Lea unpacked her luggage with Pauline at the Brassel Hotel.

“Did you find accommodations for the coachmen as well?”

“Yes, when I told them to stay at the hotel, they adamantly refused. They want to go to an inn.”

“An inn?”

“It’s obvious. They want to go drink and meet women.”

The moment Lea set foot on Galdensia’s soil, she was overcome with a flood of emotions.

She never dreamed that just half a year ago, she would return as a completely different person to the place she had fled from in a white wedding dress.

Moreover, seeing the familiar streets and smelling Brassel’s unique scent made her heart ache.

She missed the streets she had walked countless times since childhood, the shops she frequently visited, and the neighbors who would greet her warmly and ask about each other’s well-being.

[Miss Hamilton, I hear you’re marrying Galdensia’s most handsome nobleman? Congratulations.] [Thank you, Aunt Eva. Will you come to the wedding?] [With all those noble guests coming, how could I attend with my fishy smell? I’ll just congratulate you in my heart. Instead, I’ve got some good fish in today, so I’ll give you one as a wedding gift.]

They were warm-hearted and generous people, but now, even if she went to find them, they wouldn’t recognize her as Lea.

Lea’s nose stung, and her eyes reddened.

“Miss, I’ve finished arranging the clothes. Though there wasn’t much to arrange, given how little luggage we have.”

At Pauline’s voice, Lea hastily composed herself.

“Pauline, I have somewhere I need to go for a moment.”

“Shall I call for a carriage?”

“No, it’s not far. We can walk.”

Brassel was so familiar that she could navigate it with her eyes closed. Compared to Rebon, it was also relatively safe, not particularly dangerous except in secluded areas.

“But Miss, isn’t this your first time in Brassel?”

“Oh? Y-yes, that’s right. I studied in advance. I should at least know where the general store is.”

“I see.”

The two left the hotel and headed towards the Hamilton trading post. The Hamilton general store was nearby as well, making it convenient to look around.

However, Pauline found it curious how Grace navigated the streets without hesitation. She seemed as familiar with the place as a local.

In Rubeck, there were numerous times when she had been completely lost.

Anyone watching would have mistaken her for a Brassel native.

After walking for about ten minutes from the hotel, Lea stopped. A very familiar building. However, her face hardened at the unfamiliar sign.

“MacDowell Trading Company?”

Pauline read the sign, tilting her head in confusion.

She didn’t understand why Grace wanted to come here. It was just a building.

Seeing the changed sign, Lea felt a surge of fire in her chest. Now she knew exactly why she had come all the way to Brassel.

‘Lea Hamilton, this is your reality.’

This was no time to be swayed by love or engage in emotional battles.

Lea trembled with indignation and resentment.

She wanted to kill Allen with Terran’s gun that she always carried in her handbag. Truly, not returning the gun to Terran was a hundred times the right decision.

‘Everything the Hamilton family built has vanished because of me.’

Lea’s breathing became irregular, as if a whirlwind was blowing in her chest.

Now that she had confirmed it with her own eyes, her desire for revenge against Allen boiled like red lava.

‘I’ll take back everything you took from me.’

And that wasn’t the end of it. She would definitely put Allen in the Leaf Island prison in place of her father.

She would make him beg for death, unable to live or die.

Just then, Pauline pointed ahead.

“Oh! That gentleman looks like the one who came to the funeral.”

At Pauline’s words, Lea shifted her gaze.

The timing was truly impeccable, to encounter that trash of a man all at once.

Pauline kept talking about how she had seen him outside the church. Because of this, Lea couldn’t avoid Allen. His gaze landed precisely on Grace due to Pauline’s voice.

“Lady Bizac!”

He was so surprised that he roughly shook off Sara, who was clinging to his arm. He walked briskly towards Grace, and Sara quickly followed, taking his arm again.

“Sara, step aside for a moment. I have business with the Lady.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Sara.”

At Allen’s stern and low voice, Sara moved a few steps to the side.

On the other hand, Allen couldn’t believe that Grace was standing before him. He had been planning to visit Rubeck to meet her anyway.

“It’s been a while, Mr. MacDowell.”

Lea responded in the calmest tone she could muster. Having met him just as her anger towards him was surging, it was quite difficult to control her emotions.

“Lady Bizac, what brings you to Brassel?”

“The Hamilton general store is here, isn’t it? I came to look around.”

“Ah! The Hamilton general store…”

Allen recalled that Terran had acquired the general store. Things had certainly gotten messy.

“Lady Bizac, I have much to explain. About the entanglement with the Rapha organization, and for making you uncomfortable at the hotel last time, I’m sorry.”

His elaborate excuses, or rather lies, were packaged as if they were the truth.

Allen claimed that he only intended to sell the general store to the Rapha organization, with no other motives.

He asked Grace if the Rapha organization held any grudge against the Courtois ducal family, insisting on his innocence. It was quite a plausible story.

‘Allen, your way with words is still the same.’

No one could match him in piecing things together and rationalizing. He seemed born with the qualities of a con man.

Lea deliberately feigned ignorance about what had transpired between the Rapha organization and Allen.

“Lady Bizac, at the hotel too… The Duke gave you the wrong date.”

“Does the date matter? I understand. It’s not unusual for upper-class men to have a mistress or two. Of course, you don’t intend to marry your mistress, do you?”

Lea raised her voice slightly so Sara could hear. Immediately, Sara’s face turned red and blue.

“Mr. MacDowell, I must be going now.”

Lea found it difficult to face him. Her hands trembled, and she felt a constant urge to pull out the gun from her handbag.

“Lady Bizac, there’s a dinner party at my house tomorrow at six in the evening. Please come.”

“I’m not sure if I’ll have time.”

“I’ve invited many of Brassel’s notables. The Chief of Police Tuazo and the captain of the MacDowell cargo ship will be there. Since there are many Courtois-owned general stores here, it might be a good opportunity to network with them.”

‘The Chief of Police Tuazo and the cargo ship captain are coming. The three sworn enemies are all gathering.’

Lea suddenly wanted to see their faces.

What kind of faces would these devils, who had framed one person and cast them into the abyss, be wearing now?

“Mr. MacDowell, I’ll accept your invitation. However, only if my maid Pauline is treated equally as a guest.”

“Of… course.”

Allen couldn’t hide his joy at Grace’s acceptance.

* * *

On the day Grace disappeared, Terran returned to the ducal residence, drenched in winter rain.

Although he didn’t find Grace, thanks to immediately sending out a search party, he obtained information that the carriage carrying her had gone to Galdensia.

‘Did she go to check on the general store? Thank goodness, she went where I expected.’

It was fortunate that she wasn’t a woman who acted without reason, even when angry. After all, Grace had sufficient grounds to go to Galdensia.

The first thing he did upon returning was to order Rapha to protect Grace in Galdensia. He couldn’t leave Grace unattended until he arrived in Galdensia.

‘I must bring her back immediately.’

But Terran encountered a serious problem. As if paying the price for feigning illness, he had caught a real cold. He had been suffering from high fever and coughing for days.

“You need to take your medicine consistently and rest thoroughly.”

Doctor Wilson had practically put Terran under house arrest.

“It’s just a cold. Don’t make such a fuss. I can’t leave Grace there.”

Terran was about to depart for Galdensia.

“If you go like this, you might never see the young lady again. If that’s alright with you, I won’t stop you.”

It was the first time Doctor Wilson had subtly pressured someone like this. If he had just nagged that it was absolutely forbidden, Terran would have ignored him.

Moreover, with James and Luke joining forces to strongly oppose, it was difficult for him to have his way this time. So he just took medicine and slept.

“Unca, are you very sick?”

Just as Terran woke up, Chainer was by his side.

“You’ll catch my cold. Stay away.”

“It’s okay. I’m strong.”

Chainer’s complexion didn’t look good. Probably because Grace and Pauline had disappeared without a word. So she must have come to ask him about it.

“Grace will be back soon.”

“I came ’cause I was worried about you, Unca.”

“What?”

“We’re family, right? So it’s natural to worry.”

“I’m touched beyond words.”

Who knew Chainer’s words would be so comforting.

It was a great relief that she wasn’t crying or throwing a tantrum. If she had demanded to find her sisters right away…

‘I want to get up right now too.’

He missed Grace more desperately than Chainer did. Even though they had been apart for just a few days, it felt like he hadn’t seen her for years.

“Grace sis went home.”

Terran chuckled at Chainer’s words.

How simple-minded, as if Grace would go to Bern. He had already figured out her destination and was receiving daily telegrams about it.

“She went to her original home.”

Chainer kept saying incomprehensible things. But suddenly, Terran wanted to ask Chainer something.

“Why do you think Grace left?”

“‘Cause she’s scared.”

He shouldn’t have asked. Grace must have left because she misunderstood his relationship with the Empress… She must have been greatly disappointed in him.

“Sis is afraid of love. But when you’re not there, sis is very sad.”

‘Nonsense, is that why she ran away to Galdensia without a word?’

It was better to just ignore Chainer’s words. She was pure but couldn’t think like adults.

“Shall I tell you how? I know how to make sis not angry at you.”

“Never mind.”

Terran waved Chainer off, but part of him was curious about her childish suggestion.

Because currently, Terran didn’t know how to treat Grace.

He was angry enough to not forgive her for running away without a word, but since he was the one who caused it, he felt sorry and anxious.

“You should give her trust. Make sis trust you completely.”

Terran’s heart stung at Chainer’s words.

Come to think of it, he had only tried to confirm her feelings through childish methods, without actually giving her trust in him.

“Ahem! I’m going now. I’m sleepy.”

“Alright.”

Chainer was heading towards the door when she suddenly turned back and said to Terran.

“But, sis might meet another man at the party…”

She said what she needed to say and left the room.

‘What the hell!’

Terran barely swallowed the curse that was about to escape his lips.