For generations, the House of Schutzman had guaranteed the Jordy family’s exclusive control of Haytesfield’s seafood trade.

While the Schutzman name undoubtedly carried immense power, this also meant that Robert Jordy effectively held the Jordy family on a leash.

Three days ago, dozens of large fishing vessels from the Jordy fleet were forcibly anchored at Ordman Port.

“Your Grace, the weather is getting warmer. If this continues, everyone bearing the Jordy name will suffer. Miss Henrietta, please. Speak. It’s true that I followed you that night and tried to talk to you, but I never hurt you, did I? Isn’t that right?”

Robert turned sharply to look at Henrietta behind him.

Anxiety. Disapproval. Rage.

So many emotions flashed across his face that Henrietta couldn’t begin to guess what he was about to say. She, too, stood facing him, her heart full of mixed emotions.

The Jordy family had served the Schutzman’s loyally for generations. Because of that, Henrietta had long endured Benjamin’s misdeeds in silence.

But… did Robert really harm the Jordy family over this?

How had he found out about that night?

Did Pierre perhaps see Benjamin fleeing and tell Robert everything? Did Robert really move against the Jordy family for her sake?

Even if that were true…

“That bastard… he harassed you?”

Henrietta let out a quiet sigh.

“Ah…”

It didn’t take Henrietta long to realize it hadn’t been Robert who had the Jordy family’s ships detained at the harbor.

And suddenly, she found herself wondering: If not Robert… then who had dared to seize the ships of a count’s house?

“I asked you, didn’t I? What the hell did that bastard do to you?”

‘What he did?’

Henrietta let out a bitter, breathy laugh at Robert’s repeated demand.

Benjamin had been harassing her for over a year. The fact that Robert had gone that long without noticing the relentless torment of this spoilt young scoundrel made bile rise in her throat.

After all, he hadn’t known what Janice had done until Henrietta nearly drowned.

So yes, Robert had failed her. But then again, she had been foolish, too. She had wasted all that time. And yet… there had been good days.

When Robert realised she wasn’t going to answer, he turned sharply and stormed towards Benjamin.

He grabbed Benjamin by the collar and pulled him up until his toes were barely brushing the floor.

“You laid a hand on her…?”

It was only when Robert’s dark amber eyes, full of fury, locked with his that Benjamin truly grasped the situation.

His cheeks trembled with fear as he stammered.

“No, never! I would never. I didn’t even get that close to her, not really.”

Henrietta let out a dry laugh at the shameless lie.

“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you with my own hands.”

“I’m not! I swear! Please…”

Then a flicker of suspicion entered Benjamin’s wide, trembling eyes.

“If you didn’t detain my family’s ships, then who did?”

Suddenly, the penny dropped for Benjamin, and he shot his head up.

He twisted around, trying to look over Robert’s shoulder.

When he finally caught sight of Henrietta, his eyes widened.

The veins in Robert’s clenched hand bulged a deep, angry blue.

“That man with the blue eyes… the one who was with you… he was really Prince Hendrik, wasn’t he?”

But the sentence never made it to the end.

With a harsh thud, Benjamin hit the floor, groaning as he crawled.

“P-Please… have mercy…!”

After that, the only things Henrietta could remember were Pierre’s wide, horrified eyes and the sharp, sickening sounds that echoed through the silence over and over again.

***

Crouching in a corner of the storage room, Evelyn tried to assess her situation. She couldn’t even peel the dried blood stuck to her cheek and hair.

Shortly after Henrietta left for Haytesfield, chaos erupted in the form of loud noises and unfamiliar visitors arriving at Hangderhood.

This place, which had always been characterised by quiet order, was suddenly turned upside down in a whirlwind of confusion. The identity of the uninvited guests turned that confusion into utter shock: Imperial soldiers.

Evelyn had never imagined that she would see the Imperial eagle emblem up close; it was something she had only ever seen in history books.

The bright red flags billowed fiercely, the eagle within them poised as if about to take flight.

“This is a letter from Her Majesty the Empress, delivered by the Imperial Household. She has decided to place the Hangderhood under Imperial jurisdiction.”

As Bishop Thomason read the imperial decree, a flurry of emotions flickered across his face, rising and vanishing all at once, and his hands trembled.

“What… what does that mean?”

At first, Evelyn found it hard to understand. She couldn’t tell whether the news was good or bad. Would Hangderhood’s inclusion in the Imperial Household be beneficial or harmful to them.

She studied the bishop’s face carefully, searching for a clue.

Initially surprised, fearful and confused, the bishop slowly began to look relieved.

“You’ve heard, haven’t you, that Prince Hendrik van Ansonaisen has been formally adopted as the Empress’s son?”

Their eyes met, and Evelyn nodded with a bewildered expression. Of course, such monumental news had reached even the rural village of Sersenfers.

But what could the complicated affairs of such important people possibly have to do with them?

“His Highness Prince Hendrik has chosen Hangderhood as the first site he wishes to oversee personally, now that it is under the Imperial Household.”

Evelyn’s face hardened at the words she couldn’t quite understand.

“Why would he…? How would he even know about this place?”

“It’s not certain, but as you know, Sersenfers is part of the Osborne estate.”

As the newly adopted son of the Empress, Prince Hendrik needed to prove that his presence and actions did not run contrary to the Church or the Pope.

The bishop said no more, but Evelyn immediately understood what he meant.

Even in this remote village on the outskirts of Sersenfers, everyone was saying the same thing: the royal family name would soon change. It was such common knowledge that there was no need to keep it a secret. With no real outlet for gossip, it simply became an open secret.

So, what did the sudden emergence of a grown royal prince mean in such a situation?

“This is a good thing for us, right?”

“Of course. I suspect there may have been some kind of agreement between the Schutzman dukedom and the Imperial Family—but regardless, we must inform Henrietta of this news as soon as possible… Just in case.”

Evelyn turned pale as she thought about Henrietta riding away in the carriage. To Evelyn, Henrietta had always seemed composed and thoughtful. Seeing her so shaken and unable to hide it had left Evelyn deeply worried.

She wanted more than anything to bring her this joyful news, and quickly.

“Then… I’ll go to Haytesfield.”

“You will?”

The bishop hesitated for a moment at Evelyn’s offer, then gave a slow nod.

“Would you really do that?”

“Yes. I want to go.”

“Very well, then. Go to Haytesfield and find out what happened. The Imperial Household is sending someone soon, so I can’t leave right now. Besides, it’s better for you to find Henrietta at the Schutzman estate than for me to go myself.”

Evelyn quickly set off to pack a few things.

The result of that choice was her current state: being trapped in a dark room in this miserable condition.

At Hangderhood’s orphanage, children could only stay until they turned fifteen — and even then, only with the bishop’s permission. There were always more orphans than space available.

According to the rules, Evelyn should have left by now.

However, when she turned fifteen, Bishop Thomason introduced her to a suitable noble family.

Thus, Baron Morgan became her guardian.

He was a good man. Although he wasn’t one for tender words, he would gently ruffle her hair with his thick-knuckled hand or give her a rough pat on the back whenever they crossed paths.

“Make yourself at home.”

Those few words had brought her to tears one long, sleepless night.

To Evelyn, the good fortune that had found her felt confusing and surreal.

But that luck didn’t last long.

Baron Morgan died in a sudden carriage accident—not long after he had officially become her guardian.

Logically, she knew it hadn’t been her fault. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to look at his grave.

Feeling responsible for all the misfortune, she stood alone among the murmuring crowd, unable to cry.

Following Baron Morgan’s death, the baroness announced that she would no longer act as Evelyn’s guardian.

She had nowhere to go. She thought of Henrietta, but couldn’t bring herself to rely on her anymore.

So Evelyn took the hand of the baron’s son, Ivan — the heir who had boldly declared that he would make all future family decisions.

True to his word, Ivan fought with his mother and won. He made sure Evelyn could stay at Hangderhood.

And he whispered his love for her—constantly.

His voice, filled with aching sincerity, always told her that she was the only one.

In Evelyn’s heart, her feelings for him were always tangled—a mix of gratitude, guilt, and a faint resignation that she hadn’t had a choice.

Whenever he professed his love, she answered that she loved him too—and perhaps, in doing so, she had always felt a deep sense of relief.

On weekdays, Evelyn stayed at Hangderhood, and on weekends she would go to the Morgan estate.

She headed there to let Ivan know she’d be making a trip to Haytesfield. The situation was urgent, so she hadn’t sent word ahead.

‘Was that what caused all of this?’

Just thinking of the look in Ivan’s eyes as he saw her in the drawing room made Evelyn tremble, even in the heart of spring.

“Wh-What brings you here at this hour?”

Ivan had looked startled, glancing awkwardly between Evelyn and the guests gathered in the drawing room, forcing a strained smile.

The guests were all dressed formally, clearly invited for dinner. They were people Evelyn knew well.

Merilyn Dubois and her parents.

There was no need to ask why they were there, so elegantly dressed.

Merilyn had harboured a crush on Ivan since childhood. Her parents weren’t nobility — or at least, they hadn’t been. However, rumours had spread that they had made a fortune in the wool trade.

From last year onwards, people had started introducing them with the phrase ‘noble in everything but title’, a convenient fiction.

In this world, wealthy commoners were treated better than impoverished titled nobles.

Many fallen aristocrats were willing to “sell” their noble status to such people.

Merilyn’s chestnut-brown hair was tied into two pigtails, falling in perfect spiral curls that day. Ivan used to mockingly imitate those curls whenever she walked away.

But could he really marry a girl he had always teased like that?