My mind snapped to full alertness.

Could the evidence I’d been waiting for be in Lily’s hands?

What Odin had just said was merely his wishful thinking, an impossible task. Document forgery? Could anyone imagine Odin picking up a pen to commit forgery?

Moreover, Lily’s face as she approached the desk looked so triumphant that I grew even more tense about what she might have brought.

“So I brought it. The evidence you mentioned.”

Lily looked at me with narrowed eyes.

Sitting in my chair and looking at her, I deliberately tore off a piece of jerky for Odin, pretending to show little interest in what she held.

“Greet me properly first. Seeing what you’ve brought comes after that.”

“Well done, my cub! Yes, you’ve improved! You really should be Grand Duchess. Now let’s find out where I put my documents, hmm?”

As Odin brightened and rushed toward me, Lily immediately frowned.

“What are you looking at besides me? Can’t you imagine how dangerous what I’ve brought could be? Is your head still not healed from being hit?”

“Until I see it, whatever you’re holding is merely useless. Watch your words.”

“……”

“Should I call someone? It’s nothing for me to have you removed now.”

My goodness, I never thought such words would come from my mouth. Like Odin said, I’ve really improved, haven’t I?

Perhaps the harsh words I heard from Carlo when I first transmigrated trained me.

Or not? Has my personality just gotten a bit worse?

While I was lost in these thoughts, Lily, gritting her teeth and staring down at me, suddenly turned around.

The door was firmly closed, but if I called, Joseph and the guards would rush in at any moment.

Lily took a deep breath to regain her composure, then met my eyes with dignity.

“I’ve brought evidence that we were close, just as you wanted. By ‘close,’ I don’t mean intimate—I mean you were like a maid crawling and begging to us, to the point where you would even reveal yourself as the culprit.”

“Crawling and begging? How dare you say such things!”

Slam! Odin snarled and knocked over a cup toward Lily’s dress.

Water soaked her silk dress and dripped down steadily, causing Lily’s eyes to widen rapidly.

“Y-y-you filthy lion!”

When she raised her hand to strike Odin, I quickly picked him up.

While in my arms, Odin shouted, “What? Filthy? I probably have a hundred times more wealth than you!”

“He’s just a young animal who doesn’t know any better. Don’t get excited.”

I tried to maintain a serious expression, but Odin kept shouting “Get lost!” making it hard for me to hold back my laughter as I pressed my lips firmly together.

However, Lily seemed to think I was mocking her and jumped up in anger.

“Are you laughing at me? Being under the Grand Duke’s protection has made you forget your place? With that ridiculous lion cub! No matter how great a Grand Duchess you are, you’re finished once it’s discovered you tried to kill your husband. And I have that evidence in my hand! Here, look!”

In her anger, she showed me a letter.

It was clearly my handwriting at first glance.

I knew from reading the original story that she had written a letter…

She had sent a letter detailing the date of Carlo’s return to St. Berte Castle, the time to offer him Lamberoo tea, the location where he would drink it, and confirmation that the sleeping medication had been prepared without issue.

At the end, it also stated that she eagerly awaited Carlo’s death for the prosperity of the Azanie family.

“See? You sent countless letters like this. Our house is overflowing with such evidence!”

It was because she was abused…

The cries of young Lea searching for her father while being brainwashed rang in my ears like tinnitus.

The tears of young Lea streaming down her cheeks vividly came back to me, but regardless, the letter Lily held could serve as sufficient evidence that Lea had conspired with Count Azanie’s family in the St. Berte attack.

I need to get that.

“Why are you showing me this? Just to let me know I can’t betray your family?”

“Not at all!”

Lily stated her conditions as if she’d been waiting for this moment.

“When the social season returns, I’ll find a proper husband. Then you must make me the daughter-in-law of that family.”

“How could I possibly do that?”

“You have the Grand Duke! Make him intervene!”

Lily shouted, treating me like a pathetic half-wit.

“If the Grand Duke steps in, no family can refuse me. If you don’t do this, I’ll use the other evidence at home to have you killed.”

“What about Mother and Father? Are you saying His Highness the Grand Duke needs to step in? They would be quite hurt if they knew.”

I subtly probed Lily while observing her expression.

“It’s because I’ve only trusted them and now I’m about to end up as nothing!”

Just as I thought! Things were clearly going wrong between them.

“Ah… I see. Then leave that letter here. Only then can I listen to you.”

“Remember, even if I leave this, I have more evidence. Getting this doesn’t end your crimes, understand?”

“Why would I think that?”

After my response, Lily hesitated briefly before boldly placing the letter on my desk.

In that moment, I seized the opportunity and grabbed her hand.

“But if you bring one more thing, I could give you something incredibly valuable.”

When running a con, you must look straight into their eyes and build trust.

“W-what is it?”

For some reason, since Dillan’s target appeared to be “me,” I needed to change the intermediary for bringing evidence to Lily now.

I swallowed hard to suppress my pounding heart and tried to speak casually.

“Find evidence at home that your father and the Empress were involved in the St. Berte incident.”

“What?”

“You said you want to marry into a good family, right? Wouldn’t you need a substantial dowry?”

“……”

“From what I’ve heard, the Azanie family is just an empty cart with a decent exterior. Despite your father having been the Empress’s loyal dog for so long.”

This was just my speculation, of course.

But considering that Count Azanie had been barred from entering the imperial palace for a while after the attack by the Empress’s orders, it was clear she hadn’t been taking care of him at all.

“Has your memory returned?”

My guess hit the mark! Lily had a personality that got excited more easily than Dillan, making her inner thoughts more visible.

“No. But I don’t want to lose my position either. Even though I don’t quite know what I did?”

I stared at Lily while calmly spouting words I didn’t mean.

“So shouldn’t we all hold each other’s weaknesses and live quietly on equal terms? Everyone can pretend that incident never happened. So the Empress can’t touch our family. Yes, so I can protect them.”

“……”

“So find that evidence. I’ll prepare the dowry for you.”

Lily looked at me suspiciously and peered deeper into my eyes.

I didn’t avoid her gaze and smiled faintly.

Eventually, Lily looked away briefly, then lowered her head and voice.

“Really?”

I needed to hide the letter Lily had given me—the letter Lea had sent to the Azanie family that would serve as decisive evidence of the St. Berte attack—somewhere no one would find it until Lily brought evidence of Empress Genevieve’s involvement.

“Do you… know a good hiding place?”

When I asked Odin, he stared at me for a long time.

“Of course I know… If you really want to cover up everyone’s crimes and live together, I can tell you. But if you plan to give it to Carlo as evidence and leave, I can’t tell you.”

“Are you asking me to lie to you too?”

“……”

“I could do that if that’s what you want. But would you be okay with me suffering without being able to tell anyone my true feelings? You’re the only one who knows my truth.”

“……”

“If Carlo still looks for me after receiving the evidence, if he forgives me… I’ll return on my own. Really. It was Lea who did those things, not me, so there wouldn’t be any problem then.”

This was truly sincere. Though Carlo would never want to find me after I betrayed him and left.

Odin sighed.

I walked along the marble corridor.

Medlin, Joseph, and the people of St. Berte Castle said they would wait in the chapel.

The priests walked ahead to guide me around the temple.

“When you leave December today, tell Joseph you have somewhere to go.”

Odin said it wouldn’t raise suspicion since it was a common tradition for the lady of a domain to pray for peace and well-being before a major event.

The place Odin taught me about was here, the Magnus Great Temple.

“Tell people to wait in the chapel, and you go to the Glory Dome inside. The priests cannot tell where you’ve gone. When you meet the priests, say this.”

“May God’s protection be beneath the veil.”

As I spoke quietly, the priests chose one of the branching paths from the corridor and walked away.

As Odin had said, a place with a massive dome-shaped ceiling appeared before me.

“Please come out after your prayer.”

As the priests moved away with calm footsteps, I looked down at Odin in my arms.

“Where is this place?”

“Where my sarcophagus is.”

“What?!”

This is where Odin’s coffin is enshrined?

Regardless of my shock, Odin calmly raised his front paw.

“See that sword hanging on the wall? One of the stone slabs beneath it moves. Put it under there. Don’t worry, no one has thought to open that place until now.”

“Of course not!”

Who would disturb a tomb?

Suppressing my urge to cry, I approached the large sword and went to the stone slab beneath it.

Then I inserted Lea’s letter.

“Is that done now?”

As Odin winked and grinned, I nodded reflexively.

Glancing back at the scene under the dome, fortunately everything surrounding the sarcophagus was so luxurious that it didn’t feel gloomy. It looked more like an expensive hotel lobby.

I approached the priests, told them I had finished praying, then met with Medlin and Joseph and took the carriage back to St. Berte Castle.

Odin in my arms had fallen asleep.

My heart was still racing from the cool sensation of placing Lea’s letter under the stone slab.

“We’re almost there, Madam.”

As Medlin said, the charity event was just around the corner.

Empress Genevieve, Count Azanie, and Carlo.

The moment when everyone would gather.