“Do you even know what’s going on right now?”

Despite the sun being high in the sky, Bruno was still lying down due to the effects of alcohol.

Jessica, furrowing her brow at the sight, shouted loudly while striking Bruno’s arm.

“Bruno! Bruno!!”

“Ugh…”

Bruno, holding his temples as if his head hurt, made a gesture for her to go away.

But Jessica had no intention of backing down.

Rather, she looked at Bruno pitifully and struck his arm even harder.

If he wouldn’t get up no matter how much she called, she had no choice but to get straight to the point.

Taking a deep breath, Jessica shouted loudly into Bruno’s ear.

“The Alento territory is now under the Duchess’s name!”

Finally realizing the seriousness of the situation, Bruno’s eyes flew open.

“…What did you say?”

“When I went to the imperial palace today, that woman was thanking the Empress. She said she’s going on a family trip to Alento territory and will build statues of the Empress and Emperor there! She said she received it as a reward from Duke Genova for suppressing the rebellion!”

“What on earth are you talking about!”

Bruno sat up abruptly, then clutched his head.

“Ah… my head…”

Jessica sighed as she looked at Bruno pathetically.

Bruno raised his upper body and rubbed his face, not caring whether Jessica sighed or not.

With a complexion that looked like he might vomit at any moment due to his hangover, Bruno ordered Jessica:

“We need to confirm the facts right away, so have someone look into it, and tell the butler to bring that maid from the Duke’s mansion tonight.”

However, Jessica’s expression faltered upon hearing the order.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at Bruno, but he wasn’t in the right state of mind to notice Jessica’s appearance.

“Why the maid?”

“We need to tell the tutor! To prevent them from going on the family trip!”

Bruno, who had shouted angrily, let out a heavy sigh and lay back down on the bed.

As he groaned and clutched his head, Jessica raised him up again and raised her voice.

“Come to think of it, you! Why didn’t you tell me you were going as an envoy to the East Continent?”

“Even if it wasn’t my brother, they wouldn’t send a marginal noble anyway, so what does it matter? Just call that maid!”

Jessica tightly gripped her dress skirt and took a sharp breath.

Her shoulders were raised high as she glared at Bruno with an unusual look in her eyes.

“You… don’t tell me… with that maid…”

“With the maid?”

Bruno frowned at the suspicious Jessica.

“Even if I did, what could you possibly do about it?”

“I knew it! You’ve been seeing that maid! I should have known from when you kept meeting under the pretext of work!”

Bruno put his hand to his forehead at Jessica’s nonsensical words.

“My head is already throbbing, and now this woman!”

With only a pillow within reach, Bruno angrily threw it at Jessica.

“I told you not to think such ridiculous thoughts with that stupid head of yours!! Do you even have a brain, woman?”

“…Bruno!”

“All you do is suspect affairs… How do you expect to make our son a duke like this… Hah… Really…”

Tears streamed down Jessica’s face as Bruno shook his head as if utterly exasperated.

“It’s about you… I heard it from the Duchess about you. Do you know how humiliated and hurt I was? And to see her laughing with the Empress and flaunting that she got the Alento territory… Do you have any idea how hard it was to watch?”

“That’s why I’m asking why you can’t be as capable as that woman! When you know the Empress clearly favors her, you should have held your tongue and just smiled! You’ve made me a laughingstock there too because of your behavior!”

Bruno got up from his seat, fuming.

“What did you say? What do you mean I’m not as capable as that woman?”

“What do I mean? Even a passing dog in this empire would understand what I’m saying. So stop using that small brain of yours and just do as I say.”

Bruno flicked Jessica’s forehead and grabbed his outer garment draped over a chair.

“Bruno!”

Jessica called out Bruno’s name loudly, but he ignored her and went out.

*

While Lucy and Eriel were out for tea time, Daniel, who had arrived earlier, was waiting for them in the reception room.

“Mr. Daniel.”

Lizzy carefully called out to Daniel as she brought him tea.

“…What is it?”

“Everything I’m about to say is from instructions given from above.”

Surprised by Lizzy’s words, Daniel looked around the empty room unnecessarily before nodding.

Lowering her voice, Lizzy spoke with her lips barely parted, as if doing ventriloquism.
Of course, she didn’t forget to keep her hands moving to brew the tea.

“Do you know where the Alento territory is located?”

Daniel rolled his eyes in the air at Lizzy’s question and carefully answered.

“It’s the city right next to the canal, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the territory that Duke Genova received as a reward from His Majesty the Emperor after suppressing the recent rebellion.”

“So why is that territory…?”

As Daniel asked, Lizzy opened the lid of the tea she was brewing and let it cool for a moment.

“That territory is now under the Duchess’s name.”

“…This can’t be. What… what on earth is going on?”

“The Duke himself gave it to the Duchess.”

“Oh no…!”

Daniel smacked his forehead with an “oops” expression, then quickly lowered his hand, pretending not to know.
He glanced warily at the doorknob, worried that someone might open the door and come in.

“That territory… isn’t it used for moving goods because it’s right next to the canal? Giving such an important place to the Duchess, this is a big problem.”

“That’s right. Those above seemed to be thinking deeply about this matter too. Especially regarding the family trip this time, I heard the Duchess begged the Duke to go on a family trip to the Alento territory.”

“Surely the Duke didn’t allow it?”

“He did.”

At Lizzy’s words, Daniel clutched his hair and slammed the table.

“Seeing how he grants all of the Duchess’s requests despite being so busy, perhaps… wouldn’t it be better to inform the Duke quickly?”

“He probably won’t listen.”

“…Right. That could be the case. Hah… What should we do?”

“Above all, going on a family trip to that Alento territory… There could be issues with the young lady’s safety.”

“The young lady’s?”

“I’m afraid they might try to smuggle the young lady to a foreign country. Under the pretext of going on a family trip to Alento territory.”

Daniel, who had been tapping the table, nodded in agreement.

“Right. That’s certainly possible.”

Daniel thought of Lucy, who was smart and well-mannered. Such a lovely young lady…!

“What did those above instruct me to do?”

“It would be best to evacuate the young lady to a safe place before she goes to Alento territory.”

Taking a deep breath, Daniel nodded.

“That’s a good idea. Do you know how much time we have left?”

“It’s still undecided. Since the Duke hasn’t set the travel date yet… I’ll let you know as soon as the date is set, so please be mentally prepared until then, Mr. Daniel.”

“I understand.”

The lukewarm tea was left on the table.

As Lizzy left the reception room, Daniel closed his eyes tightly with a deep sigh.

*

“Young lady, what do you think about having an outdoor lesson? I think it would be good for someone your age to learn while breathing fresh air and playing outside. Don’t you get bored having lessons in the playroom all the time?”

Daniel cautiously broached the subject to Lucy, taking advantage of the Duchess’s absence from the lesson.
Although it couldn’t be kept secret from the Duchess, he thought it would be best to prepare for an outdoor lesson as suddenly as possible and evacuate the young lady to a safe place.

“…Today?”

“No, not today. I’ll prepare for an outdoor lesson next time. Would you mind not mentioning it to the Duchess for now?”

“Wow! An outdoor lesson? Great! To Mom? Why?”

Daniel swallowed hard and put on an awkward smile.

“Ah, I feel a bit uncomfortable informing her when the preparations might be somewhat inadequate.”

“I see. Okay! I’ll do that!”

Daniel nodded at Lucy’s bright smile.

“Then, let’s proceed with today’s lesson.”

“But there’s something I’d like to ask you too, teacher.”

“Yes, young lady. Please go ahead.”

As Daniel nodded, Lucy stared intently at him with an innocent face.

“I heard that before becoming a tutor, you wanted to be a member of the lower house of parliament.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s written in your special notes, and I also went through the list of tutors.”

“Ah, I see. But why…”

“I understand that becoming a member of the lower house requires either a huge amount of money or someone’s support. It’s a path that can’t be achieved as a tutor. So I’m curious why you applied to be my tutor.”

It seemed that the exceptionally smart young lady had immediately noticed such a discrepancy.

Daniel tried to ignore the cold sweat running down his back and smiled while pretending to organize some documents.

“Well… the Duchess might not like me telling you this, but to answer your question, I applied thinking that being a tutor for the Genova ducal family might be different.”

“You want to become a member of the lower house, but you applied based on such an uncertain possibility?”

Lucy’s green eyes were looking straight at Daniel.

Although she had a faint smile on her lips, it didn’t look that way at all.

It felt less like having a conversation with a 7-year-old child and more like talking to an adult at least 7 years older than himself.

He was overwhelmed by the fear that those eyes might see through everything about him.

But all of this was for the young lady’s sake…

“Ah, there’s one more thing I wanted to ask. What do you think about choosing inhumane methods to guide someone on the right path?”

“The right path?”

“Yes. However, that judgment is not objective.”

Daniel frowned.

“You’re asking about the possibility of committing inhumane acts while being trapped in an illusion, aren’t you?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m not sure if this will answer your question, but I believe that if it’s truly the right path, some sacrifices might be necessary.”

“Because the end result is good? Is that your definition of justice?”

Daniel flinched and pressed his lips tightly together.

“What if it turns out not to be the right path? Can one only blame their own incompetence for believing it was the right path?”

Normally, he wouldn’t be flustered by such questions.

He would have certainly given a proper answer.

However, Daniel couldn’t say a word, as if his tongue was tied.

As he listened to the young lady’s words, he couldn’t help but apply the situation to his agreement to the plan of kidnapping the young lady for her own sake.

Is kidnapping the right thing to do?

Even if the Duchess is leaking information to a foreign country, can his actions be justified?

What if… all of this turns out to be a misunderstanding… Then what happens?

Does he just become someone who kidnapped the young lady?

Daniel asked himself these questions.