“You’re talking nonsense outright.”

A sneer flowed from Hertian’s mouth.

“Well, mother recovered quickly and it wasn’t a fatal poison. It was probably just some weeds accidentally mixed in with the tea leaves that were toxic.”

So that’s how you covered up the incident.

Probably if I had collapsed, he would have covered up the incident in the same way.

As we kept our mouths shut, Serdis smiled faintly like someone who had won this war of words. We just didn’t want to respond to the nonsense anymore.

Dinner was the same.

I listened to Serdis’s chatter with one ear and let it go out the other.

Though it would be appropriate to point out his rudeness, Serdis kept talking without pause.

The one who seemed more tired was Hertian.

He couldn’t easily leave his seat, having to entertain a guest who didn’t seem like a guest. Perhaps he was staying to make sure Serdis didn’t bother me. So I finished my cup of tea and stood up, reading the atmosphere.

“The night has grown deep. I’ll be going up now, so please rest comfortably in the room the butler showed you.”

As I left the reception room and climbed the stairs, I heard footsteps following behind.

Soon the hurried footsteps caught up to me and stopped me.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

It was Violet.

Her words had drastically decreased since arriving here, but thinking back, it seemed she was being cautious of me.

I relaxed my expression to reassure her.

No doubt Serdis had forced her to come along.

“His Highness asked you to come together and you couldn’t find a reason to refuse, right?”

“That’s right, but I’m still sorry. I knew you two weren’t on good terms, so I shouldn’t have come along. I just wanted to see the young lady after so long… Oh, I mean Your Highness the Grand Duchess.”

Even while sniffling, she didn’t forget to correct her form of address.

“Please call me Anette comfortably. I’m younger anyway.”

“Is, is that really okay?”

“Of course.”

Even in the dark hallway, her flushed cheeks were clearly visible. Violet, whom I met after a long time, was still lovely.

“By the way, it’s my first time meeting His Highness the Grand Duke, but you two really suit each other well. I only watched you two during the whole meal. I’m so envious.”

“Our Highness is quite handsome, right? I married him for his looks, you know.”

After Anette and Violet left, Hertian left the reception room without even a word of farewell, looking as if there was nothing more to see.

The only people left now were Serdis and Lili.

Lili was about to follow Violet out, but had to stay in the reception room due to Hertian’s warning glance.

“Tch. I wanted to chat with Lady Violet too.”

Violet and Lili were acquaintances who met occasionally. Originally kind-hearted, Violet was well-received even by Lili, who had a bad temper in social circles, and their friendship had continued until now.

But after her parents passed away and she came to Blandiche, they couldn’t meet often. So she got up from her seat, muttering complaints.

“Tomorrow I’ll ask to play with me instead of the new sister.”

As she was about to leave like that, she hesitated whether to greet Serdis, who was left alone.

Unlike Hertian, whom she had been close with since childhood like family, Serdis was also a relative but not in a particularly good relationship.

Moreover, knowing that Serdis’s maternal family was desperate to kill Hertian, she couldn’t be friendly with him.

In the end, Lili decided to just give a slight bow and leave the reception room.

And just as she was about to turn, Serdis spoke to Lili first.

“Lili. Don’t you want to catch up with your long-lost elder brother?”

At those words, Lili turned her head.

Serdis was sitting with his arms draped over the sofa and legs crossed, as if he were the master of the house. Seeing that, the answer came out automatically.

“No thanks.”

“If even you act so stiffly, I’ll be hurt.”

Watching Serdis pretend to clutch his chest, Lili didn’t feel the need to retort.

She rather understood why Hertian had ignored Serdis like that.

So she tried to hurry her steps, not wanting to get involved unnecessarily.

“Lili, do you think those two are well-matched?”

But those words made Lili turn back again.

“What are you talking about?”

Serdis smiled subtly in victory.

“To me, it doesn’t look like they married because they like each other. Is it just me?”

He pretended to scratch his head nonchalantly. Even if Lili didn’t feel the same way, he had left himself an escape route.

But Serdis was confident that Lili would think the same as him. After all, her expression had been coldly staring at Anette ever since arriving here.

“…Why do you think that?”

Sure enough, Lili showed interest.

In fact, Lili was the one who wanted to drive Anette out of this place more than anyone else.

“Would a man who just returned from war have time to meet a woman?”

“But they say it was because they liked each other…”

Though she knew it was nonsense, there was nothing to doubt about the two’s relationship. Even after coming here, they had been getting along well, and there were rumors among the servants that they were a lovey-dovey couple.

“That may be so. But you know what? I heard a strange story.”

“Wh-what is it?”

“Don’t stand there stiffly, come sit here.”

Unable to contain her curiosity, Lili went and sat next to Serdis.

“I heard that a week before the wedding, Anette was looking for a husband at the information guild.”

It was a clear fact that Anette had been looking for a husband.

Anette also knew that Serdis knew this fact, so she would deliberately act in an obvious way.

‘You call that acting.’

Serdis didn’t believe that act for even a moment.

It only raised more suspicions.

The suspicion of why Anette would go so far as to get married to avoid him.

He had looked into everything about Anette, but no clear answer came out.

The only thing he knew was that Anette, who had been favorable towards him, suddenly changed her attitude after collapsing in front of him.

That she distanced herself from him as if she had become a different person.

That was all he knew.

No matter how the situation turned out, Serdis couldn’t let go of his feelings for Anette.

Rather, because he couldn’t have her, his desire grew stronger. Moreover, it was Hertian, of all people, who had taken what was his, which made it even worse.

“Tell me more details. Are you saying my new sister went around looking for a husband?”

By now, Lili’s face had turned serious, her mind spinning with impossible imaginations.

“Anette suddenly started talking about getting married one day, so I wondered if something had happened and looked into it. And would you believe it, she was looking for a partner for a contract marriage.”

He thoroughly hid his own feelings towards Anette.

“Huh… It was strange. I mean, Hertian isn’t the type to marry another woman.”

Serdis probed into the meaning behind Lili’s words.

“What do you mean by ‘that person’?”

Lili shook her head with a face that said she had slipped up.

“It’s nothing.”

“Lili. Be honest. If Anette and Hertian have a contract marriage, it’s as good as having no one to inherit the Grand Duke position in the future.”

In the end, Lili confessed. It seemed like it would be for Hertian’s benefit.

“Actually, Hertian has someone else he likes.”

It was a statement based on incomplete knowledge.

She knew that at some point, Hertian had started exchanging letters with someone.

And that the other party was a woman.

‘Wow. Elder Brother Hertian, who sent you that letter? The stationery is pretty, is it a woman?’

‘Give it here. You don’t need to know.’

Even the usually gentle Hertian was sensitive about the letters.

Moreover, his face when opening the letters was undeniably happy.

How could she not be suspicious?

The reason she didn’t pry into who the other person was, was because if Hertian found out, he might never look at her again.

But suddenly hearing that Hertian fell in love at first sight and was marrying another woman? Unbelievable.

“Another person? Who is it?”

“I don’t know who it is either. But I’m sure there was a woman Hertian had a one-sided crush on. It seems he’s still exchanging letters with her even now…”

“Letters… Could it be this?”

A familiar envelope came out of Serdis’s possession.

Seeing it, the ruby-colored eyes grew round.

“Why does Elder Brother Serdis have that?”

‘So it was like that after all.’

This letter was the one Anette had entrusted to Lucky at the wedding.

He had just told Lucky to go to the bride’s waiting room and say a few bad words about Hertian, and she handed over this letter?

Moreover, according to Lucky, there was someone she had been exchanging letters with for a long time.

Serdis immediately promised Lucky a recommendation letter for a court painter upon hearing this. The little child just happily delivered the letter and left.

The sender was Anette.

The recipient was Casian.

The contents of the letter were quite profound.

I’m sorry for asking to meet even though I know you’re uncomfortable.

But I’m prepared to understand you no matter what you look like or what situation you’re in.]

It seems they didn’t even know each other’s faces despite exchanging letters for a long time.

At first glance, it seemed to be simply making an appointment, but looking at it over and over again, every word was carefully chosen.

He intuited.

That the reason for Anette’s sudden change might be related to this letter.

So he immediately set out to find the other party.

‘Who could Casian be?’

It was a name he had heard before, but no one came to mind.

He investigated everyone named Casian in the capital, nobles and commoners alike.

But it was none of them.

None had exchanged letters with Anette.

‘That means Casian isn’t his real name.’

So after Anette got married and left her family, he sent the letter back to the Count’s residence, pretending she had dropped it at the wedding venue.

The butler confirmed it was a letter Anette had sent to Casian and entrusted it somewhere.

Serdis followed the trail.

And finally learned that the letter’s destination was Blandiche Castle.

“That’s the letter Elder Brother Hertian was exchanging.”