Teresa nervously fiddled with the hem of her clothes.

Although she had been engaged to Maximilian for a long time, there had never been a moment alone with the Duke.

Duke of Winters was always busy, and Maximilian was not a man who paid attention to such matters.

‘I should have met him while Jayna was still here, knowing it would turn out like this.’

Regretting belatedly, she waited for the person who had invited her.

Soon, the door to the reception room opened abruptly, and Duke of Winters entered.

Teresa stood up and bowed.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Duke of Winters.”

“Well… it’s been a long time. Have a seat.”

Duke of Winters, with a complex expression, looked at Teresa and then took his seat.

“I think you know why I called you.”

“Yes…”

Teresa also did not think the Duke would easily approve of their engagement, so she anticipated a meeting like this.

“Let me ask one thing. Why did you agree to be engaged to Max again?”

In response to the Duke’s question, Teresa hesitated for a moment.

Maximilian had suggested telling her father that they had confirmed their love for each other. However, Teresa did not want to tell a lie.

It was true that she had left her ancestral home and hidden as a Duchess for the sake of the family’s well-being.

“I will be honest with you. I am currently in a life-threatening situation.”

“Who on earth…?”
“At first, I thought it was Viscount Grovan. He aimed to ruin our family and used it as leverage to threaten the Grand Duke.”

At Teresa’s words, the Duke’s face turned grave.

If it was Viscount Grovan, he had completely fallen not long ago. After Diana committed treason by holding a knife to the Emperor’s throat, all direct descendants of the family were killed, and the branch families were stripped of their titles.

“But even after their downfall, we faced assassination attempts. There were even involvement of wizards.”

“Although Viscount Grovan’s daughter hasn’t been captured yet… it doesn’t seem like they had such extraordinary power to employ a wizard.”

“The Grand Duke seemed to think that some organization was involved.”

At Teresa’s words, the Duke also seemed to catch on to something.

He had heard about the ‘Order,’ a story quietly circulating among the nobility.

“But why on earth?”

“Well, it might be a mere coincidence, but strangely, accidents happened frequently. During troubled times, the Grand Duke offered to protect me. Despite knowing it shouldn’t be, I couldn’t help but want to hide in a safe place.”

The Duke understood Teresa well.

She was a child who detested causing trouble to others obsessively.

‘So even after experiencing misfortune in the Duchy, she probably didn’t utter a word of complaint.’
Observing the Duke’s complex expression, Teresa stood up. It was a matter of life and death for her as well, so she had no intention of leaving everything to Maximilian alone.

“If you help me just this once, I won’t bother the Duke anymore.”

After saying so, Teresa bent her waist, showing a gesture of respect.

The Duke, a beat late, questioned her words.

“You won’t bother me anymore?”

“Once my safety is secured, I plan to quietly annul the engagement.”

My son seemed to have matured a lot.

With the New Year postponed and a bit of free time, I could now pay attention to things around me. As soon as time allowed, I called her to hear Teresa’s story, which I had been most curious about.

“You’ve decided to remarry my brother.”

“That’s right. Viscount Bae kindly cared for me, and I’m sorry it turned out this way.”

“No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for. I trust Teresa’s choice.”

I wished for Teresa’s happiness, but I didn’t want to push her in a direction that restricted her will.

However, there was something I wanted to ask.

“Forgiveness… Have you decided to forgive?”

I wondered if Teresa would release her anger and if there was any intention to embrace Maximilian even a little.

“What is there to forgive? I just misinterpreted Maximilian’s feelings on my own.”

Teresa’s words, mixed with self-pity, left me speechless.
Maximilian’s love for her would not be false. I expressed my feelings quite honestly in the original work, after all.

‘Back then, I expressed my feelings to Teresa in my own way without any regrets.’

Recalling how unfortunate that appearance was, memories of malicious comments resurfaced.

When I was lost in thought for a moment, Teresa spoke.

“And, when Diana is captured, I plan to cleanly break up.”

Her words left me speechless.

Divorcing one person twice.

When I first heard that, I thought it might be a joke, but it seemed genuine.

It would be difficult for Teresa to get married again if it turned out that way, aside from Maximilian’s pitiful situation.

“No need to worry like that.”

Her face, smiling as if nothing was wrong, showed no signs of worry or fear.

Considering Maximilian’s actions during the engagement period, the thought of marriage seemed to vanish.

“Why worry? Teresa has me, a prince consort, so why worry.”

“That’s right. I have a giant behind me, so what.”