Viscount Benjamin. It was a family name I was hearing for the first time.

Although it was said that he hadn’t shown his face in social circles for quite a long time, Herald was the second son of Duke Maximilian’s family, known as the Sword of the Empire. Most families knew about him, so the fact that he didn’t know meant it was an insignificant family not worth paying attention to.

But Darius was digging into the Viscount Benjamin family. It was certainly strange.

“Have you investigated the Viscount Benjamin family?”

“Of course I have.”

Austin leaned back on the sofa, resting one hand on the backrest and raising the other to shoulder height.

“I investigated the current Viscount Benjamin and even the deceased previous generation, but nothing came up. No matter how much I look into it, I can’t figure out why Darius is digging into the Viscount Benjamin family.”

Herald sat down across from Austin and asked.

“Are you sure you didn’t miss anything?”

“Well, it’s possible. I’m not an expert in that field.”

Austin responded nonchalantly, then leaned towards Herald.

“So, could you look into it for me?”

“Why should I?”

“Because there’s no one more suitable for this job than you.”

Instead of answering, Herald opened the cigar box and put a cigar in his mouth.

As he was about to light it, Austin, who had moved to sit next to him, personally lit the cigar for him while adding:

“If you can figure out what Darius’s dark intentions are, I’ll convince Duke Maximilian to let you live freely as you are now.”

“…”

Herald didn’t answer this time either, but his gaze towards Austin had changed. Seeing the clearly wavering look in his eyes, Austin smiled triumphantly.

“Four years ago, you were able to go to Cardin all thanks to me. It was because I persuaded Duke Maximilian well that you could go to Cardin and return after achieving such merit.”

Herald continued to say nothing and deeply inhaled his cigar.

“Although that merit has tied you down again… I can help you this time too.”

Austin continued.

“So help me too. Just use your specialty to find out what Darius is up to. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Whoo, a long stream of smoke dissipated in the air. Herald nodded while stubbing out the barely smoked cigar in the ashtray.

“Keep your promise.”

[This is the timeline separator]

It was in the afternoon, when the sun was high in the sky, that Lily cautiously left her room after being cooped up in fear of encountering Brian again.

Fortunately, Lily was able to leave the mansion safely without running into Brian. Her destination was a fairly large bookstore in the square.

Perhaps due to the influence of her father, who worked as a scribe for the imperial family, Lily had been interested in languages since she was young. She had learned not only the imperial language but also foreign languages without discrimination, and as a result, she could speak various languages.

Lily was using that ability to work on translating original texts.

“Thank you for your hard work, madam.”

Since people who were proficient enough in foreign languages and reading comprehension to translate original texts were rare, the pay was quite good, but it was still far from enough to cover her mother’s hospital bills.

Of course, since Freddie had agreed to take care of her mother’s hospital bills in exchange for handing over the Viscount Benjamin title, she didn’t need to earn the hospital fees directly.

But she didn’t want to keep relying on Freddie. At first, she started the translation work thinking it might ease her burden a little, but the more she did it, the more self-loathing she felt.

Making money was such a difficult task.

Lily inwardly swallowed a deep sigh as she tucked her wallet into her inner pocket. It was a small consolation that although it wasn’t enough to cover the hospital bills, it was sufficient to buy the fruits her mother liked.

“Is there nothing else to translate?”

“There’s nothing more for today.”

“Then I’ll come back tomorrow, so if anything comes up to translate, please give it to me and not to someone else.”

As Lily turned around after earnestly requesting the bookstore owner, stacks of newspapers caught her eye.

[Herald Maximilian, second son of Duke Maximilian family. Returns to the capital after annihilating the troublesome Salaman tribe!] [Herald’s glorious return. The Emperor praises his achievements endlessly!] [Will Herald Maximilian push aside the firstborn, Hamilton Maximilian, to become the heir?] [Herald Maximilian, a promising future. Rapidly rising as the most eligible bachelor in high society.]

The newspapers were plastered all over with stories about Herald Maximilian, the second son of the Duke Maximilian family.

I thought the streets seemed noisier than usual, so that was why.

It made sense. The Salaman tribe was a vicious barbarian tribe that not only plundered the residents living on the outskirts of the empire but also looted trade goods.

The reason the empire hadn’t been able to deal with the Salaman tribe until now was because they were as quick as rats, and they only hid in terrain that was advantageous for them to fight in, with steep and treacherous mountains.

But to have annihilated the Salaman tribe. Lily thought that although she didn’t know who Herald Maximilian was, he must be a truly remarkable person.

But that was all; Lily didn’t pay much attention to Herald beyond that.

After all, she had no leisure to be interested in someone whose face she didn’t know and might never see in her lifetime. Currently, her only concern was her ailing mother.

May mother get better soon. May she recognize who I am today.

Lily left the bookstore, fervently hoping and praying.

“Huh?”

But the carriage that should have been waiting in front of the bookstore was nowhere to be seen. Thinking it might have been moved elsewhere to avoid obstructing traffic, she looked around, but the carriage was not there.

Surely… they didn’t leave without me?

“Do you happen to know where the navy carriage that was in front of this bookstore went?”

Lily asked a nearby street vendor, just in case. Fortunately, the vendor seemed to have seen the carriage and nodded.

“That carriage left a little while ago.”

“It left?”

“Yes. It seemed to have urgent business and left immediately.”

Lily had told the coachman to wait for just a moment before she got out of the carriage.

But to leave without saying anything. Lily gave a hollow laugh at this action that was clearly meant to give her a hard time. She didn’t think the coachman had done this of his own will. Surely either Samantha or Brian must have ordered it.

Samantha might hurl insults to her face, but she wouldn’t play such pranks, so Brian was more likely to be the culprit.

“How childish.”

Not only was his mental age young, but his actions were childish too. Lily walked towards the opposite side of the square, heaving deep sighs one after another as she pondered what to do.

[This is the timeline separator]

As soon as Austin left, Herald ordered the information guild to investigate the Viscount Benjamin family. Although he had received documents from Austin, he wanted to investigate separately in case there were any missed points.

Generally, the more difficult the request, the more expensive the fee and the longer it takes, but the information on the Viscount Benjamin family cost only 1 gold and took only 2 hours.

That meant it was information of little value… why was Darius digging into the Viscount Benjamin family?

Becoming more curious, Herald settled in a cafe near the information guild and carefully examined the documents provided by the guild.

His adjutant, Dillon, who had insisted on coming along despite Herald saying he would go alone, asked worriedly.

“But if we use the information guild, won’t the second prince’s side notice? Will that be alright?”

Herald answered with a smile.

“That would be good for me.”

“What? Good for you? Why?”

“If they know I’m investigating, the rushed second prince will try to hurry his planned actions. Then mistakes will occur, and it will be that much easier for me to catch his tail.”

“Ah, I see.”

Dillon nodded as if he finally understood.

Herald focused on reading the documents again, but no matter how much he looked, it was just an ordinary record. If he had to pick out something special, it would probably be the fire incident that occurred two years ago.

Two years ago, a large fire broke out at the Viscount Benjamin residence, killing the Viscount Benjamin and most of the family members living there. Not only that, but the Viscountess Benjamin, the only survivor among those present at the scene, suffered severe burns in addition to developing a mental illness, and is still undergoing treatment.

‘Was the second prince the one who set fire to the Viscount Benjamin residence at that time?’

That couldn’t be. Not only was there no reason for the second prince to kill Viscount Benjamin, but if he were the culprit, he would have quietly assassinated him rather than setting a fire. Arson was too conspicuous.

Above all, since the fire at the Viscount Benjamin residence was concluded as a simple accident, there was even less reason for the second prince to dig into it if he were the culprit.

Could it be that he belatedly remembered leaving some clue?

Even if that were the case, that evidence would have already been destroyed in the fire. The only survivor, Viscountess Benjamin, couldn’t give proper testimony because she went insane.

Even when the investigator in charge of the case at the time asked if she had seen anything, Viscountess Benjamin only spoke nonsense.

‘It seems the fire incident is unrelated.’

Then what is it? Why is Darius trying to dig into such an insignificant family?

As Herald was pondering and skimming through the documents again, what caught his eye was a portrait of Liliana Benjamin, the daughter of Viscount Benjamin who died in the fire two years ago and the current Viscountess Benjamin.

“Is this the current Viscountess Benjamin? Wow, she’s a beauty.”

“Is that so?”

Unlike Dillon who was admiring, Herald was indifferent. Objectively speaking, she was certainly pretty, but having seen countless beauties prettier than her, he wasn’t particularly impressed.

Rather, what caught his interest were the modifiers attached to Lily in high society.

A parasite clinging to a swallow. A legal wife worse than a mistress, the wife of a gigolo, and so on. All sorts of unfavorable modifiers were attached to her because of the Viscount Benjamin who engaged in selling his body.

Well, it’s not entirely wrong since she married Freddie Benjamin for money.

Although there was a sad story about her mother’s hospital bills, Herald didn’t sympathize with her. Nor did he condemn Lily’s actions.

He just had no thoughts about it. If it weren’t for Austin’s request, he wouldn’t have even known about the existence of people from a family he had never heard of, and whatever their situation was, it had nothing to do with him.