Even amid the chaos, Lady Mifaro, with a calm expression, bluntly pointed out her father’s mistake.

The heir of the Mifaro family then reached out a hand toward his sister.

Though they had stopped holding hands or hugging after growing up—claiming it was disgusting—the siblings tightly clasped each other’s hands.

…Of course, only to grimace in identical expressions of distaste and let go within seconds.

As Aiger silently watched the Mifaro family’s emotional reunion, he slightly nodded toward the back.

At his signal, a man was thrown out of a carriage—his limbs tightly bound, a black cloth covering his face.

“That’s the kidnapper. Deal with him however you like. Just… leave him alive.”

Seeing the kidnapper rolling on the ground, Count Mifaro’s eyes blazed with fury.

“That wretched bastard! How dare he! My daughter! He won’t get away with this—!”

But before his enraged voice could finish echoing through the estate, Lady Mifaro’s resolute declaration cut through.

“I’ll do it! I’ll tear him apart myself!”

The Count, suddenly rendered speechless, turned to stare at his daughter.

The Countess, barely regaining consciousness, let out another weak groan and slumped over again.

“W-What did you say?”

Hearing words that seemed impossible to come from the mouth of a noble lady—his daughter, no less—the Count hesitantly asked for clarification.

With unshaken conviction, Lady Mifaro proudly stated her stance.

“I will slice him thinly from head to toe while you’re still alive— Ugh, mmph!”

The heir, who had just stopped her from uttering the unspeakable, turned to the count and shook his head.

Aiger, who had waited as his subordinate roughly rolled the kidnapper to their feet and dragged them to the front, paid no attention to the family’s little spectacle.

To him, this matter was already settled, and even if it wasn’t, there were far more critical things to handle.

“The introductions are done. We will discuss this matter later.”

Just as Aiger was about to leave, delaying even the courtesy of a proper farewell, he hesitated when a hand grabbed him.

“Let go.”

“Your Highness, please help me!”

The count was so desperate that he abandoned both pride and decorum, clinging to Aiger’s trousers the moment his grip on the sleeve slipped.

Unlike the count, who appealed to emotion, the heir, her younger brother, attempted to persuade Aiger with practical benefits.

“Your Highness, if you take that bastard away from my sister, I will offer you one of our family’s finest mines. Oh, of course! We will also separately discuss compensation for safely retrieving my sister!”

Raylin was unaware of it, but a mine of immense value—originally meant for Catherine—was handed over to Aiger at that moment.

One could only nod at the whisper that followed, thinking, ‘As expected of the younger brother of Lady Mifaro.’

“And if you allow me to watch as that trash is sliced up like sashimi…”

“Fine, just get your face out of mine. Your breath is unpleasant.”

Aiger, having been worn down by the sheer, unfiltered madness of the Mifaro family, which he had never encountered before, eventually relented.

***

“So in the end, His Highness the Crown Prince took that trash away?”

“Yes… um. Yes. That’s right.”

Even after hearing the entire story, Raylin struggled to find the right words, so she forced a smile and searched for another topic.

However, before she could speak, Lady Mifaro suddenly blurted out a question.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. Feel free to ask.”

Encouraged by Raylin’s positive response, Lady Mifaro widened her eyes and spoke.

“How did you find me? No, more importantly, why did you even think of looking for me in the first place?”

Only after returning did she realize that no one, not even her own family, had been particularly proactive in searching for her.

Of course, there was one exception…

Regardless, the fact remained that the treasured daughter of the Greuga family, someone she had only been friendly with but not particularly close to, had personally ventured into the dangerous back alleys to find her.

At the time, she had been so focused on finally escaping that she hadn’t given it much thought.

Raylin slowly traced the handle of her teacup before giving the answer she had prepared in advance.

“When we last met, I realized the rumor about you was false.”

She then explained how she had noticed the exchanged glances and eye contact between Lady Mifaro and her knight—who had now fallen to the status of a mere kidnapper.

Hearing this, Lady Mifaro’s clear eyes sparkled with admiration.

“My goodness! You’re so smart, Lady Raylin!”

“No, it was obvious to anyone with eyes.”

Raylin was sincere.

But Lady Mifaro firmly shook her head.

“Yet no one but you realized it.”

“That’s because of biases, preconceived notions, and the bad habit of only seeing what we want to see.”

Right. People weren’t stupid.

They were simply vulnerable to the various conditions that made them act foolishly.

Lady Mifaro parted her lips as if to argue but, realizing she couldn’t dispute the humility of the person in front of her, merely nodded.

Seeing the adorable frustration floating around Lady Mifaro, Raylin smiled softly and added,

“You’re one of the few people who share my hobbies, so you’re precious to me.”

“I feel the same! You’re precious to me too!”

Raylin gracefully accepted Lady Mifaro’s near-declarative statement, but soon, the following words made her furrow her brows.

“Truly… you’re dear to me. New rumors have already started spreading even after what happened to me.”

“Those rumors…”

As Raylin trailed off, Lady Mifaro let out a dry laugh.

After she returned to her family, a rumor spread that she and her lover had run away together, only for one to return alone under suspicious circumstances.

This time, efforts were made to prevent the rumor from spreading, but rumors were rumors for a reason.

Just as the old saying went—words have no legs, yet they travel a thousand miles.

Once gossip spread from mouth to mouth, it became nearly impossible to control.

From Lady Mifaro’s perspective, it was absurd that after enduring a harrowing ordeal and barely being rescued, she still had to deal with unnecessary slander. But at the same time, publicly revealing that she had been kidnapped was not an easy option either.

“For the sake of my future and to preserve my family’s reputation, I must keep quiet. It’d be disgraceful to admit that a direct descendant of our family was kidnapped because we hired the wrong knight. Instead, once that bastard is dealt with, I’ll spread a rumor that he was a vicious criminal who orchestrated an elaborate conspiracy!”

She casually crushed the top of her tarte Tatin with her spoon, creating a small chocolate waterfall, then smiled playfully.

“But thanks to this, my father—who assigned that knight to me—can’t even look me in the eye!”

She laughed out loud, saying she would continue to tease her father about it in the future before suddenly changing the subject.

“Oh, right! I got engaged again.”

Lady Mifaro added with a sigh.

“Engagement, breakup, re-engagement. It all happened so fast, but when I was kidnapped, the only one who rushed in without hesitation was my fiancé… Oh! Of course, excluding you and His Highness the Crown Prince! You both saved me!”

Raylin patted the back of her hand and replied.

“Oh, I heard about him too.”

“Yes. He came to see me the day after I returned.”

Unlike before, her fiancé now looked rather haggard.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help to you.”

His sincerity was evident in the deep bow of his waist, prompting Lady Mifaro to ask without thinking.

“Why did you go looking for me?”

At her question, her fiancé gave a bitter smile and answered.

“Because I consider you my lifelong partner.”

It was quite a romantic response for an engagement arranged for political reasons.

“So I asked him if he had fallen for me at first sight.”

Her lips twitched as if she was trying to hold back a laugh.

“He jumped up in denial, saying absolutely not!”

“Oh my…”

Raylin covered her mouth, at a loss for words, but Lady Mifaro waved her hand dismissively.

“No, no. I wasn’t offended or hurt at all. In fact, I was so relieved.”

Then, as if suddenly recalling something infuriating, she clenched her teeth, and a blue vein bulged at her temple.

“That bastard kidnapped me, claiming he loved me!”

“So that’s why your fiancé was so adamant in denying it!”

Sensing the ominous energy of her rising fury, Raylin hurriedly tried to defuse the situation, and fortunately, it worked.

“Oh, that’s right.”

Her fiancé had proposed to her again with these words:

“I do not love you, but will you stay by my side until the day I close my eyes?”

It was, by all accounts, a zero-point proposal, but Lady Mifaro gladly accepted the re-engagement.

“Love is a bit exhausting, honestly. But I think we can be good partners. And if we continue like this…”

She trailed off, but Raylin understood the unspoken words.

After spending countless seasons together, they might one day look at each other and realize that they are in love.

“Yes, that’s right.”

As Lady Mifaro finished her story and emptied her teacup, Raylin carefully chose her words, preparing to ask the question she was most curious about.

However, no matter how she phrased it, she couldn’t avoid touching on a sensitive topic.

Recalling the saying that there’s no such thing as a good rejection, Raylin decided it would be better to be direct.

“My lady, may I ask you a question that might be a bit intrusive?”

“Oh my, of course! Ask me anything!”

Even with her cheerful permission, Raylin tread cautiously since the topic concerned her family’s wealth.

“Are all the mines you own still safe?”

“Mines? Why… Oh! Oh!”