“Haha! Lady Elaine, is that true?”

Henry burst into laughter surrounded by people.

His body, already quite drunk, was swaying slightly.

A servant holding a silver tray cautiously approached his side.

“Count Bart.”

“Hmm…?”

Henry downed the remaining champagne in one gulp and turned to the side.

The servant handed him a small note.

“A note delivered for you, Count.”

“For me?”

At this, Lord Elaine, who had been conversing with Henry until just now, let out a hearty laugh.

“Don’t tell me that’s a note from a secret mistress?”

At Lord Elaine’s playful words, Henry’s face stiffened slightly before quickly regaining a skillful smile.

“How could that be? With an angel like my wife by my side, how could I have a mistress?”

Saying this, Henry looked at Robelia standing to his right with loving eyes.

Robelia’s face remained expressionless.

‘Did he really notice my relationship with Camilla….’

As that thought occurred to him, Henry put on an even more relaxed attitude and boldly checked the note as if he had nothing at all to hide.

“Ah, it seems Lord Rebat is looking for me. Come to think of it, I haven’t run into him yet.”

And as he stuffed the note into his inner pocket, he smoothly continued speaking.

“Robel, I’m sorry, but can you be alone for a moment without me? It will only be for a very short while…”

Henry spoke affectionately as he tucked Robelia’s golden hair behind her ear.

However, Robelia only nodded slowly with her lips tightly sealed.

Though he felt a bit frustrated at her reaction, Henry once again skillfully smiled and looked around at those nearby.

“I’ll be back soon. Please make sure my wife doesn’t get bored. Well then.”

With those words, Henry stepped back.

And after climbing a few steps of the stairs leading to the upper floor of the banquet hall.

He took out the note he had put in his pocket and unfolded it again.

“Come to the 3rd floor where I am right now. If you keep ignoring me, I’ll tell Robelia about our relationship.”

The note was from Camilla.

Henry would have ignored it if that was all that was written, but this time he couldn’t.

The last two lines written on the note.

It was those damn sentences that grated on his nerves.

“Don’t make the naive assumption that I won’t do it. Because now… I have nothing left to lose. – Camilla, D.”

[This is the timeline separator]

In the outdoor corridor of the 3rd floor filled with only silent darkness.

As soon as Henry faced Camilla, he spewed out his dissatisfaction.

“Camilla, what are you trying to do by calling me out here where all the nobles of the empire are gathered?”

Perhaps due to the alcohol, his anger could not be suppressed.

Yet Henry kept looking around in case someone suddenly appeared.

Camilla gave a bitter sneer as she watched him.

“If you didn’t like it, you shouldn’t have avoided my contact.”

Camilla’s expression became even more vicious.

“I’ve sent countless letters since the day I left my inn room. But you… you never replied to me even once!”

Henry tilted his head back and rolled his eyes wide at this.

“Wow, you really drive a person crazy! I told you, now is not the time for this!”

Camilla also shouted, overcome with anger.

“I’m in no position to just keep waiting! Don’t you know I could be abandoned by my husband at any moment in this situation?!”

At her outcry, Henry’s expression turned abruptly cold.

The ensuing silence was filled with a chill.

Camilla bit her nails like someone who belatedly realized her mistake.

After anxiously rolling her eyes for a while, she grabbed Henry’s hands with her trembling ones.

“Y-You’re all I have left now, Henry…”

Her eyes darted about, unable to find their bearings.

“There’s no time to wait… We need to get rid of Robelia right now, this very moment.”

Camilla, who was holding Henry’s wooden-like arms even more tightly, suddenly flashed her eyes.

“Th-That’s right! We could even kill Robelia. Right, Henry?”

Camilla looked more desperate than ever before.

Henry, who had been looking at her impassively, slowly furrowed his brow.

“…What did you say?”

“That’s the easiest way, isn’t it! The most convenient and sure method.”

“…”

“So that I can become the Countess Bart as soon as possible, if we kill Robelia together…”

Thwack―.

Henry roughly withdrew his hand that had been grabbed by Camilla.

Camilla’s movements, which had been rambling like a madwoman, also stopped in an instant.

“Kill Robelia together?”

One corner of Henry’s mouth curved up askew as he coldly asked back.

“Why would I?”

Camilla’s pupils shook greatly.

Tsk. Henry clicked his tongue at her bewildered state and took something out of his jacket’s inner pocket.

It was the note Camilla had sent.

Henry immediately tore it into small pieces and scattered them in Camilla’s face.

At the same time, Camilla’s face turned deathly pale.

“He…Henry!”

Despite her desperate cry, Henry narrowed his eyes slyly.

“I thought I’d put up with it a bit longer for old times’ sake. Haah…”

As he trailed off, he soon wrinkled his nose and tapped Camilla’s cheek lightly with his finger.

“I guess I can’t do this anymore, Camilla Dmitri.”

It was almost a mocking attitude.

No, it was clear mockery and toying with her.

They had been friends for a long time since childhood, and spent not a few nights together as lovers.

Although she had anticipated Henry’s betrayal countless times and finally confirmed it with her own eyes, it still didn’t feel real.

Camilla blinked slowly, feeling her thought process coming to a halt.

“What… do you mean?”

“…”

“N-No, right? You’re just… saying this because you’re so angry right now, Henry?”

Henry only looked at her as if she were pathetic.

Camilla grabbed his sleeve tightly, as if clinging to a last lifeline.

However, that desperate grip was immediately shaken off.

“We’re over, Camilla. So don’t think about bothering me anymore. Even less about becoming an obstacle to me.”

Henry leaned close to Camilla’s ear and continued in a whisper.

“If you do, it won’t be Robelia I end up killing… it’ll be you, Camilla.”

“…!”

Henry glared at Camilla after pulling back slightly, then immediately turned his back.

Watching Henry leave her like that, Camilla was at a loss for words for a while.

Her jaw just trembled.

It wasn’t out of fear or trepidation.

The bitter sense of betrayal.

That was what kept Camilla silent for a while.

“…If you leave like this, I won’t leave you or Robelia alone.”

At last, her voice echoed ominously through the corridor.

At the same time, Henry’s feet came to an abrupt halt.

After a moment of silence, he let out a small snort and continued speaking.

“You’re free to dream. Go ahead and try your best. Let’s see who dies first.”

Leaving only those words behind, Henry left the corridor without any lingering attachment.

Camilla stared blankly at Henry’s departing figure.

He had been her only hope of returning to a happy life.

But all of that had been shattered mercilessly.

By none other than Henry Bart, that man.

“I offered you the last path for both of us to be happy… If you do this, I have no choice either, Henry.”

Henry Bart could never be happy alone.

Especially not now when Camilla herself was stuck in the gutter.

‘I absolutely won’t stand by and watch it happen.’

As Camilla was making that resolution, the first opportunity to bring down Henry Bart finally appeared before her eyes.

“Henry…? Where on earth did you go?”

At the far end of the dark corridor, a golden-haired woman who seemed to brighten her surroundings.

It was Robelia.

Upon seeing her, Camilla habitually furrowed her brow.

But only for a moment. Soon, as a good idea occurred to her, the corners of Camilla’s lips curved up long.

“…Robelia?”

Camilla approached Robelia’s side, feigning indifference.

“Robel, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“Ah, Camilla…”

“I’ve been sending letters but getting no reply… I was worried you might be avoiding me on purpose because of the rumors.”

Camilla intentionally said words that would evoke guilt in Robelia.

As far as she knew, Robelia would be at a loss with guilt upon hearing such words.

“…It’s not particularly that.”

Yet for some reason, contrary to her expectations, Robelia’s attitude was utterly indifferent.

‘Did she really notice something between us, as Henry said?’

As that thought suddenly occurred, several questions arose.

Then why has she been pretending not to know about Henry and me until now?

Perhaps… because if she just waits quietly, Henry will return to the family?

‘It’s really disgusting. That innocent face pretending not to know anything.’

It felt like both husband and wife were setting her insides on fire.

Camilla thought this inwardly, but outwardly curved her eyes in a smile.

“Henry probably went to the top floor.”

There was no reason not to smile either.

After all, this would be the last time seeing that clueless, pure face.

Soon, a malicious smile spread across Camilla’s lips.

“Shall I take you there?”

[This is the timeline separator]

After quickly wrapping up my conversation with the duchesses, I immediately went up to the second floor.

I wanted to be alone for a moment, away from the noise.

However, the tables placed here and there in the corridor were already full of elderly ladies engaged in conversation.

‘I wonder if there are no seats at the tables on the opposite side either?’

It was then, as I was leaning against the railing at one corner of the huge U-shaped corridor, looking across at the opposite corridor.

“You must be Her Highness the Duchess Twins, correct?”

A polite yet unfamiliar voice came from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw a man with violet eyes exactly like Adrian’s, shining brightly.

“Ah, you are…?”

“I’m glad you seem to recognize me. I’m Elliot Monter, Adrian’s older brother.”

Elliot, who introduced himself, bowed his head politely.

And as he raised his head again, he smiled gently.

“Perhaps because we’re brothers, even our smiles look very similar.”

“Haha, I’ve heard that a lot. Of course, Adrian is much more handsome than I am.”

Elliot let out a faint laugh and then continued speaking.

“It’s truly an honor to meet the mistress of the Twins family, the leader of our mixed demon clan, here.”

“I’m pleased to meet you too, Lord Monter.”

Elliot nodded slowly after gazing at me for a moment as I smiled softly.

“As expected, Adrian was right.”

“…Was Adrian speaking ill of me? Saying that my personality is incredibly difficult as the rumors say?”

When I jokingly asked with a serious face, Elliot burst into cheerful laughter.

“Of course not. It was all praise about Your Highness. He said you have a strong heart with upright principles, yet are warmer-hearted than anyone, always thinking of others. And that he deeply respects Your Highness for that.”

“…”

“That boy, he sincerely cares for Your Highness.”

After a brief silence, Elliot took a shallow breath and continued speaking.

“Just for your information, our Monter family doesn’t insist on only taking in brides chosen by the Manakin. If Adrian sincerely cherishes someone, we intend to let him do as he wishes. That’s how I met my current wife as well.”

A faint smile tinged Elliot’s lips as if recalling his wife.

“Of course… it would have to be someone who hasn’t been imprinted.”

Saying this, Elliot glanced at me.

Meanwhile, I had only understood about half of what Elliot was saying.

After drawing numerous question marks in my head, I finally let out an awkward laugh and asked.

“But what do you mean by imprinting? What is that?”

Elliot couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

“Your Highness, don’t tell me… you didn’t know anything about imprinting?”