The word “run away” was something that would never apply to the two of them. Besides, Thea wasn’t someone who would leave secretly without a word.

She’d rather cry her heart out in front of him. She was someone who absolutely hated running away. That’s why even now, she didn’t turn away but stood her ground against him.

“You’ve served her for so long and still don’t know her? Thea… will never run away. Even if it’s a dead end. She’d rather break through the wall and move forward.”

“That may be true, but when people get exhausted, they’re capable of anything. They say a cornered mouse will bite, but before biting, it might just spin around and slip out sideways.”

At the continued rebuttal, he glared with fierce eyes. It meant to stop spouting nonsense.

At that look, Margaret let out a light sigh and said,

“Don’t forget that before being your wife, she’s a person and a living being with emotions.”

“Your tongue is especially long today, Margaret.”

“My tongue has always been long.”

Margaret, who had been sticking out her tongue to show him, could tell from his face turning bright red with anger that it was time to make her escape.

Margaret spoke first before he could raise his voice.

“Oh, now that I think about it, my lady asked to have dinner together—what will you do?”

At the sudden mention of Thea, the anger that had risen in him seemed to deflate with a whoosh.

“Dinner, she asked to have dinner together?”

“Yes, she asked me directly. It seemed like she wanted to dine together to deal with the former Count.”

“Deal with the former Count. Right, he is someone who needs to be dealt with.”

If that was the reason, it wasn’t strange for her to ask to have dinner together. It might have given him a headache if she’d tried to handle it alone.

At the not-bad suggestion, he forgot about being angry at Margaret and pondered what to wear to dinner. He couldn’t meet her in his current state.

Perhaps because he’d been handling work breathlessly, his cravat and buttoned sleeves were all tattered.

‘Meeting her like this wouldn’t be proper.’

After briefly assessing the situation, he tore off a button dangling from his sleeve. Then he spoke to the startled Margaret.

“Tell her I’ll wash up, change clothes, and come to dinner.”

“Then we’ll be eating earlier than expected?”

“Isn’t that better? Eating late only makes your stomach noisy.”

His digestion had been off lately, leaving his stomach bloated. There must be too many things on his mind causing problems.

Just thinking about food made him feel stuffy, so he struck his chest heavily. Seeing this, Margaret quietly asked, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

“My stomach suddenly feels bad.”

“Did you eat something wrong?”

When he carefully recalled what he’d eaten today, he realized he’d only had water or tea.

They say when you’re unwell, even water can upset your stomach—that was exactly his situation. He decided to end the trivial chatter.

“I think I need to visit the infirmary, so go to Thea. There’s bound to be something to help with.”

“You want me to go back when I just left her side?”

“If you have something else to do, you can go work on that.”

When he spoke in a tone suggesting there was nothing else, Margaret raised her eyes slightly. Then she mentioned how busy she was.

“I need to handle something that came up recently, you know? Don’t you realize House Winter’s lifeline is in my hands?”

“The lifeline is in your hands? What are you talking about?”

He showed his displeasure toward Margaret, who was spouting incomprehensible things.

“Huh, you haven’t heard yet? I sent a report to both of you.”

At his reaction, Margaret questioned back, seeming to find it strange.

“……”

Something must have gone wrong in the middle. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting so oblivious.

“I had quite a difficult time quietly returning the goods the Grand Duchess secretly sent.”

“Goods? I never heard about that.”

“Really? I definitely sent it through a servant.”

In the conversation that was increasingly descending into confusion, the two instantly realized what had happened. An intruder must have entered House Winter. And very close by, at that.

“We need to root out the intruder immediately.”

“Should I help?”

“No, you stay by Thea’s side like I said. They’re definitely moving actively over there too. Who knows what they might do. The Grand Duchess seemed to intensely dislike my wife.”

“I knew it. I heard some disturbing rumors while going around. Rumors that the Grand Duchess would eliminate my lady and remarry you, Count.”

“Who’s remarrying whom?”

When he asked again, finding it absurd, Margaret seriously repeated the same words. Only then did he understand the sinister scheme.

Why she’d sent Count Yut as a hostage, why she kept sending ridiculous amounts of money to that family.

It seemed she was trying to make the parents commit such a grave sin that even Thea would fall from this position. That couldn’t happen.

She was already badly wounded, and if this matter exploded too, she’d never be able to get back up.

“Margaret.”

“Yes, speak.”

“Keep this matter secret from Thea.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. If she finds out later, your relationship will deteriorate beyond repair.”

“Still, there’s no choice.”

For now, it had to be hidden. With those final words that she absolutely must not find out, he headed to the bathroom.

* * *

When the evening glow hung heavily, they sat at the dining table and gazed at each other’s faces.

Thea looked downcast. Something must have happened.

He swallowed and looked at Margaret. She shrugged her shoulders slightly, acting like she knew nothing.

It seemed he’d have to ask directly.

“My lady.”

Thea lifted her face slightly, looking like she’d bitten into a bug.

“What is it?”

“You don’t look well. Did something happen?”

“Do I look that way? I tried to be careful not to let it show… but I guess it didn’t work.”

With a crumbling smile on her lips, she exhaled repeatedly, then raised her head again and turned her eyes to the ceiling.

Then she opened her mouth with an ambiguous expression, neither crying nor smiling.

“I don’t know why the world is so particularly cold to me. Strangely, everything got so tangled up that I can’t even untangle it.”

Saying this, she carefully held out a letter to him, full of wretchedness.

“Will you take a look?”

“What is this?”

“This morning. It’s a letter from my mother. I just read it before entering the dining room.”

“What did she say?”

“You can guess, can’t you? What kind of words Mother sent…”

From the vague trailing words, he could tell the Countess had caused another incident. And it seemed to be a major accident so huge that the Countess couldn’t handle it herself.

Even without opening the letter, a faint headache began.

“Let’s eat first.”

“I don’t really feel like it.”

“But you should eat, shouldn’t you? The chef worked hard to prepare this food.”

Gently coaxing her when she had no appetite, he pushed aside the bad news from a moment ago. Margaret, who had been shuddering at the suddenly sunken atmosphere, seemed to be of one mind.

“That’s right. My lady, please try some. There’s even the peanut salad you like—shall I serve you some?”

“…That sounds fine.”

“Give me your side plate.”

It was while she was naturally receiving the plate and serving the peanut salad. Thea stared at that scene, then shifted her gaze to Acel.

Like she had something to say.

Soon she opened and closed her lips several times, then spoke in a completely drained voice.

“Honey, you know.”

At the call, he returned the knife and fork in his hands to their places and met her eyes.

“What is it?”

“I heard some strange news and wondered if you’d heard it too.”

“Please speak comfortably.”

“Well, you see. The content was… that you and I…”

Whether the content was embarrassing to say or she wanted to avoid it, Thea couldn’t continue immediately and just moved her lips wordlessly again.

After doing the same thing for a while, she finally lost steam at the end, bowed her head deeply, and shook it like it was nothing.

She didn’t seem to think at all that everyone present would find this frustrating. Soon she accepted the salad Margaret offered, stabbed it with a fork, and put it in her mouth.

After swallowing without chewing much, she said dryly,

“The taste is fine. Try some. They seem to have used a different sauce than usual.”

“My lady, what do you want to tell me?”

He gently pinched at her attitude of trying to brush it off with salad. He wondered what made her so uncomfortable that she was holding back her words.

At his refusal to back down easily, she squeezed her eyes shut and opened them. She’d hoped he’d just let it pass, but he wasn’t doing that.

Just as he was about to open his mouth again at her transparent inner thoughts—

She placed the fork in her hand on the plate.

“Didn’t Margaret say anything?”

“Nothing special. We only talked about work as usual, but is there a problem?”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

At the conversation that kept going in circles, Acel’s appetite completely disappeared, and he finally put down his utensils and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

It meant he wouldn’t participate in the meal any longer. At him showing his intention first, Thea furrowed her brow slightly and glanced at Margaret.

She must have chattered to him like a sparrow—why was he acting like nothing happened?

With suspicion that wouldn’t fade, she asked again.

“Are you sure nothing really happened?”

At the repeated guessing, his face became ambiguous.

“I don’t know why you’re making such guesses, but no. There won’t be anything special in the future either, so please be at ease.”