in disguise. The doctors all advised me to give up on him. But I felt that since he was one of mine, I couldn’t just abandon him, so I took him home. Who would have thought that after a period of recuperation, he would miraculously activate his internal Beastification Gene? A true blessing in disguise. When Duke Leslie heard, he even said he wanted to host a celebratory banquet."

In just a few sentences, Lu Xia laid out a half-true version of events, effectively discouraging Lady Daina from probing any further.

Everyone wanted to become a Gene Fusion Expert, but if it were that easy, the Empire wouldn’t have so many "defective products" from failed fusions.

Graces activating his Beastification Gene was a blessing in disguise, a true, unrepeatable miracle. There was nothing more to ask.

They didn’t believe Duke Lu Xia possessed some miracle drug capable of achieving what the Gene Research Institute itself could not.

No matter how brilliant Duke Lu Xia was, could she possibly be more capable than the dedicated experts and professors at the Gene Research Institute?

With that, the topic was naturally dropped.

The conversation then shifted to the beauty cream and hair growth liquid.

Now that it was just the three of them in the spacious lounge, Prince Li Mang made no effort to hide it anymore. Or perhaps she simply wanted to announce to the world that her hair loss was cured.

Right then, in front of Lu Xia, she took off her wig and said with a laugh, "That time I told you about ’a friend of mine’...

"...well, there was no such person. It was me. I have hair loss. I’ve seen countless doctors and tried so many solutions, but nothing worked. Ever since I started using the hair growth liquid you gave me, just look at my hair now! Isn’t it growing in so well?"

Prince Li Mang couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice as she spoke.

Lu Xia had long suspected that "a friend of mine" was really just Prince Li Mang herself, so she wasn’t surprised. Now that the Prince had brought it up, Lu Xia took a careful look.

After a month of use, Prince Li Mang’s hair wasn’t very long, but it was growing in thick and healthy. With a little more time, she would surely be able to ditch the wig for good and have a full head of beautiful hair again.

"It’s my honor to have been able to help Your Highness with this problem."

"You’re just being modest," Lady Daina cut in, her tone dripping with envy. "You have no idea. People are practically fighting over your beauty cream. I even heard some of the more outrageous ones are using it as body lotion! Can you imagine the extravagance!"

Lu Xia chuckled. "I brought plenty with me today and left it all with Her Highness. Lady Daina, if you need some, you can just get it from the Prince."

Seeing one so young be so savvy, Lady Daina was quite pleased. "In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony. I do need some. I have a royal banquet to attend soon and want to look my absolute best. I’m afraid your beauty cream will be indispensable for that."

No matter how noble their status or powerful their family background, the desire to be beautiful and outshine all the other females was universal. It all came down to who was using the best products.

That was why the beauty cream was in such high demand among the Empire’s upper class.

Who wouldn’t want flawlessly smooth and fair skin that would be the envy of all?

The conversation had warmed the atmosphere considerably, but then Lady Daina suddenly smiled at Lu Xia. "There is actually one more thing I came here to ask you about, Duke Lu Xia."

"What is it, Lady Daina? Please, speak freely." Lu Xia’s heart gave a little jolt. ’Here it comes,’ she thought.

"Oh, it’s just a small thing, really. I was just wondering if you happen to dislike our Cecil, Duke Lu Xia. If that’s the case, I could introduce you to another one of my males."