The carriage halted briefly in a desolate area. Mel had a light meal and used the remaining water to dye her hair. Daisy only helped Mel back into the carriage before stepping back onto the ground.

“I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll disembark now and join you later at Conercio. If you go a bit further, the Count will also stop by. Though he won’t stay long.”

Daisy moved to close the carriage door but leaned in again. The flickering lamplight illuminated her hesitant expression. She whispered softly after confirming that the coachman had gone off to smoke a cigar.

“When I spread the rumor to you, I thought I’d get slapped or kicked out. Usually, getting caught gossiping leads to that kind of outcome. I never expected you to summon me separately and confirm the rumor with a valuable item.”

“Are you saying you were deceived because I didn’t act like a noble?”

“No, not at all!”

Daisy hastily denied it and rubbed the back of her neck.

“I was really grateful for the necklace you gave me back then. I desperately needed the money. It’s no exaggeration to say you saved my life.”

“……”

“So, if the Count offers you anything to eat, I suggest you don’t accept it.”

“What?”

“Well, I’ll see you in Conercio, Miss Mel.”

Daisy shut the carriage door without giving Mel a chance to ask further. Left in the dim space, Mel and the lamp were all that remained. She stared at the closed door momentarily before letting out a long sigh.

***

The engagement to Eos Heaven proceeded smoothly. Given the circumstances, the engagement ceremony was skipped and handled with paperwork alone. As a result, Gopher left his residence for the first time during his leave.

Sitting in the drawing room of the Heaven estate, he reviewed the documents with Damian Heaven. It felt as if time had turned back. Near the end of their discussion, Gopher spoke in his usual calm manner.

“Regarding the compensation from the last incident, could I request one additional item?”

Damian raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Didn’t we agree not to bring up that matter again when we sealed the deal?”

“There’s still compensation that hasn’t been delivered. I’d just like you to consider substituting it with another item.”

“Very well. Let’s hear it.”

“I’d like to receive the ashes of Bleria Heaven.”

Damian was silent for a moment. His expression mirrored that of Stella when she looked at Gopher.

The request likely sounded bizarre since he hadn’t mentioned the intention to build a grave. Yet Gopher didn’t bother explaining, and Damian eventually spoke again.

“Regrettably, they were discarded.”

“Where?”

Damian explained, with an increasingly perplexed expression, that the ashes had been thrown out with other trash, and their whereabouts were now unknown.

“So I won’t be able to make a grave,” Gopher murmured after a long pause.

Once the conversation ended, Damian left the drawing room, suggesting Gopher meet Eos. Gopher nodded indifferently. Shortly after, his new fiancée entered the room.

“It’s been a while, Young Duke.”

“Yes, it has. I’m here to finalize the engagement arrangements.”

“Yes, I’ve heard.”

After that, there was little left to say. When Gopher fell silent, Eos awkwardly tried to keep the conversation going with various topics.

She spoke of how things had ended this way despite no definitive agreement, thanked him for not breaking off the marriage talks, and expressed hope for the future—empty, meaningless words.

As he listened with a growing sense of wasted time, Eos suddenly said, “Instead of staying here, why don’t we go to my room?”

“I—”

“It’s the room the late Lady used to stay in. I heard you’ve been there before.”

Mentioning Bleria so openly—wasn’t that too obvious?

When Gopher stared at her, Eos smiled brightly. Yet cold sweat trickled down her cheek.

Why did I ever think her face resembled Bleria’s?

Looking again, there wasn’t even a slight resemblance. Still, the other side had clearly noticed how his mood wavered at a smiling face and exploited it. He let out a dry laugh.

When Gopher didn’t respond, Eos asked again, “Are you short on time…?”

Gopher crossed his arms and lowered his gaze before lifting his head again.

The room was almost unchanged since the last time he had been there. Everything remained the same except for its occupant. Even the assigned maid seemed familiar as she served tea.

Why go to such lengths in such a large mansion with no shortage of rooms or staff? Gopher’s mood darkened further.

Amid this, a maid named Lucy tripped and spilled a jewelry box with a loud crash. The sound drew everyone’s attention.

“I-I’m sorry, My Lady. My legs gave out.”

“That’s fine, but I don’t recall taking out the jewelry box…”

“Oh, I had taken it out earlier to clean it. I didn’t expect you to come up.”

Rather than engaging in the pointless exchange, Gopher looked down. The carpet was strewn with jewelry—luxurious and dazzling, yet there was little gold among them. Moreover…

“It’s a small collection.”

The maid flinched and lowered her head further. Eos, staring at the jewelry with a peculiar expression, commented, “It seems so. She didn’t seem to have much interest in collecting these.”

Had the maid taken some of the jewelry? No, the family wouldn’t have been careless enough to keep a petty thief as the personal maid of the Lady.

Perhaps the previous owner had hidden some assets? Given how dire things had become, it wasn’t impossible.

Regardless of whether Bleria had hidden anything, the only thing left of her was a lifeless body. That was the logical conclusion, yet a faint breeze settled in the corner of his heart.

Gopher rose from his seat. While he might have exchanged some words after entering the room, nothing stayed in his memory. At that point, Eos didn’t press him further and said her goodbyes.

“Please visit often.”

Gopher glanced at where the jewelry box had been and replied, “Sure.”

***

Mixel Luke’s expression darkened the moment he received the report. His low, sharp voice revealed his displeasure.

“Why is the corpse in such good condition? Didn’t I tell you to handle it properly? Luckily, the Heaven Young Duke rushed to deal with it quickly. If anyone had noticed the body was fake, unnecessary investigations could have followed.”

“Apologies, my lord.”

“Is ruining my work your ultimate goal?”

“No, my lord! I swear this won’t happen again.”

The informant hurriedly bowed, feeling the piercing gaze dull into the back of her head. The tension was suffocating, as if a blade might descend on her neck at any moment. Her body was drenched in cold sweat.

Though she dared not voice it, she had her own thoughts.

“If you’d damaged it that much, it would’ve been obvious it was a fake. What nonsense.”

The very idea of deceiving a family as powerful as Heaven with a fake corpse was ludicrous from the start. All he knew was how to kill people, and after all these years, his only real skill was intimidation—no wonder he wasn’t even in the running for Duke.

“Hey.”

“Yes, my lord?”

“This is the last time I’m letting it slide. Watch your neck.”

She had expected something to break—bones or pride—but to her surprise, he let her off. Had he lost his edge? Her eyes widened before she realized the reason. Ah, right. Their manpower had been cut down to less than half.

Suppressing a bitter smile, the informant fled at his curt “Get out.” After sending her away, Mixel ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

Judging by the circumstances, Damian Heaven hadn’t noticed the fake. But why had he been so quick to burn the corpse? After pondering for a while, Mixel shook his head.

“Forget it. It’s fine.”

No tracking party had been dispatched, so there was no point in overthinking. Dwelling on it would only cost him. Grabbing the glass vial the informant had left with the report, he stepped outside.

Even after Heaven conducted a second investigation, Mixel didn’t return to the Allnight estate.

After shaking off the tails following him, he waited for Bleria on a forest path leading to Conercio. Her carriage had taken a winding route, making it easy to get ahead of her.

About 20 minutes later, a jet-black carriage came into view. The cargo carriage slowed to a halt before stopping in front of Mixel. Without hesitation, he swung the door open.

“Well, it’s been a while—”

His greeting was cut short as he held his breath.

The forest path was dappled with sunlight filtering through the leaves. The thin rays illuminated the woman inside.

Her disheveled hair, porcelain cheeks as if sculpted, and crimson eyes that seemed to hold candlelight—he’d thought Bleria’s beauty was due to her rare hair color. Yet, even with a more everyday shade dyed onto her hair, her allure hadn’t diminished.

How can someone’s eyes look like that…?

To snap himself out of it, he slapped his own cheek. Startled, the woman’s slightly furrowed brow softened, and her eyes widened slightly.

Damn, she’s disgustingly gorgeous.

At times like this, he had to admit Gopher’s taste was impeccable. Maybe that bastard had a knack for turning everything he touched into gold…

Feeling his neck grow inexplicably hot, Mixel rubbed it and flashed a sly grin.

“Was the trip uncomfortable? Step out for a moment—there’s no one around here.”

With Mixel’s assistance, Bleria descended from the carriage.