Lady Muller poured out her grievances while crying heavily. But hearing it, the situation was flowing in a much worse direction than what Tatiana knew. 

 Gideon was currently imprisoning the Duke somewhere in the palace and conducting a royal interrogation. 

 Though royal interrogation was originally the king’s authority, since his illness was evident, the First Prince was acting on his behalf. And for a royal family member to directly interrogate a suspect meant the matter was by no means light. At the same time, it was a declaration of the royal family’s will to prove charges even if they had to fabricate non-existent crimes and evidence.

“Please at least refer him to a formal trial. Give him a chance to explain. There must be a misunderstanding, or if there is a crime, we will accept it willingly. I promise we will withdraw from all positions.” 

 “……” 

 “Now I don’t even know where he is or how he’s doing……” 

 In this complicated situation, Tatiana heaved a deep sigh. Then Lady Muller came down to the sofa again and knelt. She grabbed Tatiana’s legs and clung to her, then eventually began begging with both hands clasped. 

 “Mother, why are you doing this?” 

 “Tatiana, if I’ve ever made you feel hurt, I’ll apologize for everything. I’ll kneel and beg like this, okay?” 

 Tatiana shook her head several times. 

 She had no grievances against the Duchess. When even blood relatives fight, how easy could it have been for the lady of the house to take in an outsider? Of course, they had their discordant moments too. 

 Despite having a husband who was the Royal Guard Commander, the Duchess couldn’t understand a delicate young lady holding a sword. There were times when Tatiana felt hurt by her words dismissing her swordsmanship as temporary impulse and rebellion. 

 There were far more times when she pushed Tatiana with unwanted party invitations. Though she couldn’t completely hide her reluctance each time, Tatiana was truly grateful. 

 If it weren’t for the insistence of the Duchess, whose personality was completely different from hers, she wouldn’t have even had the chance to experience new environments. She probably wouldn’t have found the necessity or motivation either. If that had been the case, adapting to royal life would have been much more difficult than now. 

 Tatiana helped the Duchess up to sit on the sofa again and said,

 “What do I have to feel hurt about? You have nothing to apologize for.” 

 “……Really?” 

 “That’s what I’m saying.” 

 “Then help us just once. Please save our family. Just our lives, okay? We didn’t live so badly together, did we?” 

 “……” 

 Unable to answer readily, Tatiana sighed several times. 

 She also had doubts about whether it was right to actively intervene in this matter. Because she didn’t think Gideon would do this to someone without any suspicious points. 

 Perhaps she was trusting her husband too blindly without reason, but that was her honest feeling. But at the same time, she didn’t feel like she had no right to add her voice to this issue. 

 Tatiana finally nodded. 

 “I will convey your request to His Highness exactly as you’ve made it.” 

 “……” 

 “But I can’t make any promises. I can’t make what happened not have happened.” 

 “……Tatiana.” 

 “Still, I’ll try. I can at least ask him to consider if there’s a way that would hurt both sides less, can’t I?” 

 Did the Duchess feel relieved at Tatiana’s words? Or did the scope of this promise feel insufficient? Probably both. But even if it was a very faint hope, Tatiana was probably the only straw she could grasp right now. 

 The Duchess began to wail as if overcome with emotion, and Tatiana eventually had to say this when she wouldn’t stop no matter how much she tried to comfort her. 

 That if she wanted to make her plea, she needed to go see His Highness now and didn’t have time to be like this. It was somewhat cunning, but there was nothing better than this to stop the flood of tears. 

 After sending Lady Muller back to the Duke’s residence, Tatiana headed straight for Gideon’s office. And everything after that was an obstacle. 

 As expected, the guards’ attitude was uncooperative from the start. 

 “Is His Highness inside?” 

 “He has stepped out momentarily.” 

 “Where did he go?” 

 “Well……” 

 The guard blocked the door and hemmed and hawed. 

 Tatiana narrowed her eyes and thought. Surely they’re not trying to make such an obvious excuse about not knowing in front of me? 

 “Is he really not inside?” 

 “Yes……” 

 “Really?” 

 “……Shall I open the door?” 

 “No, that’s not necessary, just bet either your neck or wrist on His Highness not being in here.” 

 Tatiana checked the guard’s expression and nodded. 

 Gideon was definitely not inside. 

 “Then did he go to Duke Muller? ……Where is that?” 

 “Your Highness, I apologize. I cannot say that with my own mouth. I cannot disclose it to anyone, not even Your Highness.” 

 “……” 

 “Please return to your quarters for now. When His Highness returns, we will notify you immediately.” 

 But Tatiana didn’t budge. She had never believed those words, but pretending to listen and retreating only to spend sleepless nights waiting for notifications that never came had already happened several times. 

 Suddenly she wanted to grab Gideon’s collar and ask. After turning away his wife like this and making her wait in vain, did he really think their future married life would be smooth? 

 Tatiana engaged in a silent standoff with the guards for a long while. Then making up her mind, she blurted out: 

 “Bring me a blanket.” 

 “……Pardon?” 

 “I’m going to sleep here today. I haven’t tried sleeping in the corridor yet, but let’s give it a try, why not.” 

 “……” 

 “Wake me when my husband comes.” 

 You all think I’m ridiculous, right? Going ‘hmm’ this way and that, you must have found me so easy inside. When my spouse ignores my existence, how could these people not find me ridiculous too? 

 Tatiana looked at the bewildered people, then leaned against the wall, crossed her arms and sat down. 

 She wasn’t really going to sleep there with a blanket. But she was determined to wait until Gideon came. 

* * *

 At the same time. 

 Gideon was descending dark underground stairs with his adjutants. 

 Their faces were stern, having finished investigating most of the detainees. However, there were clear bloodstains splattered on one person’s sleeve. Duke Muller was arrested at the scene because new charges that couldn’t be overlooked had come to light. 

 The Duke had been employing private soldiers for purposes beyond protection. His soldiers were caught by Gideon’s informants while attempting to contact the leading forces of the northern rebellion. 

 Why did the Duke do it? Though the Prince’s side had been conducting intense interrogations for days, Gideon thought the answer was trivially obvious. 

 Gideon had recently made a gesture of reconciliation to the north, arguing to provide military support to them. However, if a rebellion broke out in the principality and even Valter’s subjects were exploited, Gideon would be put in a difficult position. 

 Someone would surely raise their voice in the meeting saying northerners were indeed impossible to deal with. This would lead to doubts about Gideon’s political judgment. 

 All of this was something the Duke neither could nor needed to plan alone. Behind the Duke,  the Queen clearly stood as the mastermind. 

 “Father-in-law.” 

 Gideon, who had told his wife they needed to be clear about titles now, called the Duke father-in-law. Of course, it was nothing but sarcasm. 

 “Have you been writing your statement well?” 

 “……” 

 “I’m asking if you wrote it well. Can’t you hear?” 

 “Your, Your Highness. I only received orders from Her Majesty the Queen. It was part of official duties.” 

 “Official duties? Why is the Royal Guard Commander doing official duties with mercenaries instead of the Royal Guard?” 

 Gideon sneered as if it was absurd. 

 But even while saying this, Gideon himself had an assassination group behind him. Kay, the leader of that group, picked up the paper in front of the Duke and handed it to Gideon. 

 Gideon seemed to read the contents of the paper quite carefully for a while. But then he casually tore it to shreds. 

 “The Queen’s name only appears twice. Too bland. Write it again.” 

 Gideon knew very well how the Queen had tried to trip him up. If disturbances broke out in the north and the aftermath reached Valter’s civilians, the Queen would have said this in the State Council: 

 ‘Prince, didn’t this mother tell you? I said it was premature. One must be careful in everything……’ 

 Although the Queen’s scheme had come to nothing at the planning stage, Gideon could almost hear her clicking her tongue disgustingly. His mood plummeted as if it had been thrown into a dungeon, and a sneer emerged. 

 Just to vent this feeling, the Duke’s statement had to be reconstructed to center on the Queen. However, the adjutants couldn’t help but worry as they looked at the shredded pieces of paper.

“Your Highness, if he refuses……” 

 They wondered if the Duke would even be able to walk out of this basement alive. That he might be unable to make any more statements. Even if it was insufficient evidence, wouldn’t it be better to secure it for contingencies?