“I didn’t break it on purpose.”

The grand duchess clutched her glass tighter as she made her excuse to him.

Carlo sat on the sofa, drinking tea and observing her seated across from him.

As she turned to look at the shattered glass figurine, her rosy curls swayed gently.

Her slender white neck appeared briefly before she turned back toward him, adjusting her posture, causing the glimpse of her nape to disappear behind her hair.

The grand duchess’s teal eyes were filled with concern, whether about being caught eavesdropping or breaking the glass figurine remained unclear.

“How much did you hear?”

The grand duchess kept looking back and forth between the floor and him with a flustered expression. Carlo watched her sitting there and spoke coldly.

“…I’m sorry.”

“I asked how much.”

At Carlo’s question, the grand duchess flinched and stared at him.

Judging by how her slender fingers had turned white around the cup, she was extremely nervous.

She must be struggling to come up with an acceptable excuse.

Whatever her answer, it would be a lie.

His mood naturally soured at the thought of her standing there quietly like a sneaking mouse, listening in secret.

He had indeed first thought, “Just as expected.”

Yet what he couldn’t understand was why irritation spread through him before the satisfaction of having his suspicions confirmed.

“……”

From the beginning, Carlo had noticed her enter but hadn’t stopped the conversation.

He couldn’t have missed her arrival in his office.

Of course, this woman claiming to have lost her memories might deny knowing this.

The protocol in this castle was that whenever someone arrived at the Grand Duke’s office, the doorkeepers immediately sent a signal to notify him.

Nothing could happen in the places the Grand Duke frequently used without his knowledge.

He had even designated a specific signal for the grand duchess, who had been entering his room frequently of late.

“Has your tongue stopped working?”

“No…!”

She had been looking up at him with utterly confused eyes, but quickly shook her head at Carlo’s biting mockery.

Her pure, surprised expression—one he had never seen before—was so infuriating it was almost absurd.

Yes, since losing her memory, this woman often wore such a clear expression, acting as if she were truly wronged.

Sometimes enough to make him wonder if it might be true.

“I didn’t hear everything.”

Carlo gazed steadily at her with an elegant yet somehow twisted smile as she hurriedly defended herself.

“Is that so?”

At his nonchalant response, he sensed Joseph Wales, the commander of the guards standing nearby, quietly observing the grand duchess.

Joseph, his longtime friend, would surely understand that Carlo was testing the grand duchess.

After all, they had both received the signal that she had entered during their conversation.

“…I didn’t know you were having a conversation.”

Carlo maintained a cold expression and calm silence at the grand duchess’s answer.

“I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on purpose.”

“I’m sure you weren’t.”

Carlo took a sip of tea with a languid sneer.

Every word she spoke aligned perfectly with his predictions. He had demanded an explanation, and her excuses flowed exactly as he had anticipated, leaving nothing more to hear. Yet for some reason, his anger continued to simmer inexplicably.

“I just arrived, so I didn’t hear everything…”

Carlo let out a derisive chuckle as he coldly watched the grand duchess seemingly trying to organize her thoughts.

This woman had clearly heard about Count Azanie and the imperial family, yet she would pretend she hadn’t. Beyond that, she would look for opportunities to contact them.

When those who had conspired to attack the Grand Duke felt threatened, the evidence they had so carefully hidden would finally surface.

What Carlo needed was justification to sweep them all away at once, so this was certainly a welcome development.

Yes, he should be pleased. So why did he feel so wretched?

“I heard something about me being invited somewhere.”

Just as the grand duchess began to speak clearly, as if having made a decision, Carlo’s gaze fixed on her.

Joseph also stiffened and froze.

The grand duchess drank all the water from her glass, as if her throat were parched, then set it down with a serious expression.

“After the attack, Count Azanie—no! My father—started moving… and what else did they say? The imperial family was involved too, right?”

Carlo, watching the grand duchess with ice-cold blades in his eyes, slightly narrowed his gaze.

“You might think there’s no need to make the first move since they’ll approach us anyway…”

She gazed up at the empty space thoughtfully before looking at him.

“But wouldn’t it help Your Highness if we went there ourselves to confirm things?”

“……”

“You can use me!”

His eyes sank silently like heavy waves rippling in the deep sea.

The grand duchess boldly uttered such reckless words while wearing a vibrant, fresh smile. Yet he couldn’t easily mock her.

“You said you’d protect me for the time being, didn’t you?”

“……”

“Then I don’t mind going!”

Where did this boundless faith that he would protect her come from?

Why was she so confident?

“The imperial family invited me, right?”

“…They did.”

“If that’s the case, we should definitely go.”

“Why.”

He should have agreed, but for some reason, he instinctively asked for her reason instead.

After speaking, his prominent Adam’s apple visibly moved up and down.

The grand duchess smiled brightly, as if he had asked something obvious.

“If I’m there, it gives those people a chance to approach me.”

His lowered gaze pierced through his wife.

Did she truly not care about her family involved in the attack, the imperial family, or perhaps even herself as a potential mastermind behind the incident?

Going there, who knows what might happen to her.

“We’ll go together, right?”

“If you do go, that would be the case. You were both invited as a couple,” Joseph explained with a rigid expression.

“Let’s go,” she said, making eye contact with Carlo again and smiling gently.

“What?”

Carlo, who had been looking at her with a deliberately indifferent gaze, dropped his eyes and called for the chief butler.

“Fine then. Norbert.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

He returned with his usual composure and spoke calmly.

“Send a reply to the invitation.”

Yes, this woman was merely a means to an end, a tool to be used.

Nothing more.

“Is this… a family portrait?”

After enjoying dinner with the Swinton couple, we decided to tour the castle interior together to aid digestion.

While exploring the gallery that extended alongside the reception room, something caught my eye.

The Grand Duke and Randolph turned to look at us, sensing that Mariette and I had stopped walking.

“Yes. It’s a portrait from His Highness’s childhood,” Norbert nodded and smiled as he walked behind us.

Gentle wrinkles formed around Norbert’s eyes.

He wore an expression of someone lost in memories, as if reminiscing about the Grand Duke’s childhood.

“Really? But no matter how I look at it, His Highness’s expression in that portrait…”

“What about it?”

The Grand Duke had somehow approached my side and was looking down at me.

Ah, there he goes again. For some reason, the Grand Duke had been glancing at me occasionally during dinner as well.

I wondered if I had done something wrong again, but there were too many possibilities to consider.

I decided to stop thinking about it.

Perhaps he had heard that I secretly brought caviar and scallop steak to Odin before dinner began.

“Well… you look more prickly? Just look at those intimidating eyes.”

The Grand Duke frowned, as if disagreeing with my playful comment.

Just then, Mariette and Randolph burst into laughter as they stood in front of the Hedegen family portrait.

“The Grand Duke certainly caused many significant problems in his childhood.”

“Really? What kind of problems?”

Randolph exchanged glances with Norbert before quietly speaking to me, avoiding the Grand Duke’s haughty gaze.