After Anette returned to her room.

Hertian remained alone with the count to continue their unfinished conversation.

“I heard you plucked out a dragon’s eye and presented it to the Empress.”

Lucas broached the subject with a worried expression.

It was a rumor that spread in an instant. Hertian had suddenly entered a dragon’s habitat, and returned to the hunting ground covered in dragon blood, throwing an eyeball to the Empress.

While most nobles expressed admiration for his subduing of the dragon, Lucas noticed something else.

“Was that the reason the Empress went to the hunting ground?”

Coincidentally, the Empress was at the hunting ground on the day Hertian returned. Could that really be a coincidence? Lucas thought there was no way it could be, unless she had gone to the hunting ground knowing where Hertian had gone, to hear news of him as quickly as possible.

‘Unless the Grand Duke has gone mad, he wouldn’t touch a dragon of his own accord.’

Lucas concluded his hypothesis while observing Hertian’s calm expression.

“I hoped it wasn’t the case, but it seems Her Majesty the Empress was behind this.”

At the same time, a sigh escaped him.

He was not unaware of Hertian’s position within the imperial palace. Nor what his existence meant to the Empress. But he hadn’t thought she would make such an overt threat so soon after the marriage. Things had been quiet until now due to Hertian’s participation in the war.

“The reason I allowed Your Grace’s marriage to Anette was because you promised to keep her safe.”

Lucas finally voiced his regret.

“I know.”

Having anticipated this to some extent, Hertian calmly accepted the admonition.

“If Anette is in danger, I will bring her back to the mansion without hesitation.”

“You need not worry about that. My wife will not come to harm because of me.”

Hertian answered as firmly as he had when they first met. Unlike then, there was no falsehood or bluster in his words.

“With Your Grace in the north, I will also keep an eye on Her Majesty’s movements in the imperial palace.”

That was all he could do to help avoid any unfortunate incidents.

“Besides the Empress, Serdis is also involved in this matter.”

At those words, Lucas’s eyebrows twitched.

“You mean His Highness Prince Serdis…?”

“I can’t give you the details, but I’m certain.”

All the letters had burned in the cave.

Not many people knew about the letters and Kasian’s existence. And among them, Serdis was the only one who would do something to burn the letters.

“His Highness… surely not.”

The surprised Lucas seemed to recall something and then rubbed his forehead.

Hertian continued, watching him.

“I knew Serdis had his eye on my wife for a while. And that my wife rushed the marriage because she felt pressured by it.”

Lucas was surprised once again.

That aligned with what he had vaguely sensed.

The day after Anette had gone on a date with Serdis and returned collapsed.

When she suddenly announced she wanted to marry, turning the household upside down, Shwelly had said:

‘Could it be that Anette is doing this on purpose because she doesn’t want to become Serdis’s lover?’

At the time, he didn’t believe it because there was no reason or justification for it.

But hearing it directly from Hertian’s mouth, that assumption seemed to fit.

“So you knew…”

“How could I not?”

A deep sense of guilt washed over Lucas.

It felt as if he had turned a blind eye to Anette using Hertian.

As if reading his thoughts, Hertian added:

“Whatever my wife’s reasons for marrying me, it doesn’t matter. And as long as Serdis has feelings for her, he won’t try to harm her. But considering how my wife forced the marriage rather than be with Serdis, I think being by Serdis’s side would be the most harmful path for her.”

Lucas’s face immediately contorted.

‘To think we have to consider even the prince as an enemy.’

But ignoring it wouldn’t change anything. He had known about Serdis’s feelings for Anette for a while, and had even imagined their future together.

“Actually, Anette suddenly started avoiding His Highness. It was strange – just the day before she had been choosing dresses to meet him, but then she came with a terrified face saying she wanted to get married.”

Lucas recalled the time right before the wedding.

But it was too early to draw conclusions based on that alone. Not everything about Anette had changed from 5 years ago to now.

“So you don’t know the exact reason.”

That made sense.

Anette had asked them to act as if they were perfect lovers in front of the count and countess. If they had known all her inner circumstances, there would have been no need to act.

Sure enough, Lucas nodded bitterly.

“And you didn’t ask for the reason.”

“I didn’t ask because I was afraid it would distress her. Afraid she might disappear from before my eyes again, like before…”

Lucas’s voice choked up, and he paused briefly before pouring a full glass of champagne and downing it in one gulp.

“When Anette was eleven, she fell through the ice while playing with Rian on a frozen pond. She was sick for about ten days before regaining consciousness, but she couldn’t remember anything.”

Though it had been over 10 years, Lucas vividly remembered that day.

After the child who had been groaning in pain from falling into the pond regained her health. She looked at him as if he were a stranger, and when he started asking her questions, Anette became frightened and left the mansion in the middle of the night.

Fearing he might lose his precious daughter, he went out in his nightclothes in the dead of winter and found the small child with her body frozen stiff, crying tears.

After that, he didn’t ask anything. For fear that Anette might leave the family’s embrace.

“That’s why this time too, I only tried to dissuade her from marriage. I couldn’t bring myself to ask for the reason.”

Hearing this unfamiliar story from the past, Hertian recalled a word he had momentarily forgotten.

Possession.

‘It’s too early to conclude, but it’s a possibility.’

“By any chance, was there anything different about your wife after falling into the pond compared to before?”

“Since she lost her memories, everything changed. From small habits to eating habits. A child who used to use her left hand started using her right hand, so it felt like she had become a completely different person.”

From left-handed to right-handed.

Is that even possible, even if one loses their memories?

Hertian’s head was throbbing with countless questions bubbling up in his mind.

But seeing Lucas’s pained face, he couldn’t bring himself to ask any more questions.

“I thought getting married would ease Anette’s anxiety… But the Anette I saw today didn’t look particularly at ease. I thought it was strange. So His Highness still hasn’t let go of Anette.”

“He seems to think he still has a chance. An absurd chance that if he gets rid of me, he can have my wife who will be left alone.”

At Hertian’s words, Lucas rose from his seat and bowed deeply with a pained expression.

“I must apologize to Your Grace. I blamed you for the immediate threat without knowing what kind of situation my daughter was in…”

Hertian immediately raised him up, but Lucas couldn’t bring himself to straighten his back. Looking back, he realized he hadn’t done anything for Anette’s sake. Even though the man before him had been saying he would protect Anette since their first meeting.

‘To think that all I did to protect Anette was bring her ineffective herbs and oppose the marriage.’

He had never felt so pathetic before.

“It’s not your fault, Count.”

“It’s the fault of an inadequate father. Even if I know, there’s nothing I can do…”

Even in a situation where Serdis was threatening his daughter’s safety, there was nothing he could do.

“I can’t do anything for Anette’s health, safety, or anything she wants. How pathetic…”

Seeing Lucas’s reddened eyes, Hertian felt an inexplicable sense of kinship.

After all, Hertian too desperately wanted her health and safety.

“I may not have any clear course of action either, but I’m trying to do whatever I can. So don’t lose heart, Count.”

“…But the attacks from His Highness Serdis and the Empress will continue.”

“If arrows keep flying, the only option is to break the bow.”

Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise at his words.

“Until now, I’ve only been running away from the arrows, but from now on, I intend to face them head-on instead of avoiding them.”

“But that…”

It meant breaking Serdis.

It meant confronting the Empress head-on.

“I know what you’re worried about. But don’t worry. It’s to keep my wife safe, not to put her in danger.”

A cold sweat trickled down Lucas’s spine.

“The families on the Empress’s side won’t sit idle, will they?”

“I haven’t just been avoiding them all this time either.”

“Do you have some kind of plan?”

Just as he asked with a glimmer of hope,

The door to the reception room opened, and the Countess and Shwelly entered, fuming.

“Oh, Your Grace is still here.”

Hertian immediately greeted her with a bright smile. But the serious-looking Shwelly couldn’t return his smile as usual.

“Your Grace, I didn’t want to bring this up, but…”

She kept fanning herself with the fan in her hand while her lips quivered. Hertian sensed something was amiss and asked politely.

“Has something happened?”

As Lucas had said earlier, one could think it was due to the Empress’s interference. She was their only beloved daughter, so of course they would be afraid.

“If it’s about the Empress…”

“You don’t have any health issues, do you?”

She cut off his words before he could finish, understanding his feelings well.

It had nothing to do with the Empress or the Prince.

Seeing his wife suddenly bringing up health concerns, Lucas exclaimed.

“My dear! What kind of improper thing are you saying?”

“It’s nothing, but I can’t get Baron Melson’s words out of my head, even though I know they’re not true.”

Though she didn’t show it in front of Anette, Shwelly was secretly worried about the lack of news from the seemingly happy couple.

When healthy men and women meet and share a bed every day, good news should come first. No, even before that, Anette’s face should be glowing from eating and sleeping well. Normally, newlyweds should have dark circles under their eyes and lack energy for the first three months!

‘Unless there’s a problem with the Grand Duke’s body, there’s no way it would be this quiet.’

So what came to mind was Melson’s medical record. She knew it had been proven fake, but what if there was a grain of truth to it? After all, where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

“Baron Melson? My dear, do you realize what you’re saying?”

“I know it’s shameless of me to ask, but I’m at my wit’s end. Anette won’t tell me anything.”

Shwelly had already steeled herself before coming in. Seeing Anette taking care of Hertian’s medicine had made that story seem like an established fact.

“Wasn’t Baron Melson your wife’s attending physician?”

When Hertian, who knew nothing, asked back, she took another step forward.

“Yes. That fellow brought something he claimed was Your Grace’s medical record.”

“My dear, that’s enough!”

Lucas stood up to stop her sudden behavior, but it was useless.

“It said there was a problem with Your Grace’s male function. Is that true?”

There wasn’t a shred of embarrassment in her as she uttered these outrageous words.

After all, it was for the sake of her daughter and future grandchildren.