With a face as pale as a ghost, Baron Ganess hurriedly left the Everdeen mansion, quietly followed by Redin and Mikhail, who had received my orders in advance.

When Count Arietta, sensing something ominous, headed to his secret hideout, the mansion was raided!

We seized all the evidence he was trying to destroy, including the documents Selena had gathered and the double books!

Ah, it was perfect, absolutely perfect.

I sipped the milk on the table with satisfaction. The milk, sweetened with just the right amount of honey, delighted my taste buds.

“Would you like some more?” the Duke asked from beside me, as I swung my legs in the air, enjoying the milk so much.

He already held a silver teaspoon in one hand, looking determined.

…Was getting the honey ratio really that important? Well, it was delicious, so I was happy.

I was about to eagerly exclaim, “One more cup!”

“Sure…”

“You cannot, Master. The young lady has already had three cups of honey milk. While snacks are good since she’s so thin, it’s almost dinner time, and she should have a proper meal first,” Mina firmly intervened just then. The Duke, who was about to dip the teaspoon into the honey jar, flinched.

“…Oh, is that so.”

No! How could you be persuaded so easily? I couldn’t win against Mina!

I looked at the Duke with the most pitiful expression, clutching the empty cup.

“Can’t I just have one more cup…?”

“…Hmm.”

“Just one more, I promise.”

“Hmm…”

“Or even just half a cup!”

The Duke, who had been hesitating, finally couldn’t resist my pleading gaze, coughed lightly, and turned to Mina.

“Can’t she have just half a cup more?”

“…Understood.”

Yes! I did it!

I beamed and handed the cup to the Duke as soon as Mina handed me a note saying, “Just a little more, please.”

Mina shook her head with a helpless smile.

She watched as the Duke carefully dripped honey into the cup, then suddenly asked him, “By the way, Master, are Sir Surton and Sir Arvolt still in the basement?”

“Yes. Even if their eyes and ears are the only things intact, they said they’d handle it, whether it’s filleting or slicing.”

As soon as the topic of Count Arietta, who was imprisoned in the underground jail, came up, the Duke’s demeanor turned chillingly cold, a stark contrast to just moments before.

I was so shocked by his change in attitude and the content of his response that I froze mid-bite into a large cookie.

Ah, wait. What were they talking about doing to a person…?

As I stared at them with my mouth agape, the Duke, realizing belatedly that I was there, cleared his throat a few times.

He then handed me a cup filled to the brim with warm milk—Mina had looked the other way.

“There you go.”

“Thank you.”

I smiled brightly, took the cup, and sipped the milk.

Well, whatever happens, happens. There’s no such thing as a bad person who can make good honey milk, right?

* * *

“Have you arrived, my lord?” Mikhail greeted Valerian late at night.

After dinner, Valerian had left the drowsy Teresia in Mina’s care and descended to the basement.

Mikhail, who had been there for some time, greeted him with a polite bow. A metallic scent of blood wafted from his clothes.

“The Count?” Valerian asked.

“He’s unconscious for the moment.”

“Wake him.”

Valerian casually said as he pulled up a chair and sat down. His golden eyes were chillingly devoid of warmth.

At Mikhail’s nod, Redin splashed water on the face of Count Arietta, who was hanging against the prison wall.

“Gah, cough! Hack! Wheeze…”

Count Arietta writhed in pain as water touched his wounds, jolting him back to consciousness.

Upon awakening, he found the Duke seated before him and shivered involuntarily.

His head, wrists, and ankles—every part of him felt invisible, like a “ghost.”

Yet, from the mere presence, it was unmistakably “Valerian Everdeen.”

For a moment, he instinctively feared the Duke, whom he hadn’t seen in years.

But as Count Arietta regained his composure, he ground his teeth and shouted.

“You misunderstand! It’s all William Ganess, that filthy scoundrel, trying to frame me—!”

“Redin.”

Valerian didn’t even pretend to listen to his outburst and simply signaled to Redin.

Redin, who had been waiting for this moment, grinned and roughly covered the Count’s mouth.

“Mm, mmph!”

“I didn’t come to listen to your nonsense but to say what I have to say, so keep your mouth shut.”

As Count Arietta read Valerian’s note, he felt as if death was creeping ever closer.

‘No, I can’t die like this!’

He struggled desperately to speak, but Redin’s hand pressed firmly against his mouth, preventing him from uttering a word.

Valerian, who had never shown such a sharp, suffocating gaze in front of Teresia, looked at Count Arietta.

“Do you really think I didn’t know?”

“……!”

“I was just leaving you alone for the sake of the territory. It’s better to have a nominal owner than no owner at all.”

Valerian laughed fiercely and pushed his hair back.

His forehead, usually hidden by hair, was now marked with bulging veins.

“So you shouldn’t have crossed the line, Count.”

“…….”

“If you hadn’t, I would have continued to turn a blind eye, asking the servants at Everdeen House to tolerate you.”

Mikhail and Redin, who knew why Valerian couldn’t point out his vassals’ embezzlement, remained silent.

It was an unavoidable decision to protect the territory and its people.

Valerian suddenly thought of Teresia, who had orchestrated this situation herself.

‘Duke.’

Until recently, he believed Teresia should enjoy a more childlike time.

Having lived without the chance to be a child, he thought it was only right to protect her from the harsh realities of the world as much as possible. That belief hadn’t changed.

But the child, unaware of any shadows, extended her small, maple leaf-like hand and said,

Don’t hold back anymore.

‘I am Teresia Everdeen.’

She declared herself as Teresia “Everdeen.”

‘…Thank you.’

Those words were overwhelmingly grateful.

And he felt a heart-wrenching guilt.

You, too, might have been living days you couldn’t bear to die.

Yet you willingly smile, offering to be my support in this cursed place…

How could you be so radiant and poignant?

“I won’t tolerate you any longer, for the sake of that child.”

Now that things had come to this, Teresia wouldn’t be free from the surrounding turmoil.

‘In that case…’

He would become the windbreak for that child.

Even if he was torn by the sharp wind and ended up in tatters, as long as Teresia was behind him, he would never fall as her shield.

“Take care of it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Having said what he needed to, Valerian stood up, thinking he should go see Teresia’s sleeping face.

Count Arietta, who had been watching for an opportunity, struggled desperately as Valerian turned to leave, but Redin blocked the Duke’s retreat with his body and grinned like a demon.

“Let’s have you experience firsthand the feelings of that administrator you killed. It’ll be an unforgettable thrill, even in death.”

* * *

About a week later.

Count Arietta was executed in the underground jail for charges including the murder of Selena Owen, embezzlement, extortion, and breach of trust.

Baron Ganess and some other vassals, although guilty of aiding murder and participating in illegal gambling, were spared execution due to being coerced by the Count and were instead sentenced to hard labor after dismissal.

The vassals who had committed only minor offenses sincerely repented.

‘We’ll make sure this never happens again!’

‘Please forgive us!’

Considering the poor state of the territory, the Duke decided to reinstate them to their original duties after obtaining a written pledge that they would lose their heads if they repeated their misdeeds.

The matter was handled efficiently, but I was concerned about Selena’s feelings.

Contrary to my worries, she smiled with a bittersweet expression and patted my head, thanking me.

<It’s such a relief. It’s a pity I couldn’t kill him with my own hands, but… well, it seems like he got exactly what he deserved.>