The carriage stopped in front of the residence, and servants ran to the main gate with surprised expressions upon seeing the carriage emblazoned with the imperial palace’s emblem.

And people couldn’t hide their shocked expressions when they saw me getting out of the carriage in a complete mess.

“M-Miss!”

Some maids who had recently become closer to me approached me with expressions on the verge of tears.

The coachman tried to support me, but I showed him my hand indicating I was fine and leaned on the maids who were approaching me.

After sending the carriage back to the imperial palace and entering the residence, I saw Bershua, Leila, and my father looking at me with surprised expressions.

They were walking from the direction of my father’s office toward the first-floor hall, perhaps on their way from talking in my father’s office.

“Ro…Rowenloa?”

Bershua pointed at me with trembling hands.

“How did you… no, that… what happened……”

Although their reactions bothered me, perhaps my body couldn’t handle all the changes that had happened to me in one day, and before I could confront them, I lost consciousness in the maids’ arms.

When I opened my eyes, the first things I saw were Mylene, Brother Rubert, Grace, and young duke Delian Posilia looking at me with worried expressions.

“Miss, are you conscious?”

Mylene was the first to notice that I had regained consciousness.

She was carefully wiping my hands with a wet cloth when she noticed I had awakened and gently stroked my forehead.

“Rowenloa! What in the world happened……”

“Grace…? Why are you here…?”

“I came after getting a call from Rubert. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard you had collapsed?”

Grace held my hand tightly with tears welling up in her eyes, and Delian patted her shoulder as if trying to calm her down.

“I’m glad we get to leave after seeing you awake like this.”

“Ah… thank you for coming all this way.”

Delian gave me a warm smile after hearing my words.

Brother Rubert, who had been watching the situation, exclaimed while looking at me,

“What on earth happened yesterday?”

In response to his worried outcry, I picked up one of the jewels placed on the bedside table.

It was the recorder I had received from Mafi.

With a click, the voices of the three men who had kidnapped me began to play.

I hadn’t intended to let Grace and young duke Posilia listen to it… but on the other hand, I thought,

Maybe they would help me after hearing this.

I felt like I was doing something wrong to the young duke, but my situation wasn’t comfortable enough for me to worry about that.

“W-What is this……”

Grace covered her mouth with both hands in shock after hearing the contents of the recorder.

The other two men also seemed quite surprised, turning their gazes elsewhere as if deeply contemplating something, and Mylene barely managed to support herself against the table with trembling arms, looking as if she might faint at any moment.

“So, do you have any idea who might have commissioned these people?”

I nodded at the young duke’s question.

“I do have some ideas… but honestly, there were so many people interested in this business proposal at the last ball that it’s difficult to be certain.”

Hearing that, Grace nodded in understanding, recalling the scene at the ball.

“So, who do you suspect?”

“I think it’s too early to say for sure. For now… I’ll tell you after observing the situation a bit more.”

Grace nodded at my words, but everyone in the room simply looked at me with worried expressions, as if they all had a general idea of what was going on.

My father, who hadn’t questioned anything despite his suddenly missing daughter returning in a terrible state in a carriage sent from the imperial palace.

No one in that room could deny the fact that my father was involved in my kidnapping.

They just weren’t saying it out loud.

And Brother Rubert was surely certain.

That the other Masipacius family members who hadn’t visited my room even once were clearly connected to this incident.

Probably the reason my father hadn’t severely scolded Leila and Bershua despite them causing such a big incident was because it was related to this case.

* * *

The next day after recovering my strength was the start of a new week.

And it was also the day when Bershua and Leila’s karma struck a direct hit on the Masipacius family.

“Miss!”

Mylene ran toward me early in the morning as I waited anxiously for news.

“I heard the Posilia duchy has decided to withdraw from most of the business ventures they had planned with the Masipacius family! They say they’re looking for other families to replace them in their current joint businesses……”

The first news to arrive was about the Posilia duchy.

“And among the tea party and ball invitations that arrived over the weekend, there wasn’t a single one addressed to Miss Leila or Young Master Bershua. Of course, there were plenty of invitations for you!”

Bershua and Leila were being ostracized.

Excited by this fact, I quickly changed into a dress and left the residence to finish what I couldn’t do because of the kidnappers.

This time, Mylene insisted that she couldn’t let me go alone, so I had no choice but to bring Mylene and other knights from the residence.

I arrived near Mafi’s workshop and, after explaining to people that outsiders couldn’t enter from this point, I went inside the workshop.

“You……”

Mafi looked at me with surprised eyes, then ran into the room, brought something out, put it in a pot, and began boiling water.

“I heard you were kidnapped.”

I opened my eyes wide in surprise at Mafi’s words.

“How did you know that?”

“I heard you collapsed. Wilty came by briefly during that time.”

As the pot began to bubble, Mafi scooped up some unidentifiable liquid with a ladle, poured it into a cup, and handed it to me.

“…What is this?”

“It’s a tea that’s known among us fairies for calming the mind and body.”

Hah, this mischievous yet kind, adorable fairy.

I looked at Mafi once with proud eyes, as if looking at a well-raised son, and took the cup from him.

Taking a sip, I felt a cool mint flavor enveloping my entire body.

“Oh, this really works well?”

“Right? But people have long shunned it just because we drink it. People think fairies are mysterious, but they seem to think they’re superior, so they don’t believe what we say. I’ve told them countless times that it doesn’t harm humans at all.”

“Hmm…. It’s definitely a good business item.”

Mafi asked me as I twirled the cup, savoring the tea’s aroma.

“So why did you really come today?”

“Ah, first of all… I was worried that the kidnappers who came looking for me might have come to find you too……”

I fumbled in my possession and pulled out a piece of paper, which I handed to Mafi.

He unfolded the paper with a curious expression, then looked at me with a surprised face.

“This is……”

I grinned, enjoying his surprised expression.

“Nobles tend to… persistently search for things the more you try to hide them.”

What I had given to Mafi was an order form for recorders that had come in over the weekend.

“I deliberately put the product on the black market instead of trading through a company or similar channels. Nobles who discovered it realized it was the same product I used at the ball last time and started placing orders.”

Mafi’s eyes sparkled and shone as he listened to my words.

“The orders are much more than I expected… so I set the shipping date quite generously. We can always change it if it’s too much……”

“It’s not too much! I’ve made tons of them! I can do it right now!”

Mafi, overjoyed that people had recognized his creation, began jumping around, unable to take his eyes off the order form.

“I want you to become confident, Mafi.”

Because you were a really good friend to me in my previous life.

Mafi looked at me after hearing those words.

“Once we earn enough profit from the black market, I plan to formally establish a company to supply your products to the market in earnest.”

“…Supply my products to the market?”

“Yes. And at the point when people can’t live without your products, when they’re using them extensively, I’ll reveal to the world that you’re the inventor of those products.”

Mafi’s eyes wavered upon hearing those words.

“But… if people know I made them, they won’t want to buy them.”

“Well. Even if that happens, we’ll have already earned enough money to live on for the rest of our lives. But that will never happen. No matter how prejudiced people are, once they’ve tasted convenience, they don’t want to lose it.”

Yes, I no longer care what happens to the Masipacius family.

And that order form in Mafi’s hand is precisely the reason why.

Regardless of whether the marquis family falls, I will make a fortune.

I have no worries about Brother Rubert.

Because I’m certain that when my current father steps down from the position of marquis and Brother Rubert takes his place, the era of the Masipacius will surely return.

And so, I will stand in the highest place and watch the fall of those people who tried to ruin my life.

My revenge drama is just beginning for real.