Chapter 20

Rowena let out a faint sigh and answered quietly.

“Please prepare the documents that way. And Count Lassen, I’d also like to revise my will. Can you help me with that right now?”

Rowena had just finished signing the revised will when the boat, which had been gliding smoothly over the water, began to slow.

“Looks like we’ve finally reached Pier No. 2.”

The Marquis of Windervane murmured under his breath and gave Felix Mordel a slight nod.

A silent look passed between the two men.

Then Felix Mordel turned to Rowena and said his farewell.

“Well then, Countess Livros. Until next time.”

“Oh. Am I getting off here too?”

“No, my lady. I’m the only one getting off.”

No sooner had Felix Mordel finished speaking than the curtain opened.

Through the gap he had just passed, Sebas Charlton’s beaming face appeared.

Sebas Charlton had just helped Felix Mordel into the small boat.

Then he placed a large garland woven from roses around the lawyer’s neck.

“What is Sir Charlton doing?”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Rowena asked.

The Marquis of Windervane laughed as though thoroughly amused.

“What do you think? He’s showing our world-weary young gentleman the beauty of the countryside.”

“…I don’t understand.”

“That fellow is about to fall completely in love with nature. Give him twenty years or so and he’ll buy himself a house in the countryside and shut himself away there.”

The marquis gave yet another cryptic answer, then signaled to the boatman.

The boat carrying Rowena and the marquis turned around and began heading back toward Pier No. 3.

“Gerard should be at the archery range with his business partners by now. You can go there and pester him.”

That was what Rowena had said, but Evelyn did not seek out her brother until the following day.

She was not foolish enough to interfere with his business.

She probably told me that because she wanted to use me to ruin my brother’s work.

Evelyn ground her teeth as she crossed the stately corridors of the Livros estate.

Her unbearably haughty sister-in-law clearly did not want her brother to succeed.

The reason was obvious.

Wasn’t it because she wanted to keep him beneath her heel and order him around like some lowly servant?

The thought infuriated Evelyn almost beyond endurance.

“How dare she treat my brother like that…!”

Her brother was truly the perfect man.

Though he had been born a commoner, he had been raised no differently from the prince of a kingdom.

Surrounded by precious things and educated by excellent tutors, he had grown into an impeccable gentleman.

He was the future of House Rendel, which wielded tremendous influence throughout Erisvale.

He was also Evelyn’s pride.

That was why she found the plump Rowena Ebonwell so detestable, swaggering about simply because she happened to be a noblewoman.

If my brother had wanted to, he could have married any number of other noble ladies.

Someone slim and beautiful like Camillia.

Someone kind as well.

Evelyn sincerely believed this.

No matter how I look at it, my brother married the wrong woman.

Letting out one heavy sigh after another, Evelyn entered her brother’s study.

Gerard sat behind a large desk, reading through a mountain of documents.

“Brother, pay this for me.”

Only when Evelyn held out the receipt did he raise his head.

His handsome eyes narrowed slightly as he examined it.

Even such a minor gesture carried an air of aristocratic dignity.

Feeling the need to explain herself, Evelyn added,

“Sister-in-law said she won’t buy my dresses anymore.”

“Rowena said that?”

“Yes. She said she won’t buy them from now on either.”

“Why?”

“She just said she doesn’t want to anymore.”

“…”

“She’s changed, Brother. She’s had a change of heart.”

Gerard’s dark brows tightened slightly.

But he quickly composed his expression and answered as though it were of little importance.

“I’ll pay for them. Bring the receipts to me from now on.”

“Thank you!”

Evelyn exclaimed excitedly.

But she failed to draw her brother’s attention away from the documents again.

“Brother, are you busy?”

“A little.”

“…All right. I’ll go, then.”

“Mm.”

Evelyn wanted to tell him every last detail about how arrogantly Rowena Ebonwell had treated her.

But her brother looked far too busy, so she held her tongue and left the study.

The mansion was extremely quiet.

It was always like this.

Rowena Ebonwell generally lived quietly without doing much of anything.

With a mistress of the house like that, there were hardly ever banquets or lively gatherings held at the estate.

Evelyn found it boring.

“Camillia keeps saying she’s busy lately and won’t meet me either…”

Evelyn idly turned her gaze toward the window.

The tranquil garden filled her view.

Roses here, roses there.

Nothing but pale-purple roses everywhere.

The monotonous scenery was enough to make her yawn.

Thank goodness I was invited to the Yellow Ribbon Club.

Of course, she had used one of her brother’s secrets a little in order to gain admission.

But it had been worth it.

She would mingle with fashionable women her own age.

And through them, she would surely meet refined gentlemen from good families.

Perhaps one day she, too, would become the mistress of a wealthy household like Camillia.

Then she could adorn herself with dresses and jewels featured in the Royal Gazette and host elegant tea parties.

Evelyn’s mind filled with delightful fantasies.

“Ah, I can’t wait!”

As she clasped her hands together, a golden button at her chest caught the sunlight.

Engraved upon it was the Scales of Truth, the emblem of House Rendel.

It was a splendid crest made in imitation of a noble family’s coat of arms.

Its sharp lines gleamed brilliantly.

“By the way, why aren’t you eating the cake?”

Only after the marquis asked did Rowena look down at the table.

“Oh. I forgot.”

“Haven’t you lost too much weight lately?”

Rowena lightly cupped her cheeks with both hands.

Her round, soft cheeks pressed into her palms.

“I don’t think so.”

“You have. You’re half the size you used to be. Have you been under that much stress?”

Clicking his tongue, the marquis handed her a silver fork.

Rowena accepted it almost automatically and took a small bite of cake out of politeness.

Then the marquis gestured toward another plate.

An apple pie made with candied apples sat upon it.

Rowena obediently took a bite.

The sweet apple and fragrant cinnamon wrapped around the tip of her tongue.

But strangely, her appetite did not return as it once would have.

After only a few bites, Rowena picked up her teacup instead.

“By the way, my lord. I have a favor to ask.”

“What favor?”

She opened the purse she had brought with her and took out a palm-sized glass bottle.

“This is the tea Camillia was giving the dowager Baroness Travil. Something about it seemed suspicious. Could you find out what’s in it?”

The marquis’s relaxed smile suddenly tilted to one side.

He looked genuinely surprised.

“How did you get hold of that tea?”

“I sent my maid to the Travil household.”

“Not bad. You’re even setting traps now.”

Running a hand across his mouth, the marquis carefully set down the newspaper he had been holding.

Not on the table.

On his thick thigh.

Then he leisurely draped one arm over the back of his chair.

“That’s a poison called Eternal Rest.”

Rowena nearly dropped her teacup.

Her eyes widened as she asked in shock,

“How do you know?”

“I did some investigating of my own. You may already know this, but last January, Gerard Rendel and Camillia Sabrin traveled to Baltan together.”

“…I know.”

“They went around pretending to be husband and wife. Hotels, jewelry shops, theaters, expensive restaurants. And while Gerard Rendel was meeting with a spice merchant, it seems Camillia Sabrin visited an apothecary in a back alley. She probably bought the poison there.”

Rowena’s grip tightened around her teacup.

She was somewhat shaken.

Because she had just realized that Gerard had never once taken her to any of the places the marquis had mentioned.

Gerard’s wool business and perfume business had been declining since the beginning of their marriage.

He had struggled desperately to save them.

And because of that, he had always claimed that he had no peace of mind to spend intimate time with her.

But now she understood.

It had not been that he had no room in his heart for such things.

He had simply had none to spare for his wife.

Because he had given all of it to his lover.

She was not sad.

But there was a bitter taste to the realization.

Lowering her eyes, Rowena pretended to stare into the clear tea in her cup as she tried to settle herself.

The marquis watched her quietly for a moment.

Then he slowly parted his lips.

“Rowena.”