After a day of bustling back and forth between heaven and hell, a new morning dawned. Lily wanted to sleep soundly given how exhausted she was in body and mind, but unfortunately she couldn’t due to Fredrick appearing in her dreams.

Everything he had done to her, and even things he might do to her in the future, all plagued her dreams, causing Lily to toss and turn all night before finally falling asleep at dawn.

She had planned to sleep until lunchtime since she had nothing particular to do in the morning, but even this she couldn’t do as she wished.

“Wake up quickly, young lady.”

Though the rough shaking woke her up, Lily’s mind wasn’t fully clear yet as she squinted at the maid with bleary eyes. Due to sleepiness, her vision was blurry and she couldn’t even see the maid’s face properly.

“The elder lady said she wants to have an intimate family meal after a long time, so everyone should gather in the dining room by 8:30.”

“…What?”

Shocked by Countess Baliman’s statement, Samantha hadn’t appeared in the dining room since then. Naturally, the awful breakfast gatherings had disappeared too,

So she had thought to sleep in comfortably, but being called again was bewildering. As her sleepiness suddenly vanished, she became wide awake.

…But with family? And everyone was told to gather in the dining room?

“There’s only 30 minutes left, so you need to get ready quickly, my lady.”

“W-wait a moment.”

Belatedly noticing something odd, Lily hurriedly grabbed the maid heading towards the bathroom and asked.

“Are other people coming to the dining room too? For example…”

Her husband, perhaps. Whether due to yesterday’s events, pronouncing that word felt even more uncomfortable than usual, so Lily trailed off. The maid, catching on, answered.

“Yes. The master and young master also said they would come to the dining room by 30 minutes.”

“…”

She had desperately hoped it wouldn’t be so, or at least that Fredrick wouldn’t be there if it was, but God was merciless and didn’t listen this time either. When Samantha had complained about not remembering the last time she ate breakfast together, He hadn’t even acknowledged it, so why was He responding so quickly today?

‘I don’t want to go.’

Fredrick, Samantha, and Brian too. The thought of dealing with all of them at once was already dreadful. She felt like playing with demons in hell might be better.

“Hurry and wash up, my lady.”

While Lily was sinking into despair, the maid who had prepared the washing water urged her. As Lily washed with lukewarm water, she looked towards the balcony. Warm spring sunlight poured in through the large window.

If she leapt into the embrace of that sunlight, she wouldn’t have to go to hell. It would hurt a bit, but compared to the suffering in hell, it would be a drop in the bucket. Moreover, if she got injured now, she wouldn’t have to attend tomorrow’s party either, so it was advantageous in many ways.

“…”

Lily’s expression hardened resolutely as she gazed at the balcony. She was about to move from thought to action, but this time the maid interfered.

“No time to look out the window! You need to get dressed and go down quickly!”

If there had been only one meddler, she would have shaken them off and jumped, but with another maid joining in, Lily ended up standing in front of the dining room like a cow being led to slaughter.

“You’re finally here.”

As soon as the dining room door opened, Samantha’s sharp and irritable voice pierced her ears.

“I said to come by 30 minutes, but arriving right on time. I don’t know if this shows a lack of flexibility or a lack of tact.”

“Hey, at least she’s not late.”

Brian said in his characteristically glib voice.

“Besides, isn’t the main character supposed to appear last?”

“She’s the main character?”

“Of course. The only one here with true Viscount Benjamin blood is sister-in-law, so she’s the protagonist.”

At this statement that mocked his sister-in-law while subtly insulting his brother, both Lily and Fredrick looked at him.

“Shut your mouth.”

The difference was that while Lily couldn’t say anything, Fredrick fiercely commanded. At the suddenly vicious atmosphere, Samantha and the serving staff glanced anxiously at him, but Brian just shrugged nonchalantly.

Fredrick glared at his incompetent younger brother, born from the same womb but without a single redeeming quality, then said to Lily.

“Don’t stand there like an idiot, come sit down.”

Lily, who had been standing at the dining room entrance like a borrowed sack of barley, only then sat down. It was the seat to the left of Fredrick, who sat at the head of the table, and across from Samantha. Brian was seated next to Samantha.

Breakfast proceeded in a quiet atmosphere. Even the talkative Brian ate his food silently without saying a word.

The table was laden with appetizing foods like freshly baked bread, fresh juice, crispy bacon, and soft scrambled eggs, but Lily only ate salad. Perhaps due to her severe vomiting yesterday, her stomach felt sour, and in this atmosphere, she didn’t want to eat anything that might upset it further.

“Oh my, look at her. What is she doing now?”

As Lily was busily using her fork, hoping for the meal to end quickly, Samantha let out a shrill cry. At this, not only Lily but also Fredrick and Brian looked at her. Samantha pointed at Lily’s salad bowl with her fork and asked.

“Did you just pick out all the cucumbers?”

As Samantha said, Lily disliked cucumbers and had removed them all, but since she had never been criticized for this before, Samantha’s reaction was bewildering. As Lily remained silent in confusion, Samantha clicked her tongue.

“This is why delicately raised young ladies are no good. They don’t know the value of food and leave things uneaten.”

It was an absurd argument. Moreover, Samantha herself had many foods she couldn’t or wouldn’t eat, so Lily was curious why she was suddenly making such a criticism.

“How will she properly educate her children later? It’s a parent’s role to guide their children to eat a balanced diet without being picky, but no matter how I look at it, she seems incapable.”

As the topic of children came up, last night’s nightmare naturally surfaced, causing Lily’s expression to harden. She glanced sidelong at Fredrick. As it happened, Fredrick was also looking at her, so their eyes met directly. Unlike Lily who immediately turned away, Fredrick continued to gaze at her.

“You think so too, don’t you, Fredrick?”

Only when Samantha asked did Fredrick finally take his eyes off his wife and moisten his lips with his water glass.

“Well…”

His thin, moistened lips curved slightly.

“It seems too early to discuss the education of a child that doesn’t even exist yet, Mother.”

“Oh… is that so?”

Hoping he would say he’d leave the education to her when a child was born, Samantha pouted in disappointment when the desired answer didn’t come.

“Speaking of which, when are you planning to have a child?”

Quickly finding new prey, Samantha spoke with a pretend worried expression.

“Unless you’re deliberately not trying or there’s a problem with your body, people usually have a child within a year of marriage… I’m worried since there’s still no news.”

“As it happens, I had a sincere conversation with my wife about that very topic last night.”

Fredrick smiled as he looked at Lily. To someone who didn’t know better, he might have looked like a kind and caring husband, but to Lily who knew his true nature well, he looked chilling.

“We agreed to try for a child soon.”

His words were even more chilling. Lily drank cold water repeatedly, trying to suppress the rising nausea.

“Oh my, really?”

Samantha, oblivious to Lily’s feelings, clapped her hands together in childlike delight.

“Then we should go to the temple and get an auspicious date. That way, a child blessed by the gods will be born.”

“Please do so, Mother.”

While the person who was supposed to bear the child had no such intention at all, all sorts of talk emerged from an unexpected place, starting from when would be good to have a child, to the child’s gender, name, and so on. Throughout that conversation, Lily had to endure a sense of shame as if she were sitting naked.

Herald, who had an audience with the Emperor due to tomorrow’s title conferment ceremony, also received nagging from the Emperor about when he would marry.

“For the future empire to be secure, an excellent talent like you should produce an heir, so please marry quickly and have children to make this old man happy.”

As expected of an emperor, he thinks terribly of the empire.

But Herald was not the emperor. He had no intention of sacrificing himself or his children for the empire. Before that, it was questionable whether children would even be born.

After leaving the emperor’s palace, Herald headed to the crown prince’s palace. It was to discuss with Austin what they had learned last night and how to proceed.

As he was passing through a long corridor surrounded by lush greenery, he saw a woman in a red dress cut so low her cleavage was visible walking from the opposite direction.

It was Duchess Ariande, the emperor’s concubine and mother of the second prince, Derius. He had heard she was in her late forties, but the duchess looked young and pretty enough to be believed if she said she was in her mid to late twenties.

Not that it aroused any interest. Herald didn’t mind meeting the emperor’s concubines, but it was different if the other party was Duchess Ariande. Not only was she an enemy of the crown prince whom he regarded as a brother, but the duchess also showed an abnormally high interest in him, which was burdensome.

“Oh my, Duke Maximilian.”

So he had wanted to avoid running into the duchess if possible, but unfortunately, she recognized him. Herald inwardly heaved a deep sigh as he greeted the emperor’s concubine who had stridden right up to him.

“It’s been a while, Duchess.”

“Indeed. It really has been a long time, Duke Maximilian.”

Her lips, as red as her dress, curved upwards. Duchess Ariande took Herald’s arm and brazenly pressed her chest against him.