A crack appeared on Lucas’s neat forehead. It was a statement difficult to comprehend.

Repay the money?

Whose borrowed money was he talking about?

No, regardless of who borrowed it, why was he asking him to repay it now?

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh in disbelief.

He certainly wasn’t laughing because he was in a good mood. Rather, his mood was about to hit rock bottom at the fact that he was wasting time listening to such nonsense.

“I apologize, President.”

The secretary, noticing Lucas’s displeasure, quickly signaled to the security guard. The guard, also alarmed, tried to drag the man outside.

That would have happened if not for the name that came out of the man’s mouth.

“Th-the Anticia family’s debt should be repaid by you, President! It’s money borrowed in your wife’s name!”

“……!”

Lucas, who had been about to leave, stopped in his tracks. He turned around and strode back toward the man.

The man, seeing Lucas return after having been ignored, brightened up and tried to continue speaking.

But before he could, Lucas grabbed him by the collar, rendering his attempt futile.

“What did you just say? Money borrowed in my wife’s name?”

“Kheuk! Heuk, P-President!”

The man’s feet dangled in the air as Lucas grabbed his collar. Not only the secretary but also the people passing by widened their eyes simultaneously at the sight.

To easily lift a grown man, not a child.

It was an unimaginable scene. Even his secretary, who had assisted him for a long time, couldn’t help but doubt his own eyes.

‘Where does such terrifying strength come from in that body……’

The secretary gaped in shock with his jaw nearly touching the floor, but then, seeing the man’s face turning blue, he panicked and tried to restrain Lucas.

“President! President, please control yourself!”

“My wife would never borrow money, so who impersonated her?”

Despite the secretary’s attempt to stop him, Lucas did not release his grip on the man’s collar. Moreover, unlike his usual self who would speak politely to people he wasn’t close with, he spoke in a rough manner.

That’s how angry he was. So angry that he even lost his usual composure.

“Th-that, kheuk……”

“President! Y-you need to release his collar so he can speak!”

The secretary again tried to persuade Lucas, seeing the man about to pass out.

Perhaps due to his desperate desire not to let his employer become a murderer?

Lucas glanced at his secretary and then released the man’s collar.

Having been suspended in mid-air and suddenly released, the man lost his balance, staggered, and fell on his backside.

“Huaaa…… Cough! Cough!”

The man coughed while catching his breath roughly. At that moment, a shoe approached him.

Looking up at the spotless shoe without a speck of dust, the man trembled and looked up.

Lucas, who had been holding him by the collar until just now, was looking down at him with a cold expression.

“Oh my, P-President!”

“Find out what’s going on.”

Lucas turned his gaze from the man, who was prostrating himself and trembling at the sight of him, and instructed his secretary. The secretary wiped his cold sweat as he looked back and forth between them and quickly bowed his head.

“Yes, I understand.”

“And make sure people keep quiet about this.”

He felt the gazes directed at him and looked around. When the office employees and visitors made eye contact with Lucas, they hurriedly averted their gaze.

‘……Damn it.’

Lucas frowned, cursing inwardly in a way unlike himself.

Although he had instructed his secretary to silence people, there would be no perfect way to block rumors that spread from mouth to mouth.

He glared at the man who was still trembling at the sight of him, then walked away. The driver waiting outside hurriedly opened the back door of the car upon seeing Lucas.

“P-President! There’s blood on your hand……”

Just as Lucas was about to get into the car, the driver spoke with wide eyes.

Drip. Drip.

Only then did he notice blood flowing down his hand.

Along with the realization that he had clenched his fist so tightly that his nails had dug into his palm, creating deep wounds.

* * *

“Ah!”

Giselle winced as she felt a sting at her fingertip while trying to remove her hat. The head maid, who was arranging her outer garments, rushed over in alarm.

“Are you hurt, madam? I’ll call for Fernan right away……”

“Hmm, no. It’s fine. I just got slightly scratched by the hat decoration. It’s not even bleeding.”

She put her finger in her mouth, then took it out and showed it to the head maid. As Giselle said, there was only a faint scratch visible on her finger, without even a drop of blood forming.

But the head maid, still unable to be at ease, spoke again.

“I’ll still call for Fernan, madam. ……Mrs. Beryl, can you attend to her alone?”

Since the maid who had been attending to her had left to prepare the bath, she seemed concerned about leaving her post to call the family doctor.

“Of course, head maid. Go ahead.”

The nanny also nodded quickly, equally concerned about Giselle’s scratch. The head maid gave a slight smile in gratitude and hurried outside.

“……I’m fine, really. Everyone tends to be too overprotective of me.”

Giselle removed her hat again with an embarrassed expression. The nanny took the hat from her and replied.

“It’s not overprotection, it’s only natural. If the master were here right now, don’t you think he would have immediately called for the doctor?”

“……I wonder. Would he?”

“Of course. We all see every day how much the master cherishes and loves you, madam.”

At the nanny’s words, Giselle gave a small smile and sat on the sofa. She needed to change out of her outdoor clothes, but more importantly, she needed to organize her complicated thoughts.

‘Come to think of it, getting scratched while removing my hat was because of that too.’

It was because she had made a mistake while being lost in thought.

She frowned again and fell back into her thoughts. The nanny quietly stepped back so as not to disturb her.

At that moment, Giselle tilted her head and muttered almost to herself.

“……What reason could there be for sending large sums of money to Brensy Mental Hospital?”

“Pardon? Brensy Mental Hospital?”

“Ah, no. I was just talking to myself.”

She waved her hand at the nanny and tried to carefully reconsider what she had discovered. That would have been the case if she hadn’t heard the nanny’s casual mutter.

“I keep hearing that mental hospital’s name lately. Just a few days ago, I heard that’s where the butler goes every month when he goes out.”

“……What?”

Giselle, who had been resting her elbow on the armrest, straightened her posture and looked at the nanny.

“Bushin visits that hospital monthly? The Brensy Mental Hospital I just mentioned?”

“I’m not entirely sure. One of the maids said she went there during her vacation and happened to see the butler coming out.”

The nanny answered with a shrug in a casual tone. However, Giselle could not possibly take those words lightly.

The place where large sums of money had flowed according to the previous family head’s ledger.

The place Bushin reportedly visited monthly when he went out.

She found herself tapping the armrest with her hand and asked the nanny again.

“So Bushin went to that hospital after asking for my permission to go out last time?”

“I suppose so? I wonder if he has family or relatives admitted there……”

Giselle’s eyes narrowed as she listened to the nanny’s answer. She recalled her visit to the bank earlier that day.

⟨Is this correct? This is where the money went…….⟩

⟨Yes, that’s right, madam.⟩

Giselle had two purposes for visiting the bank that afternoon.

First, to invest the ‘allowance’ allocated to her.

And second, to trace the flow of money whose purpose had not been clearly stated in the previous family head’s ledger.

Perhaps it was something that could be dismissed as unimportant, as Lucas had suggested. But something felt unsettling about simply covering it up.

So after thoroughly searching through old records with a bank employee, she finally found the answer.

It was Brensy Mental Hospital.

It was a completely unexpected place. She couldn’t even begin to guess why large sums of money had been sent there.

She had been deeply pondering this unresolved curiosity when the nanny’s words seemed to provide an unexpected clue.

‘Could someone from the Taylor family be admitted to that hospital? But I haven’t heard of any close collateral relatives.’

“Unless it’s that, perhaps……”

Giselle hastily swallowed the words that were about to escape her lips—wondering if the previous family head had a hidden mistress or illegitimate child.

That would be absolutely unacceptable.

Even imagining such a thing would be an insult to the previous family head and, in a way, disrespectful to Lucas as well.

She slapped both her cheeks and shook her head. The nanny, startled by this action, hurriedly approached her.

“Oh my, madam! What’s wrong? Your complexion has turned pale.”

“No, I’m fine. I just had a strange thought for a moment.”

Giselle forced a smile at the nanny and took a deep breath. Perhaps because her startled feelings wouldn’t easily calm down, her fingertips felt cold.