After the meal, Idren took her to the library. As soon as Ophelia entered the room where she could control her eyes and ears, she dismissed all the servants and asked him.

“What did you tell Anika to do? And what does the loyalty oath mean?”

Idren replied nonchalantly, as if he had expected such a question.

“Do you remember how Anika gathered evidence of her father’s crimes in her previous life? I took care of her father, so in return, I told her to gather evidence of crimes from the surrounding lords.”

Then, hovering near her, he asked, “Some of them had crimes severe enough to have their property confiscated. Shall I collect it and give it to you?”

Ophelia immediately rejected the man’s seemingly glib words.

“No need.”

She had already received land from Idren that yielded more income than her home country. That was enough for the task of strangling Mahanas.

Rather, there was still an unanswered question. Ophelia pressed the other party who was trying to gloss over the second question.

“What does the loyalty oath mean?”

She knew that Anika hadn’t said such things on her own. So Idren must have given some instructions.

Realizing it was pointless to hide it, Idren replied without further evasion.

“I thought it would be good to have someone among the southern lords support you, so I pulled some strings.”

And that must have happened at least three months ago. That’s how long it had been since they left Rohos Castle.

Realizing that he had chosen Anika from the beginning, Ophelia said.

“…You were planning to do this even before I asked you to introduce someone.”

The man turned his upper body to look at her. He asked with wide golden eyes.

“Are you displeased?”

It was a question that gave her a sense of déjà vu.

Compared to what he had done yesterday, this was not only pleasing but praiseworthy, so Ophelia immediately denied it.

“No.”

And after a moment’s hesitation, she added.

“I like it.”

Idren grinned as if he had expected that. Ophelia thought that he sometimes smiled in a way that made him look younger than his actual age.

More importantly, she had something to ask him. Ophelia said to the man sitting in her library chair.

“Today, your financial advisor brought Dahel.”

“I heard this morning that he would. How was it?”

“He seemed to be teaching well.”

Something felt awkward, but that was because she only remembered Dahel’s proficient self. Thinking carefully, it made sense for him now. He was young and inexperienced, wasn’t he?

Ophelia thought she should study a bit harder. Until Dahel became as proficient as in his previous life, she would have to handle various things on her own.

And she felt a little pressure at the fact that she had to do things she hadn’t done in her previous life. But even if Dahel wasn’t ready, she had no choice since she already had land.

Ophelia put back the book she had been reading on the desk into the bookshelf. She asked the man who was fiddling with an ornament on the table in front of the sofa.

“I heard about Gilrod Nebel’s priority right to sell grain. Did you nullify that right in the previous life?”

She said this in case he had already taken care of it before, so she wouldn’t need to worry about it.

Idren, who had put down the ornament he was fiddling with on the table, said.

“It wasn’t easy, but I did resolve it.”

I gave something to each of the other elders with seats and got their votes. Ophelia read the thick cynicism underlying those words. He seemed quite displeased with how the matter had been handled.

Ophelia approached the chair where he was sitting.

“If we could get one of the seats concentrated in the Nebel family, would it be easier to resolve matters?”

Idren answered as if he didn’t even need to consider it.

“Even one more vote would make things much better.”

Hearing this, Ophelia thought it wouldn’t be bad to hear this man’s thoughts on what she was planning to do. She sat down next to him.

It was because her voice would be heard better from beside him rather than across from him, but Idren seemed to interpret it differently as he put his arm around her back. Ophelia lightly slapped the hand resting on her shoulder. The man frowned and grumbled. It hurts.

Ophelia didn’t respond to those words that were obviously a lie. She had more important topics to discuss. She spoke to the man who clearly knew Aglante law better than her.

“I heard that Siana also has rights to a seat.”

And she added. As you know, Gilrod Nebel gave me his daughter.

Of course, Ophelia thought that Gilrod wouldn’t have forgotten that his daughter had rights to a seat. He had sent her thinking that she would chase Siana away in the first place.

Even if she didn’t chase Siana away, he probably thought it wouldn’t matter since his daughter wouldn’t resist him.

Idren’s thoughts didn’t seem much different. The man who slowly removed his arm from her shoulder said.

“I guess Salode didn’t tell Siana Nebel that she would have to stand against her father to claim her seat.”

“He did tell her.”

Idren was silent for a moment, as if he hadn’t expected her to say this while knowing.

But as if he couldn’t help but share his thoughts no matter how much he considered it, he finally spoke.

“Siana will never be able to resist her father.”

Idren recalled how in her previous life, she had thrown herself into the moat instead of resisting her father. He said to the woman sitting next to him but not allowing him to touch her.

“Do you remember what I said about Siana before?”

Ophelia answered immediately, as if she hadn’t forgotten what he had said.

“That she took her own life before getting married?”

“At that time, the groom’s side hadn’t even arrived in Aglante yet.”

So, Siana had taken her life without any resistance or negotiation.

And when his daughter died, Gilrod Nebel immediately adopted the relative he had intended to make his son-in-law, as if he had been waiting for it.

Idren thought about how Ophelia would have acted in that situation.

Ophelia was a woman who never backed down from revenge or negotiation. She had thrown herself from somewhere too, but Idren knew that even that was part of her revenge.

She, who had strangled both her father and elder brother, might think that Siana could also stand up to her father.

But his thoughts were different. Idren, holding the hand that kept trying to go to her shoulder without permission, said.

“Siana is different from you. She doesn’t know how to flap her wings, so she’ll die if she comes out of the cage.”

Ophelia didn’t tell the man who said this that she too had been a bird with clipped wings. Instead, she explained it in a way he could understand more easily.

“She might act differently if she knows she’ll die even inside the cage.”

Idren readily acknowledged that. Perhaps so.

“But in trying to take her out of the cage, you might fall victim to its owner.”

As long as Gilrod Nebel was alive, there was no way he would lose the daughter he had trained all her life.

Idren thought that whatever Ophelia did was fine, but he hoped she wouldn’t face the hunter directly. It was enough for her to confront others.

He repeated the advice he had been giving all along.

“Don’t do anything dangerous.”

Ophelia thought that this was an inappropriate thing to say for someone who had seen her for several years. If he looked at the situation a bit more objectively, he would know that she was the one setting traps.

Ophelia didn’t tell the man blinded by love how adept she was at taking things from others. Instead, she announced the plan she had just made.

“I need to see Siana’s face tomorrow.”

Siana Nebel thought every day was hell.

Not because the queen had brought her into the castle.

Unlike her fears of what might happen, her life in the royal castle was very comfortable day by day. The queen gave her a room in her own area and didn’t pay much attention to her.

At first, she was very nervous and anxious. Until then, Siana had never lived alone. Every word and action was dictated by her father or her nanny, Ranji.

But when she entered the royal castle, all her maids were sent back.

The letters that her father must have written in a rage were all burned.

The queen kept her in her own area and prevented anything of her father’s from reaching her.

At first, Siana thought she would go crazy because of this. It was natural since she couldn’t know what her father was thinking. She had to act as her father ordered, or she would be beaten. Such thoughts filled her mind.

But as one day, two days, three days, four days passed, and about two weeks had gone by, Siana realized. In a place where her father’s hand couldn’t reach, her father’s thoughts weren’t important either.

After that, peace gradually came.

For some reason, the queen was protecting her from her father.

And the first protection she had ever received in her life was unbelievably sweet.

In the castle where she knew no one, Siana was truly happy. Every morning when she woke up, her body felt light, and there was no threat of having her tongue cut out every time she spoke.

The castle servants weren’t particularly friendly to her, but they took care of everything she needed. No one ignored her for stuttering.