After a moment of silence as if catching her breath, Ophelia spoke.

“I still can’t understand you.”

“I won’t ask you to understand.”

He had already been too greedy. Idren knew that this was all their relationship could handle.

“Surely there must be someone better than me.”

“Perhaps so.”

Of course, he didn’t think so, but there was no reason to refute Ophelia’s consecutive assertions. Without having to argue with her, Idren could explain why it had to be Ophelia.

“But among them, there won’t be anyone I want.”

“The day will come when you’ll be disappointed in me.”

“Haven’t I already disappointed you?”

What a stupid, naive, frustrating man. Ophelia inwardly repeated what she wanted to say to the man standing one step behind her, stubbornly talking back. What’s the use of pretending to be weak or sharp-tongued? In the end, he’s just clinging to such a losing proposition.

Idren spoke as if he knew everything, but Ophelia knew he was ultimately just blinded by emotion.

She buried her face in her hands, which were still covering her eyes, and muttered.

“How did we end up like this?”

Until a few years ago, they weren’t like this. She didn’t know what Idren thought in his previous life, but at least Ophelia could say it was better then. When she didn’t have to be responsible for anything, didn’t have to care about anything.

So she didn’t have to lose anything, alone.

But expressing such feelings now would only be a waste of time. Ophelia removed her hands from her face. As if knowing she was about to stop crying, Idren, standing nearby, offered her a handkerchief. Ophelia didn’t refuse his kindness.

After roughly wiping her wet face, Ophelia said.

“The Lady of Rohos told me the amount of the reward from the royal family.”

Idren hesitated, realizing what she intended by saying this. He stepped closer and said.

“I know there are parts that could be misunderstood. But that’s…”

“I don’t think you tried to silence Lady Rohos.”

Idren wasn’t that despicable of a person.

However, even if she trusted him, she couldn’t force others to do the same. Ophelia continued.

“But I understand her feelings too. That was the reason for intervening in the investigation.”

That was what Idren had tried to prevent by following her into the study.

He tried to minimize her contact with the outside. Ophelia understood his intentions, as it was the best way to control the situation. Not only did she understand, but she was also willing to actively follow it. She knew it was much more efficient to hand things over to Idren than to do something herself.

But Lady Rohos’s visit reminded her of a responsibility she had yet to fulfill.

Ophelia spoke to the man who must have been looking at her with troubled eyes.

“And about Leden, there’s someone I want to send as a proxy. She’s in Tesendot now… but she’ll come if I call.”

“Who is it?”

“Deos Rakmata.”

And Ophelia added.

“You don’t know her. She’s someone I knew when I was the princess of Leden.”

To be precise, she was someone who almost shared the same family tree. Since she was a princess without a title and thus without succession rights, she was supposed to be incorporated into the Rakmata family after marriage.

But Ophelia didn’t say more, as calling her former fiancé’s mother would sound strange no matter how she explained it. The relationship was already full of unpredictable elements. She didn’t want to add unnecessary confusion.

Idren seemed to have been waiting for an explanation, but when she didn’t continue, he finally nodded.

“…I see.”

“After resolving these two issues, I won’t do anything.”

And after a moment’s hesitation, Ophelia said.

“I still think our marriage should be annulled.”

“Is that so.”

“For your sake, and also for me…”

Swallowing a sigh, Ophelia rubbed her face.

“If you ever agree with my thoughts, please tell me.”

“…Alright. May I ask for just one thing as well?”

“Do as you please.”

It was a bit unexpected for him to make a request in this situation, but there was nothing she couldn’t grant.

However, when she heard the words he actually uttered, Ophelia couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“Please stay alive until we part.”

Ophelia laughed dejectedly at that answer, which was entirely for her sake, and finally sighed. She rubbed her face and shook her head.

“You’re really funny.”

As if the promise made months ago wasn’t enough, he was determined to drive the point home. It was both pitiful and frustrating to see him continue to do such foolish things. She wondered if he had to keep doing such stupid things. It was natural to think so, as what he was trying to do seemed like throwing a spark into a cold sea.

But the argument was over. Instead of picking another fight with him, Ophelia simply acquiesced to his words.

“Alright.”

You’ll end up giving up on me anyway. She swallowed the words she couldn’t bring herself to say aloud. Because I don’t have the confidence to be loved by you until the end, you’ll eventually…

Her chest felt cold and her breath caught. It felt like falling into a bitterly cold winter sea.

It was before the month changed when all the lords Anika had last met gathered at the royal palace.

Normally, lords couldn’t be summoned just to investigate someone’s death, but since Anika had died while carrying out royal duties, there was justification.

Seeing the older men prostrating themselves in the ceremonial hall made her feel a bit queasy. Ophelia flinched without realizing it. Idren, standing beside her, tilted his head and whispered.

“If you’re uncomfortable, we can stop now.”

Ophelia ignored the anxiety and tension in his eyes and replied.

“It’s not that.”

As she sat in the chair next to the throne, the lords bowed their heads even deeper. After the bell signaling the start of the interrogation was rung, the testimony began with Idren’s first question. Ophelia sat in her place and listened to the necessary information. The testimonies of what each of the lords who had been with Anika did that day briefly passed.

“Apart from us, the one who was with the deceased Lord Rohos was the merchant from Egelbamot.”

Ophelia, who had been listening to the testimony silently, hesitated. The Egelbamot merchants were people she had known in her previous life.

Idren, who glanced at her, asked.

“Why was a foreign merchant with you?”

“He was interested in the southern market of Aglante and wanted to be introduced to Lord Rohos, who had the territory closest to the canal.”

There was nothing to fault in the lord’s words.

In fact, Ophelia herself had been introduced to several Egelbamot merchants for such reasons in the past. It was because she owned the port city of Galisa, had high status and knew the law well, and had many acquaintances.

Especially regarding acquaintances, many people tried to make connections because Netepel, who was the actual owner of the largest merchant group in Egelbamot at that time, was her friend.

It was common for merchants who wanted to be introduced to and introduce people to each other to join the lords’ gatherings, entertain, and pay for it.

But Anika died after being entertained that day. Now that her death had been determined to be a murder, they couldn’t be certain that the entertainment was for the commonly known intention.

In this suspicious situation, she couldn’t understand why the friend she had now cut ties with came to mind. Ophelia frowned at the uneasy feeling.

Meanwhile, the interrogation continued.

“Why didn’t that merchant accompany you?”

“He has already returned to his home country, so it will take time to summon him. We wanted to respond to the royal summons as quickly as possible, so he couldn’t accompany us.”

“Submit a detailed list of the date and place of entertainment, the name of the accompanying merchant, and what he possessed.”

“We will do as you say.”

And the man who had been speaking on behalf of the lords lowered his body a little more. Ophelia, who had been looking down at the subservient posture that would have been difficult for him to maintain alone, took the hand of the man sitting next to her. It was a signal that she wanted to rise from her seat now, as the interrogation was sufficient.

“Was there anything that could serve as a clue?”

Idren, who had dismissed the lords and led her to the lounge behind the throne, asked. Sitting on the sofa where they had once sat side by side as he led, Ophelia answered.

“How likely is it that the southern lords conspired with the Egelbamot merchant to murder Anika?”

The probability of either side acting alone seemed almost non-existent.

In her past life, the southern lords were not on good terms with Anika either. But no murder occurred. They knew that once lords started turning knives on each other, there would be no end to it.

They also considered marriage alliances more since Anika was young and unmarried.

But it didn’t make sense for a merchant, even if of high status, to murder a foreign lord on their own either. The level of risk they would have to bear alone was too high.

“Not very high. If those two groups had allied, it’s more likely that the southern lords would have led the situation, and there’s no reason for them, as members of Aglante, to specifically choose a foreign merchant.”

There were many merchants within Aglante who wanted to entertain lords with various distribution channels and capital.

However, there was something else that bothered her. Ophelia added.

“The southern lords might not have led the situation. You know too. Even in the past life, Anika didn’t get along with her father’s friends, but she was still alive.”

“Then there’s only one conclusion.”