He grimaced as if his head hurt, furrowing his brow, and even let out a hollow laugh.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t believe it. Serena Lavernia requested to be removed from the family with her own hands?

“Is it blackmail…? Or brainwashing? Who dares……”

Irdin Lavernia now began to turn his thoughts in a different direction.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason for Serena Lavernia to do such a thing.

Then, there could have been some pressure from the outside.

‘Did she perhaps cause an unmanageable incident?’

If her weakness was exploited and she was forced to prepare the documents, it could have come to this.

Yes, that could be it.

If that’s the case, he could protest to the Emperor and have it reversed.

‘What on earth could be the grounds for dismissal?’

Removal from a family is not an easy matter.

It’s not something that can be done simply because the family head doesn’t like someone, or because a family member doesn’t like the family.

There needs to be a valid reason for removal.

Reasons like damaging the honor of the family or committing an irreversible crime.

‘Reason…..’

Certainly…, there isn’t none.

Irdin Lavernia’s mind was in such chaos that he became calm instead.

He quickly racked his brain. Looking at the document’s issue date, it was about a month ago.

‘Even if I do some calculations, the timing is too early.’

Considering that removal takes a long time, it means the Crown Prince, who’s acting as the Emperor’s proxy, moved his hands quickly.

‘I’d better go see.’

He gathered his thoughts for now, picked up the documents, and rose from his seat.

* * *

“…So I was told that this was already agreed upon with you. That you would give 30 million gold in exchange for leaving the family.”

“…No, me? I never did such a thing. I just gave the 30 million gold because it seemed like she wanted to buy the rainbow gold jewelry that was coming up for auction!”

The two people sitting face to face in the reception room both wore bewildered expressions.

Irdin Lavernia, who usually wore his jacket buttoned up to his neck in a stuffy manner, now had his buttons undone as he raised his voice to the Emperor.

“But Serena Kelahinum definitely told me so.”

“Even so, to proceed with a matter like this without confirming with me, the family head…!”

“Look, Marquis. I understand there was a misunderstanding, but aside from approving it quickly, I didn’t violate any procedures.”

The problem had grown.

The Crown Prince, while thinking that his head was quite aching, explained to Marquis Lavernia to prevent him from crossing the line.

“While this isn’t common, in the case of removal, only the family head and the individual themselves can request removal.”

“……”

“Duchess Kelahinum came to me in person to apply, and she herself agreed. The grounds for dismissal… well, you know they’re more than sufficient.”

Marquis Lavernia, who kept his mouth shut tight, looked furious to the tips of his hair, but he also seemed very flustered at the same time.

‘After speaking so confidently……’

The Crown Prince recalled Serena Kelahinum and sighed.

“Anyway, I can’t say I’m not at fault for being careless. If the Duchess agrees to re-enter the family, I’ll have the documents withdrawn.”

At those words, Marquis Lavernia also took a deep breath and relaxed his tightly clenched fists.

Marquis Lavernia still couldn’t understand this whole situation.

No matter how much Irdin Lavernia thought about it, there was no reason for her to do this.

“In the first place, after she married Duke Kelahinum, her name was just listed in the family ledger and registry of the Lavernia Marquis family. What was so urgent that you approved this without any notice to me?”

“…She said it was a gesture of reflecting on her past actions.”

Reflection?

That’s the word least associated with Serena Lavernia.

He looked at him with eyes demanding an explanation, but the Crown Prince seemed unwilling to say more.

In reality, he didn’t want to share this personal matter with others.

“If you’re going to withdraw the removal, it would be best to move as quickly as possible.”

“Why is that?”

To Marquis Lavernia’s question, the Crown Prince looked at him with an expression that said, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’

“Why, you ask… You know, don’t you? A divorce application has been submitted from the Kelahinum ducal family and is currently in the cooling-off period.”

“What are you talking about now?”

The Crown Prince’s expression crumpled unpleasantly.

‘I must not become a parent like him.’

The Crown Prince found a good negative example.

He felt as if he himself was being hurt by the indifferent attitude.

This was because the Crown Prince was loved by everyone.

Starting from his father, the current Emperor, and his mother, to now his wife, the most noble being in the world, he was loved by all, so he couldn’t understand Marquis Lavernia.

‘Perhaps Serena Kelahinum’s choice was right.’

The Crown Prince thought.

Because Irdin Lavernia now had an expression as if he was hearing this for the first time.

“No, didn’t you know? Even if you’re not interested in social circles, that’s too much. Do you live in some rural corner or something?”

“Wait, wait a moment. Your Highness. That means…”

Irdin Lavernia raised a trembling hand.

The Crown Prince watched him organize his thoughts and then continued at an appropriate moment.

“The approved removal is already in effect, so if she loses even Duke Kelahinum’s protection, she’ll become a commoner.”

“Why on earth did you—knowing this!”

The Crown Prince overlooked Marquis Lavernia’s anger once.

He could see how panicked he was from the expression on his face and his gaze that had lost its direction.

“Serena Kelahinum herself was well aware of this fact and it was what she wanted. We tried to dissuade her on our side as well.”

The Crown Prince answered calmly, but was a bit surprised inside.

Marquis Lavernia is originally a person like water. He gives the feeling of a calm sea.

He doesn’t get angry much, doesn’t get very irritated, and at the same time, doesn’t show great joy or great sadness.

It’s not that his emotional expression is dry, but the range of his changes is quite small.

So the Crown Prince was seeing Marquis Lavernia raise his voice like this for the first time.

‘So he could get angry like this.’

He was really surprised.

It’s true that he seemed to smile well when he was with the Marchioness.

But this is the first time seeing him angry.

‘I thought he hated his daughter.’

In fact, whenever that topic came up, a slight irritation would frost over Marquis Lavernia’s calm face.

“It’s strange, I’m sorry to say this, but… I thought you… really hated Serena Kelahinum.”

“It’s true that she’s annoying.”

Irdin Lavernia spoke firmly, as if there was nothing more to think about on that point.

“How can I not be angry when she constantly causes trouble that’s difficult to clean up and drags around strange rumors?”

The Crown Prince still remembered when, at one time, that is, when she was still Serena Lavernia, she played with a group of bad thieves, swindled them out of money, and even wrote them IOUs, embarrassing him.

At that time, Marquis Lavernia looked as if his soul had been threshed.

And now, he seemed to have reached a state of anger beyond threshing.

“But how can I ignore my own child because of that? It’s an incident that can be cleaned up. It’s not like she killed someone……”

‘…She almost did.’

The Crown Prince wanted to say that.

But he barely swallowed the words that had risen to his throat at the last line of defense.

She had already apologized, and they had decided to forgive. So there was no need to bring it up again.

“…Anyway, thank you for receiving my sudden visit. I’ll be going now.”

“Are you going to the Kelahinum ducal residence?”

“That’s what I’m planning.”

Irdin Lavernia immediately left the Imperial Palace.

…That was what had happened until just now.

Irdin Lavernia, sitting in the moving carriage, looked at the documents again.

“Huh……”

No matter how many times he looked at them, these documents made him laugh hollowly.

This time, Irdin Lavernia looked at the letter again. The handwriting was neat. Almost as much as his own.

The handwriting was flowing, and there were no unnecessary flourishes in the letter.

It felt as if there was a will to convey exactly what needed to be said. In other words, it was an extremely short letter for a final message to the family.

As if she had thrown away the letter paper and started anew, there wasn’t a single ink stain blurred by tears on the paper.

Received what was given well, sorry, thank you, take care.

Summarized, it’s a letter with no lingering attachment that could be condensed into just four lines.

Usually in such cases, people often throw away the letter several times and rewrite it.

Irdin Lavernia opened the window out of frustration.

Soon, the carriage stopped.

He couldn’t even wait for the coachman to open the door, and opened it himself and jumped out.