“Aunt?”

Her aunt, her face drained of color, shouted urgently.

“Ariel, something terrible has happened!”

“What’s going on?”

“Imperial knights have arrived!”

“What?”

Imperial… knights?

Ariel’s eyes wavered, wide with disbelief.

The funeral hadn’t even been over for a full day.

Ariel wasn’t prepared to confront the growing troubles of her family, but it seemed fate had other plans.

Still, this was not something she could avoid. No, it was something she had to face head-on.

With a determined expression, Ariel followed her aunt back to the mansion.

In the mansion’s lobby, imperial knights stood in a disciplined line, their uniforms adorned with intricate gold embroidery.

At the forefront stood a knight distinguished by the ornate epaulets on his uniform.

Ash-gray hair and striking blue eyes.

He was Storpfel Tider, the captain of the Imperial First Knights, renowned as the Emperor’s Blade. The moment he caught sight of Ariel, he strode toward her as if he had been waiting.

Without any formalities or pleasantries, he spoke bluntly.

“Lady Blante, I am here to deliver an order from His Majesty the Emperor.”

“…Yes.”

Ariel’s expression remained firm, her gaze icy and unwavering.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever the knight was about to say would bring nothing but bad news.

As tension gripped her, making her fingertips grow cold, the knight spoke.

“Although the Marquis of Blante is deceased, new evidence has surfaced confirming his guilt. Given the severity of his crimes, every detail will be thoroughly investigated and exposed as a warning to the empire. As such, the Marquisate of Blante will be placed under lockdown during the investigation.”

Lockdown. It meant no one would be allowed to leave the estate.

In other words, they were to remain trapped, awaiting their fate. Her aunt, fully grasping the implications, staggered, her face pale with shock.

Ariel quickly reached out to steady her trembling aunt as Storpfel turned and commanded the knights.

“Seize all documents from the study and locate the hidden vault.”

The knights wasted no time, tearing through the mansion with relentless efficiency.

Ariel bit down hard on her lip as her father’s honor continued to be dragged through the dirt.

She wanted nothing more than to yell for them to stop, but she couldn’t.

If she intervened, it wouldn’t just be her—everyone here could be put in danger. She had to endure.

“Lady Blante, as the sole heir to the late Marquis Blante, you will be taken into custody at Tregard Castle in his place. We ask for your full cooperation until the investigation is complete.”

“Tregard Castle?”

Her aunt’s voice rose in horror. Despite its name, Tregard was effectively a prison for disgraced nobles.

“Ariel has committed no crime! Sir Tider, she is not only the sole heir of the Marquisate but also the fiancée of Grand Duke Seyerd. How can you justify this?”

Clutching Ariel’s hand tightly, her aunt protested, but Tider’s response was devoid of emotion or concern.

“This is an order from His Majesty. Step aside.”

Tider’s sharp gaze bore into her aunt, a silent warning not to interfere further.

“Aunt… it’s all right. I’ll be fine.”

Ariel forced a smile, gently holding her aunt back in an effort to prevent the situation from escalating. Just as she did, the sound of galloping hooves echoed from outside the mansion.

At first, she assumed it was more imperial knights arriving, but Tider’s reaction was strange. His brow furrowed, and he turned his attention toward the source of the sound, as though something unexpected had occurred.

The horses came to a halt at the mansion’s entrance, and knights dismounted. Their uniforms were black—the distinctive attire of the North.

The Black Lion Knights of the Grand Duchy. Kylance’s knights.

“Kyl…”

Ariel’s eyes widened as a man entered the lobby. But before she could fully comprehend the scene, an unfamiliar voice broke the tension, snapping her back to reality.

“Lady Blante.”

The man standing before her wasn’t Kylance.

Had she let herself hope so much that she imagined he might come?

Hiding her disappointment, Ariel composed herself and greeted Deryl Lowes, the commander of the Grand Duke’s knights.

“Sir Lowes.”

“My lady, I have an urgent message for you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s from His Grace, the Grand Duke. I must speak with you privately.”

Ariel could feel the inquisitive eyes of everyone in the room turning toward her.

Just then, Storpfel broke the silence.

“My lady must leave for Tregard Castle immediately.”

Storpfel stated firmly.

Deryl met Tider’s gaze head-on, his voice calm yet resolute.

“It is a direct order from His Grace, the Grand Duke. Are you saying you can’t allow even a moment?”

Tider’s sharp eyes lingered on Deryl in a silent standoff before he finally stepped aside.

“Make it quick.”

“This way, my lady.”

Deryl said, completely ignoring Tider as he approached Ariel. She felt Tider’s gaze sharpen like a blade, but she deliberately avoided it and followed Deryl into the drawing room.

With a soft click, Deryl closed the door behind them.

The commotion outside was completely muffled as Ariel took her seat.

“Please, have a seat, Sir Deryl.”

“There’s no need. I will deliver His Grace’s message immediately.”

Deryl reached into the inner pocket of his uniform, retrieving a letter, and placed it on the table in front of her.

“And this is…?”

“It’s the annulment agreement.”

“…The annulment agreement?”

Ariel’s eyes lingered on the white envelope bearing the seal of the Grand Duchy. A faint, bitter chuckle escaped her lips, more like a resigned sigh.

So, it’s come to this.

Ariel wasn’t deeply surprised. From the moment she decided to attend her father’s funeral, she had a strong feeling that everything between her and Kylance was over. Her grim instincts were never wrong.

Though she hadn’t expected the annulment agreement to come this quickly, almost as if it had been anticipated.

Its swiftness suggested it had been prepared beforehand. Kylance was nothing if not thorough.

Her emerald eyes, dimmed with resignation, rested on the annulment agreement.

Deryl, watching her closely, spoke in a somber voice.

“His Grace asked me to deliver this message: if you quietly agree to the annulment, the lockdown on the marquisate and your detention at Tregard Castle will be lifted.”

“My imprisonment was ordered by His Majesty. How could…”

Before she could finish, Deryl pulled out another envelope.

The envelope bore the imperial seal.

“This is a decree from His Majesty to lift the blockade of the Marquisate and your imprisonment. If you sign the annulment agreement, this decree will be delivered to you.”

She had always known Kylance to be meticulous, but now she felt utterly powerless in the face of his precision. There wasn’t even the slightest chance of resisting.

“…And if I refuse?”

“If you refuse,” Deryl said, his tone steady but strained, “I was instructed to deliver this message: My lady, this is not a situation where pride can take precedence. Please, make a choice for the sake of the marquisate.”

Having finished, Deryl lowered his head, his expression conflicted.

It wasn’t hard to see why. When her relationship with Kylance had been good, Deryl had once served as her personal guard. It couldn’t be easy for him to deliver such words to someone he had once pledged to protect.

Anger flared within her at Kylance’s unrelenting cruelty, but bitterly, she couldn’t deny he was right.

The Emperor was enraged enough to demand a full investigation, even after her father’s death, and she was the sole heir to the Blante Marquisate.

If she did nothing and remained confined here, the Emperor’s wrath would almost certainly lead to the complete collapse of the Blante family.

The many people who depended on the Marquisate—and her father…

For the honor of the family her father had sacrificed everything to protect, Ariel couldn’t allow herself to sit idly by in captivity.

But understanding the situation didn’t make it any easier to quell the storm of emotions within her.

She was angry at Kylance for delivering the annulment so coldly, without a shred of compassion. She was devastated by the thought that the man she had loved so deeply could let things end in such a chaotic and cruel manner.

Was I really so insignificant to you that you had to be so merciless?

If only she had unleashed her anger—shown him the depth of her hurt—perhaps she could have found some way to make sense of this bitter ending.

She couldn’t comprehend it—and, truthfully, she no longer wanted to.

At this point, all her thoughts felt futile. The reality of the annulment agreement in front of her wouldn’t change.

Her decision was already clear.

“…Sir Lowes, do you have a pen?”

Ariel asked quietly, keeping her voice composed. She had no desire to vent her disappointment in Kylance on Deryl.

Deryl, after all, had done nothing wrong.

“…Here, my lady,” he said, handing her a pen with care.

Ariel opened the envelope and took out the agreement. Without a moment’s pause, she signed her name.

To think that our once-ardent love could end with just a single piece of paper.

It was such a trivial, hollow conclusion.