“Espin, you’re finally back?”
When I returned home, the Countess and Rosette were waiting for me.

Looking around, I noticed the maids standing with their heads down, wearing somber expressions. Some of them had swollen, red cheeks, which made it clear that the Countess had taken out her anger on them while I was away.

She must have always ruled over the employees with such oppressive behavior, controlling them from above.

And through those loyal to her, she would have surely made Espin’s life miserable. The image was easy to picture.

“Yes.”

“How about having tea time with me, dear?”

Though the Countess spoke with a smile, her eyes weren’t smiling at all. Instead, they were calculating how she could torment me.

‘The Count must be home.’

If he weren’t, there was no way the Countess would be speaking to me in such a sweet tone. Moreover, she was loudly emphasizing how much she cared for me to show off to the Count.

“I’m tired.”

I deliberately replied in a loud voice as well. The Countess’s expression twisted at my words.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Let’s have tea time another day.”

With no excuse to hold me back, the Countess gritted her teeth.

I walked past them and headed to my room on the second floor. Rosette, fuming, stormed in after me.

“Hey, what’s your problem?”
“What?”
“What? What? Are you seriously asking me that?”
“Yeah. What did I do?”

When I didn’t back down, Rosette furrowed her brows deeply.

“Because of you, we couldn’t go shopping today!”
“Why didn’t you two just go without me?”
“Well, obviously, because our budget is…”

I already knew.

I had once checked Espin’s budget records to figure out how much money Sebastian had swindled. Among the expenses listed were clothing costs. The receipts attached to those records were for dresses Espin didn’t even own. According to the butler, I had supposedly gifted those dresses to Rosette and the Countess.

‘Gifts, my foot. They just extorted them from me.’

Today, when they asked me to join them in dress shopping, what they really meant was that they wanted to buy their dresses using my money.

“You were planning to use my budget, weren’t you?”
“What are you talking about? You’ve given us gifts before. You even said you’d yield your budget since I didn’t have enough. Don’t you remember?”
“Nope. Don’t remember. And that won’t happen again, so stop dreaming.”
“What? Hey, do you know how many new dresses I need with the social season coming up?”
“Then go talk to Father about it.”

At the mention of Father, Rosette flared her nostrils but didn’t say anything else.

“If you’ve got nothing else to say, could you leave?”

“Hey, do you think you have anyone on your side in this house? No one in this estate likes you. My mother and I are the only ones kind enough to even consider you family, but you don’t know your place.”

Her gaslighting made me laugh out loud without meaning to.

“Oh, really? But isn’t the one who doesn’t know her place actually you?”
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me. I’m Father’s daughter, and you’re not.”
“Hey! Father said he thinks of me as his real daughter!”
“Sure, but so what? People don’t even think of you as a noble.”
“What are you talking about? Everyone knows how much…”
“How much what?”

Rosette couldn’t answer.

“If you can’t answer, don’t force yourself. If we’re done here, could you leave?”

Rosette glared at me for a long time but left the room more easily than I expected.

“To think I once let myself be gaslit by someone like that. Poor Espin.”

I looked at Espin in the mirror.

Her face was innocent, completely unaware of the truth. She was a pitiful girl who had been deceived by someone like Rosette, unable to see what she truly had, and desperate for a love that wasn’t there.

I gently patted Espin’s head, feeling sorry for her.

***

The next morning. It was the time when knights were beginning to arrive at work.

In the office, Haren and his subordinate let out deep yawns.

Haren, who hadn’t slept a wink while working on the task Travis had assigned the previous day, forced his sleepy eyes open and picked up his pen again.

“You didn’t go home?”

Travis, who had just arrived at the office, noticed him and asked.

“Commander.”
“You’re here.”

As Travis approached, Haren handed him the documents he’d spent the night investigating.

“It seems this man is definitely the con artist. Here’s the evidence.”

Haren pulled out the clothes Sebastian had worn.

“See the embroidery on the inside here?”

The embroidery read “Panus,” stitched with great care.

“These clothes belonged to the victim’s younger brother. Looks like he took them too. They were expensive clothes bought for a wedding.”

“So, he’s the con artist.”
“Yes. I think we can send him straight to trial. He’s a real scumbag.”
“Alright. Let’s proceed with the trial.”

There was no need to look further. Since someone had lost their life due to his fraud, he was undoubtedly a criminal.

“But where do you think all the money went?”

Tom, one of Haren’s investigators, asked while reviewing the report.

“Tom, it’s obvious he stashed it with someone else. People like him always hide their money. They know it’ll get taken away if they’re caught.”
“Still, considering he even took out loans before this, he must have had a lot of money.”

Haren shook his head at Tom’s words.

“That’s just how con artists are. He probably wanted to make one big score and change his identity. He was likely planning to flee to another country.”
“Is that so?”

Travis silently listened to their conversation.

Even though it was clear Sebastian was the con artist, he couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling.

The face of that woman kept flashing in his mind ever since a few days ago.

He couldn’t define what his instincts were pointing to or what emotions he was feeling right now.

“Alright. I’m exhausted.”

Haren yawned dramatically, glancing at Travis, clearly trying to make a point.

“Haren, Tom, good work. Leave early today.”
“Yes!”

Haren, thrilled by the prospect of leaving early, grabbed his coat and suddenly spoke, as though something had just come to mind.

“Oh, I’ll go tell Espin. I think she’ll feel better knowing Sebastian is being sent to trial.”

With the Empire’s legal system, where trials almost always resulted in guilty verdicts, Sebastian wouldn’t see the light of day for years.

“Vice-Commander.”
“Yes, Tom?”
“Well… could I go with you to see Espin?”
“To Espin? Why?”

Tom hesitated, lowering his head and mumbling, unable to answer easily.

“What? Don’t tell me you have feelings for Espin?”

Tom nodded.

“Yes.”

Frankly, there were plenty of men who wanted to see Espin. Being a blood relative of Count Leon, marrying her would naturally lead to inheriting the Count’s title. This made her a popular target, especially among the knights.

“Tom, I value you as a subordinate, but no.”
“What? Not even just to introduce myself?”
“Nope. Sorry, but you’re not Espin’s type. Espin likes someone like our Commander.”

Tom looked up at Travis, who stood before him, and his eyebrows drooped endlessly, conveying the despair of someone who had lost all hope.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

Travis quickly turned around, feeling his heart racing. Skipping his morning exercise must have caused his body to react strangely.

As Travis’s retreating figure disappeared, Haren smirked.

“Tom, did you see that? The Commander’s face totally turned red.”

Tom, who had just been rejected by Haren on Espin’s behalf, said nothing.