“My lady, I’ve been told that dinner is ready.”

Right on cue, a knock came at the door, and Serina stepped inside.

Olga had not the slightest intention of going down to the dining room to eat with Leod.

“Could I have it brought to my room?”

“Are you still feeling very unwell? Shall I send for the physician?”

Serina asked, eyes wide with concern.

Olga only smiled lightly and answered.

“It’s not quite that bad. I simply want to rest properly today.”

“Well, you were up nearly all night enjoying the party — it’s no wonder your body is protesting.”

Serina gave a vigorous nod, her tone playful.

“Was it truly a party worth staying up all night for?”

“Oh my — that was just last night, my lady! You really must be ill! Don’t you remember? Count Primavera got completely drunk and had to be dragged off by his wife! It was absolutely hilarious.”

She burst into laughter at the memory.

“……Is that so.”

The beloved daughter of Count Primavera, cherished by the Duke of Morvant — it had been the first party she had hosted as the Duchess of Morvant.

How delighted Count Primavera must have been was plain enough without having lived through it herself.

Her teeth ground together without her meaning them to.

When rumors spread through society that the two of them were living apart — the duke in the main house, herself in the annex — her father had come all the way here in person.

“Useless girl!”

And then he had struck her across the face — right in front of her young daughter.

At the time, she had felt nothing. She had thought she deserved it.

No anger. No sorrow. Only something that kept folding itself deeper and deeper into a hard knot inside her chest.

But looking back on it now, it struck her as almost laughable.

Was it ever acceptable — striking your daughter across the face in front of your own grandchild?

Olga’s lashes trembled as she clenched her fist tight.

Perhaps it was because she had died and come back — but the emotions she had spent so long pressing down inside her were burning vividly now, fully alive.

“In any case, I should have something soft prepared for your meal. Your color isn’t good at all — you’ve gone quite pale, I’d say…….”

Olga stared at the chattering Serina, her mind drifting to the image of her father’s mouth curling into that contemptible smirk.

If she was being honest, Serina had always been the type to seem warm and friendly to her face while clearly harbouring something beneath the surface. She had been called away to Leod more times than Olga could count — as though keeping watch over her — and she had seen the two of them whispering together on more than one or two occasions.

Then again, Serina had watched the duke treat her with cold indifference from closer than anyone. It was only natural, she supposed.

And yet, even so, Olga had never wished for Serina’s death.

Was there anyone in this world without circumstances? Without a story of their own?

What she had witnessed with her own eyes had almost certainly been at Leod’s instruction.

She could not, in good conscience, harbour a grudge over that now — and turn a blind eye to the woman’s death.

“Serina.”

Having finally made up her mind, she parted her lips slowly.

“Yes, my lady?”

“You mentioned you were going south for your holiday?”

“Oh, yes. It’s my hometown. I was hoping to see my family after so long.”

Serina answered with a bright smile.

Olga blinked slowly, then rose from her seat at an unhurried pace.

‘I’m sure I kept some gold coins somewhere around here.’

She rummaged through the drawer beneath the desk, tracing the thread of an old memory.

If she was remembering correctly, she had put away a pouch of gold coins her mother had given her for emergencies.

‘There.’

Her fingertips caught something that clinked softly.

She drew it out.

She opened the smooth silk pouch, and gold coins spilled out in a bright, clear cascade of sound.

“Here.”

“Pardon?”

Olga counted out five gold coins and held them out to Serina.

Serina’s large eyes blinked rapidly, and she asked, clearly flustered.

“Wh — why are you giving these to me?”

“I thought perhaps you might bring your family up to the capital.”

She answered calmly, as though it were nothing at all.

“Pardon? But…….”

Serina swallowed as she stared at the gold coins gleaming prettily in Olga’s palm.

One gold coin to a beikle. Five beikles would be more than enough for her entire family to stay at the finest hotel in the capital and enjoy a lavish holiday.

“……I’m truly grateful. But the duke’s household does provide holiday pay.”

She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.

It would be a lie to say she wasn’t tempted.

And besides, the holiday pay from the ducal household amounted to little more than travel fare and enough to buy small gifts for her family.

Even so, despite her modest circumstances, Serina shook her hands in refusal.

“I really am fine! I already feel dreadful about taking such a long holiday as it is…….”

Her voice trailed off in embarrassment.

Olga took Serina’s hand, opened it, and dropped the gold coins into her palm. They fell with a bright, clear chime, one after another.

“Don’t feel sorry about it. There will be plenty more days ahead when you’ll be helping me, won’t there?”

I need people I can trust.

To escape this place successfully — after she had conceived.

“Think of it as a bribe.”

Olga’s eyes curved as she lifted the corners of her lips, warm and unhurried.

“The Duchy of Morvant is close to the capital, which means everything is expensive — it’s not easy for your family to make the trip.”

Framing it as concern, she chose her words carefully, softening it as much as possible so Serina wouldn’t feel the weight of it.

“So have them come. I’ll arrange a carriage as well.”

“Oh — oh my…….”

Serina stammered, and then her face flushed a deep, apple red.

She stared in a daze at the pretty gold coins nestled in her palm — and then broke into a radiant smile.

“Thank you so much!”

Then, as though a thought had just struck her, she asked brightly.

“In that case — would it be alright if I sent a letter before I bring your meal? Everyone is going to be so pleased!”

“Of course. Go ahead.”

“Thank you, truly — truly, thank you!”

She gave a deep, earnest bow, then left the room with a spring in her step.

‘With this, Serina won’t have to die.’

Her heart a little lighter, Olga settled into the chair at her desk.

The sound of birdsong rang softly in her ears.

Her gaze drifted slowly to the window.

How strange. In a place that had known nothing but winter — a little bluebird like that.

Leod was exactly as he had been in the days when they had loved each other, and spring had come to the duchy.

And thanks to that spring, the residents of the duchy — who had once dismissed and looked down on her, taking their cue from his contempt — were apparently singing her praises now.

‘I need to find a lawyer.’

But none of that made the wounds and the memories disappear.

In this heaven-beautiful h*ll, Olga had to hold on — until she had conceived a child of her and Leod’s blood.

‘Where would I find a list of lawyers?’

She frowned slightly, brushing her fingers along her chin.

Either way, once he found out she was with child, he would be the one to ask for the divorce first.

So the divorce itself wouldn’t be difficult. But if she was to raise a child alone, without any hope of support from her own family, it would be far better to secure as much in settlement as possible.

This was House Morvant. A family of an entirely different order from the Primavera earldom, which was, at best, a prominent regional family.

To fight a house like that, she would need a lawyer with the highest credentials.

‘I should start with the lawyer.’

Her mind made up at last, Olga rose to her feet. She crossed to the door and reached for the handle——

“Oh——!”

The door swung open without warning. The force of it sent her stumbling backward.

“Olga!”

In the same instant, Leod — who had come in carrying her meal — caught her sharply around the waist and pulled her in close.

The tray in his hand crashed to the marble floor.

Glass shattered with a loud, jarring crack, and the soup from the bowl splattered in every direction.

And that wasn’t all. In the chaos, she had ended up fully caught in his arms.

Olga’s breath stopped altogether.

It was, in every sense of the word, a complete and utter mess.