Why does that scene keep coming up?

Ultimately, they only had a marriage of convenience, and she was just a target to be eliminated in the end, so what does it matter who saves her?

Henri struggled to shake off the thoughts that kept bothering him.

“I should go see Valliere.”

Although he had expected Valliere to be happy about becoming a count, this was too much.

The bed was covered in rose petals, and Valliere was lying on it in racy lingerie, waiting for Henri.

At the sight, Henri inadvertently scrunched his face.

“What is this?”

Doing something he never did even when he was just a governor; it felt strange.

“What is this, you ask? Today is a joyful day, so I prepared entertainment to match.”

Valliere’s awkwardly smiling face looked almost comical, but he seemed unaware of it.

“Weren’t you saying you weren’t feeling well?”

“Yes, I was. My heart was hurting, so my body was too. But today, after receiving the title, I feel cleansed.”

Recalling his stepbrother, Bierre, who brought money he didn’t ask for and told him to spend it freely, Valliere showed a refreshing smile.

“Is that so? I’m glad you’re feeling better. But I’m not feeling well today…”

In reality, Henri didn’t seek out Valliere for this.

Even though his feelings had cooled, Valliere was still the most precious person to Henri in the world.

A lover, a friend, and practically his only family, he couldn’t just cut off his feelings for him.

Henri wanted to talk about the memories between them, now that Valliere was in a better mood.

He wanted to recall the past days they had fought through and try to reverse their increasingly distant relationship.
Henri felt strangely uncomfortable even touching her skin, although there was no reason he couldn’t cater to the mood of a lover with whom he’d mingled countless times.

As Henri made to leave Valerius’s bedroom, Valerius rushed out and grabbed the hem of Henri’s trousers.

“Are you leaving me?”

“What?”

“If you’re going to break up, then just abandon me. Why did you give me hope in the first place? Why! Why! Why keep giving me hope?!”

Tears freely flowed down Valerius’s face, having been rejected by Henri again, and feeling truly sorrowful.

For months, living a false life, she’d painfully realized that her existence as the protagonist depended solely on Henri’s affection.

The only savior in this unbearable situation where everyone despised her.

The male protagonist destined for a happy ending with the heroine.

If he rejected her, she’d have to return to being a mere supporting character.

That was absolutely unacceptable to Valerius.

And Henri, in turn, looked down at Valerius who was kneeling and gripping his trousers, feeling disturbed.

Her wet, pitiful face closely resembled a woman he never loved.

Henri couldn’t simply leave Valerius behind.

He sat facing his longtime lover.

Then lifted his hand to personally wipe away Valerius’s tears.

The warmth he felt at the tip of his fingers felt comfortably familiar.

As if touching his own flesh, it felt natural, yet his heart still strangely raced.

He surrendered himself to that familiar sensation.

“Is this for real?”

Henri had a headache since early morning.

Around the time he was racking his brains composing a formal document about what happened during yesterday’s orphanage groundbreaking ceremony, Pellio informed him that Valerius might have stolen the orphanage’s blueprint.

He’d already felt uneasy since waking up, having somewhat succumbed to the mood yesterday, and now this backstabbing.

“What makes you think so?”

“The person who took the blueprints from the archives was a maid under Count Valerian.”

“Do we have someone to confirm that?”

“Yes, the administrator who found the documents confirmed it.”

“And the maid? Has she testified that Valerius ordered this?”

“That’s the thing…”

Pellio, who had been speaking well, suddenly faltered.

“Why? Couldn’t find the maid?”

“Yes. We’ve been investigating since yesterday, but she’s already missing.”

“Then couldn’t she have just defected to Count François?”

“That’s a possibility. But it was Valerius who insisted on the unplanned orphanage groundbreaking ceremony…”

While Pellio hesitated with the unfamiliar title, Henri called him with a heavy voice.

“Pellio.”

“Yes.”

“You’re a lawyer, aren’t you? Are you presuming guilt based on uncertain circumstantial evidence?”

Setting aside his personal feelings for Valerius, Henri spoke calmly as a guardian of the law.

Pellio quickly acknowledged his mistake upon hearing Henri’s words.

“I was rash. I’ll find more evidence before leveling any accusations.”

After Pellio left, Henri sank into deep contemplation.

He recalled hearing a few weeks ago that a maid who had worked at Valerius’s residence had gone missing.

Sometimes, servants found the arduous palace life too hard or made a mistake and ran away to their hometowns.

So, at the time, he’d offhandedly instructed Count Halstein, who was with him, to look into it.

Count Halstein, who had happened to be by his side as the master of ceremonies, remembered that incident and spoke before Henri could ask.

“That maid did not return to her hometown. She went missing after leaving the palace, saying she had something to do.”

“Where was she last seen?”
“The last sighting was near the royal palace in the city.”

“If Count Heidern had killed him…”

“It would be difficult to even find the body. That’s Count Heidern, isn’t it?”

“For now, investigate his last known whereabouts in more detail.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And…”

Unable to finish his instructions, Henri hesitated to speak. The astute Count Halstein noticed this and took the liberty to respond.

“I will keep a close eye on Duke Velian for the time being.”

Just then, Ermedillin, who had heard that Pellio was in the palace, called for him.

She had decided it was time to properly thank Pellio, as the flood of intense emotions had passed after she had slept.

“Did you call for me?”

“Please sit.”

Ermedillin sighed deeply and offered Pellio a chair.

“I was too excited yesterday and failed to properly thank the prince. You prevented what could have been a disastrous involvement of those around us, and for that, I am truly grateful.”

Sitting opposite Pellio, Ermedillin resolutely stood up and bowed her head.

Seeing this, a flustered Pellio immediately stood up and bowed his head in return.

“No, it’s just my duty as a subject of the empire. Ah!”

Just then, as Pellio was bowing his head deeply, Ermedillin abruptly lifted her head.

As a result, a startled Pellio staggered back and eventually collapsed back into his chair.

“However, I am not at all grateful for your unilateral action against Count Heidern without my consent.”

“…”

“I might have thought, ‘why bother if you’re going to take care of such a headache,’ but…”

As she tried to figure out why she was so angry, Ermedillin’s voice began to fade.

Pellio interrupted her with a firm voice.

“No, I know why Her Majesty the Empress was so angry yesterday.”

“Really?”

How could Pellio know something she herself didn’t understand?

A faint smile crossed Pellio’s composed face as he looked at Ermedillin’s surprised expression.