“Do you remember the man we met at the party?”

“A-are you talking about Mr. Zen Baker?”

“So you do remember.”

Belus replied, surprised as if Margaret had accomplished something impressive.

“I-I vaguely heard at the reading that he’s an extraordinary in-investor and businessman.”

“That’s right. The reason I invited him to the party was because I recently received some good investment information from him…”

Belus, who had been speaking brightly, suddenly closed his mouth with a worried expression. Surprised, Margaret cautiously asked.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Raising investment funds isn’t easy.”

Belus smiled self-deprecatingly.

“I could ask my family for help, but then it wouldn’t be entirely my own achievement. I’m worried about how long it will take to produce results that will satisfy the Duke, given how weak my abilities are.”

Margaret, pained by Belus’s vulnerable appearance, carefully asked.

“H-how much investment money are we talking about…?”

Belus looked around and beckoned Margaret to come closer with a finger.

Margaret, leaning in a beat late, blushed so much her face looked like it might burst. Belus whispered the investment amount to the pitifully trembling Margaret.

“It’s not that large an amount, but it’s a bit too much for me to raise on my own.”

Belus straightened up again and said bitterly.

Feeling like her heart might explode, Margaret spoke without even daring to meet his eyes.

“Th-then how about I help you?”

Belus furrowed his brow as if he hadn’t expected this response at all.

But this was all as expected. Otherwise, why would Belus have any reason to seek out Margaret?

[This is the timeline separator]

In the carriage on the way home, Belus hummed a tune.

[I didn’t say that expecting such a thing. And won’t the Duke only acknowledge me if I handle it entirely on my own?] [I-I can keep it a se-secret. A-and I’d be so ha-happy if I could help. So p-please wait a little. I’ll try to pre-prepare quickly.]

Margaret’s face looked sincere when she said she would be happy.

Though Belus had hoped for this situation, he found Margaret pitiful and foolish for moving exactly as he wanted.

‘What on earth am I that she’s making such a fuss?’

Belus recalled the day he was introduced to Margaret.

That day, Belus had only maintained basic courtesy and hadn’t treated her particularly kindly. Yet from that moment, Margaret had liked him.

Even later, no matter how selfishly he behaved, she unchangingly desired him.

‘But the reason that woman is so hung up on me must be because of this face, after all.’

Belus ultimately thought that Margaret didn’t truly like him either.

‘If I had to say, aren’t I like a jewel she wants to possess?’

Loving someone is similar to wanting to possess a jewel.

Because people want to have the person they love.

But in Belus’s experience, there was a big difference between constantly thinking of a dazzling jeweled ring and the face of a loved one constantly coming to mind.

‘Anyway, that woman wants my appearance, and Grandfather wants her title. Only I, stuck in the middle, am pitiful.’

So using her to this extent wasn’t really wrong.

Belus even planned to put up part of the investment funds in Margaret’s name.

It wouldn’t work with anyone else, but Margaret was different from others.

After all, she was Belus’s fiancée, and she was famous for being tender-hearted and uninterested in business.

Therefore, even if it later came to light that Margaret had also invested, everyone would think she did it because of Belus.

‘I’ll give her the full dividend she’s entitled to. So she’ll only gain benefits because of me, not suffer any losses.’

Belus felt no guilt towards Margaret at all.

“Hmm hmm.”

As Belus hummed and leisurely looked out the window, he spotted a woman walking elegantly, wearing a wide-brimmed hat.

‘Huh?’

Black hair, plain attire, upright posture. For a moment, one person came to Belus’s mind and he called out urgently.

“Stop right now!”

The startled coachman hastily stopped the carriage.

As a result, the already busy street became even more chaotic, but Belus paid no attention to such things and chased after the woman.

One advantage of being taller than most people was having a relatively clear view even in a crowd.

Without taking his eyes off the woman, Belus used his naturally good physique to push through people and catch up to her.

“Deborah!”

Belus grabbed the woman’s wrist and shouted. Uncharacteristically, beads of sweat had formed on his face.

“Eek!”

The surprised woman turned around. Belus’s eyes widened.

The woman’s hair was just an ordinary brown color, only appearing dark because of the hat she wore.

Moreover, her face wasn’t similar at all. How could he have mistaken such an ordinary woman for Deborah?

“Wh-who…?”

The woman, blushing at the sight of Belus’s handsome face, stammered. Belus laughed as if dumbfounded and said.

“Another stutterer? I don’t want to meet any more women who stutter today.”

“Pardon?”

Releasing the woman’s wrist, Belus said with a dazzling smile.

“I apologize, miss. I mistook you for someone else. Have a good day.”

Belus turned and left the woman behind.

As he exhaled with a “hoo,” his pure white breath momentarily obscured the world. Belus frowned and muttered.

“Damn it…”

[This is the timeline separator]

Zen examined documents well past midnight.

For him, night and dawn weren’t times for sleeping, but simply dark hours after the sun had set.

But even Zen knew it was abnormal to receive an invitation from someone at this hour.

Yet at this time, and even secretively, there was a guest calling for him.

Far from being flustered by this abnormal situation, Zen rather smiled with satisfaction.

He had been waiting for such an abnormal situation.

When Zen came out to the main hall, Sedric, ready to go out, was waiting for him.

“Shall we go together?”

Zen frowned and replied.

“What reason is there for you to come along?”

“At this hour, and calling that person out, wouldn’t it be dangerous?”

“Even if a dangerous situation arose, what could you do?”

As Zen sneered, Sedric smiled, dropping the corners of his eyebrows.

“That’s harsh. At least I could be a witness.”

Zen raised one eyebrow and scoffed. If that person really intended to eliminate Zen, they wouldn’t create witnesses either.

“I don’t need you, so don’t follow.”

“Then at least take this.”

Sedric took a revolver from his inner pocket and held it out to Zen.

“You certainly didn’t bring one, right?”

“I don’t need to.”

“Why? Afraid you might shoot yourself by accident?”

Sedric wasn’t intimidated by the golden eyes glaring at him silently.

“Take it. And if necessary, shoot the shoulder or face and run away immediately.”

Sedric said seriously, without a trace of a smile. It was a threatening appearance never seen when he was always smiling brightly.

Zen was certain he wouldn’t need this gun today, but if he didn’t take it, Sedric would follow him.

After a brief deliberation, Zen chose the lesser evil, and only then did Sedric smile.

“Instead of wasting time on unnecessary worries, you should think more about work.”

When Zen complained irritably, Sedric replied with a pleasant smile.

“Where could you find someone who works as hard as I do? Well then, take care.”

Zen boarded a carriage and headed to a residential area at the edge of Dover.

It was relatively clean but mostly multi-family housing, not a place where nobles or the bourgeoisie would likely live.

When Zen stopped the carriage at the entrance to the residential area, the coachman expressed reluctance.

“The road is wide enough for the carriage to enter. And it’s dark because it’s night…”

“That’s enough, wait here.”

With that, Zen entered the quiet residential area alone.

There were many vacant properties in this residential area.

It was expensive, and the scale and surrounding environment were all lacking for rich people to use as second homes.

It would be better to lower the price and sell than leave properties vacant long-term, but Smith, who built this residential area, didn’t seem to have any intention of lowering the price at all.

In the sparsely populated residential area, there wasn’t even a small light, let alone signs of people.

It was the time when everyone would be in deep sleep.

‘This is just the right place for a murder to occur. The second murder in the novel Deborah was reading happened in a place like this.’

Even in this situation, Zen recalled Deborah reading her novel.

Her efforts to avoid hearing spoilers had been cute.

When would he be able to see such a sight again?

It was frustrating that they didn’t have much time to talk like that even living in the same house.

Zen smiled bitterly and found one house. It was his first time coming directly, but he knew the place.

This mansion belonged to Smith… no, Duke Buin, who had built this residential area.

As Zen climbed the stairs, he saw the silhouettes of two people in a dimly lit reception room, illuminated by a few small lamps.

“It’s an honor that you sought me out, Duke Buin.”

Zen placed his hand on his chest and bowed to Duke Buin, who was sitting on the sofa with displeasure.

“How did you know it was me? I didn’t write a single letter of my name.”

Duke Buin growled, scowling fiercely. Zen continued speaking comfortably with his head bowed.

“I inferred from the embossed pattern on the card, which depicted five swords symbolizing the Buin ducal family.”

“You speak well.”

Duke Buin snapped sharply.

“Why did you suddenly appear?”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

“Don’t play dumb!”

His voice echoed in the narrow reception room.

“Who are you? Who brought you before me, and for what purpose? Could it be Countess Jabel?”

Countess Jabel was someone who had tried to make her son Duke Buin’s adopted son and had her funding cut off by Duke Buin as a result.

Zen knew all about this, but he calmly pretended not to understand the current situation.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Although it’s embarrassing, I’ve reached this position through my own efforts…”

“Who are you trying to fool!”

Duke Buin shouted, pounding his fist on the armrest.

“Do you think I’ll acknowledge you now? I never intended to let you live in the first place. I thought if I left you alone, you’d die on your own. From illness or starvation!”

Duke Buin seemed to be blaming Zen for not dying in such a way.

Zen was surprisingly unhurt by these absurd words. He wasn’t even angry.

Duke Buin felt enraged by Zen’s appearance, which looked aristocratic even with his head bowed.

“You imitate well for someone who’s half trash by blood.”

The Duke laughed derisively and continued.

“Fine. I’ll give you a chance to choose. If you know your place and reveal the truth…”

As Duke Buin raised his hand, the servant standing behind him slowly walked towards Zen.

“I’ll spare your life.”

The servant took out a revolver and aimed it at Zen’s head.