Crack—boom!

The rain that had been falling in weak, intermittent drizzles for the past few days seemed especially heavy today.

At the crash of thunder, Mary stopped eating her cake and turned her head toward the window.

“Mary!”

“Brother?”

Eldeo rushed in through the wide-open door. Startled by his sudden appearance, Mary dropped her fork.

“What happened? Why are you back already? I already had your things packed…”

Eldeo had gone to the Grand Ducal House today to work at Rafez’s side again. And since they had assumed Rafez would naturally accept him, they had already finished preparing to send Eldeo’s luggage to the Grand Ducal House as well.

So why was he here at the mansion now, when he should have been at the Grand Ducal House?

“Mary, you were right.”

“About what?”

“What you said about His Highness changing.”

Mary’s expression hardened at those words.

Had something happened at the Grand Ducal House?

Yes, that had to be it.

“…What happened?”

“I saw the Grand Duchess. The lady from Duke Lennon’s family, I mean. His Highness told her to use the Grand Duchess’s room.”

“What?”

Mary already knew that Lacy was using the guest room farthest from Rafez’s bedroom.

She knew that was what Lacy had wanted, and that Rafez had more or less agreed to it.

And yet…

“That wasn’t the only important thing. I was so surprised that I asked him again, and then the look in His Highness’s eyes…”

Eldeo trailed off as he recalled that moment.

He had never seen Rafez look at him so terrifyingly before.

Everyone said Rafez was not an easy man to deal with. Even though he was young, he was difficult to approach, and some even said he was frightening. Of course, one reason for that was likely because, no matter how young he might be, he was currently the highest-ranking grand duke in the empire after the Emperor.

But that was not the only reason.

That must also be why even the Emperor kept Rafez in check, though he was still young and had not been Grand Duke for very long.

“What was wrong with his eyes?”

“I’ve never seen him look at me that way before. And then I was driven out of the room. I asked Mollys, and he said it wouldn’t be easy for you to enter as a mistress under the current circumstances either.”

Even so, Mary only shook her head.

“But this is the former Grand Duke’s order. He clearly said Rafez agreed to it too.”

“Whether he agreed or not, that’s not what matters. If you enter the Grand Ducal House in this situation, then you really will be nothing more than a mistress! Don’t you understand?”

Eldeo flinched, startled by the fact that he had shouted, but soon spoke again.

“Not now. I can see that much too. Do you want to remain nothing but a mistress?”

“Why is that not important? If Rafez agreed, then that means he’s at least willing to accept me. Even if I enter as his mistress, as long as I have a child…”

“How are you supposed to have a child when the Grand Duchess will now be staying in the room beside Rafez’s?”

Mary was not wrong.

But still.

“…You said it yourself. That Rafez has changed. I think so too. And in a situation like this, it’s only right that we watch this change for now.”

“So you’re telling me not to enter the Grand Ducal House right now?”

“Yes. Don’t enter the Grand Ducal House, and don’t even go near it. Just… yes. Eat your cake. Understand?”

Eldeo turned and left first without even waiting for Mary’s answer.

Mary felt so angry she nearly burst into tears, but she held them back.

How long had she watched Rafez from beside him and waited? And now she was supposed to wait and endure again?

She had thought she might finally be able to take even one small step closer to him.

Mary shook her head. She did not want to step back again like this.

She had been so shocked to learn that Rafez and Lacy had shared a bedroom in the Grand Ducal territory. But now, that brief moment seemed as though it was about to continue.

If she backed down now, the distance between her and Rafez would only grow wider.

She had already lost her chance to marry Rafez once. She did not want to wait for others to resolve things for her again, only to regret it later.

Mary picked up her fork again, scooped up a bite of cake, and put it in her mouth.

“…It’s good.”

She had eaten the cake.

Now, she would move in her own way.

* * *

The next day.

“Your Highness, please eat at least a little. You will have to enter the Imperial Palace soon, won’t you?”

Siz set out breakfast in front of Lacy with the fruits and bread she liked, but Lacy only stared at it.

“Is it because you’re worried there may be poison in it? Shall I taste it first?”

“No. If anyone is going to eat it, I should. Why would you eat it?”

“Your Highness.”

After it had been revealed that Siz was a spy, she seemed to have become even more active in looking after Lacy than before.

Perhaps, if her life was one that could end at any moment anyway, she wanted to help Lacy at least while she was still alive.

“What will happen now? Since then, His Highness has been interrogating only the suspects without saying anything more… If the real culprit appears like this, what will happen to the ducal family?”

“The real culprit won’t be caught.”

Lacy spoke calmly, as though she already knew everything, then took a sip of water.

The reason she was not eating was not because she feared there might be poison in the food.

She simply had no desire to eat, and this was not the situation for it. If she ate now, she felt she might throw it all up.

“What do you mean by that?”

“How is the Grand Duke supposed to catch a true culprit neither you nor I know? That person has been here for a very long time. They must have done this sort of thing many times before, and they must know very well how to slip away.”

“But His Highness is investigating every servant in the mansion, isn’t he? Considering he even discovered that I was someone brought in by the marquess’s family…”

“Yes. It seems the Grand Ducal House’s information network wasn’t outdated after all. They simply never suspected what was right under their noses all this time.”

In truth, Lacy had been a little surprised as well.

The ducal family must have taken considerable care in arranging it, yet Rafez had uncovered it so quickly.

As expected, the Grand Ducal House was still the Grand Ducal House.

“But that is exactly the problem. The fact that ‘all this time’ has been far too long.”

“Pardon?”

“There are many spies in this mansion besides you. Whether they belong to a ducal family, a marquess family, or some other house entirely. Can’t you feel it?”

Lacy lifted her head and swept her gaze around the room.

It was quiet.

But within this silence, how many eyes must be flashing and moving soundlessly?

She had thought the same thing from the moment she first entered the Grand Ducal House.

For a mansion of this size, there were not very many servants working here. Most of them silently carried out their own duties, so everything seemed to run smoothly enough. But what if that was because they were all skilled spies?

People who did not stand out even when they were right beside you.

Most of the servants in the Grand Ducal House were like that.

To Lacy, that felt even stranger.

Knock, knock.

Before Lacy could answer, Rafez opened the door and entered.

Since the room had been empty until now, knocking felt somewhat awkward. Even so, he had done it because he thought he ought to knock.

And from now on, even if there was no answer, he intended to open the door and enter like this.

Because she was his hostage.

“Are you ready?”

“Ah, yes, Your Highness.”

“…But why is it so plain?”

Dressed in a pale ivory gown, Lacy looked so delicate that she seemed as though she might break if touched.

“Ah, the weather has cleared today, and the sunlight seemed strong, so I prepared something light.”

“You’re going to the Imperial Palace dressed like that?”

“Let’s stop and go. If we’re any later, His Majesty will be angry.”

Lacy rose from her seat and settled the situation in Siz’s place, who had grown flustered.

The summons they had received yesterday had contained the Emperor’s command to enter the palace together with Lacy. Yesterday, it had rained, and several incidents had overlapped, so they had not been able to go. That meant they had to go today, at least.

After all, the Emperor did not possess anything like great patience.

Rafez said nothing more.

He left the mansion, and even inside the carriage, he merely looked silently out the window.

Lacy was the first to speak.

“What do you intend to say you were ill with?”

“Does that matter?”

Only when Lacy spoke to him did Rafez finally look at her.

“His Majesty will ask.”

“I’ll simply say I wanted to rest for a while. Isn’t that reason enough? I intend to say I’d like to rest more often like this in the future.”

“…Are you going there to fight with His Majesty?”

“Isn’t sending a summons out of nowhere and calling me in one-sidedly the same as picking a fight?”

Rafez seemed very angry over what had happened yesterday.

Of course, he likely disliked having to enter the Imperial Palace before resolving the incident as well.

Yes.

Perhaps Rafez baring his claws like this was exactly what Lacy had wanted.

Because the one who needed a pretext to punish Rafez was none other than the Emperor.

And if that happened, Rafez would come to regret it.

From the Grand Ducal House’s position, it was better to draw things out over the long term. The older and weaker the Emperor became, the more the imperial family’s authority would gradually fade—and that authority and power would pass to the Grand Ducal House instead.

That was precisely why the ducal family was carrying out this operation.

To remove Rafez before he could grow any stronger.

Lacy closed her mouth as well and turned her head away.

If things flowed as she wished, then from Lacy’s position, it would not be bad at all.

No.

Rather, it was exactly what she wanted.