Now all the puzzle pieces have fallen into place.

‘So Anette doesn’t know that Cassian is that Hertian bastard, and that guy has been hiding his identity and sending her letters?’

And that Hertian bastard used these scraps of letters to drive a wedge between Anette and me.

How could he make her avoid him so much with such meddling?

He was so dumbfounded he couldn’t even laugh bitterly.

And the very person who interfered ended up marrying Anette. He even sweet-talked the emperor to prevent any interference.

In the end, Hertian, who had a crush on Anette, planned and carried out this whole thing.

That’s the conclusion Serdis came to.

“Say something! I’m dying of frustration here!”

“I saw it in a drawer while looking around the room the butler showed me earlier.”

He gave an evasive answer, then quickly racked his brain. About what to do next. The plan was quickly decided.

‘Since it caused me quite some trouble, I should pay it back painfully so it stays in memory for a long time.’

That was Serdis’s way.

“A guest room drawer? Strange, Hertian is usually meticulous about keeping letters safe.”

“That’s not the important part. You said the two of them get along well, right?”

“Yes. That’s for sure.”

“It’s likely an act. Anette isn’t taking care of the household chores, is she?”

Being a contract marriage, she probably wouldn’t be fulfilling the real duties of a grand duchess.

“No? She’s working harder than anyone.”

This was also something Lili had been suspicious about.

Even though it was obviously an arranged marriage, Anette was enthusiastically taking on tasks.

Lili had told the maids that Anette was an inexperienced noble lady from the capital who put work on the back burner, but thanks to Anette zealously handling affairs, even that effort seemed to be in vain.

“I thought Elder Brother Hertian had deliberately hired someone to take care of the household. She’s so busy going here and there every day, there’s no time to even see her face.”

This was an unexpected development.

Anette, who was always cooped up in the lab at the academy, suddenly taking care of household affairs.

There were more than a few suspicious points.

“What’s she so busy doing?”

“I don’t know the details either. Last time merchants came with wagons full of medicinal herbs, and since then she’s been busy going around the territory. Every day she goes out and does who knows what.”

Going around the territory, huh.

There must be a clear reason for Anette to go out in this place colder than the capital’s winter.

All of this would come out if investigated.

“Oh, and the other day she even told me to apologize to the Cursian. She interferes in everything.”

Lili took this opportunity to express her own grievances as well.

“You must have had a hard time.”

“I know, right? If you only knew how much I suffered inside. Look at this – my skin’s gotten rough.”

Lili easily opened up to Serdis, who understood her hardships.

And Serdis didn’t miss this opportunity.

“Lili. From now on, you and I need to join forces.”

“To do what?”

Serdis whispered in a very low voice.

“To untangle this twisted family tree.”

[This is the timeline separator]

“Are you planning to stay for good?”

Serdis and his group, who were expected to leave soon, have been staying here for three days now.

“Anette. What do you think my father would say if I returned to the capital in this state?”

He says he slipped on the stairs and twisted his leg.

Serdis, lying in bed, pretended to groan in pain as he tried to forcibly get up.

It was impossible to know if he was really injured. His ankle to calf was tightly wrapped in thick cloth.

“Don’t get up. You might end up staying here for life if you get hurt more.”

“Are you worried about me? You’re so kind after all.”

“…I’ll have breakfast sent to your room.”

This actually worked out well.

I figured he wouldn’t leave anytime soon anyway, and thanks to his injured leg, he wouldn’t insist on following me around.

As a result, I got to see Violet for longer without Serdis’s interference.

Of course, I couldn’t spend much time with her because of my agreement with Cantad.

Instead, Lili was tagging along behind Violet, so it didn’t seem like Violet was too bored during her time here.

“Two days left now.”

There was a more important matter at hand.

In two days, I’ll receive the 3 billion in transaction money. The thought of receiving the money made me feel good, as if it were payday.

“I want to tell Hertian right away.”

He’ll probably be surprised, right?

He might get angry, but he’ll still praise me for successfully completing the deal.

And it seems I’ll be able to face him with ease now that I don’t have to lie anymore.

Eagerly waiting for tomorrow to come, I was just about to board the carriage heading to the frontier village.

Whoosh.

The carriage door slammed shut from the strong gust of wind. At the same time, my body, barely holding onto the door, swayed like a piece of paper.

“My lady! Please get in the carriage quickly!”

A coachman who appeared out of nowhere caught me. Thanks to him, I managed to climb into the carriage. After that, the carriage body shook several times.

As I held onto the door handle tightly without even checking outside, the wind gradually subsided. After the wind had completely died down, the coachman opened the door and asked worriedly.

“My lady, are you alright?”

“Yes. The weather in the north is quite unpredictable.”

Behind the coachman, I could see two men who couldn’t withstand the gust lying collapsed on the street.

“Those people seem to have fainted?”

If they keep lying on the cold northern street, their mouths might freeze.

“We should take them to a physician.”

As this was a matter concerning the territory, I couldn’t just ignore it. But as I tried to get out of the carriage, the coachman stopped me.

“This happens frequently in this street. People from the territory will take care of them and provide treatment, so please don’t worry.”

“But no one is helping them while everyone’s just watching?”

People had gathered around them, but no one was taking them away.

“My lady. If we don’t leave now, we don’t know when the wind might pick up again. Who knows how long the carriage can withstand such strong gusts… Didn’t you have an urgent matter?”

“That’s true, but…”

As I hesitated, the coachman added.

“If you’re really concerned, I can go and ask someone to take them to a physician.”

“Please do that.”

“Yes. Please wait in the carriage for a moment without worrying.”

It felt somewhat like he was intentionally telling me not to get close to them, but I decided to stop worrying about it.

There was no reason for the coachman to do that anyway.

“But I do feel a bit chilly today.”

I curled up, pulling my fur cloak tighter around me.

My condition hadn’t been good since Serdis came to the north, causing me to worry about various things.

On top of that, facing the cold wind head-on was causing my body to gradually heat up.

“I need to hurry back.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Cantad’s wound has faded to a faint scar.

It was a deep wound that took a long time to heal even with medicine, but it healed without major issues.

I nagged at Cantad as he stomped his feet on the ground.

“You haven’t used your left leg for almost a month, so don’t suddenly start running around. Start by practicing walking slowly.”

“I’m going straight into training.”

“Don’t come crying to me later if you suffer. Tomorrow is the last day anyway.”

Hertian should be getting suspicious by now.

I’ve been going out every day for nearly a month.

Tomorrow I’ll receive the 3 billion, so I felt a sense of liberation that I no longer had to deceive him.

I unconsciously started humming a tune.

“Are you that happy?”

“Of course. I’m finally free. Coming here every day for a month without rest is work too, you know.”

“I guess I caused you unnecessary trouble.”

“Well, you paid a fair price for it.”

I started organizing the piles of medicinal herbs I had spread out in the barracks over the past month.

I planned to teach the soldiers the treatment method one more time tomorrow, so I had to pack up in advance.

“I’ll leave after I finish organizing this today.”

Cantad hastily asked in response.

“You’re leaving already when you just got here? Planning to take the money for nothing?”

He’s good at pressuring with money, I’ll give him that.

Every time I tried to leave punctually, he would add those words and make me work more. Now I was used to brushing off his nagging.

“That’s not it.”

Just as I finished organizing the herbs and was about to stand up with the basket, it happened.

Wobble.

My body swayed greatly and my vision began to blur.

‘Again.’

My body had finally reached its limit just before collapsing.

Of all places, here.

Bonisa didn’t come with me today either.

There was a lot of work at the castle because of the sudden guest.

That’s why I absolutely couldn’t faint here.

If I fainted, I’d be out for a full day, and if I stayed out overnight, Hertian would come looking for me.

And if he found out I had disobeyed him and made deals with the Cursians on my own…

‘He might ask for a divorce.’

My vision swam.

I struggled with all my might not to collapse.

“I’m feeling… a bit under the weather… today.”

Thankfully, I regained some of my senses.

Not missing that opportunity, I managed to walk to the entrance of the barracks.

If I could just make it to the village, I could tell the coachman to take me to the grand duke’s castle. It didn’t matter if I fainted in the carriage.

However, collapsing here would be dangerous.

“Wait. I have something to say.”

At that moment, Cantad, unaware of my predicament, called out to stop me.

But I didn’t stop my barely moving steps.

“If it’s not urgent… can we talk tomorrow? My head hurts a bit right now…”

“It’s not urgent, but… alright then. Be careful on your way back.”

Fortunately, he didn’t stop me. I safely exited the barracks.

Now I just need to walk to the village, just make it to the village.

My body was shaking uncontrollably.

I clutched my cloak tightly around me. Even with the thin cloak, it couldn’t block the wind.

‘Fox fur… rabbit fur…’

It’s too cold.

It was a mistake to change into thin commoner clothes.

I sniffled and vowed to definitely wear a fur cloak tomorrow.

But then.

“Hey. Are you alright?”

Cantad, who had come out of the barracks, turned me around by the shoulder. With that, the willpower I had barely been maintaining finally snapped.

“Ah, no…”

The last thing I saw was Cantad’s warm-looking fur cloak.

[This is the timeline separator]

Cantad shouted as he saw Anette suddenly collapse before his eyes.

“Wake up! You can’t die!”

Anette had completely lost consciousness, her eyes rolled back.

Cantad froze in panic and just kept shouting for Anette to wake up. He didn’t know how to handle this kind of situation.

But that didn’t last long.

“Could you lower your voice?”

Someone took Anette away from him. It was a man with black hair and pale skin.

The man lightly picked up Anette and draped a warm shawl over her. His movements were quite familiar.

The man looked at Cantad with emotionless eyes before walking towards the village.

Cantad found himself following him across the border into the village.

Forgetting that it was an illegal act.

As he followed, he saw familiar people from the Requies village.

The villagers, upon seeing that man, bowed their heads and guided him into a house.

The man laid Anette on the bed, covered her with a thick blanket, and watched her for a long time. Only after confirming that color had returned to her face did he take his eyes off her.

Then, the villagers who had been restlessly waiting behind him all came out and deeply bowed their waists.

“We are so ashamed. We knew she wasn’t well but couldn’t stop her from going to the barracks.”

“We have committed a grave sin. Not knowing the grace we’ve received… when the Grand Duke had emphasized it so much.”

Cantad momentarily held his breath when they called him the Grand Duke.

Looking at him in the light, his attire was different from ordinary people. No, it wasn’t his clothes, but the aura he exuded that was extraordinary.

He had met many people from Requies, but this was the first time he’d encountered a man with such an atmosphere.

“We’ll talk about this later.”

When the man spoke, everyone immediately went outside.

And the man, who at times looked almost doll-like, turned his gaze towards Cantad.

Cantad asked, even though he already knew:

“Are you the new lord of this place?”

“I am.”

His tone was cold, befitting the master of the North.

“It seems the lord here is more attached to his subjects than I thought.”

Hearing those words, Hertian tilted his head at an angle. Cantad added an explanation:

“That woman. I heard she’s one of the Grand Duchess’s people. Isn’t it because you’re the lord that you’re personally taking care of your wife’s person?”

It was more of a criticism that it was excessive rather than a compliment. It was enough to cause misunderstanding for a lord who should be in the castle to come out to the frontier and carry his subject.

‘He should take care of his own wife.’

Cantad found the sight of him standing there as if to protect the woman somewhat irritating. So he was about to pass by him to be by her side when Hertian roughly blocked him.

“She’s also my business partner, so I’ll take care of her until she wakes up…”

“It’s because I’m her husband, not her lord.”