“…Eriel.”

Damian, who had grasped Eriel’s shoulders, called her name firmly.

Even in this situation, Eriel looked up at him with anxious eyes, wondering what he would say, worried that he might bring up the family again.

She should have brushed off his hands immediately, but Damian’s voice, unwavering even in this situation, made it impossible to gauge what he would say.

“The Imperial Knights have been here.”

“…What?”

Eriel’s eyelashes trembled.

Not the capital’s guard, but the Imperial Knights. And they had visited the duke’s residence. Eriel’s lips parted slowly, her face disbelieving.

She shook her head slightly as if in denial, but Damian’s grip only tightened.

“They were here briefly while you were unconscious.”

Eriel, who had been standing weakly, suddenly grabbed Damian’s forearm.

“What do you mean by that…!”

“When I returned after losing the enemies, I found that the Imperial Knights had already turned the duke’s residence upside down.”

Eriel’s face crumpled completely as her lips slowly parted.

“Even if it’s the imperial family, how… Unless it’s treason, that shouldn’t be possible!”

However, after Eriel’s outcry, there was no response from Damian. Eriel furrowed her brows deeply at the affirming silence.

“They say documents related to rebellion were found in my study.”

Was it not common knowledge to all citizens that Damian, a knight who had fought in wars for the empire, sacrificing even his own life, and a duke of this empire, would never do such a thing?

This… was clearly a conspiracy.

Damian would never do such a thing.

“Is this, is this also Bruno’s doing?”

Damian slowly shook his head at Eriel’s urgent question.

“No. This… It seems there’s someone else involved.”

“…Your Grace. It’s time for you to go now.”

“Yes, I’ll be on my way.”

Damian nodded to the butler as he removed his hand from Eriel’s shoulder.

Eriel’s hand, which had been holding Damian’s forearm, fell limply.

“Damian.”

Damian, who had passed by Eriel, paused briefly at her call.

With the flood of situations, Eriel felt complicated in both heart and mind.

Just moments ago, she had been wailing in disappointment because of external enemies, but now she had to pray for her husband’s safety due to external forces.

“…Think only of Lucy and yourself. Don’t worry about anything else.”

Damian spoke first, as Eriel couldn’t continue.

Even at this moment, at his words to exclude himself, Eriel bit her lip and furrowed her brows.

“I will. So make sure you come back.”

Eriel, her fists clenched, looked straight into Damian’s blue eyes.

Damian nodded once and then turned away.

As he received his coat from the butler and left, his back view showed no difference from usual. His gait, his expression…

Even at a moment like this, he was true to himself.

If it was related to rebellion, it was clear that he couldn’t avoid detention even if the forged documents were exposed.

Damian must have known this too. He must also know that being detained would be a great dishonor.

It would surely be written as a single line in the history of the Jenova ducal family.

Eriel also turned her back. She deliberately didn’t try to commit Damian’s image to memory, which might be the last time she saw him.

It was because imprinting his image in her mind right now would only instill fear.

Eriel, after taking a deep breath, climbed the stairs. If it was related to rebellion, Eriel and Lucy would not be able to leave the duke’s residence anyway.

The forged documents would soon be proven false. However, the mere fact that such an incident occurred would cause critical problems.

It was already a time when arrows of concern were being shot at Damian due to his great victory achievements.

Of all times, this kind of incident was likely to cause internal strife. There would be a major rift in the unity of the imperial faction.

Eriel, who had stopped midway up the stairs, closed her eyes tightly.

Bruno… Although Damian said it wasn’t him, he must know about the culprit behind this incident.

Bruno’s goal was for Derek to become the successor. The foolish Bruno wouldn’t care about such things as long as the family was his, even if it was heavily tarnished.

He must have joined hands with someone who posed a threat to Damian, thinking only of swallowing up the family.

Eriel, slowly opening her eyes, finished organizing her thoughts.

Those who needed internal strife in the imperial faction… simply put, it was the noble faction.

But would the opponent who escalated things this far not have anticipated even this? …No. The too obvious traces of the culprit were likely to be fake.

Then who was the opponent trying to pin as the culprit of the kidnapping?

The tutor had been given a chance to be removed from the list of suspects at the point when the traitorous knight attacked with a sword. Then the only one left was… Bruno.

“Ha…”

Eriel let out a hollow laugh. Unlike her raised corners of the mouth, her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

No matter how stupid he was, he wouldn’t be unaware of the current situation.

If Bruno was used well at this point, it would be easy to find out about the forces behind this.

However, there was something to do before that.

“Butler.”

Eriel called the butler.

“The mansion seems to need a bit of cleaning. Don’t you think?”

*

“It’s not true!!”

Bruno, who shouted at the investigator, slammed the table hard.

Although he was answering in a luxurious reception room because nobles couldn’t be detained unless it was treason, even that seemed hard for Bruno to endure.

“Well, Mr. Bruno. There’s eyewitness testimony along with the tutor’s statement at that time, but it’s not definitive evidence, so don’t think too hastily…”

The investigator, sweating profusely, tried to calm Bruno down, but the flames in Bruno’s glaring eyes only grew larger.

“So who exactly gave that eyewitness testimony at that time that makes it credible!!”

Bruno, pulling his upper body forward, thrust his face close to the investigator’s.

The investigator, shrinking his shoulders, smiled awkwardly and deflected Bruno’s words.

“What does that matter? That testimony isn’t definitive evidence that could frame you as the kidnapper, Mr. Bruno. So don’t worry too much. More importantly, you were at the mansion at that time, right?”

The investigator, patting Bruno’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him, asked while filling his fountain pen with ink.

“Yes! I was at the mansion!!”

“Yes, yes. I understand. We’ll end the investigation here for today.”

The investigator scribbled something on the paper. Bruno, who glanced at the paper, tried to calm his heavy breathing.

The man who seemed about to jump up from his seat suddenly leaned his arm on the table and lowered his voice.

“By the way, about those guys who were in cahoots with the kidnapper. The ones my brother reportedly cut down in one stroke.”

Bruno’s eyes, giving a signal, seemed to beckon the investigator closer. Despite the fact that only Bruno and the investigator were in the reception room, his attitude was extremely cautious.

“To gather about ten people from those working in the underworld, there are only a few places to look, you know. For an attack on a duke’s daughter, they must have hired people from the largest dark guild. The owner there must be involved too. I heard from playing cards at the club that there are some nobles who invested in that owner… I could…”

“The investigation has already been completed.”

However, the investigator shook his head with an apologetic smile.

“What do you mean the investigation is completed? What are you talking about?”

“We investigated the nobles who invested, but there were no notable findings.”

Bruno’s voice rose again as he frowned deeply.

“No…! How can there be nothing! You, no!”

“Do you perhaps know something else, Mr. Bruno?”

Bruno, meeting the investigator’s eyes that suddenly seemed innocent, closed his mouth that had been open. Then he waved his hand and stood up.

“…If you say there’s nothing, well. I was just babbling nonsense trying to be helpful to my brother in family matters.”

“Yes, I understand. Then I’ll see you at the next investigation date.”

The investigator bowed politely. Bruno, looking down at this sight, left the reception room.

Bruno, scanning the empty corridor, furrowed his brows deeply.

“Has the imperial investigator already been bought off? Then the method… The method…”

Bruno, biting his nails nervously, walked quickly down the corridor.

He needed a powerful person to protect him in this case.

Although he was pretending otherwise, judging by the investigator’s attitude, it seemed they had already decided on Bruno as the culprit.

With evidence overflowing, it would be difficult to get out of this easily.

…Those bastards.

When it was convenient for them, they used me, and now that things have gone wrong, they throw me away as bait?

They’ll regret this.

If only my brother hadn’t been detained, I would have groveled and ratted them all out. If I said they threatened to kill Derek, even my brother couldn’t blame me too much.

Making Derek the successor… well, that wouldn’t be difficult, just need to make the woman drink some infertility medicine!

Besides, brother… he still felt sorry for me. Didn’t he let it slide even though he knew I was exaggerating? The conquest war has just ended, so this won’t be the last time he’s sent as an envoy to the Eastern Continent.

Even after returning from a family trip, I could send brother to foreign countries many times.

It was a big mistake to rashly take their hands just because I got impatient when I heard the news of brother returning to the empire.

Damn it!

Bruno, trembling as he clenched his fists, stopped in his tracks and then moved again. The coachman was waiting for Bruno up ahead.

Wait.

Wait, wait. …Yes, that’ll do.

“…To the Jenova duke’s residence.”

Bruno, who gave the order to the coachman in a low voice, boarded the carriage.

“…Pardon?”

The surprised coachman flinched, but Bruno had already boarded the carriage.

The coachman, left with no choice, whipped the horses and drove the carriage towards the duke’s residence.