“She has been ill, yes, but she’s never been this weak in recent times! It’s all because of the shock when His Majesty’s decree arrived. When Lady Cecilia heard that Your Highness had to marry someone you’d never even seen… how heartbroken she was… She collapsed and suffered from high fever for a full ten days.”

Diana spoke as rapidly as a machine gun. Her words came so fast that listeners felt dizzy just trying to follow.

Dante’s expression hardened. Until now, he had kept secret the fact that Cecilia had fainted upon first hearing rumors about Esteller. He believed Esteller didn’t need to know, and he feared it would only cause her pain if she did.

“After years of difficult recovery, she had finally improved a little… then overnight, everything reverted. Just thinking about how much this damaged Lady Cecilia’s health makes me…”

Diana scrunched her eyes as if overcome with regret. Her gaze remained fixed on Esteller.

‘So Lady Cecilia collapsed when the decree arrived.’

Esteller felt a chill down her spine as her heart sank. Diana’s blame and accusations didn’t matter, but the real problem was that news about her had genuinely made Cecilia ill.

Meanwhile, Dante was dumbfounded. He intended to order Diana to reflect on her behavior, but Esteller quickly grabbed his arm first.

“Essie.”

Instead of answering, she firmly shook her head. Her thoughtful golden eyes clearly showed her desire to restrain him. Dante opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing.

‘What are you doing? Pretending to be kind at a time like this?’

Diana looked at Esteller and let out a mocking half-laugh.

‘I’m the one who saved Lady Cecilia’s life.’

She considered herself Cecilia’s lifesaver, and Cecilia cherished her more than a daughter. In contrast, the Grand Duchess had contributed nothing to the Leodinas family and had only harmed Cecilia’s health.

Between a lifesaver and an unwelcome, ominous Grand Duchess, who deserved better treatment in the Leodinas household?

The more Diana thought about it, the more infuriated she became. The Grand Duchess had never had any right to drive her away. Esteller clearly knew this but was pretending to be kind and pitiful in front of others to build a good reputation.

‘How disgusting!’

If Esteller didn’t want rumors spreading about being a wicked daughter-in-law who pushed her mother-in-law into a coffin the moment she arrived, she should be groveling before Diana. Yet instead of submitting, she was playing these despicable games.

‘Just you wait and see.’

Diana stomped away with angry footsteps. Esteller watched her retreating figure and quietly said:

“…Let’s go up to our room for now.”

Esteller clutched Dante’s forearm tightly. Her hand had grown ice-cold, enough to startle anyone it touched. Sensing her fear, Dante was speechless.

They exchanged no words until they reached their room on the second floor.

⁕⁕⁕

The second-floor room had traditionally been used by the Grand Duke and his spouse. It was spacious enough to be described as magnificent, with excellent lighting that made it as bright as midday while the sun was up, without needing additional lamps.

The room was decorated with a bold rather than delicate style, reflecting the straightforward traditions of the Leodinas grand ducal family.

Since Kyler’s accident, the room had remained unused, effectively empty and without an owner for quite some time. However, thanks to regular maintenance, it retained its classic elegance without feeling dilapidated.

After dismissing the servants, Dante closed the door himself.

He felt awkward, unsure how to act. He hadn’t expected his mother to show such an intense rejection.

He had sent messages multiple times through his administrator, telling her that Esteller was an exceptionally good person. His mother had even sent a couple of replies that seemed happy, at least in writing.

But reality was a complete mess. In this situation, anything he said would sound like a feeble excuse, and he didn’t know how to comfort Esteller.

During their time in Sleion, Dante had realized that family was what Esteller valued most in the world.

Yet the new family she had just gained through marriage had harshly pushed her away. Worse still, Esteller had done nothing wrong—she was actually a victim of Gheorghe’s tyranny.

Anyone would feel wronged and angry in this situation. Dante lowered his head, feeling ashamed.

“I’m sorry. How things have come to this…”

Just earlier at Cateyan Harbor while watching the sea, he had been filled with hopeful feelings that everything would work out well.

‘I shouldn’t have indulged in groundless hope.’

Yet in less than a few hours, their joyful mood had been trampled into the mud, and the situation had become disastrous.

Dante had experienced his wishes being crushed unreasonably far too many times. By now, he almost despairingly wondered if the world hated him and didn’t want him to be happy for long, or perhaps wanted him to remain miserable forever.

Dante pressed his rough hand against his head. His downcast eyes held a frighteningly dark gleam.

“I should… send Diana away from the castle.”

Diana was out of her mind. Recalling the hostility and arrogance she had displayed toward Esteller, he wanted to ask if she had gone mad.

‘Should I not have left those siblings alone?’

Dante felt confused. Decisions he had once believed were the best now seemed to have backfired terribly.

‘It’s true I neglected the problem, but if I hadn’t, who would have taken care of Mother…’

His disappointment in people made his head throb.

If asked whether he had completely failed to notice Diana’s sticky gazes filled with impure desires over the past few years, the answer would be no.

Unwanted attention was uncomfortable and sometimes repulsive. But he could tolerate it, and tolerating wasn’t particularly difficult. Diana was different from Sabrina.

Princess Sabrina possessed both a cruel personality and the power to act on it. Compared to her, Diana had no real foundation.

At most, she would wait along his path, throw flirtatious glances, and persistently try to start conversations. That was the extent of Diana’s schemes. Knowing this, Dante had consistently ignored her.

He frequently left the castle to inspect the territory. Though he was more accustomed to handling affairs now, when he first inherited the Grand Duke title, the days he spent away from Halpenrit Castle far exceeded those he spent there.

It was impossible to split himself in two, leaving one at the castle while the other went on inspections. Dante desperately needed someone who would devotedly care for his mother while he was absent.

Occasionally, Rupert had mentioned Lyle, lamenting how he greedily lined his own pockets. But since his sister stayed with his mother all day providing care, Dante had turned a blind eye even to the corruption.

It was also a gesture of goodwill—please take good care of his mother. Supporting a depressed person’s mental and emotional wellbeing wasn’t something that could be done without serious commitment.

But the siblings had ruthlessly trampled on Dante’s kindness. Their behavior toward Esteller had crossed the line by far.

Esteller glanced around the furniture in the room and approached a large armchair to sit down. It resembled the one she had used in the annex but proved even larger and more comfortable when she sat in it.

“You mustn’t send her away.”

“Forgiveness won’t correct her inappropriate behavior.”

Stretching her legs and leaning back, she found the chair plush. The soft, enveloping sensation against her back quickly helped restore her peace of mind.

“I never expected it would be corrected. If anything, it might get worse.”

Esteller closed her eyes calmly, as if meditating.

“However… Lady Cecilia’s health is far worse than I anticipated. At such a confusing time, sending away someone familiar like Diana could cause a real disaster.”

“……”

“Dante, I may not know much else, but I don’t want to gamble with someone’s life.”

Esteller’s heart pounded rapidly. She wasn’t angry or irritated—she was afraid.

The fact that Cecilia had died shortly after Sabrina removed Diana in her previous life swirled chaotically in her mind.

It might be different this time. After all, they were only dismissing her, not harming her. But if by any chance the same thing happened as before…

“…That would be an irreversible problem.”

Esteller insisted with unprecedented firmness.

What she herself had been uncertain about became clear after meeting Cecilia. The unfortunate death of family members was Esteller’s sore spot.

In her previous life, her father had died in an attack disguised as an accident, but her mother had passed away from a broken heart. Despite being a mother of two, her mother had been innocent and youthful—yet after losing her husband, in just a few months, her hair had turned completely gray and she had weakened like an old woman.

If Cecilia were to die, and if Esteller had contributed even slightly to her death, she would never be able to forgive herself for the rest of her life.

Dante watched as dark clouds settled over Esteller’s face.

‘An irreversible matter…’

His jaw tightened. He felt like a beast trapped in a cage too small to move in. A sense of powerlessness welled up from deep within his chest.

‘Yes, she’s right.’

It was painful, but… Esteller’s opinion was correct. He couldn’t gamble with his mother’s life.

Human life was very strange. Sometimes it persisted with surprising tenacity, while other times it ended over something seemingly trivial.

To Dante, Diana was merely a servant, but to Cecilia, she was someone with special significance.