After finishing the long morning meeting, the Emperor and Damian had moved to a different location and were having a casual conversation for the first time in a while.

“Damian. I hear you’re going on a family trip to Alento territory. It must be very exciting. Have you set a date?”

The Emperor had been friends with Duke Damian since his time as Crown Prince, so when no one was around, he would treat Damian like in the past.

“We haven’t set a date yet.”

However, Damian did not reciprocate.

Even after the Emperor’s ascension to the throne, despite joking about losing a friend, Damian did not treat the Emperor as a friend.

In this one-sided friendship, the Emperor refused to yield, and neither did Damian.

Both sides were incredibly stubborn.

“Once the cabinet is established, you’ll have even fewer days to rest, so try to go on a trip as soon as possible.”

“Yes…”

“Oh, by the way, Eden wants Lucy as his partner for his birthday banquet. Is that alright?”

“I will ask her.”

“The Empress is so thrilled about it. She talks about Lucy every other day. Plus, Eden seems completely smitten with Lucy. Perhaps we should consider an engagement…”

However, as soon as the Emperor brought up engagement, Damian cut him off sharply.

“Lucy does not mention Eden.”

“Is that so? It seems our Eden is in a one-sided love then.”

But seeing Damian’s reaction, the Emperor chuckled and leaned forward slightly.

“What’s this? Your face used to hesitate only at the mention of the Duchess’s name, but it’s changed a bit. You didn’t seem to react much during the conferment ceremony, but why? Now that you’re at home with your daughter, doesn’t it feel different? She must be adorably cute, right?”

The Emperor laughed, openly amused at Damian’s disgruntled expression.

“See? You’re no different. What’s the use of talking about iron blood?”

Damian smiled briefly without responding to the Emperor’s words and stood up from his seat.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave first.”

*

Eriel thought that to learn about Damian and Bruno’s story, she couldn’t trust the people inside the Duke’s mansion.

Basically, their loyalty to the Genova family was higher than to Eriel.

Especially the butler. Probably every step of Eriel’s investigation would be influenced by Damian.

This meant that information filtered or distorted by Damian could reach Eriel.

“Butler. Daniel and Lucy are getting along so well, aren’t they? What do you think?”

Eriel smiled at the butler standing beside her and brought up the topic of the tutor.

For now, Eriel needed a decoy to hide that she was investigating anything related to Damian.

“It seems so. His manner of speech and attitude towards the young lady are both quite excellent. He seems to be a very good person.”

“Right? On that note, when I looked at Daniel’s file, I saw there was someone who recommended him. I was thinking of talking to that person. After all, they employed Daniel as a tutor before me, so I thought they might have something to say about the child’s education philosophy.”

Eriel said as she handed the tutor’s file to the butler.

“Then I will contact them in advance and prepare according to the schedule. Oh, regarding what the Duke said he would tell you himself.”

“Ah, the family trip? I was about to look into it, thinking a month from now would be good.”

*

And a few days later,

Daniel swallowed hard.

He had just come out after asking the Duchess as usual if she would attend today’s lesson.

After waiting in the reception room for a short while, the butler knocked and entered.

“Due to Madam’s schedule today, it seems she won’t be able to attend the external lesson. I’ll assign you a knight from the Duke’s mansion, so please let me know when you’re ready. Would you like to go up to the young lady’s room for now?”

Daniel nodded at the butler’s words and clenched his fist.

With each step up the stairs from the first floor, Daniel pondered and re-pondered his judgment.

Was the Duchess really selling information to foreign countries? Even if so, would she do anything to harm her daughter, the young lady?

Daniel paused briefly in front of the door, grasping the doorknob while keeping his gaze on the floor.

The thoughts that kept flashing through his mind wouldn’t stop.

Daniel squeezed his eyes shut and finally turned the doorknob without a clear answer.

“Teacher…!”

The young lady’s voice greeting Daniel was as bright as usual.

Hearing that innocent voice made Daniel’s hand tremble as he bowed.

He had acted thinking it was for the young lady’s sake, but what if… it wasn’t.

What if it was his misjudgment, as the young lady had said.

Then…

“Teacher, what are you thinking about so deeply? Today is an external lesson! It’s going to be so much fun!”

Lucy’s words made Daniel feel increasingly guilty.

Nevertheless, unable to show such feelings, he managed to put on a smile.

No matter how much he pondered and re-pondered, things had already started.

If he backed down now, he would truly become a fool incapable of making any proper judgment.

Even if his judgment was wrong, it was right to guide according to what he thought was the correct path.

Once you’ve drawn the sword, you must cut something.

Daniel took a deep breath and said to Lucy,

“…Young lady, shall we not have the external lesson today?”

But the words that came out of his mouth were completely opposite to what he had been thinking.

*

“Of all days, it had to be an external lesson today.”

Eriel had wanted to attend the external lesson as well, but things had gone awry.

Eriel shook her head at the butler’s words.

“Mrs. Parker is already waiting in the reception room, so it would be difficult to send her back. Butler, please make sure they go and return safely with the knight escort.”

“Yes, understood.”

After the butler left, Eriel rose from her seat.

Eriel had planned to use Mrs. Parker, who recommended Daniel, to make contact with external personnel.

Of course, she couldn’t do anything right away, but she intended to build rapport by talking about tutors and naturally change the subject.

Getting help from her maiden family, the Borghese Marquis family, would be the quickest way, but that strategy carried too high a risk of being discovered…

“Hello, Madam. Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“Not at all, I’m the one who should be grateful for being invited to the Duke’s mansion like this.”

Just as Eriel started to gently steer the conversation and mentioned Daniel’s name, a look of confusion crossed the lady’s face.

“Who are you referring to…”

“Mr. Daniel, the eldest son of Baron Mehirn.”

Eriel repeated, but a bewildered expression flashed across the lady’s face.

Then she slowly shook her head.

“The tutor I recommended was named Colin. And if I remember correctly, he was the second son of a viscount family.”

“Co…lin?”

Eriel set down the teacup she was holding and smiled faintly.

“…Oh my, the butler must have made a mistake.”

“That’s possible.”

“But this must be fate as well. What kind of tutor was Colin?”

Eriel calmly led the atmosphere, helping the lady to speak comfortably. However, her mind was dominated by confusion.

The plan to use the lady to obtain external information had already disappeared.

She had already looked over the tutor list several times.

Therefore, the lady the butler brought must be the same person as in that file.

Then does this mean Daniel’s file was entirely incorrect from the beginning?

…Which parts are incorrect information?

Eriel listened to the lady’s words with one ear and let them go out the other, thinking she should end the conversation quickly.

Her mind was pounding.

Coincidentally, today was the day Daniel was having an outdoor lesson with Lucy.

She had sent a maid and a knight along, but suddenly felt uneasy about the changing location.

Eriel discreetly signaled to a nearby maid without Mrs. Parker noticing.

Fortunately, the maid immediately understood the signal and approached Eriel’s side.

“Madam. Today, the Duke…”

As the maid trailed off, Eriel immediately played along and put on an apologetic face.

“Oh my, I completely forgot. I had something today…”

“Ah, is that so? I’m fine with that.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll be sure to host you again next time.”

After sending the lady off, Eriel said to the maid.

“…Where did they say today’s lesson location was?”

“They said they were going to the hill right behind the Duke’s mansion.”

“Let’s go there right away.”

Eriel was quickly descending the stairs and instructing the maid to prepare a carriage when it happened.

A maid of the Duke’s mansion flung open the front door and cried out as soon as she saw Eriel.

“Madam! The young lady has been kidnapped.”

Eriel dropped the lace gloves she was holding.

As her legs gave out and she was about to collapse on the stairs, the maid standing beside her immediately supported Eriel.

“Madam…!”

“Support the madam, and inform the Duke about this immediately! Right now!”