After Iophe left, I looked around the room. It was certainly a space filled with things that would make you regret it if no one had prepared them for you. Among them, something in particular caught my eye. A single painting hanging on the wall.

‘Oh, this is……’

I remembered seeing a newspaper article once with the title ‘Sietan Gallery Auction Record Price Renewed.’ It was a painting by Hugh Dos.

‘So it was here. As expected…… Hertus.’

I, who had been confident with Idebald’s assets that were ruined beyond measure, almost felt shabby.

‘He said a certain portion of profits. I wonder how much that will be……’

But I soon abandoned that thought. How much could a certain portion even be? It’s better to give up expectations on such profits from the start so you won’t feel bad later.

After finishing my tour of the room, I returned to the bed and lay down, continuing to think about the contract. After the opportunity to state clauses passed, regrettable parts kept coming to mind one after another.

‘Should I have put a clause not to kill me in the contract? No, this contract is only for a year anyway, and when that time comes, the contract will be useless anyway. And……’

Knock knock—

At the timely sound of knocking, I sat up. One of the ducal family’s maids and Tilla, whom I’d brought from the Idebald family, entered.

“How shall we prepare your meal, Madam?”

At the unfamiliar form of address, I felt goosebumps rise on my forearms. The feeling of what Iophe must have felt when I said the word ‘Father’ passed through me intensely.

‘It was an even more tremendous feeling than I thought.’

I composed my trembling shoulders and asked.

“What about His Grace?”

“His Grace usually dines in the dining room. Master Iophe has gone out on business.”

“Tell them to prepare mine in the dining room as well. I want to eat together.”

“Yes, Madam.”

The Hertus family maid withdrew and Tilla approached. When I returned from death, she had just left on vacation, so it felt like I was seeing her after a very long time.

‘Come to think of it, when I drank that poisoned tea, it happened to be when Tilla wasn’t there.’

The reason I summoned her here after she hurriedly came up upon hearing Seian’s obituary was because Tilla had handled all those matters when I’d done suspicious things before.

“Did you properly check what I ordered?”

“Yes.”

Tilla held out a box made of leather. It was an item that obviously showed money had been spent on it at a glance.

‘It seems impossible to give it during mealtime.’

I returned the box to Tilla and said.

“Hold onto it well, then bring it out when I call you during tea time. Deliver the rest of the orders so they can be used.”

Going down to the dining room, I was slightly nervous. At the wedding venue, there were at least guests around, but this was inside the Hertus estate, and if I faced the Duke in the dining room, wouldn’t it be just the two of us?

‘Iophe doesn’t seem to be here either……’

It’s funny how at times like this, I miss him as a familiar person.

When the dining room door opened, I saw Duke Hertus sitting at the head of the table. I greeted him lightly with courtesy and sat down.

“……”

“……”

The moment I reunited with him, I felt my body twisting uncomfortably, finding it difficult to endure even this silence, making my determination to give it a try seem pointless.

And regardless of my feelings, the food began to be served in order. From appetizers to the main dish. While the plates were being changed, only one consistent thought kept arising in my head.

‘I don’t know what to say. What did Duke Hertus like?’

I tried hard to recall the contents of <Secret>, but nothing particular came to mind. While I was fumbling around like that, the silent mealtime was almost coming to an end.

‘At this rate, it’ll be over.’

That couldn’t happen. I needed to find the medicine as soon as possible. I squeezed out my voice.

“F-Father……”

If Iophe had been next to me at a time like this, he would have been an excellent catalyst. I had no hesitation about doing things that would upset people, but when the target was only me, the story was different.

Duke Hertus turned his gaze to me.

“……Would you like to have tea time with me?”

Would this line have been a bit better if Duke Hertus was a duchess instead of a duke? It was a problem I hadn’t thought of until I prepared the items.

He had an impression similar to Iophe, especially those cold-looking eyes.

‘I’d forgotten for a moment because it was fun to see Iophe bristle.’

Both of them had impressions that looked chillingly cold when still. Faces that seemed like they would quietly recite ‘you’re Yuena Idebald’ no matter what I did. I calmly repeated to myself.

‘Ha…… that’s Iophe. Iophe who resembles Iophe.’

But imagining Duke Hertus in front of me holding a dainty teacup in his hands, my voice burst out on its own.

“……If you’re busy, it can’t be helped……”

“Fine.”

“I’m alri— Pardon?”

“Come to the tea room prepared in the garden after the meal.”

After finishing the bewildering meal, I headed to the tea room prepared in the garden with Tilla standing behind me. Since Duke Hertus hadn’t arrived yet, I decided to look around the garden for a while.

‘This is the garden Rosie walked through in .’

I could see pale pink peonies blooming throughout the garden.

‘It really is similar to Rosie’s hair color.’

While I was spacing out in the pink garden for a while, I heard someone pulling a cart.

‘They must have brought tea.’

Wondering if Duke Hertus had arrived, I turned around and unconsciously took a step back.

‘That maid……’

The maid who had pulled the cart bowed to me, then was in the middle of moving refreshments and tea to the tea table.

“……You there.”

“Yes?”

“You…… what’s your name?”

“……D-Dana. Madam.”

The maid seemed to know my notoriety well by now and bowed, trembling as if ready to prostrate herself flat.

“Have you worked at the Hertus estate long?”

“About…… a year.”

Dana was the Idebald family maid who had brought out the tea when I drank the poisoned tea. Come to think of it, it didn’t make sense for her to build experience here and then come to Idebald. Wasn’t that a demotion?

I spoke in a nonchalant tone, deliberately ignoring my throat that ached like a phantom pain.

“Will you show me around the garden? If you’ve worked for a year, you must know the Hertus garden well.”

“……Yes! ……Then this way……”

How many more peony buds had I seen following Dana? At Tilla’s words that the Duke had arrived, I returned to the tea room. The tea had cooled to just the right temperature.

My head was complicated by the person I’d suddenly encountered, but I gestured to Tilla as planned to bring out the box.

“This is my gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. It’s tableware specially treated to detect all poisons.”

“Hmm……”

The Duke examined the silver spoon closely as if appraising it. At the end of the tableware was a somewhat flashy turtle-shaped jewel, which was my mistake for not specifying details when ordering.

‘I ordered it in passing while out resolving Rosie’s matter……’

Fight poison with poison, as they say. I didn’t commission the tableware from just any workshop, but from a dark guild. Since I’d been dealing with them for quite a long time, they naturally seemed to have made it at a similar level to the contraband I’d ordered before…… but it didn’t suit the Duke’s hands at all.

‘Setting aside how incongruous it is, because it’s a teaspoon, it feels like a toy……’

But I smiled as if I knew nothing. There was no point in revealing it was a mistake and just getting caught.

“It’s really pretty, isn’t it? The moment I saw this at the shop, I wanted to give it to you as a gift. Turtles symbolize longevity, you know.”

The Duke merely nodded with an attitude of ‘I see.’ I didn’t give up. At least I didn’t want to be seen as a sensitive person who was the only one in this house using poison-detecting spoons.

“So…… I liked it so much that I bought them all, so may I change the ducal residence’s tableware to these from now on?”

“Do so.”

Ah. Duke Hertus was too silent, even for someone silent. I naturally thought of Iophe.

‘One is too silent and the other is a fight whenever he opens his mouth.’

Both are equally tiresome.

“Um…… the garden was so beautiful.”

“You’ve already looked around.”

The Duke spoke quietly and frowned.

‘Should I not have looked around?’

I spoke with a nuance that it wasn’t intentional.

“A maid named Dana kindly introduced me to the garden just now.”

“……I see.”

“Yes. She was so kind that I really liked her. If it’s alright, I’d like to use her as my maid……”

The Duke swallowed a cup of tea and nodded impassively. After that, there was silence. I could only take a sip after dipping the silver spoon I’d brought into the tea to confirm there was no poison.

‘This space really doesn’t suit me.’

A tea room full of pink peonies resembling Rosie. Even the maid named Dana I encountered there. If things had gone according to plan, I would have exchanged a few more words with the Duke, but I wasn’t in the mood.

After the awkward tea time ended, on the way back to my room with Tilla and Dana standing behind me. Still, there were things I had to do.

“M-Madam…… I’m just a maid…… why me……”

“Because I liked how kind you were.”

“Thank…… you…… But I’ve never done this kind of work……”

“Right. But it’s nothing much. Just taste my food once each time from now on.”

“……Pardon?”

“I’m telling you to eat my food first to see if it’s poisoned or not. Is that difficult?”

“N-no……!”

“Then know that and withdraw. I’ll call you if there’s work to do.”

After sending out Dana and Tilla, I sat on the sofa and took a deep breath. Looking at that face made me feel like I wanted to slap her cheek.

‘……Of course, someone must have ordered her to do it.’

But who could deny the conviction gradually seeping in about who was behind it?