Karl frowned at Maria’s nonsense.

“I don’t know what you’re saying. Wake up, Miss Maria.”

Maria smiled dreamily with unfocused eyes.

Still intoxicated by the drug, she kept mumbling things like “it was a wonderful night.”

Blood suddenly streamed from her nose.

Her eyes grew wider as she wiped under her nose with fumbling hands.

Maria’s gaze gradually became clearer.

She looked around with a blank face for a moment, then seemed to grasp the situation and called his name with a surprised expression.

“Oh, Karl…… Lord Winger?”

“That’s a relief. It seems you’ve truly regained consciousness now. I’ll call someone. Please wait.”

“What? No, why am I…… on the floor……?”

Karl left Maria struggling to get up and quickly went outside the room to call someone.

People rushed up from the first floor as if they had been waiting.

It was Landers and his servants.

“What happened?”

“Miss Maria seems to have been much more innocent than I thought. She fainted immediately after I unbuttoned my shirt to show my side.”

“What are you……”

Landers wrinkled his face as if this made no sense.

Yet he didn’t forget to glance sideways at Karl’s half-opened shirt.

Karl deliberately swayed his body exaggeratedly to show the inside, then acted as if he suddenly noticed Landers’ gaze and buttoned up his shirt.

‘He should have seen it by now. That there’s no wound on my side.’

In reality, the wound covered by artificial skin hadn’t completely healed.

The doctor had told Karl not to overexert himself, but he couldn’t just sit still during this crucial time.

Meanwhile, they reached Maria who had collapsed.

“Maria! What on earth happened!”

“La-Landers…… um, suddenly…… I, I don’t know.”

“Miss Maria, it’s my fault. To think you would faint immediately upon seeing a man’s bare body. I didn’t realize you were so innocent that you couldn’t even handle such a sight.”

“What? M-me?”

When Maria opened her eyes wide in surprise, red blood dripped from her nostrils again.

That appearance made her look exactly like someone who had fainted because a n*ked body was too stimulating, just as Karl had said.

Landers groaned, holding his forehead in embarrassment at his sister.

“What is wrong with you……!”

“N-no, that’s not it! I mean, I asked him to undress and had a drink……”

“Come to think of it, that wine must have been strong. I felt dizzy as soon as I drank it too.”

“Uh……? Ah, that, um……?”

Maria looked around with a puzzled face.

She saw broken wine glasses on the floor around them.

Both glasses were broken, so she couldn’t tell which was hers and which was his.

‘Could the wine glasses have been switched? Why did I faint?’

Maria was confused but couldn’t openly ask such things, so she kept her mouth shut.

Or perhaps, as Karl suggested, she really had fainted at the sight of his n*ked body?

‘But I didn’t see anything!’

She wouldn’t feel so wronged if she had actually seen something.

Having fainted without seeing anything made her feel so unfairly treated that she could go crazy.

“Lord Winger, did I really……”

“Don’t you remember touching it too? My goodness, that wine must have been really strong.”

Karl calmly lied with a genuinely concerned face.

Maria’s eyes trembled slightly.

As always, when she sensed things weren’t going her way, she looked to Landers.

Landers helped Maria up with an embarrassed face.

“It seems we’ve confirmed there’s no wound on your side. I apologize for our rudeness.”

“Not at all. It’s understandable that you’re desperate to catch the culprit.”

Karl spoke as if he completely understood while adjusting his clothes.

“This has been a chaotic luncheon. I should be heading back now.”

Oh, no……!

Maria reached out toward Karl in shock, but Landers blocked her.

“Let’s end it here for today and see him off, Maria.”

“……But—!”

“Maria, you’re still having a nosebleed. Are you aware of that?”

“……!”

Maria turned pale and quickly covered her face with both hands.

Karl looked at Maria with a sympathetic expression and bid farewell.

“You should rest well, Miss Maria.”

Karl immediately went down to the lobby.

Gustav, who had been waiting, quickly brought the carriage to him.

“……The finishing touches?”

“Successfully completed.”

Fortunately, things seemed to have gone according to plan.

The two exchanged glances before boarding the carriage.

That night. When it was dark enough for everyone to be asleep,

An old, shabby carriage stopped in front of the Tartien mansion.

And shortly after the carriage arrived.

“……Oh my god, fire!”

Flames shot up from the kitchen of the Tartien mansion.

* * *

“What?! F-fire? Did you say fire?”

Schultz rushed out of his room in pajamas at the terrible screams coming from outside.

By the time he got outside, smoky haze had already filled up to the second floor.

“Duke!”

“What! What’s happening! Where are Maria and Landers?!”

The butler quickly approached the pale-faced Schultz and reported the situation.

“There’s a fire in the kitchen, master! The flames spread in an instant to the first-floor lobby. You must evacuate before it’s too late! The young master and miss are being escorted by Lindsay and Paul!”

“What? No!”

At the butler’s words, Schultz ran to his study with a white face.

“Master!”

“Follow me! We need to save the items that mustn’t burn first!”

“But……”

“These things are more important than ordinary lives! What are you doing? Why aren’t you following me?”

Schultz hurriedly approached the safe in his study.

Meanwhile, the sounds of things breaking and servants crying grew louder throughout the mansion.

Panicked screams became more frequent.

“Damn it, I, first these documents. And the family records, I need to save the family records……”

“Master! You must hurry.”

“Why isn’t anyone putting out the fire? Surely they’re not just running away because of the fire?”

“No! Everyone is trying to extinguish the fire! But you know, right? The smoke is dangerous to breathe in too, not just the fire.”

“It’s fine. We can jump from the second floor if necessary. So save the valuables first!”

Schultz grabbed the butler’s collar and shouted angrily.

“If this mansion burns down completely, the first ones to die will be those who fled first, understand?!”

Schultz hastily stuffed the safe’s contents into any bag he could find.

He also ordered the butler to hold documents like land deeds.

That’s when it happened.

BOOM!

A tremendous noise shook the mansion.

It came from the direction of the greenhouse in the back garden.

“……It can’t be!”

Schultz ran out to the corridor with a pale face.

* * *

“……This way.”

Mark, who had been waiting, took advantage of the commotion to bring the mother and daughter out from the shabby hut built near the back garden of the mansion.

Flames shot up along the track that Mark and Gustav had installed in advance.

They had made the fire start from the kitchen near the opposite entrance to divert attention away from this area.

The night was extremely chaotic yet eerily quiet.

They ran along the secret path in the garden, turning their backs on the kitchen area where people were gathering.

‘A carriage will be waiting in front of the gardeners’ side door. You must come out within 30 minutes after the fire starts.’

Smoke began to spread around them.

Each time they smelled that pungent burning odor, their hearts pounded violently.

Fortunately, the guards who had been watching the mansion must have gone to extinguish the fire, because no one was guarding the side door.

“……Go out first, I need to go back in and finish things.”

“……!”

When Mark opened the side door and pushed the girl’s back, she grabbed his clothes in surprise.

“Co-come together! It’s dangerous. Together.”

“……No, I still have important business to take care of. Go now, your father will be waiting.”

The girl’s eyes wavered at the mention of her father.

Mark smiled and stroked the child’s head.

“Thank you for worrying. I hope my child grows up strong and smart like you.”

“……Mister.”

“Now, hurry. It becomes more dangerous if we waste time here.”

Mark pushed the mother and daughter’s backs.

The child sent her mother out first, then turned around and shouted to Mark.

“You must escape. You must!”

Mark smiled and sent the girl out.

She seemed worried about him, probably because he was the only one in this mansion who had cared for them.

He felt grateful.

But he still had one final mission left.

He took a short deep breath, then ran back into the garden.

‘I must hurry. Before the police or fire department arrives!’

He had become a spy against the Duke and set fire to his mansion.

If he got caught, he would certainly die.

It was a life-risking job.

Without duty or sense of mission, purely for money, he risked his life.

Was he feeling resentful or afraid?

Not at all.

Rather, he felt grateful for the opportunity to cure his daughter’s illness with his own life.

‘He paid me so well that I couldn’t even feel wronged about doing such dangerous work.’

Even if he worked to death on a farm, he wouldn’t receive even a quarter of the amount guaranteed now.

So he felt so grateful for getting this job.

“……You there.”

Just when he was looking for the bomb device button he had installed in the greenhouse,

A chillingly low voice gripped the back of his head.

“You, what are you doing there?”

Landers.

The future owner of this mansion.