Despite marrying for love and her in-laws being commoners, the treatment she experienced wasn’t much different from what Vivian had received.

At least Vivian’s in-laws were from a ducal family.

“She could endure anything with the hope that she’d become the next duchess if she just held on a little longer.”

Adelaide murmured weakly.

But her in-laws had nothing.

All that remained were debts, an elderly person showing signs of dementia, and a husband trapped in defeatism and pessimism after a medical accident.

Hearing her eldest sister’s story, Marie understood why she wanted to divorce and escape from that house as soon as possible.

“Then why don’t you stay at our place instead?”

“What?”

“You’re our law office’s valuable client and source of income. We can’t let anything happen to you. It’s hard to respond quickly when we’re apart. Like 24-hour close surveillance?”

“Marie, aren’t you also staying there as a guest?”

Adelaide hit the nail on the head.

Though the building owner and employer, Hans, was generous enough to make her feel at home, he was still the actual homeowner.

Marie suddenly realized this fact and turned to look at Hans.

With the most pitiful expression she could muster.

“Would that be okay, landlord?”

“Since when do you ask permission after making the offer?”

“I’m sorry. My thinking was short-sighted. I should have asked for the master’s opinion first, but this lowly one…!”

Seeing her employer frowning, the commoner pretended to clasp her hands in prayer and bowed deeply, acting subservient.

Hans chuckled, then grabbed the edge of her cloak to pull her upright.

“Someone might think I’m an evil boss.”

“Who would make such an absurd misunderstanding? The love of my employer, as vast as the ocean, is great and wonderful—”

“Just the first verse, please. Just the first verse.”

He stopped his friend’s excessive flattery with a tired expression.

“It’s my house, why are you being so cautious? I told you to think of it as your own.”

“The deed isn’t in my name, so how dare I claim ownership rights with a sense of entitlement?”

“Are you sneakily asking me to transfer the title to you?”

“Ah, you caught me?”

Marie squinted her eyes and grinned.

Hans shook his head as if he couldn’t handle her.

The two of them shared the same sense of humor, so they often bantered like this even while working.

Adelaide couldn’t help but laugh as she watched the pair trading jokes with perfect chemistry.

She knew they were deliberately trying to lighten the mood.

“Anyway, I agree with Marie’s opinion. You should stay with us at our office for the time being.”

“Do you have an extra room?”

“There’s a room used as a study where I can sleep. You can use my room comfortably, sister!”

Marie cheerfully jumped into their conversation.

At those words, the smile completely disappeared from Hans’s face.

“Why would you sleep there?”

“Should we put a guest in the study instead?”

“It’s my study, so I can sleep there.”

“Then you want Adelaide to sleep in your room? You hate when people go into your room.”

“Adelaide can use your room, and you can use mine.”

He was being strangely stubborn about this.

And unlike his usual self, he was insisting on the most unreasonable arrangement.

“Why create a mass migration when I’m the only one who needs to move? There’s a sofa in there. I can sleep on that.”

“That would be uncomfortable.”

“And it’s okay for you to be uncomfortable?”

“Well, that’s because I—!”

Hans suddenly stopped speaking.

‘I hate seeing you uncomfortable more than I mind my own discomfort.’

That’s what he wanted to say, but it was better to stop here.

Going any further would make the atmosphere awkward.

It might even turn into a confession scene.

At the very least, he wanted to confess when they were alone.

Not now, with his client and potential future sister-in-law watching with wide eyes.

“I just don’t like people using my study.”

“But it’s fine if they use your bedroom?”

“There are more of my things in the study.”

“Wow, are you worried I might secretly touch your stuff?”

“Can you write a pledge promising not to touch anything?”

Marie, who had been huffing indignantly, closed her mouth without answering.

Though she hadn’t thought about it before, Hans’s reaction made her more curious about what was inside the study.

Seeing his adamant opposition, she wondered if he had some treasure hidden in there.

After this internal conflict, there was a high probability she would end up snooping around out of curiosity.

Marie was quick to acknowledge this and honest about it.

“Why would you need a written pledge for something like this? A pledge has no legal effect.”

“I’ll get it notarized.”

“Hey, I just won’t use your study!”

“Notice how you’re not agreeing to write the pledge?”

Adelaide, who had been quietly observing the two childishly arguing, cautiously raised her hand as if requesting permission to speak.

“Um, I need to get permission from my husband and mother-in-law before staying out overnight.”

“We can send a letter from our house. The errand boys can get there quickly on bicycles. Even with lots to deliver, it shouldn’t take more than an hour.”

“If my household allowed such after-the-fact notifications, I wouldn’t be so desperate to escape in the first place.”

She remarked self-deprecatingly.

In noble society, families with unmarried daughters tended to manage their daughters’ private lives to varying degrees, such as not allowing them to go out alone or setting curfews.

But Adelaide was experiencing control and restrictions from her in-laws that even her father, Paul, had never imposed.

To an extent others could hardly imagine.

※※※

Adelaide’s house was a two-story building similar in structure to the Freude Law Office, with a private clinic on the first floor and living quarters on the second.

Of course, in terms of square footage and age, it couldn’t possibly compare to the house where Marie and Hans lived.

It was narrow and shabby, with mold spots on the wallpaper due to lack of maintenance.

After the medical accident, so many people had broken windows in revenge before running away that wooden boards had been nailed over where windows used to be.

Perhaps because of this, the interior air was damp and had a musty smell from the lack of sunlight.

“Looks like they’ve already closed for the day.”

Adelaide sighed as she looked around the empty clinic, then hung the ‘Closed’ sign on the front door.

Her husband would often send the clinic staff home and go upstairs when he wasn’t in the mood to see patients, even during the day.

“But it’s still so bright outside?”

“This happens often. Follow me.”

Adelaide headed for the stairs first.

Marie and Hans followed her lead, carefully stepping on the broken wooden stairs.

As Marie climbed, she suddenly stopped with a pale face and grabbed Hans’s sleeve tightly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sister, do you…… keep a dog or cat?”

Instead of answering him, Marie quietly directed her question to her sister.

“No. We don’t have any pets.”

Adelaide glanced down as she answered.

Marie finally realized the identity of the creature that had brushed past her skirt and squeezed her eyes shut.

It was definitely a rat.

And it was very large.

Though her skirt had prevented direct contact with her bare skin, judging by the heavy feeling when it hit her leg, it must have been at least as big as a forearm.

That’s why she had mistaken it for a dog or cat.

To think that rats were freely roaming around like they owned the place in a hospital, which should prioritize hygiene above all else…

Marie carefully looked down under the railing.

She could see the large rat waddling slowly toward the basement, seemingly unafraid of humans, as if out for a stroll.

“Sister, you don’t store food or medical supplies…… in the basement, do you?”

“No. A thief once hid there and came up to the house after the clinic closed, so we locked it up and stopped using it. Only my husband has the key.”

“Ah….. That’s good then.”

It was somewhat fortunate as long as it wasn’t a food storage or medical supply room.

Seeing how the rat moved in and out so freely, it might even be using the basement as its headquarters.

Marie barely managed to suppress the urge to gag.

To think that her sister, once revered as the flower of high society and loved by her family, was living in such deplorable conditions.

She wanted to get her sister out of this place as soon as possible.

“Use this.”

Hans, vaguely sensing Marie’s situation, took out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and handed it to her.

The handkerchief smelled of the cologne Hans used.

Marie covered her nose and mouth with the handkerchief as she climbed to the second floor.

Despite not being particularly fastidious by nature, this level of filth was unbearable.

As soon as they opened the entrance door to the second floor, they saw a small living room.

Beyond that was a space used as a dining room.

Adelaide’s mother-in-law was sitting there, in the middle of a conversation with a middle-aged woman.

“I’m home, Mother. I see we have a guest?”

Her mother-in-law jumped in surprise at her daughter-in-law’s voice and turned around.

“You, why do you always come in without making any noise!”

The mother-in-law, who was about to explode in anger, noticed the strangers standing behind Adelaide and closed her mouth.

“Oh my, I should be going now. I’ll come by again later!”

The middle-aged woman hurriedly gathered some documents from the table, got up, and quickly moved toward the entrance.

As the space was small, she briefly bumped into Marie, causing one of the envelopes she was carrying under her arm to fall to the floor.

She didn’t even notice it as she tried to make a hasty exit.

“Wait a moment!”

The middle-aged woman, with her hand on the doorknob, flinched and turned around.

“You dropped this.”

Marie picked up the envelope and held it up, waving it slightly.

The woman turned pale, rushed over, and quickly snatched the envelope from her hand.

She disappeared without even saying thank you.

Marie and Hans exchanged glances as they both recognized the familiar emblem stamped on the outside of the envelope.