Leonhardt stared at the spinning ceiling before closing his eyes. His hangover felt unusually severe, and now an inexplicable dizziness had begun.

He wanted to get up right away and go see Anaïs. He wanted to comfort her, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make you my mistress,” but his body wouldn’t cooperate.

Knock knock.

He heard someone knocking.

It couldn’t be Gustav—he wouldn’t come to his chambers. Besides, he wasn’t the type to knock. If it were Barbara, she would have given up by now.

Leonhardt ignored it and remained still.

Knock knock knock.

After several knocks with no response, the chief chamberlain Fred raised his voice.

“Young Duke, a letter has arrived from the Armin family.”

Hearing Fred’s words, Leonhardt smirked.

Daphne, Daphne. This incorrigible woman.

After all that fuss, she was finally bowing her head and coming back.

“……Come in.”

Leonhardt slowly rose from his bed. Fred couldn’t hide his delight as he presented the letter.

“It’s from the Marquis’s household.”

Leonhardt shook his head as if pitying her.

“She’s truly incorrigible. I suppose she didn’t have the courage to come in person?”

Fred presented a paper knife. Leonhardt opened the envelope with a disinterested expression.

But the handwriting was unfamiliar. It wasn’t from Daphne, but from Anton.

The contents were even harder to accept. He read it repeatedly before becoming so angry that he tore it to shreds.

“W-what are you doing!”

Just then, he spotted Barbara’s carriage arriving through the window.

Leonhardt rushed downstairs.

Barbara realized only after reaching home that her trembling wasn’t solely from anger. After standing in the cold for so long and getting soaked, she was overcome with chills.

She barely managed to exit the carriage with the coachman’s support.

“Are you alright?”

Even the usually curt coachman asked with concern, indicating how poor her condition was.

At that moment:

“Mother!”

Leonhardt called out as he ran toward her.

Barbara’s eyes instantly welled with tears. She thought she had cried so much that there would be nothing left, but the sorrow welled up again.

“Leon.”

Barbara opened her arms to welcome him, but what she received instead were scraps of paper.

He threw the torn letter fragments at her face.

“What have you done!”

“……What are you talking about?”

Barbara’s parched lips turned blue.

“What did you do? Instead of helping your son, you went to their house and caused a scene!”

“D-did Daphne say that? That I caused a scene?!”

“You hurled insults at Daphne and poured tea on her, didn’t you? And even broke a vase. The Marquis’s household says they’ll lodge a formal complaint!”

Fred, who had followed Leonhardt out, was also shocked by these words.

‘What has that woman done?’

The Armin family had already shown great leniency by remaining quiet until now. And she had the audacity to go to their house and cause trouble.

The servants who had gathered in small groups shook their heads in disapproval. It was obvious that if Gustav learned of this, his reaction wouldn’t end with mere anger.

The servants looked at Barbara with resentful eyes for bringing such a storm upon them.

“S-son. You haven’t even heard my side. Don’t tell me you’re being manipulated by that woman……”

“Enough.”

Leonhardt cut her off, pressing his temple.

“You should have waited until Daphne apologized. Why did you complicate matters that would have resolved themselves if you had just stayed quiet?”

As Leonhardt expressed his irritation, Barbara felt the ground shake beneath her.

In the child she had cherished and showered with love, she now saw her husband. The look of contempt in his eyes was identical.

Leonhardt, not even noticing that Barbara was trembling, went on to say what should never have been said.

“Mother, if you have a brain, use it to think. This could have been resolved if you had just left it alone!”

“Stop!”

Barbara collapsed to the ground with a scream.

She sobbed violently as if about to vomit her insides out.

She had never expected anything from her husband. She had endured everything with only Leonhardt to look forward to.

When her son uttered the same words her husband used to say, she could no longer bear it.

After suffering all manner of humiliation and returning home soaking wet, she found no one on her side. No one helped her up when she collapsed on the ground.

As Barbara lost consciousness, a question crossed her mind:

‘How did it come to this?’

⁕⁕⁕

Gustav was on his way back from an audience with the Emperor. His body and mind were as exhausted as water-soaked cotton.

“To think I had no idea this was happening……”

Gustav muttered as if in pain.

He had been as close as brothers with Werner, Daphne’s father, since childhood. When Gustav, the second son, was practically banished to a rural territory, and Werner joined the military, they were separated for a long time.

As time passed, the two men met again as heads of their respective families, but their old friendship remained intact. This was true even though House Mücke belonged to the noble faction and the Armin family to the imperial faction.

It was an era of peace where there was no need for conflict over different political alignments. The leaders of both factions maintained a cooperative relationship for the sake of the country’s peace.

The problem began when Werner ventured into trade.

With his exceptional navigation skills, he led continental trade and amassed considerable wealth. This caused the noble faction to waver.

Many began shifting to a neutral stance to curry favor with him.

However, Gustav didn’t view this negatively. He trusted his old friend.

Werner disliked confrontation. He was an admirable person who knew how to cooperate with others for mutual benefit.

And as Gustav had predicted, Werner shared the fruits of his trade with many people, making the country more prosperous.

But some in the noble faction apparently thought differently. They had plotted without Gustav’s knowledge.

They had attempted to interfere with Werner’s trade to check his influence and collect insurance money. They had even committed tax evasion.

Learning this from the Emperor himself was the worst possible scenario.

The Emperor wasn’t angry. Rather, he seemed pleased to have gained leverage.

There was nothing to be done.

“The punishment of the tax-evading nobles rests entirely with Your Majesty.”

It meant the noble faction wouldn’t protect them, so the Emperor could handle it as he saw fit. The Emperor tightened his newly acquired reins even further.

“One more thing. Ensure the noble faction raises no objections to Marquis Werner’s return.”

“The scale of tax evasion isn’t significant. If you derail the largest trade operation in history over such a matter……”

“Duke.”

“……Yes, Your Majesty.”

“Are you aware of what you’re saying? Rats gnawing at the national treasury are trying to capture my loyal subject to fill their bellies…. I hope you’re not suggesting I should stand by and watch.”

In the end, he conceded to everything the Emperor wanted before leaving.

Gustav clenched his teeth.

As head of the noble faction, this was the first time he had faced such humiliation.

When Werner returned, the Emperor would gleefully spread the word that the noble faction had moved pirates to raid the trade ships for insurance money.

He lacked the courage to look his friend in the eye.

To think he had been completely unaware until this happened. It was only a matter of time before his incompetence was fully exposed.

There was more bad news.

“Leonhardt, you foolish boy.”

He repeated his son’s name like a groan.

A sudden new lover? It was exasperating.

There wasn’t a single aspect of the situation he found acceptable.

‘What will Werner think when he returns and learns of the broken engagement?’

His old friend was generous by nature and rarely became angry. Even the pirate instigation incident could potentially be settled with compensation rather than retaliation.

But he knew better than anyone that this mild-mannered friend would become furious over matters concerning Christine.

Even if he had no interest in Daphne, as the lady of the Marquis’s household, she would inevitably suffer.

A breakthrough was needed.

However, the news that the chief chamberlain delivered while waiting for Gustav’s return was utterly bleak.

After receiving the report of Barbara’s actions, Gustav contemplated deeply before issuing an order.

“Confine Barbara to the annex. Allow no maids in, and provide only enough care to keep her alive. Until I specifically order otherwise, don’t let her meet Leonhardt either.”

“Understood. However……”

Fred hesitated briefly before continuing.

“The Duchess is gravely ill. Her fever won’t subside, and she remains unconscious. Perhaps we should wait until she recovers?”

He wasn’t concerned for Barbara. He simply didn’t want to deal with a funeral in this atmosphere.

Gustav remained silent for a while.

‘If it could divert attention from the broken engagement, even death might not be so bad.’

But Gustav didn’t want to let Barbara off easily. Even if that meant denying her the peace of death.

He spoke heavily.

“Move her once she regains consciousness.”