“There are many concerns that gambling houses are hotbeds of tax evasion. As you well know, tax evasion is treason, and treason is punishable by death.”

“Wait a moment. Lieselotte, how did you…”

“It must be the Duchess.”

Cutting off Nergal’s words in a cold voice, I finally picked up the teacup in front of me and took a sip of warm tea.

“I don’t know how long you thought I would turn a blind eye because of blood ties, but…”

The tea wasn’t very good.

I’m not sure when Landgritz fell to become such a pathetic family that serves guests with such yawn-inducing tea leaves.

“…If you continue to ignore the difference in status and act so impertinently, I’ll turn even the Landgritz you’d wager into worthless scraps.”

I stood up from my seat.

The two people’s gazes twisted with bewilderment and anger.

“Ah, I almost forgot one thing. Baroness, have you perhaps… heard that Baron Landgritz frequently enters a private room with some beautiful noblewoman at that gambling house?”

“W-What?”

“I’m sorry if you didn’t know. But please understand. You must know how much Baron Landgritz cherishes you.”

There was no need for further conversation.

I put on my muffler and gloves.

“And if the expected guest today is His Highness the Prince, he won’t be coming. For someone who runs a large trading company like Landgritz, your information is quite slow. It’s been a while since I sent a rejection letter to His Highness the Prince’s marriage proposal.”

Then I gave a smile to the two people who stared with bewildered eyes, unable to find how to react.

“It’s simply inappropriate, I’d say.”

With those final words, I left the reception room.

Loud voices were exchanged inside, but it was no longer my concern.

‘I won’t have to come here again.’

I took one last look at the Landgritz crest.

A raven, a ship, and a scale.

Hmm. Now that I look at it, the shape seems a bit odd to be called a scale. The lengths of the arms extending on both sides are different.

Almost like clock hands…

“Duchess!”

At that moment, there was an urgent voice ringing in my ears. Lord Joseph?

The entrance of the Landgritz Imperial Mansion was suddenly wide open.

With the butler’s surprised expression in the background, Lord Joseph strode up and grabbed my arm.

Originally, Lord Joseph shouldn’t have been here.

Because he wasn’t invited by Nergal.

However, he said he would wait until I finished my tea time and boarded the carriage with me.

I, who had no intention of leisurely drinking tea with Nergal for long anyway, decided to accompany him without much deliberation.

I had also planned to introduce him as a trump card in case Nergal brought up the marriage talk again.

It was a shame that the conversation wasn’t worthy of such courtesy from me, though.

Anyway, I don’t understand why Lord Joseph, who should have been waiting quietly, suddenly ran in here.

But I can say with certainty that I’ve never seen Lord Joseph with such a flustered expression before.

“A problem has arisen. It would be best if you return to your residence right away.”

I had an ominous feeling.

But I tried not to get any more anxious unnecessarily.

Let’s think carefully. Whenever a problem arose, Lord Joseph always appeared with a headache.

It meant he had turned back time.

And after that, the problem was solved as if nothing had happened.

If you know the future and can turn back time, even if you make a mistake, you have a chance to undo it.

So Lord Joseph’s ability to regress has been of great help to me.

Undeniably, his ability was excellent.

‘But why does he look so anxious?’

The time to return to the Daiern mansion by carriage shouldn’t be that long.

At most, about an hour?

Yet Lord Joseph’s complexion, sitting across from me, was so shadowed it was almost gray.

“Lord Joseph. Are you alright?”

“…”

“Lord Joseph.”

“Ah…”

Light finally entered his eyes, startled by my call. What had he been thinking?

“I don’t understand why we’re in such a hurry. Can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

He had clearly turned back time once.

When he suddenly appeared at the entrance of the Landgritz mansion and grabbed my wrist, I detected a slight headache in his brow.

But he doesn’t readily answer my question about what happened.

“…My lady.”

And after biting his lip for a moment, he said.

“I will resolve whatever happens from now on, no matter what.”

His expression was solemn. I blinked once.

“So even if a big problem arises, you don’t need to worry too much.”

It sounded like a big problem had arisen.

But I didn’t want to show an anxious face here. I trust him.

Putting on a deliberately relaxed smile, I spoke in the gentlest tone I could manage.

“I know, Lord Joseph. I always trust you. So don’t…”

I reached out and brought my hand to his face.

“Don’t bite your lip.”

“…”

“It’s such a pretty lip.”

There was still anxiety in his eyes, but he seemed somewhat calmed.

Seeing that, a question I had been burying in my mind surfaced.

Isn’t it strange when you think about it again? What on earth am I, what ability do I have that can quell Lord Joseph’s headaches?

In fact, there were a few more points I was curious about.

‘Lord Joseph’s regression ability seems too free and easy.’

No matter how you think about it, turning back time is too great a power.

Rather, it would be better to make it rain, or summon a large meteor to destroy a city.

‘Even if you turn the world back just one minute, no, even one second, it’s not an easy thing. The causality accumulated in that fleeting moment can never be said to be trivial.’

Yet Lord Joseph accomplishes such things.

Not just one second, or one minute, but an hour, a day, or even several years.

…He said he had been doing so. For thousands of years.

‘Can humans handle such causality?’

He did say there was a headache every time he turned back time.

‘Is it really just a simple headache?’

Perhaps, something.

Could something be breaking without Lord Joseph even knowing?

“Have you calmed down a bit now?”

It took a while for Lord Joseph to nod in response to my question.

“As you may have already guessed, I’ve just come back from turning back time. Even though you said… not to erase your experiences at will, I had no choice.”

“That’s fine, so tell me. What happened at the mansion?”

He finally opened his lips.

“Leopold Hose came to the mansion while you were away.”

“Leopold Hose?”

I couldn’t help but taste bitterness of displeasure on my lips at that name.

I had just been talking about that fellow in front of Nergal.

Still, it was startling to suddenly hear a name I had forgotten for a while.

“As far as I know, I heard that Leopold Hose’s thigh tendons were severed from that incident, and he could no longer properly wield a sword. He even needs to use crutches.”

“Yes. And he was also stripped of his knighthood. The empire’s sword was too good for one who ignored chivalry and threatened the weak. It was right to take it back.”

Yes, I’ve heard that much too.

But I don’t know anything about what happened to him afterwards, how he’s been living, or his whereabouts.

I just vaguely assumed he might have returned to his hometown, that’s all.

He had been Nergal’s errand boy since childhood.

But as far as I know, he wasn’t originally a retainer of Landgritz.

Leopold Hose was the reason Nergal fell out of favor with his grandfather.

It was because Nergal, as the eldest grandson of Landgritz, pushed away all the capable servants his grandfather had provided and started bringing around the shabby-looking Leopold from some point.

‘Come to think of it, I vaguely remember hearing he was a child surviving by pickpocketing on the streets.’

If that’s true, Leopold Hose would have no hometown to return to.

Unless Nergal takes him back, that is.

…But it’s absurd. I can’t understand with what face he came to my house.

Why? To confess his impossible feelings for me again?

“He came to the Daiern mansion. Was he talking nonsense again?”

Lord Joseph slowly shook his head.

“No. He…”

And the words that followed were enough to make my face, which had been maintaining composure, crumple at once.

“…set fire to the mansion.”

“W-What?”

My fists clenched.

Even though I was wearing gloves, I had no doubt that my fingertips had turned pale white.