The notary, who had been silent for a while, finally spoke after a considerable amount of time had passed.

Perhaps thinking there was no point in holding out any longer, a brief look of relief crossed his face.

“If I may clarify a misunderstanding, when Master Jonas amended his will, he was of sound mind.”

Even though he knew that defending himself like this would be useless in the face of legal evidence.

The notary still remembered that day clearly.

The final appearance of Jonas Blanche, who seemed to be burning his life away like a candle just before it goes out.

***

[Come find me quietly without telling anyone. I have a favor to ask of you.]

When the notary discovered Jonas Blanche’s signature at the end of the note containing only this brief message, he thought someone was playing a cruel joke.

‘I heard that Marquis Jonas is at death’s door, so who would pull such a stunt?’

He was about to tear up the note immediately.

If only that uneasy feeling, like an instinct acquired from decades as a notary, hadn’t been scratching at the back of his head.

‘But what if it really is a request from Master Jonas…’

Then he would be ignoring the final request of a dying man.

Reluctantly, he headed secretly to the villa owned by the Blanche family, as instructed in the note.

And what the notary saw there was Jonas, welcoming him with eyes as clear as when he had been in good health.

“The original copy of my will is kept in the safe of this villa. Please bring it to me without anyone knowing.”

Overwhelmed by the Marquis’s imposing presence and the solemn atmosphere, the notary opened the safe as instructed and handed over the will.

His appearance was like a dried-up old tree, so thin that it seemed strange he could even hold himself upright.

Perhaps, no, certainly Jonas Blanche would not survive the night.

This was like a miracle that had come to him just before death.

It was bitter that despite such a miracle, none of his family was by his side.

‘Come to think of it, it’s strange. If he had enough strength left to secretly contact me through a village child who delivers flowers to the mansion, he could have at least sent word to his children.’

Jonas stared at the opened will for a long time.

The notary began to wonder if he might die clutching the will, when Jonas finally spoke.

“Are you certain that the signature at the bottom of the will is yours?”

The notary examined his signature carefully and nodded.

“I am certain.”

A deep sigh followed from the Marquis.

As if he had exhaled half his soul with that sigh, shadows fell across his face and the air of death grew stronger around him.

But his voice and his gaze remained firm.

“I wish to amend the will.”

“P-pardon? You c-cannot do that now. Your Grace, you are… unwell, which is why you feel such urgency.”

Unable to directly say he was delirious and not in his right mind, the notary tried to dissuade him indirectly.

But the Marquis’s next words threw a stone at the notary’s firm refusal.

“The content of the will has been changed from what it was before.”

“Th-that’s impossible! You must be misremembering, Master Jonas!”

Because sometimes merely knowing the contents of a will could put a notary’s life in danger, even a notary would not typically know what was in a will.

Therefore, the notary had no basis to verify the truth of Jonas’s claim.

“Master Jonas, you are not in your right mind right now…”

“Do I really look like I’m not in my right mind? Look me straight in the eye!”

With surprising strength from somewhere, Jonas grabbed the notary’s collar and pulled him close, shouting.

Even in his prime, he had never been a man to use his hands to intimidate others.

The frightened notary squeezed his eyes shut, then quickly opened them to look directly at Jonas.

And he could only remain silent.

“I’m not asking to change the content of the will itself. I just need to add one paragraph.”

“….”

He shouldn’t allow it. Following the Marquis’s wishes would be the worst decision and against professional ethics.

‘But… is this really the look in the eyes of a man who has lost his mind?’

Very occasionally, the notary had seen several times how a patient’s mind could become clear just before death.

Jonas was in such a state now.

“This is my last request before I die.”

Jonas’s plea and the fact that this would be his last notarization before retirement ultimately swayed his emotions.

The notary stammered as he began to speak.

What a will is, what consequences and changes would result from amending the will, what relationship he had with those named in the will, and even a vow that he was not amending the will under anyone’s pressure.

He questioned Jonas thoroughly to confirm that he was of sound mind.

Perhaps during all that questioning, he secretly hoped the Marquis would breathe his last.

However, Jonas, with a clear mind, answered all the notary’s questions correctly and finally, with trembling hands drained of strength, added a clause about Belinda’s dowry to the will.

As soon as he did so, the light in Jonas’s eyes began to fade.

With a peaceful expression, as if he had finally completed a very important task, he murmured.

“Ah, this should protect that child… In the end, I wasn’t a good father.”

Those were the Marquis’s last words.

As the notary had predicted, Jonas did not survive the night.

Afterward, the notary headed north to resolve the mine issue mentioned in the marriage dowry, and the Marquis’s will was belatedly made public.

The notary, who had witnessed Jonas Blanche’s final moments, concluded with a self-deprecating smile.

“Finally, Master Jonas entrusted me with a letter. He told me that if I ever felt my life was in danger, I should take it to Count Barbet and seek protection.”

“A letter?”

With resignation, the notary pulled out a letter from his br*ast pocket.

Terry, examining the unopened letter with curiosity, asked.

“You didn’t open it?”

“The Marquis earnestly requested that I should find Count Barbet without opening it. That’s why I’ve been staying in Barbet territory, but… with my crime now revealed, what does my life matter? I will honestly confess my wrongdoing and accept punishment.”

“Ah, then let me open and check it for you.”

“What? That’s not—Hey!”

Terry swiftly snatched the letter from the notary’s hand and opened the envelope on the spot.

Rip.

“H-how dare you! How can you be so rude!”

Restraining the lunging notary with one arm while holding the letter high with the other, Terry quickly scanned its contents.

It was a letter from Charlotte Blanche, Jonas Blanche’s wife and Sybel’s birth mother.

The addressee was Jonas Blanche.

Judging by how the sender’s name was written as Eleanor Barbet, it seemed to be a letter sent before their arranged marriage.

As Terry read through the calmly written letter, the expression gradually disappeared from her face.

[Master Jonas Blanche, I cannot be a faithful wife to you. My father, Count Barbet, is deceiving you.

This arranged marriage conceals an unreasonable and malicious deception.]

The three daughters of the Barbet family were once highly valued in the marriage market.

Among them, the third daughter, Eleanor Barbet, was said to be the most beautiful and equally kind-hearted, dedicating herself to helping the poor, treasured like a jewel by Count Barbet.

But when the Count suddenly married his third daughter to Jonas Blanche, an illegitimate child of the Blanche family, everyone was puzzled.

Some authoritative territorial nobles tended to look down on the Blanche family, who had sold off their territory, either openly or secretly.

Count Barbet was no different, so it was strange that he would hurriedly marry off a daughter he cherished so much to an illegitimate child of the Blanche family.

The secret behind this incident, which once heated up the social scene, was fully written in the letter.

[I will not make excuses. I have a lover whom I love, and I am carrying his child. Therefore, this engagement cannot be established from the beginning.]

“Sir! Hand over that letter right now…!”

“Did you really not read this?”

“I already said I didn’t…”

“You did well. If you had read this letter, you would already be dead and wandering in the afterlife.”

The notary froze at Terry’s chilling words, spoken with a smiling face.

“Shall I return it to you?”

“…N-no. Since it’s already been made public, well… ahem.”

The notary backed away as if the letter were poison.

“A wise choice.”

Terry smiled leisurely as she put the letter away.

But contrary to that smile, Terry’s mind was racing.

‘Sybel Blanche is not of Jonas Blanche’s blood.’

Presumably, the man who was Eleanor Blanche’s lover was of lower status or a commoner.

So even though she was carrying another man’s child, her father would have tried to marry her to another man.

Count Barbet was a nobleman by birth.

As one who revered noble bloodlines like a god, he could not possibly marry off a daughter carrying a commoner’s child to a prestigious nobleman.

‘Since he deeply loved his daughter, he probably couldn’t force her to undergo a dangerous abortion that might cost her life.’

It was probably the best choice the Count could make.

He likely never anticipated that his daughter would send such a letter to Jonas Blanche.