‘You’d think Emily would get tired of saying all that, but she never changes.’

Consistency was not a bad thing. Even the excessive expressions felt like faithfulness, something easy enough to laugh off.

Angela looked down the corridor where Natasha had disappeared.

Natasha had an alibi that day. Castle had complained of severe stomach pains, and Natasha had come running to Angela and Emily in a panic, demanding a doctor be called at once. Even when Angela suggested waiting and watching after giving Castle some medicine good for stomachaches, Natasha had wailed and carried on like Charles, fretting over what might happen if something serious occurred.

In the end, Castle had simply overeaten. Nothing was wrong at all.

Because of Natasha’s frantic insistence that no one touch Castle anywhere but the stomach, terrified that the secret of Castle’s s*x might be discovered, they had failed to notice Joel’s absence early on. Natasha had also picked a quarrel with Emily so relentlessly that Angela herself had eventually stepped in.

Greedy as Natasha was, she was not bold enough to commission a murder. Besides, Emily had said the killer smelled of expensive perfume. Even if Natasha had somehow ordered the crime, she could never have afforded to hire a nobleman.

Even so, nothing could be said with certainty yet.

Being murdered did not only mean losing someone precious. Until the killer was caught, suspicion fell endlessly on everyone who might be responsible.

Ordinary life crumbled along with everything else.

She would find the real culprit. No matter what.

It was a grueling ordeal, but this was the mourning she owed as the wife who had survived.

Joel, I will find the one who killed you and make them pay.

❀❀❀

But what on earth was this spectacle.

“Ah, Miss…… what kind of animal is that?”

“An elephant. And it looks like there are monkeys beside it as well.”

Angela watched with cold, flat eyes as the long procession made its way into the Maister comital house.

Two groups of large elephants, male and female, were entering with magnificent tassels draped across them. Monkeys shrieked and tumbled over one another. Exotic birds with colorful feathers fluttered and beat their wings inside gilded cages.

Behind the elephants, women dressed in foreign garments walked with baskets balanced on their heads. The contents of the baskets varied wildly. Rare fruits, heaps of brightly colored flowers, lumps of gold and silver.

At the very back, musicians played as they hurried to keep up.

Atop one of the elephants sat a canopied platform, and from it a red-haired man looked down with an arrogant gaze.

And that was not all. Four strikingly attractive men and women stood at the very front of the procession, pulling flower petals and gold coins from baskets and scattering them in every direction.

The scale of it would have crushed any ordinary circus parade.

Seeing the red hair swaying atop the elephant where the man sat with such insufferable arrogance, Angela could tell who it was without looking closely. The muscular, powerfully built frame helped confirm it.

Isaac Leo Galland.

Arriving first among all the suitors, he was clearly as impulsive as rumored. How much money had he spent to put together something like this.

She had known he was willful, but her head was already beginning to ache.

“I knew he would make an entrance with a show of wealth, but I was naive to picture something as modest as a small bundle of gifts.”

“It’s extraordinary. How much do you think all of this cost?”

“I’d like nothing more than to go inside, lock the doors, and send him away.”

Her remark sounded entirely sincere, and Emily’s eyes went wide.

“Will you really?”

“No. I have obligations as a countess.”

At that moment, Isaac spotted Angela and leapt down from the elephant, using the step attached to its side. The moment he landed, the musicians burst into a fanfare as though they had been waiting for exactly that cue.

Isaac then dropped to one knee before Angela and opened a ring case. Inside sat a ring set with a large, glittering gemstone. Despite the size of the stone, the design was quite refined.

“Angela, to think you’ve accepted my proposal. I’m overwhelmed.”

He had gotten ahead of himself, and Angela corrected the error without so much as a change in expression.

“I have not accepted your proposal. I extended an invitation to my residence, Lord Galland. And please address me as Countess Maister.”

“We are at the stage where you’ve received my proposal letter and invited me to your home. Surely that warrants addressing you by name as a gesture of familiarity?”

“Familiarity comes after becoming familiar.”

She had not the slightest desire to grow close to him, but there was no other way to determine whether this reckless, self-indulgent man was the killer.

“Then at least accept the ring. I sent the proposal letter, but I haven’t made a proper declaration yet, so consider it a gift.”

“The gifts you’ve brought are already far too much. I will accept the thought alone. Please rise.”

“I will not rise until you accept it.”

“Then I’m afraid you’ll be kneeling for quite some time.”

Angela said that and turned away.

In the distance, beyond the extravagant procession, a pure white carriage appeared. As it drew closer, the crest of House Wilton became clearly visible on its side.

Clip-clop. The sound of hooves slowing, and then the carriage door opened.

Ashley stepped out, neatly dressed without a trace of excess or deficiency, carrying an enormous bouquet of flowers. His bright smile made him look entirely harmless.

Watching this, Isaac sneered.

“A single bouquet. Is that the extent of a ducal house’s standing?”

Ashley answered with his composed smile intact.

“This is the territory of House Maister. I simply brought a gift that would not burden our host.”

“A charming way to dress up a lack of preparation.”

Looking over the crowd and goods Isaac had brought with him, Ashley replied.

“If Countess Maister were to visit my estate, I would be more than willing to adorn her hands with every jewel imaginable and commission a gold elephant to stand at the gate. But what matters most is her wishes, does it not?”

He then turned to Isaac with an expression of genuine concern.

“Does your knee not hurt?”

Still holding out the ring, still kneeling on one leg, Isaac answered like a sulking child.

“I am not so frail that this would hurt me.”

Ashley turned toward Angela and offered the enormous bouquet with a gentle manner. It was so large that it would have hidden Angela’s entire upper body if she held it.

“Thank you for the invitation, Countess Maister.”

“Angela, if you accept his gift, you must accept mine as well! You’ve invited us both equally. Accepting one person’s gift and not the other’s is hardly fair, is it?”

Isaac shouted loudly. Angela’s expression tightened.

“Calling me by my name without permission seems to be your way of getting familiar. I find it unpleasant, Lord Galland. First, please change that ridiculous posture.”

Faced with Angela’s icy manner, Isaac finally rose, gathering himself reluctantly. Even with a sullen look on his face, he stepped up beside Ashley and thr*st his gift forward. His eyes, dark as obsidian, burned.

Angela, however, was not flustered.

She simply looked at each of the two gifts in turn.

“This appears to be a competition of gifts. One guest has yet to arrive, so I will wait until that person arrives before deciding whether to accept them or not.”

A costly jeweled ring.

Isaac looked triumphant, as though prepared to give her everything he had brought.

‘The gift he brought is excessive, but the Galland family has always been known for lavishing material attention during courtship. Accepting something of this level would not be a problem. If anything, it would mark me as a woman worthy of such pursuit.’

A bouquet chosen with evident care.

Ashley smiled softly, as though determined not to impose.

‘A bouquet is the most unassuming gift, one that leaves no room for fault on either side. The chances of it being refused are lowest, and it places no burden on the recipient at all. Looking more closely, the flowers are rare and beautiful, clearly expensive. A gift entirely in keeping with the rational and considerate character of the young lord of Wilton.’

Just then, the carriage of House Knowles arrived last.

‘The people on horseback…… are they House Knowles’s private soldiers?’

About ten mounted soldiers were following behind, as though escorting the carriage.

‘Not servants but soldiers. Was Lord Knowles really that faint of heart?’

Before she could resolve the question, the carriage door opened and an unexpected creature came bounding out.

“Woof!”

A dog with a long snout and an elegant, slender build on long, lean legs came racing toward Angela at remarkable speed.

It then looked up at her with large, glistening eyes and sat down neatly at her feet, as though asking to be petted.