Bianca heard the name of Sophie's sweetheart, and she was shell-shocked. The family name of this guy coincided with her husband's rival, Jonas Rhodes.

"Edwin Rhodes? An heir to the Rhodes Family?!" Bianca unconsciously raised her voice as she asked this question.

Sophie cowered a bit as she heard her mother's loud voice. She realized it was a mistake to have mentioned Edwin's name to her mother.

"Y-Yes," Sophie stammered while replying to her mother.

What's done was done. Now, Sophie couldn't lie about this. Her mother had too many sources to find more information regarding this issue.

And she would punish her severely once she found out that Sophie was lying to her about such an issue. This punishment might include harming Edwin, so Sophie was scared of it.

Bianca had noticed that her daughter was trembling. She understood that she had been too hard on her.

'The matters of the heart can't be helped.' She muttered in her mind as she thought of what she should say to her daughter.

Soon, Bianca spoke with a softer tone, "…You already know about your father's relations with the Patriarch of the Rhodes House, Jonas Rhodes. Yet… You are in a relationship with his son."

At the end of her statement, Bianca sighed out.

Sophie clenched her fists in slight annoyance as she spoke out, "I couldn't help it, okay. I don't even know why father has bad relations with the Patriarch of the Rhodes House, but Edwin's isn't like that! He is very nice and takes good care of me! I feel happy when I am with him."

Bianca was taken aback when she saw her daughter speaking so fiercely for Edwin.

She recalled some fond memories. She had behaved similarly when she was trying to convince her family to allow her to marry Spencer.

It was her grandfather who saw potential in Spencer and allowed Bianca to marry him.

'So this is what mother felt when I was stubbornly asking them to allow me to marry Spencer even though he was a mere commoner at that time.' There was a bitter smile on Bianca's face as she thought this.

With a determined look, Bianca spoke out, "What if he has concealed his motives? He might have been asked by his father to seduce you."

Sophie rolled her eyes, "That's impossible. While we studied at Acadia Academy, he never managed to talk to me. And we met during that Beast Raid operation in Kloras Town after our graduation. He couldn't have possibly known that I would be there. Even if he did, I was the one who went to talk to him. He had never tried asking me regarding you or father or anything else. If he was tasked by his father, then he should have asked for something by now."

"…Alright. It was my fault. I was wrong to doubt your relationship, okay?" Bianca spoke as she looked at her daughter.

Bianca knew her daughter wouldn't lie about such an issue. There was also the fact that Jonas Rhodes hadn't taken any action against them in these months, so it was unlikely that Edwin found any important information through Sophie. It meant that her guess was most probably wrong.

Sophie hmphed at those words.

"Alright. Now tell me, why have you been studying arrays all of your time since you went to meet Edwin Rhodes?' Bianca finally addressed the main subject.

Sophie's eyes widened slightly as she heard that question. She replied with an annoyed voice, "I am just studying arrays. Weren't you always telling me to be serious? Now I am serious, but it seems it's still a problem."

Bianca spoke with a stricter look, "Sophie, you don't realize it, but you are spending too much time on your array formations. You need to take a break every now and then. Your mental condition is growing worse with each passing day."

"Now, tell me, what happened that has forced you to this point?" Bianca asked with a resolute voice. It seemed that she wouldn't be satisfied without an answer.

However, she was surprised when she saw a determined look in Sophie's eyes.

Sophie spoke, "I apologize, mother, but this is something I can't tell you. No matter what you do, I won't tell you about this."

Those words and the tone Sophie used truly startled her mother.

Before Bianca could say anything else, Sophie left the room. Bianca didn't try to go after her as she knew just how stubborn Sophie could sometimes be.

"It appears I need to choose the hard method." Bianca thought as a cold glint was released from her eyes.

She summoned her servants and ordered them, "Find everything you can about Edwin Rhodes and inform me at once!"

The servants immediately followed her orders as they went outside the mansion to investigate Edwin's information.

Bianca found out about Edwin a day later. She found out that he was managing Kloras Town and was living there for a rather long time.

There were also rumors that he had given up on inheriting the Rhodes House from Jonas. This information greatly surprised her.

The Rhodes House had a tremendous amount of power and riches. Although it lacked the riches and resources of a Dukedom, its authority could rival that of a Dukedom.

Thus, it was shocking for Bianca to know that Edwin Rhodes had been rumored to give up on the Rhodes House's Inheritance.

'Perhaps Sophie was right. He might not be that bad of choice for her.'

As a mother, Bianca wanted Sophie to marry a good man. An honest and strong man whose first priority would be Sophie.

'I need to meet him and check whether he is truly suitable for Sophie or not.'

Bianca had sent some men to meet Edwin and invite him to their house.

While this entire situation was occurring, Edwin was on his way towards Mesenana city.

2 days later, he had reached Mesenana City.

Without thinking deeply about it, Edwin went towards Sophie's mansion. The last time he appeared in the capital city to meet Rein Schwarz, the Vice-Head of Merchant Union, he had remembered the map of this city.

It didn't take much time for Edwin to reach Sophie's mansion.

Edwin wasn't wearing a mask right now. He knew that a suspicious and unfamiliar person would never be allowed inside Sophie's mansion.

Two guards stood outside the mansion. They had a neutral look on their faces as they looked around.

They noticed Edwin as he was walking in their direction. From his facial expression, it didn't seem like he was planning to change his direction. In fact, it seemed that he wanted to enter the mansion.

Once Edwin was close enough, the guard asked rudely, "Who are you?"

It was unclear if the animosity was motivated by envy or just because Edwin was a stranger.

"My name is Edwin. I am Sophie's friend and have come to meet her. Please allow me to enter the mansion." Edwin spoke with a neutral tone.

The two guards snorted simultaneously. They had heard these words thousands of times. And in the majority of those cases, the person would be speaking nonsense.

One of the guards spoke, "Show us the proof that you are young miss's friend."

Edwin's complexion changed slightly as he asked, "Proof of friendship? Are you kidding me?"

With a stern face, the second guard replied, "No. If you don't have some proof of that, scram!"

Edwin stared at them and asked them seriously, "I have a simple question for you. Do you go around and give proof of your friendship to your friends?"

One of the guards replied, "No. Since we don't need to. Too many people want to meet the young miss. We can't allow them to enter the mansion and trouble our young miss."

"Fair enough." Edwin let out a sigh as he pulled out a Voice Transmitting Array Stone, "I wanted to give her a surprise, but I guess it can't be helped."