Regardless of the damaged condition of the items, Elroy returned to the townhouse with his arms full of them. He planned to show them to Annelie Heich someday. Look. I ruined what you cherished.

Next will be the sketches you left behind, and after that, the books you loved so much. If you still don’t appear, I might pour pigment on the face of Jerome, the friend you cherished so much.

It’s all your fault. Because you left everything, left me behind.

He intended to take revenge by saying exactly that when she was brought back. Among the damaged items, her clothes were neatly folded and placed in a closet corner of his room. The pigment smell that couldn’t be completely removed stained his expensive formal attire, but he didn’t care about that either.

The maids diligently ironed the Duke’s clothes but couldn’t bring themselves to throw away those dirty clothes. He found it both irritating and amusing that everyone watched him so cautiously.

“Haha.”

A dry laugh escaped. When he raised his wrist to cover his eyes, the loose sleeve dangled near his eyes.

“Annelie.”

The name that once radiated warmth now tasted bitter like dried herbs. That too angered him. He couldn’t bear how everything made him so angry.

Calling her name several more times changed nothing. Annelie, the woman, was no longer there. She had vanished.

Elroy slowly rose, left his office, and boarded a carriage. The coachman now knew the direction without Elroy having to say anything. To the townhouse where no one lived anymore. To the place where only Annelie Heich’s shadow remained.

Upon arriving at the townhouse, Elroy momentarily staggered. He hadn’t eaten properly since that day, so dizziness struck with each step. While leaning against the carriage to steady himself,

“Your Grace.”

The caretaker temporarily left at the townhouse in case Annelie returned approached him with a serious expression.

“I think you should check this.”

What made him turn his head toward the caretaker’s words, which he would normally have ignored, was the envelope the man held. That scent emanated from it. The scent of pigment and ink that he had so desperately tried to recover, that had intoxicated him.

Before the caretaker could properly hand it over, Elroy quickly grabbed the envelope. Feeling something somewhat heavy inside, he became anxious without even realizing it.

“I’ll take my leave.”

The caretaker, sensing Elroy’s mood, tactfully vacated the space. Elroy slowly caressed the envelope.

The address written in Annelie’s free-spirited handwriting was, no matter how many times he looked at it, the address of this townhouse. Whatever happened, she hadn’t forgotten that this place existed.

Yet despite that, she sent a letter as if nothing had happened instead of returning.

“What are you doing, Annelie?”

Even while speaking sharply, Elroy held the envelope against his nose and mouth. The envelope still contained traces of Annelie. Just looking at it, he could tell it was the best she could have chosen, which made him laugh bitterly.

Elroy took a deep breath and opened the envelope. He didn’t even know what he expected.

Thud.

The moment the envelope opened, something heavy fell into his palm. What had been preciously wrapped in several layers was his mother’s ring.

Only when he saw the cold metal falling into his hand in the autumn breeze did Elroy realize he hadn’t even known the ring was missing. Until then, he hadn’t even paid attention to it.

“…Haha.”

There was nothing else. Nothing at all.

No letter asking how he was, no note saying she would return soon. Nothing like that could be seen.

“Just what.”

Did that woman know? If that ring had been lost along the way, the Tevant family would have been turned upside down. That the ring was that precious. That not a small number of eligible high-ranking family daughters, both domestic and foreign, would want to wear that ring on their finger.

Yet she returned it. An object that could make her not just a mistress, but a duchess.

Slowly rolling the ring in his hand, Elroy entered the Tevant main residence with it. As soon as a secretary rushed over, he spoke in a cold tone.

“I want to report a thief.”

“A thief? Who dared steal Your Grace’s property?”

“More precisely, someone who stole and then returned it.”

The fact that he had given it to her wasn’t important. What mattered was the hope that issuing a wanted notice might help find Annelie Heich.

It was the conclusion he reached after thinking and thinking throughout the return journey to the Duke’s residence. With the newspaper company gone, he could no longer file a defamation complaint, but at least he could issue a search warrant for Annelie Heich on charges of stealing the duchess’s ring.

‘This too is something you brought upon yourself, Annelie.’

While thinking this and biting his lip, someone slowly descended the stairs of the indoor balcony.

“Grandmother.”

Elroy bowed slightly to his grandmother out of habit. The old duchess of Tevant, who had been observing her grandson whose weight had severely dropped and whose eyes had become piercing over the past few months, slowly showed what she was holding. Coincidentally, it too was a bundle of letters.

“Another love letter from the Princess of Lambert Kingdom has arrived.”

“I see.”

“Invitations for the autumn hunting season have also arrived from the capital’s social circles.”

“Yes.”

At these continued short answers, the old duchess examined her grandson’s face repeatedly.

It had been since right after that mistress left.

Through Mayhew and pigment merchants, she had known about Annelie Heich’s existence. Sometimes, curious about what kind of woman she was, she had watched from a distance. A pretty but otherwise ordinary commoner woman. Seeing her grandson lose his mind over such a person, she became convinced that she must also be the woman who first introduced him to the female body.

When she heard Annelie Heich had left, she thought the timing was good. Having a mistress meant he had interest in women, and now he could immediately produce an heir after marriage. Just as Elroy’s value in the marriage market had shot up to the ceiling after the scandal with the princess of Lambert broke.

However, the old duchess observed what happened afterward with half-confused eyes and half with the heart of a grandmother who cherished her grandson. After all, even her insistence on him producing an heir was ultimately because she cared for him.

“Elroy.”

The old duchess handed the princess’s letter to an attendant and quietly tilted her head. Elroy showed absolutely no reaction. Not surprised by her grandson’s indifferent response, the old duchess continued.

“Are you coming from the townhouse?”

“……”

“I have something to say about that.”

In truth, bringing a commoner into the family was only permitted as a mistress, but……

‘This time might be different.’

Thinking this, the old duchess calmly stated what she had discovered.

“I noticed there were contraceptives left there.”

“Yes.”

“The number hadn’t decreased as much as I expected.”

“That’s……”

“Did you not have s*x often?”

That couldn’t be.

During their last few weeks at the townhouse, the two mixed bodies just from making eye contact. Typically, Elroy would get excited one-sidedly and touch Annelie, and she would accept without refusing.

‘Contraceptives.’

Elroy slightly furrowed his brow. Thinking about it, there were several moments when Annelie skipped the medication. Rather than deliberately intending to skip it, these were moments when she was too exhausted from their prolonged lovemaking and forgot to take it.

Elroy too didn’t urge her to take it and half-mindlessly let those moments pass. Moments when both knew they should take care of the medication but for unknown reasons didn’t, and instead lay in bed enjoying the afterglow.

…Reflecting on it, there were quite a few such moments. Memories of not giving her contraceptives despite bringing her into the house under the pretext of monitoring whether she took them properly hit the back of his head.

Elroy unconsciously clenched his fist. It was to hide the trembling that slowly began to rise.

“Looking for a thief means looking for that miss.”

The old duchess’s eyes slowly examined her grandson. As well as the duchess’s ring he held.

“Elroy.”

If she could immediately bring in an heir who resembled this precious grandson, what would it matter if their mother was a commoner? She would gladly become a happy great-grandmother. The old duchess slowly smiled and continued.

“That miss might have stolen one more thing.”

“…Grandmother.”

Just as Elroy opened his mouth, unable to hide his tension, the old duchess gestured once more to receive another letter from the attendant. It was a letter addressed to Jerome, which should have gone to that man. However, since it was none other than the old duchess of Tevant who diverted the letter, no one could say anything.

“It seems she didn’t write only to you.”

Elroy laughed hollowly.

An envelope smelling of Annelie, with Annelie Heich’s address also written on it.

* * *

“Ugh.”

“Nelie, are you okay?”

“…Yes. I think I was exposed to too many pigments.”

Nelie said this while forcibly suppressing her anxiety.

The village’s harvest festival was held quite grandly. Everyone sensed this would be the last harvest here. Partly out of wistfulness, partly to forget their anxiety about the future, people prepared the best feast they could.

Roasted turkeys and chickens, fish caught from the stream, pork roasted with herbs. Pies filled with mashed fruits or meat, freshly baked warm rye bread, and beer filled the tables in the square.

Besides the food, seeing the cute garlands and simple pumpkin decorations placed around the square, Nelie felt intense nostalgia. This was the first harvest festival held so grandly since her childhood.

Children wearing doll masks imitated the ghosts of the harvest festival, spinning around and dancing. They continued their innocent movements, unaware of what might happen in the future, knowing only the present joy.

“Nelie. Take this to your father.”

“Thank you.”

“You should eat and drink something too.”

“I will.”

“Good. How was the city? We might go to the city soon too… tell us about your experiences.”

Nelie smiled blandly and engaged in various conversations among the thoroughly intoxicated people while trying to settle her stomach. Despite the harvest festival being more abundant than ever, she had barely touched anything.

“Why can’t you eat, girl?”

“Come on, Nelie. Have a drink!”

“I’m sorry. I need to go back and take care of my father.”