On top of that, he cut off the investment funds he agreed to send when you married. It was important money for the family, and now we’re in a difficult position.
A man who can’t keep even a small promise like this, I can already see how he must be treating you. Don’t trust him too much. The duke is skilled at handling people, and who knows what sweet lies he may have whispered to you.
Cleve, my dear sister. I am always on your side. If you’re worried about your brother being alone, come to the marquisate. Even just briefly, I’d love to see your face. If the duke truly refuses to let you come to the capital, I have no choice but to draw my own conclusions.
Cleve, you’re not abandoning me because of the duke, are you? Surely not. I’m your only family.
If you were to abandon me, I think I might lose my mind entirely.
I would tell the investigators that the duke is involved in Viscount Seregei’s disappearance.
He may have had him abducted in order to marry you.
If he’s trying to take you from me, I need to get you back. So think carefully before you act.]

Cleve’s expression darkened. This wasn’t a letter. It was a threat.

He seemed ready to file a false report naming Eldrich as a suspect. If she didn’t visit the marquisate residence, her brother was exactly the kind of person who would follow through.

The letter was soaked through with anger. That anger was almost certainly because of the investment funds the duke had stopped sending.

Hereis had gained a great deal from her marriages. Even with the deaths of her husbands, he had come out ahead more often than not.

Eldrich was different from all the husbands before him. Despite Hereis’s relentless interference, he had come to the ceremony without incident, and he had not died after their wedding night.

Unlike the others, with whom she had barely shared a single full day, he had been alive for nearly two weeks.

‘The illness must be a lie……’

Her brother had never so much as caught a cold. He had eaten well and lived comfortably, without a day of hardship.

Cleve was less concerned about the claim of illness than she was about something else in the letter.

Beyond the outrageous dowry demands, there had apparently been another condition attached to the marriage.

The investment funds were something she was hearing about for the first time.

She couldn’t even begin to guess how much money Eldrich had been sending to the marquisate residence.

Cleve took the letter and headed for the study.

She couldn’t allow him to be falsely accused because of her. If she didn’t visit even once while her brother was supposedly ill, it would also reflect badly on the duke.

But she had to stop giving her brother everything he wanted. She was no longer of the Chartres household. She was a member of House Devonshire now.

Cleve wrote her reply immediately. She already knew what she wanted to say. Even if it wasn’t the answer Hereis had been waiting for.

Cleve wanted to protect the man who had told her all she needed to do was be happy, in her own way.

❀❀❀

Hereis tore open the envelope the moment the reply arrived.

[To my one and only family, my beloved brother Hereis.
I received your letter. He is endlessly kind to me. I’ve been spending each day happily.
Just as you always said, I think this last marriage was the right one.
If Eldrich didn’t keep his promise, I’m sure there was a reason. I’m sorry to hear you’re unwell……. But I don’t think I can come to the residence on my own.
I’ll stop by with the duke before long.
Please take care of yourself until then.] 

The resolve in it was almost hard to believe it had come from Cleve. He didn’t know what that man had done to turn her head, but this was not how things were supposed to go. Realizing that Cleve, who had always moved at his direction, had changed, Hereis felt rage rise in his chest.

“This is exactly why I didn’t want her marrying that man!”

Cleve was supposed to exist for him. She still had much to do for the benefit of the Chartres marquisate.

Over the years, arranging her marriages and engineering divorces through various accidents had brought Hereis considerable profit.

He had known Duke Devonshire would not move as he pleased.

“D*mn it all!”

If the royal family hadn’t gotten involved, he could have sent her to a family that suited his interests.

Hereis tore the letter to shreds in frustration. He had taught Cleve to be a wife who deferred to her husband, but that was only meant to apply when the husband came from a family favorable to him.

With the investment funds cut off, he was the one in a desperate position. On top of that, the person called Bliss, who had made Cleve’s divorce a condition, had set a deadline.

Hereis clicked his nails against his teeth and let his eyes dart around.

He couldn’t understand Cleve, who hadn’t flinched even when he threatened to name Eldrich as a suspect in the Seregei case.

“I can’t just sit here like this.”

Hereis called for the butler quickly.

“Did you spread the rumors properly? Cleve doesn’t seem to know a thing!”

“Well…… Polseitz is quite far from the capital, and they don’t tend to hear much of the gossip from here.”

“What about the royal family? Surely they would have heard.”

“Speaking of which, I recently heard that His Highness the crown prince personally visited the duke’s residence in Polseitz.”

“What? In person?”

Then he would have mentioned the rumors circulating in the capital. And yet Cleve seemed to know nothing.

‘Did the duke not tell Cleve?’

That man had no business being a devoted husband. Hereis thought back to the day they had met to discuss the terms.

“Insufferable bastard.”

Just thinking about it put him in a foul mood. The duke was the illegitimate son of a noble, and yet he had the arrogance to match his fortunate rise.

The contemptuous look the man had given him came back to mind and made his blood boil. A half-blood with no legitimate claim, and yet he had dared to treat him like someone beneath him.

He had earned his position by rolling around on battlefields, and still he held his head high and handled him like a subordinate.

“I’d like it to be clearly understood that after the marriage, Cleve is my person, not the marquis’s.”

“Even so, I hope you understand that blood ties cannot simply be severed.”

“That’s not something a man who plays games with blood should be saying.”

“I care for Cleve more than anyone. You can simply choose not to arrange the marriage, but doesn’t the duke want Cleve?”

The desperate one was supposed to bend. But Eldrich remained unmoved. He crossed his legs, let a thin smile settle on his face, and spoke.

“No. I’m the only one who agreed to the marquis’s terms, which means the marquis is the desperate one.”

It was the posture of someone who held all the cards. And he wasn’t wrong. Duke Devonshire was the only one who had accepted the conditions Hereis had set.

He had even agreed to the monthly investment funds without refusal. There were conditions attached, but keeping a second set of books was simple enough.

He should have stopped there. Hereis had been unable to resist the lure of the money and handed Cleve over to him.

“I’ll send a letter to the royal family saying I have a statement to make regarding the Seregei case.”

“Pardon……? What are you planning to do?”

“If Viscount Seregei has been missing this long, the chances of him being alive are slim. No one has come forward as a witness all this time.”

“……My lord, surely you’re not—”

“There’s no other way to get Cleve divorced. Spreading rumors is useless if neither of them ever hears them.”

The butler stood with his mouth open, unable to speak.

“I need to get rid of Duke Devonshire. He’s no use to me, and I can’t leave things as they are.”

“My lord. Are, are you saying you intend to give false testimony?”

“False testimony? I’m simply going to tell them what I saw. You saw it too. Duke Devonshire was unable to take his eyes off Cleve after she married Viscount Seregei.”

“But that alone isn’t enough to—”

Hereis refused to back down despite the butler’s concerns. This would force them to come to the capital one way or another, and then he could find an opportunity to separate Cleve and Eldrich.

“Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go make sure the servants keep their mouths shut.”