Henry handed a small vial to Lady Shifield.

He didn’t want to see a woman damaged by drugs. He hadn’t wanted to resort to this method, but now there was no other way to bring Alicia back without making her take this medicine.

“Is that all I need to do?”

“Of course. But you must not be caught by others. I’ll arrange the opportunity soon, so don’t fail.”

“I understand.”

What was giving Alicia one dose of medicine compared to being completely free of debt?

Lady Shifield answered with a smile spreading across her face. She felt elated at the thought of finally being free from Henry.

* * *

“It’s been a while. About two months, wasn’t it?”

The person waiting for Alicia in the reception room was Celia. She hadn’t shown herself when they were looking for her, so why had she come now?

Upon seeing Celia’s face, Alicia and Cassion could only look at each other with bewildered expressions. Celia smiled at the two of them.

“Sorcerers aren’t found simply because someone is looking for them. We must be the ones to approach first. If we could be easily found, we wouldn’t be called sorcerers, would we?”

That explained it. Even with the Lowden family’s power, they couldn’t find her. Sorcerers were indeed different.

“Are you saying you came specifically to meet me today?”

“Yes, that’s right. I think it’s time to reveal everything.”

Reveal everything? What exactly?

Alicia couldn’t help but question Celia’s words. Could there be a special reason for their body swap?

Before she could think further, Celia spoke.

“Do you think our meeting that day was coincidental?”

“Wasn’t it?”

“It was coincidental. But I don’t think of it that way.”

Coincidental yet not coincidental?

Celia’s contradictory statement gave Alicia deeper doubts. When Alicia tilted her head to one side, Celia chuckled.

“People must live according to their predetermined fate. Although we sorcerers wield magic, we don’t break the framework of predetermined destiny. Doing so would incur heaven’s wrath. However, there are occasionally those who violate this taboo.”

Celia’s face, which had been smiling until moments ago, darkened dramatically. She sighed deeply and carefully began to speak.

“What I’m about to say might shock you. But it’s something you must hear. Are you prepared to listen?”

What could she possibly need to say that required such preparation?

Whatever it was, Alicia decided not to be surprised and nodded firmly.

“Yes, I am.”

“That man Henry who tried to marry you…”

The moment Henry’s name left Celia’s lips, Alicia’s body involuntarily flinched. Could Celia have met Henry before?

“He used a sorcerer to break a taboo. He used magic to change someone’s destiny.”

“Whose destiny did he change?”

A sudden ominous feeling washed over her.

‘After everything I’ve done! I can’t lose this now!’

Why did Henry’s voice, shouting from the mansion when Alicia was hiding, suddenly come to mind? 

She feared it might be connected to what Celia was saying. No. It couldn’t be. Surely not.

Wanting to deny it, she shook her head trying to dismiss the thought, but at that moment, shocking words flowed from Celia’s mouth.

“Your father, Baron Shifield’s destiny.”

“…”

She was too shocked to speak. When she momentarily staggered, Cassion, who had been standing silently beside her, supported her.

Silence fell among the three, so complete that not even breathing could be heard. The atmosphere remained heavy, making it difficult for anyone to speak first.

Finally, Alicia broke the silence.

“Didn’t my father die in an accident?”

“It was a tragic death disguised as an accident. A curse was cast using magic, leaving no evidence behind.”

“A curse?”

“Yes, not all sorcerers can cast curses. That man Henry found a dark sorcerer and placed a deadly curse on Baron Shifield.”

“Celia, did you perhaps see my father’s final moments?”

Celia shook her head with a sorrowful look.

“When someone harms another, that energy can be sensed by the one who cast the curse. I merely read Baron Shifield’s death from that man Henry.”

“Are you saying Henry deliberately killed my father?”

“It seems so.”

Good heavens.

Alicia had sometimes thought that her father’s sudden death made no sense and had wondered if someone had deliberately harmed him.

But she had chided herself for thinking so extremely, believing no one would do something so terrible. Now to learn it was true…

Shocked by this unbelievable revelation, Alicia’s legs weakened. As she staggered again, Cassion wrapped his arm around her waist to support her.

Leaning against him, she barely managed to stand. Anger surged within her, but she didn’t know what to do.

Though she didn’t want to believe it, Henry’s motive for killing her father was all too clear, making it impossible to deny Celia’s words.

The Shifield barony title.

When the head of a family died, it was natural for the eldest son to inherit. Nobles typically had multiple children, so this was the usual case.

For example, Cassion had become the head of the Lowden family after his father’s death.

He had led the family from a young age in place of his sickly father, and after his father’s death, he became the Duke.

Otherwise, an unmarried male from a branch family would receive the title, making it rare for a daughter to temporarily hold the title. It was an extremely uncommon situation.

Currently in the Claude Empire, the Shifield barony was the only noble house with no unmarried males in the branch family and a daughter who could temporarily inherit the title. This made it an inevitable target for Henry, who desperately wanted to become a noble.

“Why are you only telling me this now?”

Only after calming herself could Alicia finally speak.

“Because I needed to reconnect the relationship that was forcibly severed.”

“What forcibly severed relationship? Between whom?”

“Alicia, between you and me.”

Cassion answered instead of Celia.

“That’s right.”

Celia nodded and added.

“Originally, you two were destined to meet. Baron Shifield was planning to visit Duke Lowden regarding business matters. During that process, you, Lady Shifield, would have accompanied him. There was a business venture you were planning together, wasn’t there?”

“Yes.”

Alicia nodded slowly.

“If I may speak of Baron Shifield’s original future, after continuous business failures, he would have divorced Lady Shifield, and then the business he had been planning with you, Lady Shifield, would finally have become quite profitable.”

“Really?”

The business Alicia and Baron Shifield had been planning involved perfumes and soaps.

Many of the scents used by nobles were harsh and sometimes caused headaches. That’s why the two of them had been developing fragrances that were subtle yet comforting. Scents that wouldn’t be bothersome even when lingering for a long time.

“Yes. Originally, that business would have been the most successful of all his ventures, earning enough to prevent financial struggles. But just before the divorce, he met his death through Henry’s scheme. With Baron Shifield, the intermediary between you two, gone, your meeting was also prevented.”

“If we were destined to meet, wouldn’t we have met anyway?”

“That’s generally true, but when a curse is cast through a sorcerer, relationships can become distorted. That’s what happened in your case.”

“…”

“The curse didn’t end with the Baron’s death. As a result, your life, Lady Shifield, took a turn for the worse, though Duke Lowden, being strong-spirited, wasn’t affected as severely. However…”