Nothing had gone according to plan since the moment he arrived in Bereut.

Meeting Eileen, bringing down Aaron, and everything regarding Duke Kyle.

With rapidly rising irritation, Laine chewed his lips.

A fishy taste spread throughout his mouth.

“Hah……”

Laine sighed deeply and looked out the window.

The warm afternoon sunlight settled on the garden.

Even that displeased him.

“Tsk.”

Laine clicked his tongue irritably and closed the curtains.

Because the curtains were thick, not even a single ray of light entered the study.

He needed to come up with a plan for what to do next, but today he didn’t want to do anything.

“Lady Eileen.”

Laine looked up at the dark ceiling and savored Eileen’s name.

It was still sweet.

“How can I have you, have your love?”

It seemed like a question he would never know the answer to until he died.

What exactly is the difference between Aaron de Monston and me?

What exactly did that man do to earn Eileen’s love?

As the images of Aaron and Eileen kept resurfacing, Laine finally closed his eyes.

* * *

At 3 PM, when even the air felt languid.

“This should be done like this……”

Aaron was more focused on paperwork than ever before.

If he wanted to have a wedding with Eileen in spring, he needed to handle as many tasks as possible.

That way, he could go on a long honeymoon with her.

It was still a somewhat distant future, but just imagining it made him smile.

“Eileen.”

Just savoring her name automatically made him feel good. So much so that he wanted to throw away all his work and go see her right away.

“……If only it weren’t for Cordelia.”

But that was impossible today. Eileen had already coldly refused, saying she had to meet Cordelia.

He grumbled, asking if she liked Cordelia more than him. But her response was absurd.

— Compare what should be compared.

So was Cordelia better or was he better?

Aaron was pondering her answer that he would probably never understand when he picked up his pen.

At that moment, knock knock, there was a knocking sound.

Is someone telling me to take a break?

Aaron put down his pen again and said.

“Come in.”

“Master, I’m truly sorry for disturbing you while you’re working.”

The one who opened the door and entered was none other than the head butler, Liam.

“What is it?”

When Aaron asked, Liam took out a letter from his br*ast pocket.

There was a clear seal of the Ceres family stamped on it. Was it because he had just been thinking about Eileen?

Seeing the Ceres family seal, he thought the letter sender must be Eileen.

“She coldly refused, saying she had to meet Cordelia today.”

His head tilted askew still held some dissatisfaction, but the smile spreading across his face couldn’t be hidden.

“It is more joyful to spend time with me than with Cordelia though.”

The soft sound of humming and paper being cut gently enveloped the study.

“Ah.”

But the moment he opened the letter, the humming stopped abruptly.

“……Hah.”

The letter beginning with ‘To my dear Duke Aaron’ was, no matter how he looked at it, not from Eileen.

With his expectations dashed, a long sigh escaped from Aaron’s lips.

“Master, isn’t it a letter from Lady Eileen?”

Liam must have thought it was from Eileen too, as he asked.

“Yes.”

Looking at it again, the handwriting was familiar. Aaron shook his head and said,

“It’s from Duke Kyle.”

After giving a simple answer, Aaron read through the letter.

It seemed the duke had recovered enough to write a letter, which was reassuring.

〈Duke Aaron, if it’s alright, would you come to the hospital tonight? Please come alone.〉

But the sentence written near the end made him uncomfortable again.

Why specifically at night, of all times?

And even asking him to come alone.

“Liam, do I have any other appointments tonight?”

Still, he couldn’t refuse.

It was natural to want to make a good impression on the father of the person he loved.

“No, sir.”

“I need to go out tonight, so make preparations.”

“Yes, Master.”

Even if he was anxious, he would find out when he got to the hospital. Aaron showed his intention for Liam to leave by picking up the documents again.

* * *

11 PM.

It was the time when Duke Kyle should be going to bed.

Originally, he would have been awake even at this hour, but the hospital forced him to go to bed early to recover quickly.

But tonight, the lights were brightly on.

“You’ve come, Duke Aaron.”

To welcome a late guest.

“Hello, Duke Kyle.”

Aaron put down the gifts he had brought, his hands full.

He had brought so many different kinds because he didn’t know what Duke Kyle liked.

“Hoho, why did you bring so much? You must have had trouble carrying it all.”

“Not at all.”

“Thank you.”

Duke Kyle made a groaning sound and then pointed to a chair, saying,

“I still find it difficult to move my body, so could you bring that chair over here?”

“Of course.”

Aaron pulled the chair over and placed it by Duke Kyle’s bedside.

“And could you check if anyone is listening?”

Judging by the dark shadow cast over his face, it was clear he was about to start a confidential conversation.

Aaron nodded slightly, then thoroughly checked everything from the hospital room door to the stairs and behind the curtains.

Whether Duke Kyle had asked in advance, there were no hospital staff or attendants.

“There’s no one.”

“Good, then come closer.”

As Aaron approached, Duke Kyle looked around once more.

When he was certain no one was there, he opened his heavy lips.

“I heard that you’re currently working with Eileen in my place.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“From the Kingdom of Kunda……”

As Duke Kyle trailed off, Aaron answered for him.

“Laine Adolf.”

“Yes, is that Laine the same person who worked with the Ceres family?”

“Yes, he is.”

I see…

Duke Kyle pressed his brow firmly.

“I didn’t like that man from the beginning.”

“Neither did I.”

At Aaron’s answer, Duke Kyle burst into hearty laughter.

“I felt like there was something hidden behind that smiling face of his.”

“And I didn’t like the way he looked at Eileen either.”

“You felt that too?”

Realizing they had the same thoughts, the two men began listing their grievances about Laine.

“Anyway, that’s why I was keeping an eye on him.”

“Is that so?”

“But he didn’t do anything suspicious.”

Duke Kyle’s body must not have fully recovered yet, as he coughed a few times before continuing.

“Then I witnessed Laine entering a very old building. Wherever he went, well, that wasn’t my concern.”

“……”

“But the cold expression he wore bothered me greatly.”

Duke Kyle briefly clicked his tongue at that expression, which was still vivid in his mind.

“So just in case, I strengthened security and had people gather information about Laine.”

“Ah……”

“But nothing came up. Far from it, he said he had finished his work and left.”

The sound of scoffing echoed gently between Aaron and Duke Kyle.

“But for him to return to Bereut under the pretext of travel. Isn’t that suspicious?”

The deep blue eyes that contained the sea itself flashed.

Despite being bedridden, his gaze remained the same.

It was befitting of the head of the Ceres ducal family.

“I also have something to tell you, Duke.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about the accident you suffered.”

From the moment Duke Kyle called him this late at night, Aaron had decided to tell him about the accident.

And after hearing about Laine from Duke Kyle, that decision became firmer.

Because he somehow felt that Laine might be connected to this accident.

“Your accident was not a simple one.”

“Could it be……”

Duke Kyle’s eyes trembled slightly. Aaron nodded slowly.

“Someone deliberately caused it, trying to kill you.”

“Hah.”

A short, deep sigh burst from Duke Kyle’s mouth.

“Tell me in detail.”

As he urged, Aaron revealed everything he knew to Duke Kyle.

As the long story continued, the veins on the back of Duke Kyle’s hand also became more prominent.

“There were commonalities among them.”

Aaron took a moment to compose himself and continued.

“The one who caused the accident, the one who ordered my kidnapping, and the one who released Amber.”

“……”

“They all reportedly had light black hair.”

“But light black hair can be found anywhere, can’t it?”

There were several people who came to mind right now.

When Duke Kyle asked again, Aaron made a groaning sound and said,

“I recently found an inn where that person might have stayed.”

“Really?”

“It was… someone unrelated to this case. A different criminal.”

When they discovered that fact, Jackson was restless and Bella was tearing at her hair.

Aaron pushed aside the old memories that surfaced.

That wasn’t what was important right now.

“But the moment I heard your story, something flashed through my mind.”

Duke Kyle felt the stifling air from earlier change.

Even without feeling it, just seeing those curled-up lips and the purple eyes that had sunk darkly, he could tell.

That Aaron had caught onto something.

“Duke, don’t you think Laine might be connected to these three incidents?”

And his hypothesis was plausible.

“I still don’t understand why I was kidnapped or why Amber was released.”

“……”

“The carriage accident seems to have been carried out to silence him after finding out that the duke was investigating.”

Doesn’t that make sense?

The tilted head was full of confidence.

Duke Kyle nodded slowly without bothering to say it in words.

“That man is very cunning. Always be careful.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I investigated, but there was nothing, just clean.”

“I’ll definitely catch evidence.”

He was truly reliable. Befitting the man Eileen had chosen.

‘She indeed has good judgment.’

Eileen’s discernment was clearly excellent, taking after him.

Otherwise, where would she find such a person?