After the Empire’s Founding Festival ended, people returned to their daily lives.

Gentle vitality swirled over the place where the festival’s commotion had subsided, burning the remaining embers. Everyone looked forward to the next time while savoring the pleasant memories together. Happiness was clearly the harmony between peaceful daily life and occasionally brilliant non-daily events.

Instead of digesting past memories into reminiscence like them, I completely went on strike lying on the bed.

After going around to various places like banquets and performances without a single day’s rest for a week, I was too tired. Like a stretched rubber band contracting with recoil when suddenly released from tension, my whole body ached.

While rolling around on the bed, I recalled what Castor had said at the ball.

Bled, his older brother. The name of the one he cut down with his own hands years ago.

Fortunately, since I read the original work, I know his jealousy and rage that eventually led to bloodshed.

But if asked what kind of person Bled Penvernon was, well… I’m not sure about that. He was just a plot device that only appeared by name, like Alisa.

However, in this world there are people who knew Bled when he was alive. He once existed here, not as a setting or text but in reality. Bled, who was Rashid’s brother but came to hate and try to kill his own sibling, certainly lived.

Thinking of his existence gave me a strange feeling. And Rashid’s tragedy felt even more horrific.

How must Rashid have felt when the blood relative he had given his heart to stabbed him in the back? His past must have been as terrible as walking through hell’s fire, and his loneliness must have been bottomless like a swamp.

The pain Rashid experienced was clear evidence telling me that he was no longer just a character in a novel, but a human being.

‘Did Bled hate him from the beginning?’

I traced Bled’s thoughts while tracing the delicate patterns on the ceiling with my eyes. The more I pondered, the more curious I became about him.

More precisely, I wanted to know what kind of brother he had been to Rashid. How did Rashid think of him?

And what about his younger sister? About their mother?

‘How must they have felt….’

Though I wanted to know, there was no suitable person to tell me.

Everyone must have whispered about the Camellia Civil War at least once, but there were very few who knew the actual details.

As it was a family matter, outsiders would find it difficult to know all the specific details. Most of the servants, except for a few, were recent additions, and there was little interaction with extended relatives.

‘I’m not sure how much they know……’

I thought of one person. Someone who had seen and heard quite a bit, and someone I could comfortably question—Butler Sylvester.

Sylvester came to me as soon as I called. I invited him to take a seat.

“Sylvester, how long have you been in this mansion?”

“It’s been 32 years now.”

“Then you were here before His Grace Rashid was born.”

“Yes, my lady. His Grace was born in Camelli duchy. I first met His Grace when he was six years old.”

I chuckled imagining young Rashid with white chubby cheeks. Doesn’t suit him.

“What was he like?”

“He was quite a cheerful person. A troublemaker who would run around the entire mansion.”

“I can’t imagine that.”

“Though he’s become more serious now, he was truly energetic when he was young.”

Nostalgia lingered in Sylvester’s low and slow voice. Was he longing for times past? Was he holding onto stories that had long since passed and turned to previous chapters? Somehow, I felt sympathetic as well.

“And?”

“Pardon?”

Sylvester raised his head and met my eyes. I didn’t miss that moment.

“What about Rashid’s siblings?”

“……”

“Bled and Dana, I mean.”

“My lady!”

Sylvester bowed his head again as if at a loss for what to do. His hastily averted gaze was clearly trembling. Their names were practically taboo in this mansion.

「At her words, Sylvester felt as if a massive bell had dropped in his chest with a thud.」

The sentence flickered, revealing Sylvester’s feelings to me. A massive bell… was it that serious?

I waved my hand in front of me trying to erase the floating sentences. Though that wouldn’t actually make them disappear.

Seeing Sylvester’s intense reaction, I stopped asking further questions. Judging by his attitude, it seemed pointless to ask him anything more now.

Instead, I brought up something else.

“I understand. Then Sylvester, would you do me another favor?”

* * *

Some time later, Rashid’s secretary Benjamin came to me with several documents. I greeted him with a calm face.

“Thank you for your hard work. Is everything prepared?”

“Yes, my lady. Nothing is missing.”

“Good. Then please read it, Secretary.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s fine.”

“Then I shall begin.”

Benjamin let out a short sigh and took out the documents. His movements, free of unnecessary gestures, perfectly revealed his personality. His piercingly blue eyes accurately picked out the letters. His rigid and precise pronunciation began speaking.

“The Duchess of Penvernon has been indulging in all sorts of luxuries lately. They say she spends money like water on dresses and jewels. It seems she’s finally realized what position a duchess holds. They say it’s like the quiet cat climbing onto the kitchen counter first. A country bumpkin getting full of herself.”

The report collecting the social circle’s harsh criticisms about the Duchess of Penvernon was vivid and explicit enough to make one blush.

It was what I had asked Sylvester to request Benjamin to gather. There was no one better than him to quickly and accurately collect such information.

“Continue.”

I gestured to Benjamin who had stopped mid-sentence to check my reaction.

“They say she wasted fortune buying a jewelry mine that went out of fashion decades ago. It’s utterly foolish. They wonder if the Duke of Penvernon knows about his wife’s behavior. She appears to lack the qualities needed to be a duchess.”

“And?”

“They say it won’t be long before she becomes a disgrace to the duchy.”

“I see. Where are these rumors circulating?”

“They’re being discussed at noble tea parties, salons, and clubs.”

Good, I like it. I struggled to hold back the smile that threatened to escape my lips.

“Shall we handle this?”

“Handle? How do you plan to handle it?”

“I will arrange for the rumors to stop circulating.”

His voice was cold. As expected of Rashid’s closest aide. I could well imagine what he was thinking.

I shook my head.

“No, it’s fine. Leave it be.”

How could we clean up rumors we worked so hard to obtain?

Yes, this is satisfactory. Very good.

Rumors were like snowballs. What started small was growing in the blink of an eye. Rumors were like the wind. They traveled freely through social circles, spreading words.

I was steadily building up justification. These tiny specks of words would gather to form a mountain. And on the day that mountain becomes an insurmountable obstacle in our married life, Rashid and I are expected to succeed in getting divorced.

“What do you think about the rumors we just discussed, Benjamin? You can be honest.”

At my question, Benjamin was silent for a moment before speaking.

“While the facts might not be wrong, the sentiments about them are truly disrespectful.”

I quietly nodded. Though I had told him to be honest, it was quite a frank assessment.

Benjamin probably thinks it’s strange that I deliberately seek out and listen to bad rumors about actions that would cause such rumors. However, I needed to know the current situation accurately. Only then could I plan how to act going forward.

“The first story sounds like jealousy, and the latter sounds like they’re looking down on me.”

“My apologies. The business-related stories mainly came from conversations among high-ranking nobles and merchants.”

When I pointed out the subtle differences in the stories he had gathered, Benjamin replied gruffly with a face that didn’t look sorry at all.

After sending Benjamin away, I took out paper and pen. It was to write the latter part of the plan I had been working on before.

Jealousy over luxury and gossip about blind investments are different in nature.

Jewels and dresses leave behind physical items. There’s a view that it’s understandable for women to be passionate about such things.

But failed businesses and investments cause property damage on a much larger scale. They can also cause problems in chain reactions. That’s what the wealthy would be more sensitive about.

‘Then I should focus more on that aspect. That will make the situation seem more serious.’

However, opening a trading company and running a business would be too troublesome. Rather, real estate is still the best—mines, mansions, land. Whether in the real world or in books, buildings and land are always the best.

‘First, I should buy a mansion to use as a villa.’

Marie Antoinette created her own pastoral-style farm at Versailles Palace. Empress Josephine, who loved roses, bought a mansion and created a rose garden. The French people unanimously criticized their empress for such luxurious hobbies.

‘Then I should create a decorative mansion too.’