As I entered through the door, the completely messy scene of the office came into view at once. The ink bottle was broken and scattered on the floor, the quill pen was carelessly thrown away, and the ornaments on the desk were damaged beyond recognition.

Duke Yusten, standing by the office window and breathing heavily, glared at me for a moment as I entered the office.

Then he sat down on the sofa with a thud and said.

“……Sit down.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

I obediently sat down on the sofa to his right as instructed. The Duke growled as if he couldn’t contain his anger and opened his mouth.

“Did you hear? Not only did Roilot fail to assassinate the Viscount, but he also turned himself in.”

“……How could that be? How on earth did such a thing…!”

I pretended to be surprised as if I was hearing the news for the first time. Duke Yusten vented his frustration, pounding the armrest with his fist as if he was getting angrier the more he thought about it.

“Damn it, damn it, damn it! It must have been that Duke Haven bastard interfering with my business again! That son of a bitch, I’d like to chew him up! If only he wasn’t the Imperial Princess’s son, I would have wiped out that bastard’s entire family!”

“……Please calm down first, Uncle. Okay? Getting so angry is not good for your health.”

I gently wrapped my hands around the Duke’s hand and tried to stop him. The Duke irritably shook off my hand and shouted.

“Do I look like I can calm down right now?! Not only did I fail to assassinate that Viscount bastard who dared to deceive me, but I also lost Roilot!”

“……The more situations like this arise, the more calm you need to be, Uncle. And we need to find the cause of the failure and come up with countermeasures for next time. What will you do if Duke Haven pulls off something else while you’re just sitting here getting angry?”

I persuaded him in a calm voice. Duke Yusten, who was quick to boil over and quick to cool down, gradually calmed his anger at my repeated persuasion.

Finally, having regained his usual mood, he clicked his tongue briefly and said.

“Tch, I hate to admit it, but that bastard as he is now would be more than enough to do that and more. ……Damn him. A vile wolf eyeing the sheep in my field! He’s probably toasting to celebrate making a fool of me right now. With that slick face of his that resembles Princess Liz, grinning away.”

“……I’m sorry, Uncle. I never dreamed that the Duke would obtain our plan to assassinate the Viscount and take action. It’s all my fault.”

“Enough. As you said earlier, what’s the use of dwelling on that now.”

When I apologized insincerely, Duke Yusten waved his hand as if to say to stop such talk.

I closed my mouth, and a long silence fell over the office. Meanwhile, the Duke muttered with a thoughtful look on his face.

“……But how was that bastard able to move so quickly? Both last time and this time. How on earth did he obtain our plans? ……Surely he hasn’t planted another spy in my mansion, has he?”

“There’s no way that could be. After the Emperor’s birthday banquet back then, it seemed like our information was leaking to the Duke again, so I told the butler and knights to keep an eye on the servants and maids.”

I calmly refuted his words. However, the doubt that had once blossomed in the Duke’s mind did not seem to be easily cleared by such words.

The Duke shook his head and opened his mouth.

“Yes, I know. But it still feels uneasy to just let it go. Some bastard, whoever it is, is sneaking into my mansion like a ghost and leaking our conversations to the Duke. ……Christine, this won’t do. We need to change all the servants. Tell the butler right away to drive out all the existing servants and hire new ones.”

“Yes, Uncle.”

I nodded and answered. The Duke continued his monologue, still lost in thought.

“These days, that bastard has been gradually building up achievements and expanding his influence, causing no small amount of wavering among the nobles who were lending us strength. They’re poised to cling to him at any moment! If Duke Haven gains the upper hand and the Emperor names Princess Ella as the Crown Princess, it’s all over for me, Duke Klein, all of us!”

“You’re worrying too much, Uncle. With you and me here, it won’t come to that right away.”

Right. It’s still too early. I haven’t yet grasped the decisive evidence to bring about your downfall.

I hid such inner thoughts and comforted him affectionately. The Duke shook his head as if denying my words and said.

“No, I’m still uneasy. I don’t think this will do.”

“……Then what do you intend to do?”

To my question, the Duke answered with a vile smile.

“I’m thinking of arranging a diplomatic marriage for Princess Ella.”

“……A diplomatic marriage?”

“Yes. If the Princess loses her succession rights by becoming an empress or queen of a foreign country through a diplomatic marriage, that bastard’s faction pushing for the Princess as the next emperor will lose their focal point and scatter. What do you think? Isn’t it quite a good idea?”

The moment I heard the Duke’s words, I felt as if my heart had dropped to the floor with a thud.

Sending Princess Ella away from the empire through a political marriage. That was the very method I had used in my previous life to oust the princess I was competing with for the imperial succession and gain the upper hand.

I took a deep breath to hide my agitation. Then I smiled softly at Duke Yusten and said.

“Of course, Uncle. It’s a very good idea.”

“Yes, I knew you would say that, Christine.”

The Duke laughed heartily, seeming satisfied. Then he called the butler outside the door and ordered him to tidy up the office and bring parchment and a quill pen. It seemed he was going to send letters to Duke Klein and the Imperial Princess Consort Meredith. I watched the Duke writing the letters with an expressionless gaze and thought.

‘That diplomatic marriage will not come to pass.’

I had already used that method once in my previous life. So I knew very well how to prevent that method too.

‘I must inform Duke Haven of this as soon as I leave the office.’

I made that firm resolution.

After finishing writing the letters, Duke Yusten instructed me to send them to the Imperial Palace and Duke Klein’s residence respectively.

I found the Duke’s messenger and entrusted him with the two letters, then returned to the annex. As I entered the building and came up to the floor where my bedroom was, I discovered Danae standing in front of my bedroom door.

I forcibly relaxed my expression that had stiffened involuntarily and spoke to her.

“What brings you here at this hour, Danae?”

“Ah, sister!”

Danae approached me, her face brightening. She pursed her lips as if acting cute and said.

“What were you doing to just get back now?”

“Uncle called for me, so I went to the main building’s office and am just returning. What about you? Do you have something to tell me?”

“I was just bored being alone. I came to have tea and chat with you after a long time. Why? Is that not allowed?”

“No. There’s nothing wrong with that. Let’s go to the reception room.”

I answered like that and led Danae to the reception room downstairs. Sitting on the sofa in the reception room, Danae looked at me with a pouty expression, seemingly quite displeased, and said.

“We could have just had tea in your bedroom. Why did you insist on coming all the way to the reception room?”

“……I’m sorry. It’s too dirty because I haven’t been able to clean properly. The maids haven’t been able to enter my room for the past few days because I’ve been sick. You know that, right?”

“Mmm, that’s right. That was the case, indeed.”

Danae nodded at my words with a strange expression. It seemed she didn’t quite believe my explanation at face value.

Her expression was quite meaningful, so I regretted a bit bringing her to the reception room for no reason. But soon I denied that feeling inwardly.

‘It’s dangerous to let her into my bedroom right now.’

I had burned all the letters I received from the Duke, and erased all traces of my secret outings.

But there was a possibility that she, being sensitive, could easily notice minute changes that I, who always stayed in the bedroom, might not easily catch.

If she were to discover even a clue that I had actually been pretending to be sick for days while going out frequently, everything would be over.

I kept a calm face so as not to reveal such thoughts and asked a maid for tea. Shortly after, the maid brought tea and dessert and set them down in front of me and her. I poured tea into a cup, then held it out to Danae and said.

“Here, drink.”

“Thank you, sister.”

Danae took the cup and took a sip of the steaming hot tea. Then she set it down with a clinking sound and said.

“But sister, why are you sick so often these days? It seems like you’re always in your bedroom lately. You don’t go on walks that you used to like, and you don’t visit the homes of noble young ladies you’re friendly with. I heard from the messenger that you don’t even send letters to Young Duke Klein much?”

“……Yes. I’ve been sick, and I’ve also been busy helping Uncle with his work lately.”

“Even so, that’s too much. You don’t even have time to send letters to your fiancé? What if the Young Duke ends up having an affair with another woman?”

At Danae’s following words, I flinched and stared at her.

Her face smiling at me looked quite innocent. However, I read the blatant malice hidden beneath her smiling face.

‘Pretending to worry about me on the surface, while inwardly rejoicing that she can freely meet Leonard in my absence, who does she think she’s fooling.’

Right now, she wants to subtly mock me, who still seems unaware of their relationship, while pretending to warn me.

I barely restrained myself from wanting to immediately reveal to her that I knew about their relationship. And I smiled back at her and said.