“Susan, you know that’s impossible. I can’t leave this room…”

“The Duke confined you in this room. If the madam hadn’t disguised herself as a maid and gone to the forest in the first place, the Duke wouldn’t have given such an order. So why are you blaming the Duke?”

Iren clenched the hem of her dress. When she didn’t say anything, the irritated maid grabbed her chin.

“We can’t force you to eat food you don’t want. Instead, please tidy up by yourself. I have to do the cleaning.”

After finishing her work, the maid left the room without a word of farewell. Iren called out to her in a subdued but firm voice.

“Susan.”

“Yes, madam.”

“I won’t ask you to be polite or to treat me with respect. Will you do me just one favor?”

There was an earnest solemnity in her calm tone that made it hard for her to refuse. Overwhelmed by her insistence, the head maid reluctantly nodded.

Iren looked straight into her eyes and said,

“There are a few things in my lab that I’d like you to bring me. I’ll write down the details, so could you bring them as quickly as possible?”

When she mentioned the lab, the head maid snapped to attention.

“Are you referring to the underground lab where you research antidotes, Madam?”

“I know you’re reluctant to go there. But I really need…”

“I cannot fulfill that request. You know why better than anyone, Madam.”

Iren was at a loss for words. The head maid sneered inwardly at her. The gentle pressure that had been pushing her had now vanished.

When Iren first became the duchess, the people of the ducal mansion trembled in fear.

The sole survivor from the viper’s nest of the Phaeson family, the witch of poison. They feared her, believing she could silently poison any servant or maid who crossed her with her terrifying moniker.

But their fear soon dissipated. The master of Sirencia and of the ducal mansion was Lahart, and he was someone who hated poison more than anyone else in the empire. Using poison in his territory? It was a sin that not even death could absolve. The moment poison was brought into the castle, one’s head would fly off.

Even if that person was the newlywed duchess.

Lahart’s treatment of Iren reinforced their thoughts. His cold tone and gaze held not a hint of affection but seemed more fitting for an enemy than a wife.

That’s right, Iren was truly Lahart’s enemy.

And so, no one in the ducal mansion feared her any longer.

“To think you’d research poison in the bedroom you share with the duke… You truly are a Phaeson through and through. How vicious. Of course, you must be this vicious if you’ve poisoned the duke himself.”

“……”

“If you get the duke’s permission, I will bring it to you anytime. Now, please rest well, Madam.”

The head maid bowed more deeply than necessary and opened the door. Iren remained frozen in her seated position. The head maid muttered to herself as if he intend for her to hear,

“I wonder why the duke ever bothered to save a woman like that, tsk.”

The door slammed shut roughly. Iren closed her eyes as she heard the sound of the lock from outside.

She needed to use the flowers quickly and finish the antidote. Then she could escape all this.

Meanwhile, having locked the door and stepped outside, the head maid sneered as he thought of Iren’s pale complexion, as if she might collapse at any moment.

“Stupid woman. Do you think the duke will ever truly listen to you?”

A family ruined by treason, a husband who hates her to the point of indifference, a talent that, apart from dealing with poison, has nothing remarkable.

Even if there were dozens of such duchesses, I had them all within my grasp. Boiling and eating away at a mere figurehead of a lady was easier than flicking a finger.

The head maid was about to leave, having ridiculed Iren who must have been feeling frustrated beyond the door.

“Head maid! I’ve been waiting for a long time! Why did you come out so late?”

“It’s quite busy today. I got delayed because I was taking care of this and that. What’s the matter?”

“The duke is looking for you urgently. The butler has already left.”

“He called for the butler and now me as well?”

The head maid cocked her head. It was rare for her to meet the duke directly. Usually, she received orders through the butler or the aide. But calling for her and the butler as well meant…

“You must go quickly! The duke is waiting.”

“Understood. The duke is in his office, right?”

“No! You should go downstairs. The butler went straight there too.”

“Downstairs?”

The head maid frowned at the unexpected location. But he couldn’t ignore the command of the duke, who was no ordinary person. The head maid followed the maid who had come to find him.

‘I have a bad feeling about this.’

* * *

“What on earth…”

The butler muttered in dismay, unable to hide his confusion.

The place to which Lahart’s aide had guided him was a room in the basement of the castle. To call it a room was a stretch; it was a desolate space with damp and foul-smelling air.

The butler glanced at the aide, who was standing tall behind him. The simply armed aide had an expression as hard as the armor he wore.

“Did the master really tell you to guide me here?”

“Yes.”

At the blunt reply, the butler’s lips quivered for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure with a smile.

“I understand. When will the master…”

“How dare you rush the duke.”

The butler’s lips twitched again.

An ignorant fool who knows nothing but to swing a sword.

But once again, the butler held back the curse that rose to his lips.

In Sirencia, where battles were frequent, knights were the most valuable resource. And the owner of Sirencia was Lahart, the empire’s sword itself.

Many knights, captivated by his sword, flocked from all over, and among them, those with the best skills were selected to form Lahart’s own knight order. Therefore, in Sirencia, the knight order’s reputation and status were no less than that of any noble.

No matter how much a butler managed the castle, they were a group not to be treated lightly.

Especially the aide who was Lahart’s closest confidant.

“Of course not. It’s just that as the one managing the master’s estate, I have many duties, and it has become a habit to keep track of schedules.”

“You know your place well.”

A cold voice flew towards him, colder than the aura that swept through the room. The butler instinctively bowed deeply. It was an instinct that naturally came out when he’s facing someone stronger than himself.

The aide standing behind him like a guard saluted towards Lahart. Lahart gestured lightly with his eyes.

“Wait here.”

“Yes.”

The aide left, and only Lahart and the butler remained in the room. But to the butler, the room felt even more crowded than before. Because of the overwhelming presence emanating from Lahart.

‘That small and insignificant child has returned as a monster, to devour his own father.’

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah… Seeing the noble master, I was reminded of the past for a moment. Just the sentimental heart of an old man. It seems I too have aged.”

“Reminiscing.”

Lahart twisted his lips.

The butler found it difficult to gauge his mood, since Lahart always wore a cynical smile. However, judging by the place he was summoned to, the likelihood of a positive conversation was very low.

The butler bowed his head.

“I apologize for talking unnecessarily. Then, may I ask why you urgently looked for me…”

“I am lenient when it comes to rumors.”

Since becoming a duke, Lahart had been at the center of all sorts of rumors. His actions were so groundbreaking that those who liked to gossip had no choice but to be excited.

The main figure in the revolution that overthrew the former emperor. The bastard who killed his own father and took over the dukedom. Lastly, the man who accepted his former fiancée, who was from a family charged with treason.

His unorthodox and immoral history got many talking. Some condemned him strongly, while others praised him.

In the end, Lahart proved himself. In front of his overwhelming force and his cold yet elegant sword, nothing else had power. Not even the emperor was an exception.

That’s why Lahart did not care about any rumors that spread.

No matter how much those insignificant beings babbled, his own light would not fade. No matter how much those insect-like creatures raged, they would not even scratch him.

But.

“Iren is different.”

The butler’s shoulders tensed. Lahart continued in a languid tone.

“Everyone seems too interested in my wife. Don’t you think?”

“That must be… surely it’s because the maids have been running their mouths. I was worried about the head maid’s gossipy nature and now it has come to this… Master, I am truly sorry. I will make sure to warn the head maid strictly.”

“Warn?”

“Ah, no. It wouldn’t be right to end it with just that after having troubled the duchess. If you permit, I will immediately dismiss the head maid and the other maids and hire new people, Duke.”

“That would be good. If the head maid wasn’t someone you brought in.”

The butler’s face, which had brightened for a moment, darkened.

Lahart saw right through the butler’s shallow scheme of trying to survive by pushing the head maid out and getting rid of her.

For someone who is supposed to manage the castle, he’s so dull and uncomposed.

He wasn’t particularly disappointed because he knew the butler’s character and abilities well.

It was just time to discard a piece that had to be thrown away at some point.

Lahart looked down at the butler with an indifferent gaze.

“It seems you’ve forgotten that Iren is the duchess, considering how long you and the head maid have disregarded her.”

“That’s not true. How could I disregard the duchess? I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it was the head maid who ignored and neglected her. Not me! I have always respected the duchess and made sure she was well taken care of without any discomfort. I am truly sorry for not being able to attend to the little details because to the head maid’s influence on the maids.”

“Are you going to argue that it was also the head maid’s doing that you mismanaged Iren’s budget?”

The butler’s mouth, which had been babbling slickly, finally stopped. Lahart did not press him. Footsteps were approaching from beyond the door.

“I guess I’ll get an answer if I ask her directly.”

After a moment, a nervous head maid entered. When her eyes met Lahart’s, she was startled and then hastily bowed deeply.