“Your Grace?”

In reality, it wasn’t a question but a threat. Diane broke into a cold sweat. Breathing was difficult in fear, but she had already crossed the river, unable to turn back.

“I, I was foolish.”

Diane sobbed.

“Suddenly, my finances took a turn for the worse, and I needed money. I couldn’t resist temptation just once. Truly, just once. Please believe me, Your Grace.”

Diane desperately pleaded, shaking her shoulders spasmodically.

“The fact has been exposed to my wife. Seizing that as an opportunity, my wife… ”

“You’ve wasted my time.”

Johan stood up. He gestured lowly to the police officer standing beside him.

“You’ll bear the consequences. Handle it yourself.”

“Understood.”

Bear the consequences. It meant they wouldn’t end it with a simple embezzlement charge. He was a man capable of orchestrating any manipulation if he wanted to string me up on the professor’s stand.

Diane’s tearful face was engulfed in terror.

“Your Grace!”

Diane, who had suddenly risen, knelt in front of Johan and clung desperately.

“Please believe me! I just did as I was told… That is, the Duchess…”

Johan frowned unpleasantly, and the police officers rushed in, forcibly seating Diane in a chair.

“Your Grace!”

Diane shouted desperately.

“Diane Brook.”

In the darkness untouched by the light of the lanterns, a voice calling her name echoed.

The first time her name was called was as sweet as she had imagined. It would have been perfect if it weren’t for the fact that this was an interrogation room. Reality was too cruel.

“How do you find me so amusing?”

With one hand in his pocket, he slowly approached. The sound of his footsteps was heavy.

The face of the man, who grasped the table and lowered his upper body, was revealed in the light. Cold pupils glared vividly from within. Diane held her breath.

“I’m quite curious about what happened to my wife.”

“Now, wait a moment, Your Grace. Your Grace!”

Diane turned coldly to stop the man, but the officers rudely grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down.

Ugh. Groaning, Diane called out to Johan.

“Your Grace!”

With a creaking sound, the iron door of the interrogation room opened and closed. Diane trembled with a pale face.

“Now, would you please confirm this, Miss Brook?”

It was Maurice.

Diane futilely looked down at the documents he had placed. Brook’s flowing fund details, the accomplice Jang Mool-ahbi’s statement, and their trade ledger. Nothing registered in her eyes.

Then, at the end of her sight, a letter-sized piece of paper hung. Diane reached out with a shaky hand. Both hands trembled. The bloodshot eyes shone more fiercely.

Olivia Blanchett.

A handwriting that revealed belatedly a hint of newly learned writing.

The humble penmanship of that lowborn bastard.

How dare she.

“To Duke Johann Leopold,

I possess the Pink Diamond Necklace.

How did I get my hands on it?”

“Aaah!”
The breath, roughened by anger, soon turned into a scream. It echoed beyond the interrogation room door, resonating through the dark corridor.

Moving the tainted Leiden Inspectorate became easier with corruption.

The investigation into Diane Brook had begun, and the case of the disappearance of the maid who left Great Hill after resigning gained momentum.

Johan closed the bribery ledger he had been examining.

Jack, the fence on Longborn Street, diligently recorded the flow of goods he disposed of and the names of the police officers who took bribes.

According to the ledger, the jewels Diane had stolen had ended up with a jeweler.

The jeweler, named “Gloria,” who purchased them, had been in business by disassembling the goods and creating and selling new jewelry designs.

However, it was said that she hadn’t dared to touch the tragic Pink Diamond Necklace associated with the Twin Princesses.

Little did she know that it would lead to a catastrophe.

The person who acquired the problematic necklace through a search and seizure was Viscount Carter Elaine, and his wife, Bianca Elaine, was the woman Olivia befriended in Britt.

Finally, the mystery was clear.

Confronted with the revealed truth, Johan felt disappointment. A wry smile appeared.

It felt like receiving a punch from his divorced wife. Vulnerable at that. Yet, strangely, it didn’t feel that bad.

Johan instructed to exclude Carter Elaine from the investigation. He didn’t want Olivia to become the subject of gossip.

He didn’t want to ignite the scandal of his ex-wife, who had just calmed down. That was all.

Of course, Olivia might have personally sent a letter to save Elaine’s husband. Anyway, the result was the same, so it didn’t matter.

Johan pushed the ledger aside and took out a piece of paper from the drawer. It was time to write a reply.

To Olivia.

The first letter he would ever write to his wife.

The morning sun sparkled on the Beichen River where water ferns were in full bloom. After finishing breakfast, Olivia sat on the sofa near the window, staring at the long gift box sent by Edgar.