After Edith gave birth to the child, the fact that she became sensitive to his mana could be very useful and enjoyable. But now, it felt like torture.

He silently recited the recipe for beef stew, Edith’s recent favorite menu, which he had recently learned from the head chef, while inwardly accepting her gentle touch.

Tonight seemed to be very long and arduous.

‘Of course, that bastard Balter wasn’t from the Blue Clan.’

Elizabeth threw the newspaper she was reading onto the table and ground her teeth internally.

When Hans or someone from the Portrion Mansion’s staff mentioned that Balter was not from the Blue Clan, she believed that there were no problems with women. Now, it seemed that the bastard had also been swayed by Edith.

‘Who cares about the Blue Clan. It seems he was busy turning the Portrion aristocrat upside down.’
The newspaper articles incessantly buzzed about Balter publicly proposing to Edith, the stable girl he had saved. A romance that people would love – a stablehand reclaiming her status, proposing to the lady.

‘If you look at the note that was inside the frame hidden by the masterpiece, it seems that the two knew each other even before Balter lost his memory.’

However, the crucial issue was that as the love story between the two spread widely, Elizabeth’s situation became increasingly difficult.

“It’s chaos right now, Ellie. Edith’s presence suddenly became significant, and even Madam is paying attention.”

Elizabeth looked at Gilbert with a troubled expression, seeking help.

He didn’t show it, but lately, whenever she saw him, she felt like all the affection had drained away.

‘When I asked him to see Elizabeth, he made excuses about the queen, the count and countess, and more.’

When Gilbert needed someone to leverage Edith’s presence in high society, he rushed to me. The man who had actively responded when I was in trouble due to the rumors that he killed the Portrion aristocrat was now soothingly saying that silence is a remedy.

I don’t know what he’s thinking, but since he keeps showing suspicious behavior, Elizabeth couldn’t completely trust Gilbert anymore.

“Edith, that woman helped the Duchess Coben in the tea room during the tournament. If we involve Lexion up to the Duchy, Gerturk might have trouble.”

Elizabeth, not saying it directly, subtly asked him to restrain Edith.

“But aren’t you worried about Eisen, who was taken by the emperor’s knights?”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind.”

After the tournament, Eisen was taken away by the emperor’s knights. A vial containing poison used by assassins was found in his waiting room, and the same poison was detected in the duke’s food.

‘I’m sure it’s a trap.’

Gerturk not only made efforts to rescue him but also turned everything around, accusing Eisen of planning it all alone.

‘Even if Eisen and I are trampled, there is no one behind to lift us up.’

When Eisen, who occasionally came to bring news of the capital, received the family’s cold shoulder, Elizabeth felt a lot.

‘First, I have to find a weakness to prevent Lexion from doing anything reckless. Then, I have to personally find out what’s happening to Elizabeth.’

Gilbert, drinking wine without knowing her inner thoughts, cried out, “The situation might become difficult if Edith takes the vacant position of Lexion’s hostess. First, we need to find something that could be a weakness and explode it in the newspaper…”

As always, he was hoping that Elizabeth would give him some hint.
However, Elizabeth no longer had any intention of sharing everything she knew with him. As long as she realized that Gerturk wasn’t doing his best for her, it made sense to cooperate with him only to the extent necessary, so as not to be completely outside the queen’s gaze.

As Gerturk’s stepdaughter, she couldn’t completely betray them, but she intended to use Edith’s weaknesses for her own security.

‘Expose weaknesses in the newspaper? When Lexion is backing Edith, it won’t work well.’

At times like this, it would be more effective to subtly threaten her with weaknesses one-on-one.

‘For example… issues related to men.’

While hiring a private detective to investigate various things to protect herself, Elizabeth discovered that Edith maintained a quite intimate relationship with a newspaper reporter in the capital.

Looking at the portrait brought by the detective, she recognized the face. It meant that he had been introduced to the Portrion mansion.

‘His name was Benjamin Homan or something. A person who wrote quite detailed articles about Portrion.’

After paying the detective for more details, she found out that the journalist’s cousin had worked at a clinic where Edith had worked.

The journalist Benjamin was enough to entangle Edith as a secret rendezvous partner if he spiced things up a bit, and the people at the Homan Clinic were perfect for pressuring Edith.

‘I should have a conversation with the prospective marchioness during the New Year’s celebration.’

Elizabeth took a sip of wine to hide her ambiguous smile.