“You have a visitor.”

While Avenne was in the duchess’s office, carefully selecting from dress catalogs and decorations for the wedding venue, Sion approached and informed her of the visitor’s arrival.

Avenne closed the catalog and lifted the corners of her lips.

“Would you escort her to the drawing room? I will change my clothes in the meantime.”

“Understood.”

After returning to her room, Avenne selected the plainest dress she owned and put it on.

Standing before the mirror, Avenne smiled faintly, seemingly satisfied with her appearance.

‘It seems things did not go your way after all.’

During her time at Noctaven, Avenne carefully read every publication she could find, ranging from widely circulated newspapers to cheap gossip magazines.

As expected, not a single article mentioned the broken engagement between Victor Maimont and Avenne Valleris.

This could only mean that the Count was deliberately concealing her disappearance. It also proved that he had no intention of allowing Rubier to take her place.

Rubier had only been officially recognized as a daughter of House Valleris due to a secret agreement between the Count and the Imperial Family.

The Imperial Family had planned to control Cassian by sending Rubier to Noctaven as the replacement bride. In exchange, House Valleris had received permission to appoint Victor Maimont as its heir.

However, the moment Avenne became Noctaven’s bride, all of the Imperial Family’s hard work would have been for nothing.

House Valleris understood this perfectly well, which is why they were reluctant to proceed with the marriage between Rubier and Victor.

‘Of course, the count must also be hesitant to appoint his illegitimate daughter’s husband as his heir.’

Meanwhile, Rubier must have grown impatient because the count refused to readily approve her marriage to Victor.

If things continued this way, she would soon be consumed by the fear that everything might return to where it had begun.

Avenne intended to exploit that fear.

She would use Rubier to lure the count to the wedding.

“It has been a while, Rubier.”

Avenne greeted her gently as she entered the drawing room.

Rubier, who had been waiting anxiously, immediately lifted her head.

A faint glimmer of delight flashed through her blue eyes as she looked Avenne up and down.

After a brief moment of silence, she rushed forward with her arms outstretched.

“Sister!”

Rubier embraced Avenne tightly and pleaded.

“Please help me.”

Avenne’s hands hovered in the air before finally wrapping around Rubier’s back.

With a gentle touch, she repeatedly patted her trembling younger sister.

“Of course I will help you if it concerns you.”

After their reunion, the two women sat upon the couch and began talking.

Avenne listened quietly to the entire story and spoke only after she had fully grasped the situation.

“I see. So House Maimont refuses to accept you?”

Rubier’s lips twitched at Avenne’s blunt question, unable to conceal her embarrassment.

She spent some time watching Avenne uneasily, seemingly eager to correct her, before finally managing to speak.

“……Victor still wants to marry me. But because his family refuses to approve, he seems to have been placed in a difficult position as well.”

Despite being the one asking for help, she still felt compelled to explain how deeply she and Victor loved each other.

Her foolishness and excessive pride were so remarkable that they had become almost pitiful.

‘If he truly wanted to marry you, the count’s wishes would not matter to him.’

Victor Maimont was destined to marry into House Valleris and become its heir, so defying his father’s wishes would not get him into serious trouble.

Nevertheless, he was mindful of his father’s opinion and did not want to marry Rubier.

Although he coveted the position of head of House Valleris, he did not want to tarnish his reputation by marrying an illegitimate daughter for power.

‘He must still be searching for a way to marry me.’

In other words, marrying Rubier was Victor’s last resort.

It was an option he would only consider if his marriage to Avenne became impossible.

However, if a more appealing opportunity to become the head of House Valleris arose in the meantime, he would abandon Rubier without hesitation to start afresh.

Perhaps Rubier vaguely understood this, which is why she was more desperate than anyone else to marry him.

“So, how would you like me to help you?”

At Avenne’s question, Rubier poured out her words without even attempting to conceal her anxiety.

“I want you to marry before I do, Sister. Then Victor will no longer have to worry about his family’s opinion, and they will eventually give in to his persistence and permit our marriage.”

Rubier clasped Avenne’s hand tightly and pleaded earnestly.

“It has already been more than a month since you left the estate. When are you planning to get married?”

She was convinced that once news of Avenne’s marriage became public, Victor would give up hope and come back to her.

However, despite getting what she had desired so desperately, she was once again consumed by anxiety when events failed to unfold as she had wished.

As Avenne silently observed Rubier, a thought suddenly crossed her mind.

‘What became of you after you killed me in my previous life?’

‘Were you as anxious then as you are now because reality refused to bend to your will?’

‘Or did you eventually regret it, thinking your life might have been slightly better if Avenne had remained alive?’

No, there was no way Rubier regretted killing her.

Even if she had been accused of Avenne’s murder and all her other crimes exposed, she would have accepted the consequences gladly.

After all, watching Avenne suffer would have been enough for her.

“That was my intention…… but a problem has arisen.”

Looking down at the small hand tightly clasping her own, Avenne silently swallowed her laughter.

“A problem? What in the world happened?”

Rubie’s face turned deathly pale when she saw the dejected expression on Avenne’s face. Becoming increasingly agitated, she asked her again, this time in a louder voice and clearly demanding an immediate explanation.

Instead of answering immediately, Avenne slowly traced the rim of her teacup with her fingertip, lowering her eyes and seeming to hesitate.

“The truth is, I have been troubled by something. I am beginning to wonder whether I should continue staying at Noctaven.”

“Y-you are wondering whether you should remain at Noctaven? What do you mean?”

“I am worried Father may come here himself to take me home. I do not think I can continue defying him indefinitely.”

Rubier seemed extremely anxious at the prospect of Avenne leaving Noctaven to return to Valleris.

As if deliberately trying to provoke her anxiety, Avenne confessed her concerns.

Worried that Avenne might leave, Rubier revealed the count’s plans of her own accord before Avenne could ask her about them.

“Do not worry. That will never happen.”

Just as expected, Rubier firmly insisted that there was no need for such concerns.

“Really? Is Father still merely standing by and watching?”

“This is the Noctaven duchy. It is not a place Father can simply storm into and drag you away from.”

Even when Avenne asked once more while pretending ignorance, Rubier’s answer remained unchanged.

Telling her not to worry, Rubier placed her hand over Avenne’s and reassured her.

“Besides, it would put Father in a difficult position if he caused a scene. He hasn’t properly resolved the issue of the bride being switched on the day of the oath ceremony yet. If he came here himself and tried to take you away, Sister, the rumors would only get worse.”

Just as Avenne had expected.

House Valleris had not abandoned her, but they were in no position to come to the Noctaven duchy.

She merely had to hold the wedding as soon as the restriction following the oath ceremony ended.

“If that is the case, then I am relieved.”

She curved her eyes into a gentle smile at Rubier, who was waiting anxiously for her response.

“I will trust you. If Father shows any sign of trying to take me away by force, you must stop him.”

“Of course.”

Perhaps because Avenne had frightened her once, Rubier readily promised to cooperate and somehow prevent their father from interfering.

“But if this drags on, there is no telling what Father might do. So all you need to do is marry as quickly as possible, Sister. Then all our problems will be resolved.”

Seizing the opportunity, Rubier once again urged her to marry.

The innocent smile soon vanished from Avenne’s face. As though it had never existed, she released a deep sigh.

“Actually, there is one more problem……”

It was finally time to address the real purpose of their conversation.