The next day.

Early in the morning, I sent someone to deliver an invitation to House Odin.

More precisely, to Miki, who was slated to inherit House Odin one day.

I told him to come around the afternoon, so until he arrived, I intended to sprawl out on the bed.

I could have told him to come earlier, since I was calling him over anyway, but… the world outside the bed was dangerous, you know?

In any case, the reason I had summoned Miki was so we could pressure Erinique together.

As it happened, Miki had friction with that house’s precious only daughter, so I intended to make use of that.

Why go that far, you ask?

Last night, before I fell asleep in the same room as the Grand Duke, I had heard a few things.

Just before my family fell to ruin, the head of House Erinique had taken several sailing ships that belonged to my family.

On the surface, it was recorded as my father having gifted them to the head of House Erinique, but it was strange.

Erinique was a small inland territory with no sea nearby, so even if they had sailing ships, they had no use for them.

More importantly, our family had never once owned sailing ships.

Even the territory managed by House Agatha was inland, far from the sea.

In that case, what the head of House Erinique had taken from my family might not have been “sailing ships” at all, but something else.

So, was I trying to recover whatever belonging of House Agatha that House Erinique had taken?

Not exactly.

When House Agatha fell, all the ledgers and records managed by the family were burned and lost.

Which meant investigating the matter was practically impossible.

More importantly, it might truly have been a simple gift, or perhaps some covert method my father had used for business.

According to what the Grand Duke had uncovered, there were even signs that my father had helped launder the nobles’ money.

If everything had stemmed from mutual interests, then there was no need for me to dig any deeper into it.

If I meddled needlessly in the nobles’ filthy money games, it was obvious I would only end up with tiresome trouble on my hands.

Even so, the reason I had gone out of my way to summon Miki and stir up House Erinique was simple.

The people of House Erinique had all signed the “petition requesting the extermination of House Agatha.”

And in court, they had appeared as witnesses and testified that “my mother had committed adultery and given birth to me.”

The most ridiculous part was that, as proof, the second son of House Erinique had confessed that he was my biological father.

When I looked into it, the second son of House Erinique was only two years older than me.

He fathered me when he was two?

Was that even possible?

In any case, back then, I had been raised under a strict father and taught not to concern myself with outside affairs.

So neither my mother nor I knew that they had held a trial accusing House Agatha of misconduct.

And we knew even less that, in that place, the people of House Erinique had insulted both me and my mother.

No wonder, after my family fell, so many people—men and women alike—insulted my mother.

To name the most recent instance, Count Padma had done so. Before him, it had been the house steward who served Louis.

If those two had done it, then others must have done the same.

Well, there was no evidence, and I had not heard it myself, so I would have to let that pass.

“By the way, Kin.”

I lowered the blanket I had pulled all the way up over my head and looked at the Grand Duke, who was perched by the window, enjoying his tea.

“Good morning.”

At my call, the Grand Duke turned his head. Then, with his lips still resting against the rim of his teacup, he smiled.

“Madam.”

Since we were married, it was true that I was his wife.

But for some reason, it made my heart tickle.

“But you’re already awake?”

At my question, the Grand Duke nodded instead of answering.

And yet, for some reason, there were dark circles beneath his eyes that had not been there before.

When I glanced to the side, there was no trace of anyone having lain in the bed.

Had he stayed up all night?

“Please have your meal whenever you feel comfortable. I will tell them as much.”

After saying so, the Grand Duke set the teacup in his hand down by the window and left the room.

It seemed he hadn’t slept a wink all night. Maybe I should have told him to get some sleep.

I turned over onto my side.

Since I had many things to do this afternoon when I met Miki, I thought I should conserve my strength.

From the moment I became the Grand Duke’s wife, even if it was not quite the empire itself, the Duchy of Balthazar, which stood nearly equal to it, became my backing.

And the Grand Duke who ruled that duchy was my backing.

By contrast, House Erinique was merely a baronial house.

Only in this life had I come face-to-face with truths I had never known, and now I had even gained the power to repay them for it.

I intended to slowly dry them out until they died.

Doing so would not bring my parents, who had already left this world, back to life. Nor would it revive the family that had vanished.

But if I knew what had been done to me and still stayed still, what could be more unjust than that?

They said even a rat, when cornered, would bite a cat.

Then why should I be any different, when I had lost everything because of others?

This would also be a good chance to see whether there was anything I could use to sink my teeth into the Emperor, the root of all this tragedy.

Whether rebellion or war.

To begin anything, one needed a “cause.”

Whether that cause was valid or not, all I needed was a trigger to start.

Once I created that trigger, I could simply find fault with one thing after another and drive them into a corner.

Inciting people required no special scheme.

Whether it was truth or lies, all I had to do was give them a reason to step forward.

In that sense, a fight was like a game of chess.

If one moved the pawns with care, space would open for the other pieces to move, and at times, a pawn could even play the role of a queen.

No matter how mighty the Emperor was, he would not be able to withstand a revenge play prepared with care.

Even if all I did was leave a few scratches on him.

To me, that would be no different from succeeding in my revenge.

And even if, by some chance, I failed, I would regress again, so there was no problem.

Since my opponent was who he was, I too was beginning this with my life as collateral.

As someone who had lost nearly all will to live after countless regressions, I was certain this game would soothe my long-standing boredom.

A precarious game where people’s lives hung in the balance.

It was my first time playing such a thing, but I was confident.

Since my profession had been that of a novelist, creating a narrative should be nothing at all.

This time, I intended to write a play not with fictional characters, but with people who actually existed.

To do that, I needed to sink my teeth into the matter of Miki and Elia and dig a little deeper.

Unlike Count Padma, whom I had encountered last time, I had no grounds to touch him. But with Baron Erinique, the evidence was clear.

And since it would also put me in a position where I was helping Miki, it would be useful later, when I sought House Odin’s support for a greater cause.

Ah.

I was already looking forward to it.

That afternoon.

“It is an honor to be invited, Madam Grand Duchess.”

Miki arrived at the Grand Duke’s castle just as lunch had ended.

“…Who?”

Unlike our first meeting, he was so properly dressed that I was more than a little taken aback.

To be honest, I did not recognize him at first.

Not only was he neatly dressed, but even his previously tousled hair had been tidied.

Yesterday, he had looked as if he had just come from weeding some field, so I could hardly be blamed for reacting this way.

“I am the eldest son of House Odin, Maikarnus Sentine Odin.”

Miki placed a hand over the left side of his chest and seemed to bow his head, then bent one knee before me.

The Miki before me once again had not a single flaw in his etiquette.

“I have come here after receiving the summons of the esteemed Madam Grand Duchess of Balthazar.”

You are not supposed to be this kind of character, are you?

Had he received special lessons from Rodrigo or something?

Even knowing that he was Miki, I kept wondering whether he was truly the same person I had seen yesterday.

“Since Marquis Odin officiated our wedding, I wish to repay that grace by easing your concerns.”

I barely managed to hide my bewilderment and opened my mouth calmly.

Nor did I reveal my true thoughts.

“Thank you very much!”

Miki’s face brightened.

This time, too, he smiled so broadly that his white teeth showed clearly, but he soon cleared his throat and erased the smile.

“Do you happen to have any related documents or evidence?”

“Yes. I always carry them with me.”

At my question, Miki answered and began taking out the things he had on him one by one.

Along with them, he placed the thick book he had carried under one arm on my desk.

“Financial statements and payment records, I see. And this is a ledger.”

I examined each thing he had set out with care.

Though it was a business that had been running for a full five years, the company’s capital remained uniform.

On the other hand, there were several signs of large sums of money moving under the name of service fees.

Then, all at once, my gaze stopped.

“You also did business with House Agatha?”

Found it.