Reflecting on yesterday’s events, Raylin murmured with a sigh.

“I need to find her quickly.”

Before parting ways with Aiger, she had handed over all the information regarding Kertan’s younger sister.

“I don’t know her exact location. But the one holding her is…”

Originally, Raylin had intended to handle the matter herself. However, since Kertan had sworn allegiance to Aiger, she willingly gave up the opportunity, allowing Kertan to earn his trust instead.

Before long, Kertan’s long-standing wish would come true.

Aiger wasn’t in a position like Catherine, where he couldn’t act immediately or lacked the means to use others.

Even if Catherine had the power, it was questionable whether she would have acted swiftly.

“You’re too kind to me. You’re spoiling me at this rate. You should never give people exactly what they want right away. The more desperate they are, the more you should make them crave it.”

Recalling the advice Catherine had once given her, Raylin shook her head.

Catherine would have exploited Kertan to his breaking point, wearing down his patience until it was on the verge of snapping, only to act like she was doing him a favor by finally finding his sister.

Then, with shameless audacity, she would have pretended to be their savior, telling them not to think of it as a debt or a favor—just to be happy.

Even more chilling was that Catherine always emphasized that relationships should be built on mutual exchange. Yet she believed it was only natural to flaunt her generosity when giving one while expecting ten in return.

And if the balance of that exchange ever tipped even slightly out of her favor, she had no hesitation in condemning the other person as a villain and punishing them accordingly.

—Click.

—Bang, bang, bang, bang!

Raylin emptied the entire four-round chamber of her gun in one swift motion before reloading it with magic bullets.

“Wow! My lady, you hit the center every time!”

It wasn’t just her imagination—her accuracy improved significantly when she imagined Catherine as the target.

Even as she reloaded, Raylin’s mind remained occupied with other thoughts.

Whether Kertan would remain under control or be dismissed later would ultimately be Aiger’s.

At any rate, she had successfully stolen Catherine’s “sword.”

There was a chance Kertan and Catherine’s paths would cross again, but unlike in her previous life, their bond wouldn’t be blind devotion.

She couldn’t stop Catherine from amassing capital through the arena.

It wasn’t like she was dealing with an amount large enough to be worth stopping.

She was gathering the bare minimum needed to make her next move, but that next source of wealth had to be cut off.

There was an opportunity for Catherine to earn a fortune that would far surpass anything she made from the arena.

Pausing as she sifted through her memories of both the original story and her past life, Raylin stared blankly at the target.

Just then, a maid spoke up.

“My lady, shall I schedule a meeting with Lady Mifaro?”

“Hmm?”

“You used to meet her often.”

The maid mimicked the shape of a gun with her fingers and pretended to shoot, prompting Raylin to nod belatedly.

“Oh, right.”

“There aren’t many young ladies who enjoy shooting as a hobby, so the two of you always seemed to have fun around this time. But you haven’t met with her recently.”

Letting the maid’s chatter drift in one ear and out the other, Raylin absentmindedly ran her fingers along the gun barrel.

Lady Mifaro…

She remembered her.

But not as someone with whom she shared a hobby—rather, as someone who had gone missing…

Still, the memories weren’t bad ones.

Just as she was about to dig a little deeper into her recollections—

“Oh, right! A letter arrived from Lady Mifaro as well.”

“Really? I should take a look.”

“Here it is.”

As a letter emerged from the maid’s pocket, Raylin asked in disbelief.

“You carry this around with you?”

“Not all of them. Since you were going shooting, I thought you might look for it.”

“You thought I’d look for it?”

“Yes. It’s related to guns, after all.”

Seeing the maid’s embarrassed yet proud expression, Raylin couldn’t help but laugh.

“Good job.”

After confirming the growing pride on the maid’s face, Raylin quickly skimmed through the letter.

“An engagement is just around the corner? There’s no need to rush it like this. Besides, I don’t even like the other party. I want to break it off, but there’s no way to do so?”

Is breaking off engagements the new trend? She held back the words lingering on the tip of her tongue.

“Oh my, then the rumors must be true. Well, everyone has been saying so.”

The maid, who had taken the letter from Raylin and neatly folded it before placing it back in her pocket, spoke up.

“What rumors?”

“That Lady Mifaro is in love with her escort knight!”

“What?”

“People say that whenever they’re together, they gaze at each other like they’re dripping with honey. There’s even talk that the knight treasures a handkerchief embroidered with her name!”

The maid clasped her hands over her chest, speaking excitedly with dreamy eyes.

A love story between a noble lady and her escort knight!

It was the kind of beautiful romance one would encounter in fairy tales or novels at least once.

As nobles, born to carry on their family names, neither men nor women had complete freedom regarding marriage.

Most marriages were akin to strategic contracts, though in rare cases, they were based on true love.

That didn’t mean all marriages were unhappy.

Still, unmarried men and women all dreamed of genuine love, hoping to be with a true partner rather than one chosen for them.

“So that’s why they rushed the engagement?”

“Oh my, that could be the reason.”

The maid nodded in agreement, then suddenly lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Could they be eloping? I heard they’re crazy about each other.”

“That couldn’t possi…bly be the case.”

When she heard the word “eloping,” Raylin recalled the circumstances surrounding Lady Mifaro’s disappearance.

In her past life, the lady and her escort knight had eloped.

And they had done so with Catherine’s help!

When the investigation ended without finding Lady Mifaro, Catherine had simply smiled at Raylin’s concerned expression and said:

“They must be doing well. She’s finally escaped the family that oppressed her and found a real life.”

Suspicious. Catherine wouldn’t help someone purely out of kindness.

“The Mifaro family is famous for their mines, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yes.”

By the time Catherine had met Raylin, she had already acquired ownership of a mine.

A mine that, in the future, would become incredibly valuable.

The original owner of that mine was undoubtedly Lady Mifaro.

Though that mine wouldn’t become helpful to Catherine’s financial plans until much later, Raylin could not allow it to fall into her hands.

She didn’t know precisely how Catherine and Lady Mifaro had met or how things had played out, but she would just have to find out if she didn’t know now.

“If I’m feeling frustrated, I should at least shoot something. Send an invitation to Lady Mifaro.”

***

Knock, knock.

“Brother, do you have a moment?”

Before Raylin even finished speaking, the door swung open.

“Raylin!”

She stared blankly momentarily at Roir, who stood before her with his arms wide open and his tail practically wagging. Then, pretending to give in, she quietly stepped into his embrace.

Beaming as if he had the entire world in his grasp, Roir hugged her tightly.

“Let go now.”

“Can’t we stay like this a little longer?”

“I said, let go.”

At her firm tone, Roir slumped back as if he had imaginary puppy ears drooping in disappointment.

Ignoring him, Raylin stepped into his office, sat on the sofa, and gestured.

“Sit down.”

Roir quickly took a seat right beside her and said,

“You didn’t come to see me because you missed me, did you? If you look at me like that, even your brother will get hurt.”

Raylin skipped the formalities and got straight to the point instead of asking the other person to sit across from her.

“I have something to ask. I figured you would know.”

“Of course, I do!”

The affirmation came without even a moment to breathe.

“I haven’t even told you what it is yet.”

“If it’s something you want to know, then I know it! Even if I don’t, I do!”

It sounded complete nonsense, but if it was Roir, he could make that claim come true.

“Lady Sillion requested a breakup from Duke Lucart, didn’t she?”

Unlike in her past life, Raylin immediately told Roir everything she had seen after witnessing the scene at the café.

She framed it as a casual recounting of the day’s events, but she knew that he would undoubtedly keep an eye on both families from now on.

Due to her weak constitution, she couldn’t actively participate in high society gatherings or acquire information regularly, so she had to rely on Roir for such matters.

Receiving his help didn’t feel like a debt, nor did it make her feel pathetic.

She simply wanted to accept others’ goodwill as goodwill.

She only ensured never to take it for granted or treat it lightly.

“They haven’t actually broken up yet. There’s no sign that the duke’s house has issued an official annulment letter.”

As expected, the information she wanted flowed effortlessly from Roir’s mouth.

“I figured as much. More importantly, how is the Sillion family reacting?”