Lina breathed a small sigh of relief before returning the man's forced smile with one of her own. "Your Grace, the pleasure is mine."
Who else could have appeared on Count Vissan's estate without her knowledge and then summoned her to dinner with such an imposing display? She hardly needed to think about it. Even a fool could have guessed that the man before her was the Duke of Anjou, Count Vissan's elder brother and one of the most powerful nobles in the empire.
Surprisingly, he wasn't the greasy, middle-aged man Lina had imagined during the journey. On the contrary, he was quite handsome, with a refined appearance and an air of aristocratic elegance. Unfortunately, his personality seemed determined to ruin whatever advantages his face had given him. He carried himself with the sort of arrogance that suggested everyone around him was inherently inferior, and the moment he opened his mouth, Lina developed an instinctive dislike for him.
