What understanding? What do you mean by understanding? And what’s this about memory?

But now was not the time to question that.

Because she had already locked eyes with him, approaching with the threatening gait of a leisurely predator.

Overwhelming terror completely paralyzed the legs of the Viscountess of Baden and her maid.

Ah, I see.

Now that I look closely, Count Alperon…

“…You, you’re not in your right mind, Count Alperon.”

“No. Not quite to that extent yet.”

Red eyes that didn’t let light through stared expressionlessly at the Viscountess of Baden.

“This time, at least 14 hours, 29 minutes and 3 seconds ago, I won’t do it like when I tore apart the Viscountess of Baden who poisoned the Viscount.”

“Wh, what, what are you talking about…”

“It means I still have some reason left. Enough to make the judgment that I shouldn’t kill you right away in this turn.”

Not killing right away.

That still meant eventually killing her. It didn’t feel like a joke or a mere threat at all.

‘I’m going to die. I’m definitely going to die!’

That primal fear brought the Viscountess of Baden to her knees.

“I, I won’t say anything!”

She groveled flat on the ground and begged Joseph for her life.

“I absolutely won’t breathe a word to anyone about what kind of relationship you two have, so please just spare my life, Count Alperon.”

Just then, she spotted her maid still trembling in the corner, her legs giving out.

“Th, that’s right! Th, that child, you can kill her if you want to be sure. I’ll make up another excuse and say she died. …I really won’t mention anything about the Count…”

At her cruel request, the maid cried out “Madam…!” in a betrayed voice.

But it seemed the only thing that mattered to the Viscountess of Baden was her own life. It was truly the ugly depths of humanity.

“Now that I see…”

But did those words have any effect?

Joseph, who had been surveying the surroundings with inorganic eyes, opened his mouth in a subdued voice.

“…It doesn’t seem like I need to personally do anything if you live in a place like this.”

“Ah…!”

Then did that mean he would let her live?

Hope filled the Viscountess of Baden’s legs with strength.

She got up and dragged over the still trembling maid, forcing her to kneel on the floor.

“I truly won’t forget this kindness. I will keep my promise…”

That’s when it happened. The Viscountess of Baden’s vision suddenly spun.

“Ugh.”

But it wasn’t that she had collapsed.

It was just that a pain so terrible it made her vision flicker like a strobe had bored into her head.

“Ugh, ughhh… urkk. Urkkkh…!”

“Guhk, ugk, guhhh…!”

The maid was also letting out breaths that sounded like screams.

The pain was so severe that the two of them had to writhe on the floor clutching their heads.

Their eyes rolled back and foam flowed from their mouths.

“Didn’t I say there would be side effects? But I’ve at least blocked the sound, so unlike the tutors last time, it won’t wake anyone else up. Scream to your heart’s content.”

But even as they thrashed in agony, they could never lose consciousness.

Because of the irresistible power that was rummaging through their heads, manipulating their memories.

“Shall we do it like this? The Viscountess of Baden went out into the hallway to harm the Duchess and ended up seeing a monster and running away. It was a little past 10 o’clock, so there’s enough plausibility.”

Only then did the memory manipulation end.

Joseph leisurely left the room, leaving the two limp figures behind.

Rumble, thunder sounded from the sky right on cue. It seemed it would rain tonight.

Kardiel, lying in a bed surrounded by curtains, blinked to avoid falling asleep.

‘Why today of all days…’

What was his stepmother thinking, assigning someone to keep him in his room?

If she hadn’t, he would have been walking through the secret passage to the Viscountess of Baden’s room by now.

And there he would have figured out what was happening, what conversation they were having.

But Kardiel’s plan was bound to fall through.

Because the person guarding outside the bed right now was Mr. Saul Rosier. If only it had been another attendant…

‘I could have slipped out of bed secretly like the day Father passed away.’

That day, over a month and several weeks ago.

His stepmother Lieselotte and his father had attended the imperial banquet that opened this year’s social season.

But Lieselotte, who was supposed to be at the banquet hall until dawn, returned home early in the evening with an injured ankle.

He didn’t even need to ask what had happened. His father had finally used violence on her too.

Kardiel wasn’t the only one who was furious.

Chersion cried and cried seeing her swollen ankle, and Euphemina quietly suppressed her emotions in silence.

Lieselotte had sent the three children to bed early.

If she hadn’t, Kardiel thought, he surely would have done something.

“…Is it difficult for you to fall asleep?”

Just as his thoughts were deepening, a kind voice came through the bed curtains.

“…”

Kardiel didn’t answer. He hadn’t even been tossing and turning, so there was no way Rosier could have noticed he was awake.

‘He probably asked to check if I was asleep.’

Then he could quietly head to the secret passage after Rosier left.

Even if he couldn’t check the scene as a lot of time had already passed, he could at least deduce what had happened by listening to their conversation afterwards.

So it would be nice if Mr. Rosier would leave quickly…

“Because this old man has been watching over you since you were ten, I can tell what your breathing sounds like when you’ve fallen asleep, young master. So you’re probably awake now.”

“…”

“But if, that’s not the case and you’ve really fallen asleep, then this old man will just talk to himself a bit from now on.”

A calm voice began to flow through the still room.

“Young master. You are growing up exceptionally well. As someone who has watched you for a long time, I dare say there is no one among your peers or even notable young people who has achieved as much as you have. You are so outstanding that you could sufficiently take over as the Duke just as you are now.”

“…”

“But in this old man’s opinion, it seems like you are overexerting yourself. I think you could put down some of your burden.”

Kardiel swallowed.

It was nonsense.

Kardiel knew well what his role as the eldest son in this household was, what symbolism it carried.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine what would happen to this family if he were to disappear right now.

Yes, the issues with the Viscount of Baden and the tutors may have been resolved somehow. But would that be the end of it?

‘I can’t feel at ease.’

There were still many hyenas targeting the Daierns.

Because the hunk of meat that was the Daierns was so tempting it would make even those without any greed salivate.

Three years was only the beginning. So…

‘Nothing has changed just because one person backed off.’

There were still many things he had to protect. There were still reasons he couldn’t put down his burden yet.

“It must be tiring for you. You’ve been through a lot. At such a young age, having to bear unbearable things, having to endure…”

Kardiel bit his lip and closed his eyes. He didn’t want to react to such words.

“Without being able to confide in anyone, how much have you endured as the eldest son? And how much are you still enduring?”

But Mr. Rosier, cruelly, did not stop his kind voice.

Did he know? That this unfamiliar comfortable air was suffocating Kardiel instead.

“So…”

Kardiel hated the gentleness that made him weak. He felt resentment towards people who persuaded him to become weak.

In the end, he was the one who had to bear it.

What did they know…

“Do not cover up the fact that Lady Euphemina murdered the Duke of Daiern.”

…What?

For a moment, it felt like his whole body was freezing.

The hastily swallowed saliva brushed against his throat, but fortunately he didn’t cough.

‘What did I just…’

What did he hear?

That Euphemina murdered the Duke of Daiern.

‘How did Mr. Rosier figure that out?’

Suddenly, the memory of that day enveloped Kardiel’s mind and played back on its own.

Lieselotte, who had returned from the imperial banquet with an injured ankle.

She comforted the three excited children and instructed them to go to bed early today.

So the three children went to their respective rooms at an earlier time than usual.

But there was no way they could fall asleep right away just by lying in bed.

The servant guarding Kardiel’s room must have thought the quiet young master had fallen asleep early, as he left the room quickly.

And it seemed to be the same on Euphemina’s side.

At the sound of his father returning, Kardiel slipped out of bed. And he went out to the balcony to figure out what was going on downstairs.

Because that was the place where he could hear the sounds from downstairs the best.

There, Kardiel spotted Euphemina.

Over there, on the balcony of her room right above Lieselotte’s room.

She was looking down at the lower floor.