“Ernst Werner.”

Ernst flinched at Kalintz’s sharp look, but fortunately Blair was there as a saving grace.

“See? Tearing one robe had this much effect.”

Rumors had a way of growing, and this one was enough to deflect the suspicious eyes of those who had been watching their marriage with skepticism.

“……Haah.”

Kalintz let out a disbelieving sigh.

“So, what brings you all the way here?”

“Oh, well…… I heard from Tilda. That Olivia’s maid was in a carriage accident.”

“Wow, Lady Royce hears things fast. Not many people know yet.”

Ernst said with mild surprise.

“We were actually just talking about that. Apparently she was on her way back home when the carriage went off a cliff.”

Kalintz said in a lowered voice.

“It wasn’t a simple accident, was it?”

“What do you think?”

Kalintz rested his chin in his hand and asked in return, and Blair paused briefly before speaking.

“It was Duke Brienne’s doing. Olivia is vicious, but she’s not stupid enough to commit a murder that gains her nothing out of petty spite.”

The one who stood to benefit from Marie’s death was Duke Brienne.

If it came to light that he had bribed a maid to exploit his own child’s death for political gain, it would be a fatal blow even for someone as formidable as Duke Brienne.

“I think so too. The fact that the maid was released so quickly in the first place was Willer Brienne pulling strings. He had her freed deliberately because he couldn’t kill her while she was in prison.”

A cold contempt edged into his voice.

“So we kept following the maid after she was released…… but I never imagined he would send the entire carriage over a cliff.”

Ernst shook his head as well.

“……Everyone died? Including the coachman?”

“Yes. He drove the carriage with the intention of giving up his own life from the start.”

“What about the coachman’s identity?”

“No identification of any kind. The place that arranged the hired carriage gave us a name, but even that turned out to be an alias.”

“Duke Brienne prepared thoroughly.”

She had known he was meticulous and cunning, but she had not expected him to plan a murder this deliberately.

“That’s the kind of man he is. He only uses people whose weaknesses he holds, then discards them when they’re no longer useful. Like pieces on a chessboard.”

Kalintz said it with a voice full of contempt.

Watching him, Blair found herself wondering if she had ever seen him show such raw emotion before.

“He seemed to be lying low for a while, but he was quietly arranging things behind the scenes.”

“……He wasn’t exactly lying low.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

Ernst looked at Blair with wide eyes.

“The nobles who sided with Marquis Lorentz after Anais Brienne died. Have you noticed they’ve gone quiet?”

“Oh…… now that you mention it……”

“The nobles who switched sides thinking Olivia would be chosen as princess consort. Duke Brienne cut every single one of them out.”

Being subjected to tea parties, embroidery sessions, and garden strolls with noble ladies two or three times a day naturally brought certain news to her ears.

Among the recurring rumors, things like a certain young lady being humiliated at a Brienne-hosted party, or someone else not even receiving an invitation, similar threads kept appearing. Once she sorted through them, the answer came quickly.

“Those who had sided with Marquis Lorentz, from the individuals themselves to their wives and children. All of them were excluded from social and political circles in a similar pattern. Too many for it to be a coincidence.”

“When did Your Highness manage to figure all of that out?”

Ernst said with genuine admiration.

“You must have been busy just adjusting to everything, and yet in such a short time you already have a grasp of how the social scene is moving.”

“Well…… Tilda has been a great help, advising me along the way.”

Blair, never quite immune to praise, said with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Even so, finding the common thread among all that information is no small thing. There are so many unfounded rumors in social circles.”

“……There are a lot of unreliable ones, yes. So I made sure to hear about each incident from multiple people.”

Tracing the points where information overlapped made it far easier to determine what was true.

“Her Highness the Princess Consort understands the basics of gathering intelligence very well.”

Ernst continued to offer his admiration freely.

“In any case, Duke Brienne has been quietly eliminating his rivals while pretending to keep a low profile.”

Blair narrowed her eyes and continued.

“And all the while, it seems he’s been careful not to leave any evidence that could be used against him. Truly thorough and—”

“Blair.”

A low, settled voice cut in.

Kalintz, who had been silent with a displeased expression for some time now.

“Who asked you to do any of this?”

“……Pardon?”

Blair looked at him with a puzzled expression at his pointed look.

“I don’t believe I ever asked you to keep track of Duke Brienne’s movements.”

“No, what are you saying all of a sudden?”

“I’m asking why you’re doing something no one told you to do.”

The tone was thoroughly contrary, and Blair was beginning to feel genuinely baffled.

“Was this something that required permission?”

“What?”

“Duke Brienne is someone who tried to use his own child’s death to get rid of both me and Olivia.”

After nearly being done in like that, who would not pay attention?

And that was not the only reason she was keeping an eye on the duke.

“And I believe he was also involved in the past—”

“……Ha. Blair.”

Kalintz rubbed his brow and cut her off.

“Willer Brienne is not someone to take lightly. He’s not the kind of person you go after out of simple spite.”

He said it flatly, his expression still hard.

“So don’t concern yourself with him any further. I’ll handle it.”

The words drew a clear line, as though telling her to stay out of it entirely, and Blair felt a flare of irritation.

“I’m not sure when I ever suggested I thought Duke Brienne was someone to take lightly, Your Highness.”

Blair put particular weight on the word Your Highness.

“And how do you know whether my reasons are simple spite or something else entirely? What gives you the right to decide that?”

“I can tell by looking.”

“I wonder. It’s not as though we’re the kind of couple who can read each other with a glance, despite what the world believes.”

“Ha. I’m not here to trade clever remarks.”

The atmosphere stiffened in an instant, and Ernst, who had been watching nervously, stepped in.

“Both of you, please calm down a little. The attendants outside will hear everything.”

“……”

Blair wanted to argue further, but she held back, knowing it would reach other ears just as Ernst said.

How quickly rumors spread through the palace had already been proven by the story of the torn robe.

“I’ll take my leave then. Oh, and do I need permission for that as well?”

At the thoroughly sarcastic question, Kalintz let out a low, humorless laugh.

“I don’t recall giving permission to come in, either.”

Right. He always had that infuriating way of speaking.

Blair reminded herself of a fact she had briefly forgotten from spending too much time in his company lately, and turned sharply on her heel.

She had been about to yank the study door open, but thinking of the attendants outside, she just barely reined herself in.

The door opened and closed, quietly and gently, in stark contrast to the cold air inside.

“……That is a very strange way of saying you’re worried.”

Ernst let out a deep sigh, looking at the space Blair had left behind.

“If you tell her to stop caring like that, even Her Highness the Princess Consort is going to feel put out.”

“If you’re going to say useless things, you can leave too.”

Ernst watched Kalintz’s deeply irritated expression and slowly shook his head.

Why is he so incapable of being honest in front of her.

Ernst thought he understood the reason, but he had no intention of saying so.

“Things are going to be rough for you ahead.”

Slipping out of the study to avoid his lord’s foul mood, Ernst murmured quietly to himself.

❀❀❀

“You’re not reading today. You had your nose in a book every spare moment.”

Tilda noticed that the history books that had covered Blair’s desk for the past several days had been pushed to a corner.

“Someone went and thoroughly irritated me, so I’m not in the mood.”

Blair muttered with a face full of grievance.

“Oh my, who?”

“……Ha. Someone who thinks very highly of himself.”

Not even recognizing when someone was looking out for him, and then asking why she was doing things no one asked her to do. Telling her to stay out of it, that he would handle everything himself. Even thinking back on it now, it stung.

“If he says stay out of it, I’ll stay out of it.”

“This highly impressive person wouldn’t happen to be His Highness the Prince, would it?”

At Tilda’s question, Blair only let out a deep sigh and sank into the sofa.