“Open the box.”

Following Allen’s order, his subordinates grunted as they unwrapped the package, revealing a sealed letter on top.

When they fully opened the lid, the subordinates were shocked by the contents.

“Ugh! What is this?”

It was soaked in blood and had a terribly fishy smell.

“It’s a wild boar.”

Someone had hunted a wild boar and sent it well-packaged.

“Boss, there’s a letter.”

Allen received the letter with trembling hands.

Why was the Courtois ducal family’s crest stamped on the wax seal of the letter? He had a bad feeling about this. But he boldly broke the seal.

“Damn it all!”

Allen shouted angrily, crumpling the letter in his hand.

Things had gone terribly wrong.

Ha! He was furious at how Terran always seemed to block his path.

Although everything he had planned had been carried out without a hitch, it just didn’t work on Terran.

With this, Terran of Rubeck had now become his greatest enemy.

Those damned gypsies had thoroughly ruined things, so Terran wouldn’t just sit back. But he wasn’t afraid.

‘By the way, managing Hamilton General Store? It would be a small profit compared to the ducal family’s wealth, wouldn’t it? Could that bastard have been acquainted with Lea’s father?’

As far as he knew, the two had no interactions.

‘I’m not going to hang onto some general store. What can be done with that little hole-in-the-wall?’

Allen’s lips twisted into a mess.

‘Alright, let’s see who wins. I’ve been through thick and thin. I absolutely won’t lose.’

Allen felt the flames engulfing his very soul to be cold enough to give him goosebumps rather than hot.

On the other hand, he felt thrilled that Terran’s existence was stoking his competitive spirit.

‘You don’t know how exhilarating it is to trample someone and stand above them.’

Now that things had come to this, he thought to consider it as entertainment for competition.

In every fight, having a worthy opponent increases the chances of success. For that, he needed to gain power.

At that moment, a brilliant idea occurred to him.

‘Soon, there will be a decree to select the Crown Prince’s consort in Galdensia. We must have someone from our family become the Crown Prince’s consort.’

That way, he could receive a ducal title. And he had a sister with outstanding beauty.

‘If Rivet becomes the Crown Prince’s consort, I’ll be of the same status as that Terran fellow.’

Moreover, the status and power of his family in Galdensia would greatly increase.

He had to postpone taking Grace and focus all his efforts on making his sister the Crown Prince’s consort to become a duke from a viscount.

‘Just you wait, next time we meet, I’ll be Duke MacDowell.’

Allen gritted his teeth as he looked at the letter in his hand.

* * *

Rapha, who had barely been released, came to the ducal residence with Chainer. Of course, not all the members of the organization were cleared of charges.

Maddox and his subordinates, who had directly participated in Grace’s kidnapping, were sentenced to one year in prison. Still, it was fortunate they avoided the death penalty.

“Wow! The sisters lived in a palace!”

The innocent Chainer’s eyes widened at the sight of the ducal residence.

But Terran’s warning still echoed in Rapha’s ears.

[I’ll take your granddaughter as a hostage. So it’s best not to do anything foolish.] [What? Chainer as a hostage?] [Grace likes your granddaughter, but I don’t. If you do something stupid in the future…]

He said he couldn’t guarantee Chainer’s life.

That wasn’t all. The Hamilton General Store, which he had bought with great difficulty, was also completely taken away by Terran.

Of course, it wasn’t for free. He received back the exact amount he had paid Allen from the duke.

[If you do anything that violates the laws of the Rubeck Empire, such as smuggling, violence, opium sales, etc., you and your granddaughter will die.] [I’ll keep that in mind.] [You said with your own mouth that you’d be happy to be my dog, so keep your promise.] [Don’t worry.]

Perhaps it was for the best. This could be an opportunity to completely wash his hands of dirty business. But the duke hadn’t just threatened him.

Even though he called Chainer a hostage, he allowed her to live alongside Grace.

‘I wonder what kind of threat he’s called me here for today?’

He was deeply worried, but he came this far trusting only Grace. Soon, Rapha and Chainer were guided by the butler to the reception room.

“Grandpa! This place is super cool!”

The naive Chainer was delighted, not even realizing she was parting from her great-grandfather.

As they entered the reception room, Grace stood up to greet Chainer.

“Sister!”

“Chainer, you’re here?”

The two were as happy as sisters reuniting after a long separation.

On the other hand, Rapha couldn’t even lift his head, feeling too ashamed to face Grace. Above all, he was nervous about Terran sitting on the large sofa reading a newspaper.

“I greet the young lady and the duke.”

He bowed deeply towards Terran, who wasn’t even looking at him.

“Please sit, grandfather.”

“Th-thank you, young lady.”

Rapha fumbled, not knowing what to do with himself, before finally managing to sit down. Just then, Pauline appeared in the reception room, preparing refreshments.

“Sister Pauline!”

“Chainer, you’re finally here.”

At that moment, Terran folded his newspaper, put it down on the table, and looked at Grace.

“I’ll excuse myself so you can talk comfortably.”

“You can stay if you want.”

Grace tried to stop Terran, but he smirked as he looked at Rapha, who had turned pale because of him.

“It’ll be more comfortable without me.”

“Then I’ll speak to you separately.”

“Do that.”

Only after Terran left, causing a cold draft, did Rapha’s tense face relax a bit.

Pauline prepared warm tea and refreshments to help him relax.

“I’ll forget about grandfather kidnapping me.”

“I’m… sorry, young lady.”

“Pauline and I will take good care of Chainer. We’ll send her home once a week.”

Hearing Lea’s words, Chainer, who was eating a cookie, shouted loudly.

“Really? I can live with the sisters?”

“Yes.”

“I’m so excited!”

“Chainer, shall we go look around the ducal residence?”

“Yes, sister!”

Pauline took Chainer out of the reception room.

It seemed better for Chainer to step out for a moment so the two could have a serious business conversation.

“Look at this.”

Lea pushed a pile of letters from noble ladies in front of Rapha. Rapha could only blink, speechless.

“These are letters from noble ladies of Rubeck who want to order Chainer’s lace.”

“What? Is that really true?”

“Even the Empress has sent a letter. She wants to collect the lace Chainer makes.”

“Huh…!”

Rapha’s face turned red, seemingly in great shock.

He couldn’t believe that what he thought was just his granddaughter’s handiwork was actually a skill that could make money. Moreover, to think the Empress herself would send a letter.

“Grandfather, shall we start talking about business in earnest now?”

The smile disappeared from Lea’s face. She pushed several documents towards Rapha with a determined expression.

* * *

Before dinner, Lea hurriedly sought out James.

“James, please send this letter to Brother Aiden.”

“You… wrote a letter?”

“Yes? Is that strange?”

“It’s just that it never happened before.”

‘I see, Grace never wrote letters to her brother before.’

“He’s my only sibling, so I should send greetings to my brother occasionally.”

Lea didn’t panic. Just because it wasn’t done before doesn’t mean it can’t be done from now on.

“Yes, that’s right. I’ll send it right away.”

Lea had also written about Chainer in the letter. She thought Aiden should know if they were going to do business.

He might object to a noble lady becoming a so-called merchant. Additionally, she wanted answers to various questions.

“Where is Terran? It’s almost time for dinner.”

“He should be in his office.”

“I’ll go check.”

Lea kept knocking on the office door, but there was no response. It seemed Terran wasn’t in his office.

Or he might have been too engrossed in work to hear the knocking. She carefully opened the door.

‘It’s dark. Why aren’t the lights on?’

Lea entered the dark office and turned on the lights first. But Terran was slumped over the mahogany desk.

“Terran, are you tired?”

It seems he had fallen asleep from exhaustion while working.

Lea slowly approached him. But she froze at the sight of Terran sweating and suffering in pain.

“Ugh…! Don’t retreat…!”

He was having nightmares about the war.

“I… didn’t kill them!”

Just like when he was in agony in the cabin, Terran’s painful self had revived and was cruelly tormenting him.

“S-save… me!”

Terran had always shown a strong front, so she thought he had overcome the scars of war. She had no idea he was still suffering so much.

‘It wasn’t a wound that could be easily healed.’

She had been foolish to think so simply. This must be the difference between someone who has experienced war and someone who hasn’t.

“Grace, don’t… go.”

“!?”

Lea decided she couldn’t leave him in this hell any longer. She quickly approached Terran and woke him up.

“Wake up, Terran!”

“Ugh.”

“I’m right here!”

Lea forcibly raised Terran and held his face with both hands. Telling him to open his eyes and face reality.

“Open your eyes! Quick!”

As she shouted loudly, Terran’s eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings. Soon, his pain-filled black eyes stared at Lea.

“Grace?”

“Yes, I’m not going anywhere.”

Only then did Terran seem to escape from hell and relax, pulling her into his arms.

Lea thought it was urgent to comfort the trembling Terran. So she kept patting his shoulder and stroking his head.

“I thought you were dead.”

Terran, wandering on the battlefield, had been greatly despaired by the news that Grace had been kidnapped and killed. It was all a dream, but it felt as real as reality.

“I’m not dead. I’m right here by your side, Terran.”

Lea’s heart ached. Whenever Terran revealed his battered wounds like this, she was seized by the urge to love him.