“He does, more or less. But why do you ask?”

“I have something I need him to do.”

Rina tensed in response to Alicia’s serious tone.

“You know the coal mine to the south of the domain? I need you to look into everyone connected to it. From the noble in charge all the way down to the miners. Every last one. Can you do that?”

“Hmm. That boy has nothing but time on his hands…… slip him a few copper coins and he’ll do it happily.”

Rina hurried out of the bedchamber.

Quick to act and sharp enough not to ask unnecessary questions, Rina was proving to be a great help to Alicia.

Click.

The door shut and silence settled in.

Now it’s time to wait.

The connection between the magic stone mine and Helena. She already had a good idea of who had been conspiring with Helena, but she needed to secure solid physical evidence and catch them completely in the act.

And that was not all. Even if she managed to protect the magic stone mine this time, more thorough preparations were needed to guard against other dangers ahead.

Fortunately, there is enough time.

Alicia’s eyes narrowed.

Then, at that moment,

“Miss, the Count has returned.”

The booming call of a servant from outside the door made Alicia’s heart beat faster.

“Alicia, have you been well while we were away?”

The door opened with a warm greeting,

and a man and woman with kind, gentle eyes approached with their arms open wide.

The wrinkles were gone, and the streaks of grey had disappeared, yet she recognized them at once.

No. She could not have failed to recognize them.

These were faces she had longed for even in her dreams.

‘Mother, Father……?’

Count Gallien Windmore and Countess Emily. Parents she had only ever seen in dreams.

“It’s been a while. Nothing happened, I hope?”

Count Gallien gave the warm teacup in his hand a light swirl.

“Here, this is a brooch I bought as a gift for you. A famous artisan made it, apparently. What do you think? Isn’t it lovely?”

It was a beautiful brooch, just as the kind Count Gallien described. But Alicia’s crimson eyes held only the two people standing before her.

‘They’re still alive…… and looking so young.’

Her chest ached like something sharp had been pressed into it.

She wanted to run to them and throw her arms around them right then and there, but she held herself back.

‘Right now I am Alicia, the younger sister, not Seraphiel……’

She could not even reach out and embrace them.

“Alicia, what is it? Don’t you like the gift?”

Count Gallien asked, watching Alicia stare blankly. She shook her head.

“I love it. But from now on, please don’t go out of your way to buy me gifts like this.”

The count and countess’s eyes went wide.

“……Did something happen?”

“Your manner of speaking is a little different too.”

True to their nature as the siblings who cherished their younger sister more than anyone, they noticed the change immediately.

“I simply realized that luxuries like this no longer hold any meaning for me.”

“……”

It was hard to believe, but the change in their younger sister was welcome news to both of them.

“Well, that is truly a relief. Truly.”

“Good news keeps coming, it seems.”

“Good news?”

Alicia asked in return, and Countess Emily smiled.

“We met a truly wonderful young man at a gathering recently. He seemed like a fine match for you, so we were hoping to introduce him.”

Count Gallien nodded and added,

“Yes, he is handsome, and above all, sharp-minded. His character is excellent too, so I think he would suit you perfectly. And now that you’ve come to your senses like this, there really shouldn’t be any problem.”

The atmosphere had been warm and cheerful. But it did not last long. The reason was the answer Alicia gave.

“I apologize, but I have already decided to marry someone.”

The count and countess fell silent and looked at Alicia. The count’s expression filled with curiosity.

“Marry? Who are you talking about?”

“I have decided to marry His Highness Grand Duke Evander.”

“……”

“……”

The moment those words fell, the sitting room went quiet. The count and countess stared at Alicia with stunned expressions.

“……What? What do you mean? How could you and His Highness the Grand Duke……”

“His Highness the Grand Duke visited the domain while the two of you were away. He proposed to me at that time.”

Count Gallien’s eyes went wide.

“A, a proposal? From His Highness the Grand Duke?”

Alicia nodded.

“Yes. He said he would make a formal announcement at the upcoming ball.”

The count and countess looked at each other in shock. Grand Duke Evander’s infamy was well known throughout the principality, and there was no one who had not heard of it. The count was silent for a moment before speaking in a grave tone.

“Alicia, why would you do that? Such a dangerous decision……”

Count Gallien pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.

He had heard his younger sister’s irreversible mistake and let out a long breath. It was an understandable reaction.

A powerless count’s household falling out of favor with Helena, who had the Empire at her back, would be as dangerous as anything could be.

“Haa. For now, go and rest. I need some time to think……”

Watching the troubled Count Gallien, Alicia stepped forward.

“I know what you are worried about, Brother. But I had no other choice. Just a few days ago, someone tried to poison me.”

“……”

Count Gallien’s eyes went wide in an instant.

The weight of the word “poison” was that severe.

“Who, who on earth would do something so terrible?”

“It would have to be someone who knew His Highness the Grand Duke was coming here. Someone who wanted to kill me and prevent this marriage.”

“Surely not……”

The name he could not bring himself to say circled on Count Gallien’s tongue. Alicia nodded.

“The person you are thinking of is correct. No one else would dare entertain such a thought.”

“……”

Count Gallien’s color drained in an instant. He squeezed his eyes shut and spoke urgently.

“Haa. That is all the more reason to break off the marriage agreement with His Highness the Grand Duke. If things continue like this, the entire family could be in danger……”

It was the most prudent solution from the perspective of a family head holding the fate of dozens of dependents in his hands.

Then, at that moment,

“M, Miss!”

Rina burst through the door in a rush. Noticing Count Gallien and the countess belatedly, she startled and bowed her head.

“Oh goodness, I am so sorry. I did not realize the two of you were here……”

“What is all this fuss? My nerves are already frayed as it is.”

“I am truly sorry. The Miss had an urgent errand for me……”

Alicia’s gaze moved to Rina.

“Did you find out?”

“Yes, here.”

The report thrust forward in haste.

Unrolling the scroll quickly, the movements of the middleman and the name of the person he had contacted were laid out in full.

Among the dozens of names listed,

one familiar name caught her eye.

‘Just as I thought…… it was you.’

Every question resolved itself naturally.

Alicia gathered her thoughts briefly, then slowly turned to the troubled Count Gallien and opened her mouth.

“Even setting aside my marriage, our family will soon be in danger.”

Count Gallien’s eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It is because of the magic stones buried in the domain.”

“Ma, magic stones?”

Count Gallien’s eyes went twice as wide.

His shock was understandable.

“What magic stones could we possibly have……”

“Let me show you directly. That will be much faster.”

At Alicia’s firm words, Count Gallien blinked hard.

It was difficult to believe.

But Alicia knew.

Twenty-two years from now.

She knew the location of the mine within the domain where a massive deposit of magic stones would be discovered.

And she knew exactly who was in charge of that location.

In the entire history of the Windmore family, there was only ever one person who rose from obscurity to Margrave overnight.

The name in the scroll Rina had handed her was the same.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

Count Gallien sat beneath the lamplight in his dim study. The worry etched into his deepening lines was plain to see.

The assassination attempt on Alicia.

And on top of that, Grand Duke Evander’s proposal.

‘So much has happened while I was away from the domain for just a short while……’

And then there was the behavior of his younger sister Alicia, who had become an entirely different person overnight. The punishment of Anna and Sonya in particular had been a shock even to Count Gallien.

‘I’m sorry…… I honestly don’t know either. She woke up and was suddenly a different person……’

Even Rina, who had been at her side all day, could not explain the change, and Count Gallien’s worry only deepened.

“Are you all right?”

Countess Emily had come to the study, and her face was full of concern.

“How could I be all right. Haa.”

A deep sigh escaped Count Gallien’s lips. The reason the count was so unsettled was not simply the marriage to Grand Duke Evander.