Ned’s eyes widened in shock at his wife’s defiance. It was the first time he had seen her stand up to him.

Until yesterday, she had never dared to talk back to him. She had always been anxious, constantly worrying that if she upset him, he would stop loving her.

Now she knew that he had never loved her, however, there was no reason for the new Penelope to care about his feelings.

And so she could finally say things like this:

“I’m tired of being dragged to your gatherings just to be looked down on by others.”

Even after inheriting her adoptive parents’ wealth and title, the social elite had never fully accepted her as one of their own.

Her past as an orphan, shuffled from one noble household to another to play the violin like a trained monkey, clung to her like a shackle.

Every event she attended came with a flood of scornful glances.

When she returned home seeking comfort, all she received from Ned were cold words.

“We’re discussing business—why do you keep bothering me? I can’t close important deals because of you.”

“You think it’s my fault that investors avoid you? Your failures are your own—because you’re incompetent.”

“What did you say?”

“The fact that you’ve gone through my parents’ entire fortune and still haven’t managed to succeed at a single business is proof of how useless you are.”

“Penelope… all this time, you’ve been looking down on me? As a wife, you should support your husband, not—!”

Seeing Ned’s face turn red and pale by turns, Penelope felt a small measure of relief.

She hadn’t grabbed him by the collar or slapped him across the face—but just saying the words she had bottled up inside gave her a sense of liberation.

Now that it was out, she wondered—why had it been so hard to say something so simple all this time?

“You do know I’m the only one who’ll ever treat you like family, right? Who else would love an orphan like you?”

Ned had always known that even a single sentence could wound someone—and yet he’d chosen to hurt Penelope in the most insidious ways.

“You’re not even dressed! Where do you think you’re going? We’re supposed to be at the gathering!”

“If you follow me right now, I’ll freeze all your accounts.”

“What? If you freeze my accounts, what about my business? I’m not done talking—where do you think you’re going? Penelope! Penelope!”

Penelope left the furious Ned behind and went back down to the practice room. This was the first time she had done so.

Previously, she had chosen to ignore him when he had done the same to her dozens of times.

This retort alone made her feel liberated — she couldn’t even begin to imagine how satisfying it would be to repay him for everything he had put her through.

When she stepped onto the first floor, still lost in thought, she saw Lucy.

“Ah, it got a bit noisy up there, didn’t it? I should explain—”

Before Penelope could finish, Lucy rushed over and threw her arms around her.

“My lady, you did so well.”

With trembling hands, Lucy gently patted Penelope on the back. It was a comforting gesture.

Even without hearing the full story, Lucy already knew. She understood all the sorrow Penelope had endured in silence over the years.

“I feel better just watching. That man… no, that thing needed a good scolding a long time ago.”

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

“Of course. Not a single word you said was wrong. No—if anything, every word hit the mark.”

“You think I can keep doing this?”

“Of course. Just keep going like this from now on. That nasty, wild brute—he’s not your master anymore. This is your house, my lady. You should toss him out at once.”

Lucy burrowed into Penelope’s embrace. And as Penelope comforted Lucy, she found herself being comforted in return.

Realizing that even if her husband had cast her aside, there was still someone who cared enough to stay and offer her warmth—

It gave her courage.

***

Penelope leaned by the window in the practice room, gazing outside. When she placed the back of her hand in the sunlight, a strange mark became visible.

“Lucy, there’s something on my hand. How do I get it off?”

“There’s nothing on it, my lady.”

“You don’t see this flower bud?”

“I thought your ladyship only had sharp ears, but you’ve got sharp eyes too. I don’t see a thing, I swear.”

The flower bud etched into her skin like a tattoo was invisible to everyone—everyone but Penelope.

One unbelievable event after another kept unfolding—events that could only be explained with words like magic or miracle.

Penelope slowly went over everything that had happened so far.

Originally, she was destined to board the Iris, uncover the truth about her husband and friend, and then be killed.

However, for some reason, she had come back to life and returned to the same date, albeit under different circumstances.

The only difference between her two lives was whether or not she boarded the Iris.

From what she had confirmed with Lucy, the Iris had not set sail on the scheduled date. Other than that, nothing else appeared to have changed.

This meant that all the high-level information she had gathered while mingling with powerful figures aboard the Iris was still intact—and still usable.

‘From Deva’s pregnancy to investment tips, even the careless rumors people let slip—I’ll use everything I can get my hands on.’

What Penelope sought was both revenge and defense.

‘I can’t afford to lose my parents’ inheritance and title.’

In noble families without a son, it was common practice to adopt an heir or bring in a son-in-law to inherit the title.

However, the late Count of Utterback had left a will naming Penelope as the sole heir.

Her parents had taken this precaution, fully aware that distant relatives would try to drive her out once he was gone.

To ensure Penelope received everything, her parents had to fight the entire world — not only was she a daughter, but she was also adopted.

To them, their inheritance wasn’t just about wealth. It was proof of their love.

‘So I can’t let anyone take it from me.’

‘Especially not if the one who takes it is the very person who murdered them.’

‘I won’t let a killer get a single coin from me.’

This revenge was both a duty as a daughter—and a way to prove she was worthy of the inheritance.

‘First, I need to get divorced. There’s no way my parents would want me to keep living with someone like him.’

However, she could not just demand a divorce out of the blue. As unfair as it was, there was not a single clause in the kingdom’s divorce laws that favoured women.

For a woman to initiate a divorce was practically impossible. This meant that she had to prepare thoroughly before filing the lawsuit.

‘I can’t do this alone. I need someone to help me…’

It was then—right as Penelope sank into her thoughts.

Thud, thud.

‘The boy from yesterday?’

The same newspaper boy who had come the night before was now knocking on the window. Penelope, caught off guard, opened the window to the grinning boy.

“Good morning, Count of Utterback. You paid so generously for the paper yesterday that I brought you today’s issue as well.”

“What did you just call me?”

“Here’s the newspaper.”

“No, not that part.”

Penelope wasn’t asking about the paper; she was referring to the word ‘countess’.

The boy was still smiling as if he understood perfectly, but he didn’t answer.

According to her father’s will, Penelope had indeed inherited the title of countess.

However, public opinion and the law were often very different.

Once she was married, it was only natural for her husband to take the title.

People called Ned the Count and Penelope the Countess.

But this boy had addressed her correctly, calling her the Count of Utterback.

“I came to deliver this to the Count of Utterback.”

The boy pulled a newspaper from the bundle he had tucked under his arm.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait, you should take the payment for—”

But before Penelope could finish, the boy gave her a polite bow and dashed away, giving her no chance to stop him.

Still dumbfounded, Penelope opened the newspaper he had left behind.

[Special Report – The Past Deeds of Duke Gunner]

Once again, the front page was dominated by Duke Gunner.
It wasn’t entirely surprising, considering how famous he was.

Blade Gunner.
People called him the forsaken prince.
Because he was the illegitimate son of King Raymond and his mistress, Cynthia.

The love affair between Raymond and Cynthia was widely known.

At the time, everyone who saw the couple believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that Cynthia would become Crown Princess.

But, as always, love is never that simple.

One drunken night, Raymond made a mistake.

As fate would have it, it was Clarissa, Cynthia’s friend, who became pregnant first.

After confirming her pregnancy, Raymond named Clarissa Crown Princess.

It was only afterwards that he found out that Cynthia was pregnant with his child too.

Missing her chance by a mere moment, Cynthia never entered the royal palace.

She fled and lived in hiding for years, eventually marrying a nobleman from the frontier and becoming the king’s mistress.

Although the outcome was far from ideal, Raymond continued to love Cynthia.

Naturally, he favoured Blade, the son of the woman he loved, over his legitimate heir, Geoffrey.

While Geoffrey was given the title of crown prince, Raymond granted the Gunner family, who were mere viscounts at the time, a dukedom. This allowed Blade and Cynthia to wield considerable power.

Even without the king’s favor, Blade surpassed Geoffrey in every way. From his appearance to his military achievements, Geoffrey couldn’t hold a candle to him.

There were even quiet rumors suggesting the throne should rightfully go to Blade instead of Geoffrey.

‘So that’s why Deva’s so obsessed with him,.’

‘She’s already pregnant—there’s no doubt she’ll do whatever it takes to marry him as soon as possible.’

‘But… if I stole Deva’s fiancé the same way she stole my husband…’

Gulp.

Her throat tightened as she swallowed.

Penelope quickly shook her head.

The duke probably didn’t even know someone named Penelope Utterback existed. No matter how blinded by revenge she might be, using someone like Duke Gunner for her own gain was absurd.

Thunk.

She let go of the foolish thought and was about to continue reading the article when something slipped out from between the pages of the paper—a single envelope.

“A letter?”

It bore only the faint trace of a wax seal.
No family crest.
No sender’s name.

Needless to say, it was a suspicious letter.

The fact that it had been delivered unofficially by a street boy, leaving no way to trace the sender, made it seem even more so.

But what was most striking of all was that Penelope Utterback had received a letter at all — she was an orphan born outside noble society who was shunned by the social elite.

Wary of using a paper knife, Penelope broke the seal with her bare hands.

The moment she read its contents—

“…My goodness.”

Penelope dropped both the envelope and its contents.

“This is…”

Photographs spilled out—capturing Ned and Deva in their secret, indecent affair.

Before she could even calm her racing heart—

“Penelope! Penelope, where are you?!”

Ned’s furious voice, having just arrived home, rang out and struck Penelope’s ears like a whip.