The aide’s expression wasn’t very pleasant.

“Young Duke, Sir Ludwig Armin has sent an invitation. And……”

When he hesitated, Leonhardt snapped his fingers. The aide quickly unfolded the invitation and placed it on his hand. Then he continued.

“Princess Anaïs is here.”

A cold wind seemed to blow across Leonhardt’s face. He gave orders to the aide who was discreetly gauging his reaction.

“Accept Ludwig’s invitation. And have the princess report to me in two hours.”

“What if she tries to leave before then?”

“That won’t happen, so don’t worry.”

“Yes, understood.”

After the aide left, Leonhardt stroked his chin and muttered to himself.

“She has nowhere else to go, so she came to me.”

Leonhardt felt a little—just a tiny bit—sorry for Anaïs.

‘I wonder what she’s brought to beg for her life today……’

Only after two full hours had passed did Leonhardt finally meet with her.

As he expected, Anaïs acted delighted like a puppy seeing its master as soon as she entered his office. She even put on excessive charm.

She brought her arms together in front, crossing them slightly while shrugging her shoulders. This emphasized her voluptuous chest, drawing attention.

But Leonhardt frowned. It was a gesture he would have fallen for before, but now it only disgusted him.

Leonhardt shifted his gaze to the documents spread on his desk, ignoring Anaïs. She asked about his well-being in an affectionate, almost whispering voice.

“Young Duke, have you been well?”

“I don’t have time. Let’s get to the point.”

“Young Duke, I’ve brought what you wanted.”

Anaïs approached closer with the corners of her lips pulled up in a smile. She placed an orange magic stone the size of a fingernail on the document he was reading.

However, his response was deeply disappointing.

“What I want isn’t the golden egg, but the goose that lays it.”

“Helmut refused.”

Only then did Leonhardt look up and meet Anaïs’s eyes.

“Why?”

Anaïs couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had lost Helmut’s trust and couldn’t propose anything to him.

So she gave a vague answer.

“……He’s very reclusive. He was quite tempted but ultimately refused.”

Leonhardt smirked.

“Anaïs, do you know why you failed?”

Anaïs lowered her gaze that had been staring at him and couldn’t answer.

“You still think I’m a fool.”

“What do you mean? I would never……”

“The magic stone you’ve given me shows signs of crude cutting. The cross-section is rough. You probably kept the larger piece and tried to bait me with this shoddy one? Your shallow scheme is so transparent it’s embarrassing.”

After a moment’s consideration, Anaïs reluctantly handed over the remaining pieces of the magic stone.

When the four pieces were put together like a puzzle, they formed the original stone that Anaïs had stolen.

Leonhardt smiled coldly and called for Hans.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Imprison this woman. K*ll her if she resists.”

Anaïs was so shocked she stammered.

“Young Duke, why are you doing this? We had an agreement.”

But Leonhardt didn’t respond. He waved his hand as if shooing away an insect, and Hans approached Anaïs from behind.

He grabbed both her arms, pulled them together, and yanked them back. There was no royal courtesy. He was merciless, treating her like a criminal.

Anaïs shouted as Hans dragged her out.

“Leon, please don’t do this! S-save me!”

Leonhardt didn’t spare her even a glance.

He scribbled a few words on a piece of stationery and took out an envelope. After placing the letter and the magic stone inside, he handed it to another aide.

“Deliver this to Princess Camilla of the Kingdom of Lucia.”

⁕⁕⁕

Camilla’s maid headed to her chamber with what the messenger from Leonhardt had delivered.

“This is from Young Duke Mücke.”

The person who received it wasn’t Camilla, but Helmut.

After checking the contents, he froze for a moment. The atmosphere around him suddenly turned cold, as if someone had poured ice water.

He stared at Camilla standing beside him. She had looked very surprised just moments ago, but now seemed rather calm. She appeared less composed and more like someone who had given up.

Helmut gestured, and the maid hurriedly left. With just the two of them remaining, he unfolded the letter Leonhardt had written.

After reading it, Helmut spoke.

“It seems the Young Duke has come into some money. He wants to buy this.”

When Helmut turned the envelope upside down, the magic stone inside fell to the floor. Camilla tightly shut her eyes.

He spoke with a slightly cracked voice.

“Too painful to look at? Does the broken piece remind you of Anaïs?”

Helmut approached Camilla, who remained motionless. He brought his face close enough that she could feel his breath and whispered softly.

“Camilla, at least try to explain yourself.”

But Camilla turned her head away. Helmut grabbed her chin and pulled it toward him.

“If you tell me why you gave Anaïs the real magic stone, I might try to understand. If you give up this easily, it drains my energy too.”

Only then did Camilla slowly open her eyes.

“You’re going to eliminate that child anyway.”

“Don’t you understand yet? Anaïs is with Leonhardt, not me.”

Tears gradually welled up in Camilla’s eyes.

“I couldn’t bear to watch any more of my siblings die. I’m not saying what Anaïs did was right. But none of this would have happened if she hadn’t been given the mission to seduce another woman’s man in the first place.”

Helmut let out a sigh that sounded like a groan. He could feel Camilla’s chin trembling finely through his hand.

“How admirably devoted.”

He released Camilla and stepped back.

To give her the real magic stone even after being clearly shown what would happen without it.

“Anaïs stole this magic stone knowing full well what would happen to you without it. Did you still want to save her?”

Camilla didn’t answer. For someone who had risked her life for such a futile cause, her reaction was remarkably dry. This made Helmut’s heart even more troubled.

‘If I had even one sibling like you… would I have gone this far?’

Helmut wanted to ask her.

But no answer would matter now. He had come too far to regret anything.

“Just focus on your current mission. If you succeed, I might postpone eliminating Anaïs.”

At those words, Camilla’s lifeless eyes sparkled. Why did that make him so happy? Helmut smiled bitterly.

“Don’t take too much advantage of my leniency toward you. If my patience runs out, I might unleash everything I’ve been holding back. Not just on the family you so desperately want to protect, but on your people as well.”

He left Camilla behind and walked out.

Only after being left alone did Camilla exhale the breath she had been holding. The tears she had suppressed burst forth, and her legs gave way, causing her to collapse.

“Anaïs……”

She murmured her sister’s name.

As Helmut had said, Camilla was an unusually kind and gentle person.

That’s why she couldn’t just stand by and watch her sister, raised as a spy, be eliminated. Even if it cost her own life.

Fortunately, Helmut, who was soft only toward her, had let it slide this time too.

‘But will he do the same for Anaïs?’

She asked herself, but no answer came.

Her tears wouldn’t stop as she worried about her other siblings back home and Anaïs, along with her fear of Helmut.

⁕⁕⁕

Meanwhile, Christine felt conflicted after hearing from Werner about Daphne’s marriage.

“So the engagement will be broken after all.”

She was concerned about becoming enemies with House Mücke. And Kartun as a son-in-law.

She recalled the large, intimidating back that had abruptly left the banquet hall last time. It seemed unlikely that she would receive warm treatment as a mother-in-law.

‘And the in-laws too……’

While she was worrying, Werner made comments without understanding her feelings.

“Since we’ll have much to discuss about the wedding, we should invite Lady Margrit soon.”

“Th-that’s a good idea. I’ll prepare well.”

“I hope there won’t be mistakes like last time.”

Christine recalled Margo, who had left the banquet hall without hiding her contempt. She was shocked to realize that Werner knew about it.

Werner noticed her reaction and mentioned casually:

“I know everything that happens on my ship. Similarly, from now on, I’ll know everything that happens in this house.”