The night before, Ariadne had returned to her room without any answers or clarity.

Kieron hadn’t given her anything resembling a real response. For a moment, his expression had seemed frozen, as if he were grasping for words he couldn’t quite reach.

It was a look that made her wonder, once again, if she was simply seeing what she wanted to see and if all her hopes were just a product of her imagination.

So she turned away.

Kieron Ambrose was not a man who became flustered. Certainly not when he had his own reasons for retreating behind vague behavior, as he had yesterday.

She never figured out what those reasons were.

But Ariadne felt no urge to chase after answers.

The emotional exhaustion — along with the dull ache that had set in behind her eyes — from trying to decipher his evasiveness felt far too heavy to bear.

So she asked him nothing more.

And she walked away.

As expected, he didn’t follow her.

A few steps down the corridor, she heard the office door close behind her.

At that small sound, everything fell into place.

Right. He wasn’t the type to waste time giving meaningless answers. He had probably asked her that question just to provoke a reaction, to make her ramble and reveal whatever information he had been after.

Oddly enough, this realization made her feel lighter. She still didn’t know what he had been trying to find out, but it didn’t matter. Even if she did, nothing about her situation would change.

With her thoughts finally sorted, Ariadne slept deeply that night.

When she woke, her mind felt clear.

She had risen earlier than usual. Standing by the window, she looked out at the unusually bright, cloudless morning.

With a sky like this, staying in her room felt impossible.

Staring at the pale dawn light, she reached for the bell cord and gave it a gentle pull.

“Good morning, my lady.”

A little while later, Jay entered, carrying the morning mail.

Ariadne greeted her with a warm, cheerful smile.

“Good morning. Jay, could you help me get ready to go out as soon as I finish breakfast?”

“You’re going out today as well?”

Jay looked genuinely startled. This was understandable — Ariadne had never gone out on two consecutive days before.

This was partly due to her naturally fragile health, but also because she had never enjoyed going out in the past. But today, there was no trace of the exhaustion she should have felt after yesterday’s outing.

In fact, she looked delighted. Almost eager.

Jay watched her with quiet worry.

What if she collapsed again?

But Ariadne brushed his concerns aside with an easy, cheerful smile.

“The weather’s lovely. It feels like a waste to stay cooped up inside.”

“Will you really be all right? You came home late yesterday too.”

Jay recalled how oddly her mistress had behaved the previous night. She had refused to go straight to bed, instead insisting that she wanted to take a short walk.

She had assured Jay that it would be quick and urged her to prepare the room and go to bed early. Jay therefore had no idea when Ariadne had actually returned. But one thing was certain: she had not left her room again after that.

Worry still lingered, so Jay asked carefully.

Ariadne simply rolled up her sleeves and shook her head, as if to say that she was fine.

“I feel great today. I really slept well last night.”

“Well… you do look that way.”

It was true. Ariadne looked completely well. Her complexion was brighter than usual, and she had a healthy glow — both clear signs that she had had a restful night.

Jay hesitated a little, then nodded.

“All right, my lady. Then I’ll bring you a slightly heartier breakfast than usual.”

“Good. But not too much, please.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Jay helped her wash up, then stepped out to prepare breakfast. Left alone, Ariadne sat down on the sofa and started sorting through the post that Jay had brought in.

She hadn’t participated in social circles for a long time, so invitations hardly ever came anymore.

Even the ones that had arrived when she first became duchess quickly stopped, a natural consequence of her declining them all on the pretext of managing ducal affairs.

Before her marriage, she hadn’t attended many gatherings either, but she still received the occasional invitation thanks to the Peyton name. She had also sometimes accompanied her sisters-in-law after Hern and Hermes got married.

But once she had married into House Ambrose, even those thin threads unraveled. Her ties to her own family grew faint, and eventually, not a single invitation was addressed to her.

Still, the newspapers and gossip sheets arrived daily, allowing her to keep up with the world through printed columns.

She had just unfolded that morning’s paper when—

“Hm? What’s this?”

Something slipped out and fell to the floor.

For a moment, she wondered if Jay had put something in the pile of post by accident, but the envelope was completely plain — there was no seal or crest, and there wasn’t even a smudge of ink. Pure white.

A letter without verification should never have made it past the estate’s security.

Whoever sent it must have been desperate to get a message to her, she thought as she bent down to pick it up.

She turned it over.

No seal.

No signature.

There was no mark to suggest where it came from.

Who in the world would send something like this?

She slowly opened the envelope.

“Ah! My lady!”

Something rattled out of it and Jay, who had just opened the door, caught sight of it.

“What… is this…?”

Ariadne froze.

Blood was flowing down her hand, from the back of her hand all the way along her arm.

***

“Fortunately, it seems the blades weren’t poisoned.”

Chaos erupted on the estate.

Inside the envelope addressed to the Duchess, there were dozens of razor-thin blades.

When she opened it, sharp lines of blood bloomed across the back of her hand and up her arm, and several blades that had slipped at the wrong angle left long gashes on her thigh.

Naturally, Brown — the estate’s physician — came rushing in.

At the same time, Derrick rounded up every servant who had handled the morning mail or been near that part of the house.

The letter had been slipped between the pages of the newspaper.

As Ariadne was the only person in the Ambrose residence who read the newspaper, it was clear that the attack was intended for her alone. But who would dare to target the duchess inside the Ambrose estate?

Upon hearing the news, Kieron ordered Derrick to investigate all the servants and find the culprit.

Everyone except Jay was scrutinized.

Jay was exempt because she had gone straight to the kitchen to prepare Ariadne’s breakfast before returning to her mistress.

Brown arrived with his arms full of medical equipment, treated the wounds and conducted a thorough examination.

Ultimately, he concluded that there was no sign of poisoning other than the cuts themselves.

“The blades weren’t poisoned, but you mustn’t relax.”

“I can test for commonly known toxins, but I cannot detect substances traded illegally or newly formulated.”

He recommended she take a broad-spectrum antidote effective against most poisons.

“The wounds aren’t deep, but you must still be careful. I truly hope it won’t happen, but we cannot ignore the risk of tetanus.”

As he laid out medicine to prevent infection, ointment for the wounds, and pain relievers, Brown urged her again and again not to move around today.

“If there was poison, staying still will help prevent it from spreading. So please avoid moving as much as possible today, and make sure the wounds stay dry.”

“Then… I shouldn’t leave my room today?”

Ariadné asked quietly.

Brown paused midway through sorting the medicine. Then he shook his head.

“You should avoid even leaving your bed, if possible. Are you feeling discomfort anywhere?”

Avoid leaving the bed. Just moments ago she had been excited about going outside, and now her expression fell at once.

“Other than the sting from the cuts, I feel fine.”

“That’s fortunate. But if you feel anything besides stinging—any numbness, pressure, or unusual pain—you must tell us immediately.”

She had wanted so badly to go out today.

Ariadne let out a small sigh.

“Yes. I’ll be careful.”

“It will feel confining. But think of it as just for today—please endure a little.”

Brown soothed her apologetically.

Truly, though, none of this was his fault.

Having never lived with anyone who wanted to harm her before, she wasn’t accustomed to this kind of danger.

As the duchess, she should have exercised caution with a letter of unknown origin.

“I will, Brown. Thank you. I’m sorry to trouble you because of me.”

“As a servant of the ducal house, this is my duty, my lady. Don’t concern yourself with that—if you feel even the slightest discomfort, call for me immediately. All right?”

His gentle, reassuring tone made her nod.

“If anything happens, come straight to me. I’ll be on this floor all day.’

“Yes, I understand.”

After a final reminder, Brown left the room, telling Ariadne to rest.

Ariadné gave him a polite smile until the door closed and then she let out a long sigh.

“What is this…? I wanted to spend the day doing something fun.”

A small, fleeting sense of disappointment escaped in the form of a childish grumble.

But Jay recoiled as if he had been hit.

“My lady! This is hardly the time to be saying things like that!”

“I know, Jay. I just said it because I felt stifled.”

Jay’s reaction was bigger than Ariadne had expected. She quickly withdrew the pout she had formed in complaint.

She tried to play it down, but Jay showed no sign of being willing to let the matter drop.

“You were threatened, my lady! There was no sender, no letter—nothing in that envelope except those terrifying things!”

“I know, Jay. I know. I only said it without thinking.”

One careless comment and she was scolded for it.

It took Ariadne quite some time to calm Jay down by repeatedly apologizing before she finally escaped Jay’s lecture. But how was she supposed to feel something she couldn’t fully grasp?

She had never made an enemy in her life.

Looking down at her bandaged wounds, Ariadne sighed again.