As Aiden had instructed, those who had accused the knights and government officials of theft had been gathered in the hall. A triumphant gleam flickered across his mother’s face.

When she saw Sveta hanging limply in his arms, she let out a furious cry.

“What is the meaning of this outrage the moment you return?”

“This could have been handled by confining her to her chambers.”

“And you can still say that after seeing the jewels that girl stole?”

At the lady’s signal, a servant opened the jewel box. As expected, the contents were precious items that should have been stored separately in cases to avoid scratches, but instead they had been carelessly tossed together.

When Aiden didn’t so much as glance at them, his mother spoke.

“Setting aside everything else, the signet ring is something we cannot overlook. To do so would be an insult to Strilland.”

“……”

Ignoring her words, he looked down quietly at Sveta. She had clearly suffered greatly; her half-closed eyelids trembled faintly.

At last, Aiden spoke in a low voice.

“My mother is telling the truth. This is not something that can be overlooked. The only proper course of action is to expel this woman at once.”

This was not the answer they had expected. His mother’s face showed open astonishment.

“Since when do you speak any sense?”

She narrowed her eyes as though trying to peer into his thoughts, then asked.

Aiden answered carelessly.

“And yet, what am I supposed to do? I find I have no desire to do so.”

“What? Have you sunk so low as to mock your own mother now?”

“Mock you? Why would I do such a thing—when you avoid even speaking a word to me if you can help it?”

The malice underlying their exchange was obvious. Everyone else in the hall kept their heads bowed, too afraid to look up. They could sense the tension in the air.

“You know well enough. Settle this quickly and then leave the manor.”

Just as Aiden was about to respond, Sveta pressed her small hand weakly against his chest. It was Sveta’s hand. As though she meant to soothe him, she patted it lightly.

He stared at it in silence. Her nails were filthy, and her skin was slick with sweat. Her scent was unbearable.

Aiden bit hard into his crimson lips.

“Since you insist, Mother, I suppose I must bring this to an end.”

“…Indeed. That wretched thing must be cast out at once.”

Aiden turned his head slightly and addressed the maid.

“Didn’t you claim that you found the jewel box in my mistress’s wardrobe?”

“Y-yes, Master.”

The duke’s stern gaze bore down on her and she collapsed to her knees, unable to withstand it.

His voice was heavy with judgement.

“I will grant you one more chance. Is what you say the truth?”

“……”

The maid bent even lower, pressing her forehead against the cold floor, but did not respond.

Tap, tap.

The sharp crack of the lady’s fan striking the floor made the maid flinch.

“I-it is the truth… without a doubt, it was inside the young lady’s wardrobe.”

Smack!

Elise gripped her fan tightly, a mocking smile curling her lips.

Aiden met his mother’s gaze and lifted the corner of his lips at the same angle as hers.

“Placed inside the wardrobe, you say.”

“…Yes, Master.”

“In that case, the one to punish is the person who put the jewel box in my mistress’s wardrobe.”

Cracks began to spread across Elise’s rigid expression.

“What nonsense is this?”

“This maid has said it twice already. That the jewel box was in my mistress’s wardrobe.”

Gently, Aiden brushed the sunset-coloured strands of hair clinging to the edge of Sveta’s forehead back, as though they were seaweed. He wiped away the dirty marks marring her rounded brow with his thumb.

“My mistress could not have stolen it. Which means someone else placed it there.”

Elise’s eyes flew open in shock. Only then did she seem to realize how flimsy her carefully laid scheme had been.

Before she could think of an excuse, Aiden gave the order.

“Bring him here.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Failin dragged a servant forward. He was a young man who worked in the scriptorium and often ran errands for Lady Elise.

When Elise saw him, her brows crumpled in alarm.

“You—you dare play such tricks…!”

Aiden did not so much as glance at his mother. Instead, he jerked his chin. Failin pressed the servant.

“Confess the truth at once.”

The servant fell prostrate at the duke’s feet and cried out in a trembling voice.

“My wife’s life was at stake… I had no choice but to steal it!”

His confession poured out in full.

“I hid the jewel box inside the young lady’s wardrobe. I—I have committed a mortal sin!”

“But I was only following orders!”

All vitality drained from his mother’s face until it resembled a withered tree. The lady stammered, shouting,

“What… what nonsense is this!”

She seemed to grasp only half of what was happening, her anger still unchecked.

Aiden asked calmly,

“Then who gave you the order?”

The servant cast a fleeting glance at the lady before pressing his head to the floor and crying out in a thunderous voice.

“Forgive me, my lady! Take my life, but spare my wife, I beg you!”

The corner of Aiden’s mouth lifted in a soft curve.

The servant began to strike his forehead against the floor, choking on his sobs. His wailing filled the hall while his mother’s eyes, devoid of emotion, fluttered without pause; her mind was clearly racing. Her tightly shut lips opened and closed uselessly, producing nothing but empty sounds. Her flushed lips betrayed her bewilderment for all to see.

But Aiden had no intention of ending it there. He gave the next command.

“There is another witness. Bring him in.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Failin brought in the next person: a jeweler from Uniburn Street.

The jeweler bowed respectfully and gave his testimony.

“This servant tried to sell me several jewels at a suspiciously low price. I declined, finding it odd.”

“And what kind of jewels were these?”

“A pearl necklace and a ruby ring — the very ones that you gave to Lady Luce, the baron’s daughter, last spring.”

“Then it is certain that this servant entered my mistress’s chambers.”

It was a carefully crafted series of perfectly aligned questions and answers.

Aiden was deeply satisfied with it.

Meeting his mother’s vacant stare, he deliberately wiped the dirt from Sveta’s cheek. Her tightly packed lashes quivered faintly. Rough, uneven breaths escaped her swollen lips.

‘This is where I should bring it to an end.’

When Aiden’s gaze fell upon her, the lady took a step back.

“So, Mother, you threatened murder just to frame my mistress. You commanded the servant to steal her belongings and sell them”

The lady flailed her fan helplessly in the air, her frantic movements as ridiculous as the fluttering wings of a startled bird.

“N-no, that is not so. There has been some… some misunderstanding—”

“Did you despise her that much?”

His voice thundered through the hall.

“I—I did not… It was not I who gave such orders!”

Though she had lived her whole life as a noblewoman of refinement, even her protests were clumsy.

If she was to invent excuses, she ought at least to do it well.

He sneered.

Her voice cracked, pitifully frayed, as she pressed on with her desperate plea.

“A misunderstanding, yes. Surely a misunderstanding. Why would I do such a thing?”

Holding Sveta in his arms, Aiden stepped close to his mother and whispered.

His voice was flat, monotonous, repeating back the very words she herself had spoken only minutes before.

“Who can say? Maybe you thought you could make light of Strilland.”

Strilland was himself — that was the declaration.

Whether she understood or not, Elise’s face turned deathly pale and she hung her head.

“…Show mercy, these people are not yours.”

Although it might have sounded like a plea to the servants, he knew it was her own life she was begging for.

Aiden’s lips curved into a smile.

‘That I cannot do. I will see to it myself. Since your worries must be weighing heavily on you, I advise you to refrain from leaving your quarters.’

He was ordered to be confined to the scriptorium.

Realizing this, the lady swayed, almost collapsing. Only when Aiden nodded in silent permission did an attendant come forward to steady her.

“I will select new attendants to serve you, Mother.”

Her words came out broken, her pronunciation crushed beneath defeat.

“…Thank you.”

The moment the lady left from the hall, Aiden gave his orders.

“The maid who gave false testimony will be sent to the underground prison. The servant and the jeweler are to be rewarded.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Failin’s eyes flicked toward Sveta, still limp in his master’s arms.

“And the young lady…?”

“She must be bathed and fed first.”

“Yes.”

At Failin’s signal, the two maids waiting outside the hall hurried in. Aiden watched them for a moment, then moved Sveta to a different position and spoke.

“I will take her myself.”

◯◯◯

Aiden pushed his damp hair back. It was only after immersing himself in hot water that he realized just how tired he was. He had returned after a five-day journey that was supposed to last a week.

“My lord, something has happened to the young lady.”

Failin had come running, half out of breath, to report in full detail his mother’s cruelty.

Aiden had not been shaken. On the contrary, he had issued his orders with calm precision.

“We’ll need a witness. We’ll have to bribe a jeweller from Uniburn Street.’

His loyal knight set off at once, without stopping to catch his breath.

Upon his return, Aiden summoned the servant he had placed in his mother’s household and gave him precise instructions on what to say when he was called to testify.

He also dismissed all the maids and attendants assigned to his mother in the scriptorium.

Barely an hour after his return, everything was in order and he went straight to Sveta.

Setting things right had been very simple indeed.

Elise Strilland: That noble, naïve lady had no idea that he had already posted spies around her. Given the uproar she had caused, he had every reason to keep a close eye on her. In that sense, the outcome was satisfactory enough.

Yet the stain clinging to him would not wash away; it was like mud stuck to his feet, dragging him down.

The reason was plain.