“Lowell, I don’t intend to take this money, so you should take it back. I understand it’s not your fault, but I don’t think I can see you any more.”

Lowell lifted his head, looking uncomfortable.

“…My Lady, I fully understand your feelings, but given the current situation of the Marquis of Blante, it will be very difficult for you to raise such a large sum of money…”

“The situation has been resolved. I’ve already come to an agreement with the Kuno Trading Company.”

“You made a deal with the Kuno Trading Company?”

Lowell asked in shock, forgetting the tense atmosphere for a moment. It was understandable, for the Kuno Trading Company as he knew it was not to be trusted.

Especially the head of the Kuno Trading Company, who was notorious for his greed. It was surprising that someone like him would agree to terms so easily.

Given the financial difficulties of the Marquis’ estate, Lowell had expected them to try to take advantage of the situation.

But after hearing Ariel’s response, Lowell realised he couldn’t ask for more. 

“Yes. So please tell the Duke to stop interfering with the Marquis of Blante. I don’t need His Grace’s help.”

Ariel’s words were firm, drawing a clear line in the sand.

It was Lowell who had to face reality, not her. As she looked into his cold green eyes, he silently packed the envelope.

He understood that there was no way Ariel would accept it.

“Understood. Then I’ll leave. I sincerely apologise if I was rude today.”

Lowell stood up after picking up the envelope.

“I won’t be able to see you out. Please, travel safely.”

After bowing, Lowell quietly left the lounge.

The moment the door clicked shut, Ariel’s tense expression broke.

“Ha…”

A rush of frustration, resentment and a sense of deep humiliation overwhelmed her.

Ariel couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

How much more, how much longer do I have to put up with this because of you?

You have failed me so mercilessly.

If only you’d continued to ignore me, like Cier, and treated me as if I didn’t exist, at least that would have been consistent.

But instead you send me money as if I’m a beggar.

It would almost have been better if Cier had just mocked me with words. At least he never threw money at me.

She had told Lowell to take the envelope back with confidence, but if the Tower Master hadn’t helped her…

She would have taken the money in the end. Kylance knew she had no choice, so he sent it.

“How much further are you going to drag me down?

What have I done to deserve this?

Ariel’s faint voice broke the silence of the drawing room, but of course there was no answer.

She clenched her lips tightly, her tears falling in silence.

It felt as if a heavy weight was pressing down on her chest, making it difficult even to breathe. She no longer had the strength to cry out.

After a long time of sobbing, Ariel closed her eyes, felt her headache getting worse and leaned her head back against the sofa.

She silently hoped that Kylance’s cruelty would end here.

If he pushed her any further, she didn’t know if she could take it.

* * *

On a cool late autumn afternoon, the Duke’s garden was filled with trees, their branches stripped bare, showing only the remnants of fallen leaves.

Among the trees, one in particular caught Kylance’s eye.

A bare tree, struggling to hold on to its few remaining leaves.

What caught his eye was a single leaf dangling from the edge, seemingly ready to fall at any moment. The way it swayed in the wind, it looked as if the slightest breeze would cause it to fall.

As he watched the delicate movements of the leaf, his concentration was broken by a sharp voice.

“Kylance, are you listening?”

Kylance looked away from the leaf and towards the voice, only to see a middle-aged woman sitting across from him.

Her expression showed clear disapproval, but even in her displeasure there was a certain elegance and poise – so befitting someone of royal blood.

With her dark hair styled much like his, the furrowed brow left no doubt – this woman was none other than Kylance’s aunt.

She was like a mother to him, the one who took him in after the tragic loss of his parents. Melish Viasteus, matriarch of the Viasteus family, one of the three most powerful ducal houses in the Empire.

Her patience began to wear thin when Kylance remained silent, and she called out his full name in a cold tone.

“Kylance Seyerd.”

Her frustration at his lack of attention to her conversation was obvious.

Breaking the silence, Kylance poured tea into her cup and spoke.

“Surely, Aunt, you know better than anyone else that we’ve lost both the evidence and the witnesses we need to strip the Marquis of Blante of his title.”

A gold coin bearing the seal of the Blante family remained, but it was not enough to prove a crime.

The assassin who had received the coin and the Marquis of Blante himself were both dead.

There were people who could confirm that the two had met before the incident. However, none of them knew what had happened between the Marquis and the assassin, Deobic.

Few people knew of the Deobic family’s connections to the Blante Marquisate, as they were from a lesser knightly house.

It wasn’t until the investigation began that it was discovered that the son of a knight who had benefited from the Marquis’ favour was serving as a knight in the Duke’s household.

The Duchess of Viasteus, however, seemed displeased with Kylance’s answer, her expression becoming even more tense.

“Didn’t anyone see them meeting before the incident? Even if we don’t know exactly what was said, we must bring them to justice! Even if it’s just a suspicion! Can we let this go unpunished? Let those who dared to murder the former Duke and Duchess go free?”

Kylance froze for a moment, his hand pausing as he began to put down the teapot.

The ‘former Duke and Duchess’ she was referring to were, of course, his parents.

“Even with the witnesses dead and the evidence gone, you and I both heard that the traitor had a hand in the Duke’s carriage. How can we let that go?”

“…”

The Duchess of Viasteus scoffed, her expression turning cold.

“The Emperor is truly indifferent. His beloved younger sibling has been murdered, yet he hesitates out of fear for his legitimacy? It’s almost laughable, especially when you consider how ruthlessly he’s cut down other royals in the past.”

“Please, Aunt, that’s going too far.”

The warning in Kylance’s eyes made the Duchess flinch for a moment, but it was brief. Unable to hold back any longer, she slammed her hand down on the table.

“Am I wrong? I remember you crying at Lord Alex’s funeral and yet you turn your back on all this. Don’t you feel any anger at all?”

Kylance met her gaze with unshaken composure.

“The Emperor is the ruler of the Empire. He has far too many responsibilities to worry about personal revenge. The Blante family is a noble house, deeply connected to the founding Emperor and the legacy of the Empire.”

The Duchess of Viasteus’s eyes narrowed, and her displeasure was obvious.

“How surprising. You and I know that better than anyone. After all, we fabricated the evidence to label him a traitor, didn’t we?”

‘Fabricated evidence.’

Kylance’s mind immediately recalled the authentic letter from the Marquis of Blante.

It had been a reply in which the Marquis had firmly rejected the traitor’s offer, a perfect expression of loyalty.

But Kylance had destroyed that letter and forged one that appeared to be sympathetic to the rebellion.

Seeing the subtle change in Kylance’s expression, the Duchess continued.

“After making sure he couldn’t escape, the plan was to completely dismantle the Marquis of Blante’s family.”

Yes, that was exactly what he had done.

Exactly as the Duchess of Viasteus had said, he had gone to great lengths to completely ruin the Marquis of Blante’s estate.

Kylance spoke slowly, his lips moving with deliberate precision.

“In the end, the Marquis managed to escape. He took with him the only witness who could prove his guilt. It was our mistake from the beginning to let them escape.”

We were the ones who lost the evidence that could have proven his crime, so how can we blame His Majesty?

As Kylance spoke calmly, the Duchess of Viasteus, who had protested angrily, hesitated. His words were undeniable.

It wasn’t the Emperor who had failed to capture both the criminal and the witness – it was they who had failed.

“Still, if we go on like this…” 

The Duchess’s resistance was quickly drowned out by Kylance’s next words.

“Besides, the late Emperor’s sword is currently in the Marquis’ tomb.”

The Duchess of Viasteus, whose face had been set in anger, now showed signs of uncertainty.

The Imperial Sword of the Seventh Emperor. The Duchess had missed its significance.

As if anticipating her reaction, Kylance continued calmly.

“His Majesty cannot simply wipe out the Blante family. The Marquis, a prime suspect, died during the investigation, and the remaining Imperial Sword of the Blante family carries too much weight.”

“Ha…!”

“As you know, Aunt, His Majesty is not the child of the late Empress.”

Moreover… His Majesty came to the throne through a coup. Although it was a necessary choice due to the corruption within the Imperial family, such as the late Emperor and Crown Prince, he had shed too much blood to claim the throne.

The throne gained through bloodshed would remain a permanent and vulnerable mark, one that would haunt him as long as he lived.

The Marquis of Blante had been a loyal supporter, helping to cement the Emperor’s tenuous legitimacy, and so His Majesty would hesitate to destroy the Blante family altogether, despite their betrayal.

Kylance understood this well, and bore no significant ill will towards the Emperor’s hesitation.

…It was an unavoidable situation.

The Duchess fixed him with an unreadable gaze for a long moment before speaking.

“So you are saying we should do nothing, just because His Majesty’s legitimacy might be at stake?”