“A while… I remember seeing you at the state council meeting not long ago.”

Despite Conrad’s cold attitude, Marquis Würetti paid no mind and showed a friendly smile.

“That’s how pleased I am to see you. By the way, Roina, you look much thinner.”

The marquis, looking at his daughter with concerned eyes, approached her and caressed one cheek.

Roina, whose skin crawled at his touch, forced an awkward smile.

“I’m fine, Father.”

Perhaps because the marquis’s gaze felt like a warning, she clasped her trembling hands together.

Conrad, not hiding his discomfort, stared at the Würetti father and daughter for a moment before cautioning the marquis.

“If this happens again, you won’t be allowed to set foot in the ducal residence anymore.”

“That may be so, but please be generous just this once. I was worried as I couldn’t meet my daughter at all.”

Marquis Würetti answered with his usual public affability.

Checking his pocket watch, Conrad seemed to judge he couldn’t delay going to work any longer and glanced at Roina before speaking.

“Since this is a rare father-daughter conversation, please talk comfortably.”

At the voice, cold as ice, Roina felt a sting near her heart.

When Conrad disappeared after boarding his carriage, the marquis clicked his tongue and spoke in a voice only she could hear.

“Tsk, there’s still not a single thing I like about him.”

But he soon relaxed his harsh expression and looked at his daughter, speaking in an affectionate voice.

“Let’s go now, Roina.”

“…Yes, Father.”

Roina could only swallow dryly and guide her father to the reception room.

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

After entering the reception room and dismissing all the servants, Marquis Würetti looked at Roina with a hardened expression.

“Really now, it’s this difficult to see your face.”

The marquis’s disapproving voice was filled with dissatisfaction.

Roina, seated across from her father, calmly drank her tea.

Then, looking at him, who couldn’t contain his agitation over not being contacted for a few days, she opened her mouth.

“You said you had something to tell me.”

At Roina’s uncharacteristically cold voice, the marquis’s eyebrow rose obliquely.

“Yes, you did something I didn’t ask you to do.”

Now it seemed Marquis Würetti had personally visited the ducal residence to warn his daughter.

‘Of course, Father isn’t the type to worry about me.’

Swallowing a bitter smile, Roina slowly pondered the marquis’s words.

What exactly he meant by “something I didn’t ask you to do.”

Was it a problem that she had visited the marquis’s residence out of concern for Aila, or had she done something to fall out of Conrad’s favor?

If not that, perhaps he had noticed her conversation with the Emperor.

Though countless questions flooded her mind, Roina tried to maintain an indifferent expression.

The marquis looked at his daughter as if she were pathetic and heaved a deep sigh.

“How can you be so utterly unhelpful.”

“……”

“Are you determined to fall out of the duke’s favor? If you can’t do anything properly, you should at least know how to keep your position.”

“……”

“What’s the point of raising issues now? That is your limit and your worth.”

Roina had vaguely anticipated this.

Her father would have tried to use her throughout her married life.

But contrary to his initial plan, when she failed to establish herself in the ducal residence, he would have been outraged that she was of no help.

Even at this moment, he was scheming how to utilize his daughter who had no value to him.

After quietly listening to words bordering on verbal *buse, Roina looked at the marquis with resentful eyes.

‘What is it that Father desires so much?’

She thought she might have overlooked his ambition to now use Aila after using her.

Chewing her lip finely, she finally expressed her pent-up resentment.

“Father, you promised me.”

As if he had heard something absurd, the marquis looked at his daughter with annoyed eyes.

“What promise are you talking about?”

“The price for accepting this marriage!”

The marquis smirked at the sight of Roina trying to suppress her anger.

“If you had only done your part, Aila’s marriage talks wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

Then he continued to corner her, saying this situation was essentially her own doing.

In this desperate situation, Roina considered one possibility.

‘Perhaps Father…’

He might have been in collusion with the Second Prince even before pushing for the political marriage with Asheter.

‘Come to think of it, news about the Second Prince has been coming from the south recently.’

Lately, posters praising Benjamin had been appearing here and there.

Additionally, news of marriage talks between Aila and the Second Prince was spreading secretly.

Yet Marquis Würetti offered no explanation.

Considering this, it was impossible to ignore the possibility that he had begun to spread what he had been planning for the past few years now that the time was right.

‘It seems he has completed his preparations to some extent.’

Her marriage to Conrad must have been a means to prevent the conservative faction from gaining strength while the marquis was planning his moves.

With this thought, the scattered puzzle pieces seemed to fit together gradually.

Swallowing a short sigh, Roina spoke with difficulty.

“My marriage… was just a smokescreen.”

When the marquis’s eyes, tinged with blue, flashed ominously, she stiffened slightly.

It was a warning. As usual, to keep her eyes and ears closed and not dig any deeper.

But her insides felt like they were burning, so Roina couldn’t stop speaking.

“Father, how far have you gone with this? Is it really treason—”

Slap—.

At that moment, a sharp sound that seemed to pierce her ears struck her cheek.

Staggering, Roina clutched her stinging cheek and stared silently at her father.

The marquis, with a grim expression, wiped his hand with a handkerchief as if cleaning off filth.

Then, looking toward the reception room door, he murmured quietly lest anyone hear.

“Can’t you watch your mouth?”

“……”

“How dare you speak so recklessly with such little security!”

The marquis, reducing his volume to prevent sound from leaking out, glared at his daughter with all his might.

Roina’s reddened cheek seemed like it would swell up soon.

When she unconsciously bit her lip, the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

Seemingly without any pangs of conscience, the marquis shook his head and exhaled a deep sigh.

“Roina, please don’t go against this father’s wishes.”

With her vision blurring as she tried to hold back tears, Roina asked in a cracking voice.

“What exactly do you want, Father?”

“Just quietly live while keeping the duke pleased.”

Though he must know how his daughter had been living in the ducal residence, the marquis only looked at her as if she were a burden.

With the same unchanging attitude, now as before.

Chewing her lip finely, Roina rose from her seat and knelt before the marquis.

“Father, please… reconsider Aila’s marriage.”

Even if she appeared servile, she wanted to prevent her only sister’s unhappiness by any means.

The marquis, who had been quietly staring at Roina, soon raised his lips crookedly.

Then, bending one knee, he grabbed her shoulder.

“Roina, isn’t it about time you started acting like the lady of the ducal household?”

“…What do you mean?”

Looking at his daughter’s frightened face, the marquis spoke in a voice only she could hear.

“I’ll give you a choice.”

Trying to swallow her fear, Roina looked up at her father with trembling eyes.

Then Marquis Würetti added with a benevolent smile.

“Bear the duke’s child. Or if you don’t like that, kill him.”

“……!”

As if she had heard something she shouldn’t have, Roina’s lips trembled.

The marquis sighed deeply and added.

“I don’t know who you take after, being so timid. What’s the problem when I’m behind you?”

“……”

“Not much time remains until Aila comes of age. If you cooperate, I won’t marry her off right away.”

Given a year’s time, he meant she should produce results one way or another within that period.