“That Night.”

“Yes?”

“I was rude. It was entirely my fault.”

“…?”

Derek confessed his wrongdoings, his tone resembling that of a penitent in a confessional.

He claimed that the coachman’s distraction, the sudden gust of wind that night, and her standing by the door were all his fault.

Especially when mentioning their unexpected physical contact, which had startled them both, his ears turned bright red.

‘Why would that be his fault?’

Audrey tilted her head in confusion.

It never occurred to her that he might be embarrassed.

Her lime-green eyes rolled about, wandering through empty space before turning toward the distant backyard.

‘Hmm?’

Then a familiar silhouette caught her eye.

‘…Claude Oppa?’

It was Claude, who hadn’t been seen since he left earlier.

Moreover, he wasn’t alone.

He was walking with a woman in a dress.

‘No way…!’

Audrey immediately widened her eyes.

Hair obscured by darkness, not too short in stature.

That woman was definitely Emilia Danalo!

Her heart sank instantly.

‘How on earth did she get here? She couldn’t come without an invitation…! I came with Oppa. Then who?’

No, that wasn’t important right now. He was with Emilia!

Audrey grew desperate.

This was no time to be standing on the terrace making meaningless conversation with Duke Frith.

“Excuse me, Your Grace, I should—”

“Ah, it’s already half past eight. I’ll have a carriage prepared for you.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say your curfew is nine o’clock?”

“…!”

Oh no.

Audrey had fallen into her own trap.

Who knew the excuse she’d made up would come back to haunt her!

‘Of all times…’

Her feet fidgeted unconsciously beneath her dress.

“B-but today is the ball.”

“There’s no need to push yourself. Birthdays come every year. Your curfew is far more important.”

“But—”

“I’ll escort you so you won’t be frightened.”

“…!”

Duke Frith immediately called a servant to prepare a carriage.

Everything happened in an instant.

Before she knew it, Audrey was in a carriage with Duke Frith, heading toward Count Kevelson’s mansion.

‘What is this!’

Thinking of Claude and Emilia remaining at the mansion made her blood boil.

But who could she blame now?

All this trouble had occurred because she delivered the letter incorrectly.

“Exactly nine o’clock.”

“….”

“You don’t need to come to work tomorrow.”

Duke Frith, oblivious to everything, offered his final greeting. He looked somewhat satisfied.

She couldn’t possibly tell him it was all a lie, which was frustrating.

“…I’ll be going in now.”

“Then I’ll see you on Friday.”

“Yes…”

The Frith family carriage waited in place for a long while, until the light in Audrey’s room turned on.

“Let’s depart now.”

“Yes!”

Derek leaned back in his seat and slowly closed his eyes.

Though tired from going back and forth to the mansion several times throughout the day, his overwhelming emotions took precedence.

‘This is truly maddening. Can a person’s mood really be this good…’

Under his closed eyelids, Dodori’s afterimage lingered for a long time.

Derek unconsciously raised one corner of his mouth in a smile.

Today had been the happiest birthday of his life.

***

“Good work.”

“….”

Lucas finally escaped from the chair.

His face had deteriorated considerably after hours of greeting guests in place of his lord.

What an ordeal it had been to express gratitude for gifts he would never use himself.

“You may take tomorrow off.”

“…Thank you.”

“Now that Dodori has left, we shall begin. Were there any other deserters?”

“None.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“Then I’ll have everything prepared now.”

After safely sending Audrey home, Derek prepared for the final act.

The ball was arranged partly for romantic memories with Dodori, but in truth, it was a pretext to gather many people in one place.

‘It’s been dragging on for too long.’

How much effort had he put into identifying the spies?

Today, when the temporary contracts expired, was the perfect day to root them out.

Shortly after.

Derek, back in his place, summoned everyone.

“About a month ago, there was a midnight attack. It was a spy disguised as an employee of the mansion.”

“…!”

“It was a meticulously planned attack. But there was no guarantee it would end with just one person. So I dismissed all those hired around the same time and gave temporary positions to my vassals.”

The ballroom began to buzz.

Duke Frith had dismissed many employees without explanation, causing misunderstandings.

But only today was his eccentric behavior finally explained.

“This opportunity allowed me to reconsider the entire mansion. I had reasonable suspicions that even those who had worked for years could be spies.”

“Your Grace!”

The knights stationed around the ballroom knelt down.

It was certainly not pleasant to be suspected by the master they had served faithfully for years.

They wanted somehow to prove their innocence.

But innocent faces alone cannot identify spies.

At this point, Derek raised his hand and proposed:

“I’ll give you a chance to die peacefully. Is there truly no one among you who serves another?”

“….”

Naturally, no one stepped forward.

Derek, as if anticipating this response, secretly glanced at his aide.

Simultaneously, Lucas appeared carrying a heavy sack.

It contained confession tools custom-ordered from Lokt.

When he turned the sack upside down, red magic stones of the same color spilled onto the red carpet.

But since this was done discreetly from behind, no one noticed.

“I ask once more. Is there no one who serves another?”

The ballroom fell silent again at Duke Frith’s calm interrogation.

If they would confess immediately when asked, what kind of spies would they be?

Everyone just watched each other cautiously, unable to speak up easily.

But then, one person stood up, raising their hand high.

“It’s me! I’m the spy! I came to cut your throat!”

“W-what is this…”

“My goodness!”

“Isn’t that Sir Molly?”

The bold declaration came from a new knight.

However, despite his booming voice, his face showed only disaster.

“The first rat has crawled out.”

Immediately, Count Emilton and several knights stepped forward to bind the first spy with ropes.

The truth confessions, expected to end with one person, continued at length.

“What nonsense! His head is mine! He’s the enemy of my in-law’s cousin’s brother-in-law’s younger brother’s friend!”

“Three days from now, I’ll give you the most painful death in the world!”

“I’ll dissolve all your organs with this poison!”

“Youngsters. I will take your life with me to the afterlife!”

The spies popped up like moles just when everyone thought it was over.

They proudly admitted to being spies, yet their faces showed they had no idea why they were saying such things.

From kitchen assistants to servants, maids, and even department managers.

Derek’s face grew cold as he looked down at them.

“This will be quite a meaningful birthday gift.”

He had essentially received living scarecrows as birthday presents.

***

Thursday evening.

Audrey visited Charlotte with a thoroughly dejected face.

Her appearance showed she had been suffering emotionally.

‘Tsk tsk. Failed again, completely failed.’

Charlotte quietly sighed, sensing the failure.

She had already heard from Robert that the carefully arranged meeting had been a complete disaster.

But to have no progress since then? It was truly exasperating.

‘If I had known it would be like this, I should have gone to that meeting myself.’

Charlotte clicked her tongue in regret.

Her friend clearly had love luck bordering on catastrophic.

Otherwise, how could everything fail so consistently despite such effort?

“Has Arnold returned to the magic tower?”

“Mmm.”

“The Count will feel lonely again for a while.”

“As always…”

Audrey recalled the stormy morning with empty eyes.

***

Arnold’s return to the magic tower was always a war.

“Drey! Wake up quickly! It’s already five in the morning!”

“Mmmmm.”

“There’s not much time left! Hah, it’s already five past five? There’s still so much we haven’t done!”

“……”

“Drey! Wake up, okay? You need to spend time with your brother!”

Audrey clearly had no memory of getting out of bed.

However, when she came to her senses, she was somehow already enjoying a boat ride in the middle of the lake.

“How is it? Fun, right? Hmm? Our Drey used to love boat rides so much! Doesn’t it remind you of the old days?”

“……”

“Huh! Look over there! It’s a duck! Quack quack! Drey, can you see? It’s a duck!”

Arnold was quite busy dragging the half-asleep Audrey around.

Starting with the boat ride, he collected strange mushrooms, and sitting on a blanket on the hill, he showed off his grass whistle skills.

Then when the rooster crowed, he led Audrey back home. It was for breakfast.

“I asked for simple sandwiches for lunch! Now, let’s read books together in the cabin!”

“……”

“Want to bet with your brother on who gets there first? One, two, go!”

After that, it was always the same pattern.

They would go up to the cabin and read a book they had already read dozens of times, once more.

“Wow, see this? This is something you wrote, Drey. Don’t you remember? Your brother remembers everything!”

“……”

“These are scribbles our Drey made at just five years old!”

Then, with the half-asleep Audrey in front of him, he chattered on about the memories of the Kevelson siblings for quite some time.

After that short trip down 10 years of memories, the next destination was the front yard.

“Now that we’ve digested our food, shall we play tag? Hmm? Your brother will be ‘it’ first! Drey, run away!”

“……”

“Ha, caught you! Now it’s my turn to run away!”

Audrey usually came to her senses around the time the game of tag ended.

Then the two would sit at an outdoor table near the fountain, and amicably take out their lunch sandwiches to eat.