I gestured to call the person behind me. It was a worker pre-arranged from the solver’s office.

The worker placed a heavy box on the table.

“Please sell this and add it to the auction funds.”

When the box opened, a dazzling radiance poured out.

Various precious metals and silver tableware, sparkling jewelry, and elaborately crafted artifacts were mixed together, emitting a unique light.

Viscount Willem opened his eyes wide in surprise.

“Countess, this is…”

“These are some of the Tolomiès family items and precious metals I personally owned. Since they’re not recorded in the ledger, it won’t be noticeable if sold.”

I instructed in a calm voice.

“If I dispose of them myself, there’s a high chance that Madam Louise will find out someday. Please speak to His Grace the Duke and have them properly disposed of through Loren or Araz. Make sure it’s not discovered.”

Viscount Willem quietly closed the box lid and replied.

“Understood.”

I continued speaking.

“At least by the deadline, it will be revealed exactly how much my husband bid. I’ll send word as soon as I know the exact amount. If I can’t relay the news, please convey to bid higher than the upper limit I informed you of earlier.”

Viscount Willem looked at me with a complex expression. After staring at me like that for a moment, he quietly opened his mouth.

“Um, Countess Tolomiès.”

He asked carefully.

“If I may be so bold, why are you going to such lengths?”

I hesitated for a moment.

Well, it was natural for Viscount Willem to be curious.

Unless we divorced, Felix and I were a community of fate. To others, this might look like I was cutting my own flesh out of blind vengeance.

I smiled wearily.

“I don’t care about anything else. I just want to bring that person down.”

Viscount Willem will never understand my words. Neither will Duke de Lenoir.

If I hadn’t faced death twice and been betrayed three times in the same way, I might not have gone this far either.

But in the midst of repeated tragedies, this was all I had left.

Viscount Willem didn’t ask any more questions and quietly sent me off, and I returned home alone through the darkness.

***

That day, Viscount Willem relayed his conversation with Countess Tolomiès to his master in full.

After hearing the story, Leopold’s impression was brief.

“I see.”

However, his thoughts were not as brief. He was already picturing Elisabeth talking to Viscount Willem in his mind.

She must have disclosed all of this very calmly.

But that doesn’t mean she was comfortable inside.

Leopold was lost in thought for a moment. He quietly imagined. The image of Elisabeth saying she only needed to bring that person down.

‘What made you like this?’

He couldn’t fathom what kind of time she had gone through, how much betrayal she had suffered to dream of such revenge.

“What should we do with this?”

To his subordinate’s question, he calmly replied.

“Divert it to Araz or Pietra and dispose of it. Make sure no records remain.”

Viscount Willem bowed lightly and withdrew.

After his subordinate left for the day, Duke de Lenoir was lost in deep thought in the darkness.

He wanted to do something for Elisabeth.

Perhaps because she overlapped with his past self, who had lost both parents and struggled alone against the enemies’ slander, thinking that nothing else mattered as long as he could defeat them.

‘If all you want is one thing, a satisfying revenge, then I should give it to you.’

He sat in front of a candle and made plans.

***

Late at night, as Viscount Willem was passing by the duke’s study, he noticed candlelight seeping through the door crack.

The light was still on when the viscount woke up the next dawn.

When he rushed to his master’s call in the morning.

Leopold, with a very serious face, showing with his whole body that he hadn’t slept a wink all night, gave Viscount Willem some new instructions.

While giving instructions, Leopold didn’t provide a detailed explanation.

But Viscount Willem, who had served him for a long time, roughly guessed what his master’s inner thoughts were.

The viscount instinctively sensed.

Countess Tolomiès.

It seems she will be with the master for quite a long time.

***

Time passed and finally, the bidding deadline arrived.

As expected, Felix had pulled money from all sorts of places to invest in the auction. Fortunately, the final amount he bid was far below the upper limit I had predicted.

Felix tried to hide the fact that he had decided to spend a large sum for Julia until the end.

But I was his wife, and there was nothing about the use of the Tolomiès family’s assets that I couldn’t know in the end.

On the morning of the bidding deadline, I finally found out exactly how much Felix had bid in the end.

I immediately relayed that information to Leopold through the communication network. The closing time was late afternoon, so there was still time.

And that evening, the awaited reply safely arrived.

“The bidding was successfully completed.”

I inwardly rejoiced. I was worried because time was tight, but it seems they succeeded in pouring in more money than Felix.

Now, barring any unexpected events, the mining rights to Nancy were likely to fall into the hands of the de Lenoir ducal family, not the Tolomiès countship.

The contents of the letter didn’t end there.

“…There’s time between the completion of all bids and the announcement of results, so I’m thinking of hosting a hunting gathering and inviting various nobles during that time. I will invite your husband, so won’t you come as well?”

I tilted my head.

It was common for nobles to go hunting together as part of their social activities. But hunting was strictly a men’s affair. It wasn’t often that women were invited to hunting gatherings.

I couldn’t understand why he would bother inviting Felix to a gathering he was hosting.

Of course, if he wanted to call me, he’d naturally have to invite that person too, but there was no reason for us to meet like that right now.

Above all, it didn’t seem like Felix would readily accept Duke de Lenoir’s invitation.

I wrote back with skepticism.

“Hunting is the prerogative of men, would it be alright for me to join? If there’s important talk, I think it could be conveyed through Viscount Willem or the solver’s office.”

The reply arrived before the day was even over.

“Please trust me and come without fail. I’ll make sure it’s a gathering you won’t regret.”

I could feel the strength in the handwriting. Just reading the letters, I could almost hear Leopold’s confident voice.

Until now, Leopold had never once disappointed me.

In the end, I conveyed my acceptance to him.

***

News that Duke de Lenoir was hosting a hunting gathering spread throughout the city.

Almost all of the high-ranking noble men in the city received invitations.

Even Baron Florence’s residence, who was too low-ranked to receive an invitation, heard about the fact that a hunting gathering was being held.

“A hunting gathering?”

Julia frowned upon hearing the news.

“Really? So suddenly?”

“Yes. The baron heard it directly.”

These days, Julia couldn’t take a single step outside her room.

Outings were strictly forbidden, and meals were limited to twice a day. Moreover, her father, Baron Florence, was monitoring her every move daily.

The only joy in her life was the outside news secretly delivered by the maid.

Julia stomped her feet in frustration.

“After deceiving me and putting me in this state, he’s going to enjoy himself thoroughly!”

In fact, Duke de Lenoir’s hosting of the hunting gathering was not for personal pleasure.

Shortly after the mining rights auction closed, a recommendation from the king arrived for the nobles of Montreui.

“I understand that tensions have arisen between nobles from Loren and nobles from other regions before and after this auction. Now that the auction is over, I hope the nobles will resolve unnecessary tensions and strengthen friendships through social activities.”

It was called a recommendation, but it was essentially an order.

A typical example of bureaucratic administration telling them to pretend to get along well by forcibly mixing together.

Anyway, since the king’s recommendation couldn’t be ignored, the nobles from Loren and the orthodox nobles of Ellendril had to pretend to be friendly for the time being, even if forcibly.

Duke de Lenoir, as the highest-ranking noble in Montreui, took on the task of leading the reconciliation between the two groups.

The hunting gathering being held this time had a strong character of official business for this purpose.

However, Julia, who was grinding her teeth due to the humiliation she suffered at the royal ball, was not interested in such circumstances.

“Fraud! Egoist! And he calls himself a duke?”

Julia shouted angrily into the air.

After venting her emotions for a long time, she sat down on a chair, breathing heavily.

She couldn’t stand it like this. She had to do something. It felt like she couldn’t bear it without getting revenge on Duke de Lenoir.

But she couldn’t think of a way.

In a situation where she couldn’t take a single step outside the house, how could she vent her anger on a high-ranking noble far above her?

Suddenly, an ingenious idea popped into her head.