What on earth could be going through her head to come up with such an interpretation? Lily’s jaw dropped in utter disbelief. She knew Fredrick was an insensitive person, but she was surprised every time she saw him.

“Judging by your inability to answer, it seems there must be something after all.”

Lily, increasingly irritated by Fredrick’s constant self-serving interpretations, clenched her fists and spat out her words.

“That’s not it. I’m angry because you’re insulting my father. You’re the same, aren’t you? You’d be angry if someone insulted your mother. How would you feel if someone accused you of overreacting or having something to hide when you got upset?”

Fredrick stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before answering.

“Of course I would feel bad, but I wouldn’t get angry right away like you, my lady. I’d first ask why they were saying such things, and if it turned out to be baseless slander, then I’d get angry.”

“So you’re saying you have a reason to doubt my father.”

Fredrick silently smiled, indicating his affirmation.

“Did Count Stacy say that? That my father stole the count’s belongings?”

“No, he didn’t.”

“Then who was it?”

“If you wanted to know that, you shouldn’t have run out of the banquet hall, my lady.”

It was clear he had no intention of telling her. After saying so much, hiding the most crucial part seemed very suspicious, and Lily narrowed her eyes, glaring at her husband. Fredrick, unfazed, posed a question.

“So, where were you? I looked around the banquet hall, but you were nowhere to be found.”

“If you wanted to know that, you should have followed me.”

As Lily retorted with the same answer, Fredrick chuckled as if he’d heard an amusing story and nodded.

“I see. Next time you run away, I’ll follow you.”

“……”

It wasn’t just her imagination that she felt like she had dug her own grave.

“In short, you’ve never heard any stories about your father meddling with other people’s belongings, correct?”

“No, I haven’t. Above all, my father isn’t that kind of person.”

The father Lily remembered was very kind, caring, and full of a sense of justice. He was the type who, despite not knowing swordsmanship or even martial arts, would personally try to catch pickpockets if he saw them. There was no way he would have engaged in thievery.

“I don’t know who said such nonsense, but it’s absurd. Don’t ever mention it again.”

“Well, if that’s what you say, I suppose that’s how it is.”

How did even his response grate on her nerves? Lily, no longer wanting to converse with Fredrick, turned her head away. She had intended to ignore everything he said, but her resolve crumbled in less than five minutes.

“I’m talking about Earl Herald Breiden.”

“……”

The moment Fredrick uttered Herald’s name, Lily’s head turned automatically. Unlike before, her green eyes that now held his image were trembling anxiously. Fredrick lowered his interlocked hands from below his stomach, a faint smile on his lips.

“Isn’t it remarkable? He’s only 25 years old, yet without any help from his family, he defeated the Salaman clan with his own strength and became a hero of the empire.”

So that man was 25 years old. He’s only 4 years older than me.

“Being the second son of the Duke Maximilian family, a hero of the empire, and reportedly both handsome and good-natured, I imagine many families would want Earl Breiden as their son-in-law.”

The word ‘son-in-law’ pierced Lily’s heart like a sharp fragment. As the pain throbbed around the wound from the fragment, Lily clenched her fist tightly.

It was she who had refused. She was the one who had pushed away Herald when he approached her, saying he liked her and would gladly become her lover. It felt ridiculous to be hurt by something like this.

“I hear that as soon as Earl Breiden returned to the capital, the Maximilian ducal family was flooded with marriage proposals. They say the servants of the ducal family are crying out in joyful distress, receiving dozens of letters each day.”

Lily furrowed her brows slightly as she looked at Fredrick. It seemed odd that he was explaining in such detail, more than just because Herald was the guest of honor at today’s party. If Fredrick had always been this talkative, it might have been understandable, but since he wasn’t, it was all the more suspicious.

Could it be… that he knows about my secret meetings with Herald?

Come to think of it, Fredrick knew that she had dined alone with some man. Her heart sank as she considered the possibility that he might have figured out it was Herald.

In truth, there was no reason to be anxious. Fredrick met all sorts of women, so there was no reason she couldn’t do the same. Even as she tried to think about acting confidently, the memory of what Fredrick had done the previous night kept coming to mind, making it impossible.

“Why… are you telling me this?”

Lily asked, feeling she needed to know how much Fredrick knew before she could respond further. Although she managed her expression fairly well, her green eyes betrayed an anxiety she couldn’t quite hide as she looked at her husband.

“Hmm, I wonder.”

Reading that look in her eyes, the corners of Fredrick’s mouth curved upward.

“Anyone can see that Earl Herald Breiden has a bright future ahead of him, and I’d like to form a good connection with him, but I’m not sure how to go about it. I thought perhaps you might know something, so I asked.”

“……”

At his statement, which seemed to imply he knew everything, Lily internally screamed silently while outwardly trying to appear calm, mercilessly biting the soft flesh inside her mouth. She bit so hard that a tangy taste spread on the tip of her tongue.

What if Fredrick knows everything and tells me to seduce Herald, like Count Stacy?

“It seems you don’t know either. Well, can’t be helped.”

Contrary to her expectation that he would immediately press for more information, he didn’t ask anything further. This made Lily even more uneasy, and she kept watching Fredrick’s reactions all the way back to the Benjamin viscounty.

Thanks to the party not being over yet, the streets were quiet. The journey that had taken nearly two hours on the way to the banquet hall took just over an hour on the return trip.

It had been suffocating and uncomfortable to ride in the carriage alone with Fredrick, so it was a relief to arrive early. As Lily was about to step down from the carriage, feeling relieved, she blinked in surprise when Fredrick, who had already gotten out, held something out to her.

“Put these on.”

What Fredrick offered were comfortable shoes without heels. She wondered why he was doing this, while also realizing she had lost one of her shoes.

When Lily didn’t take the shoes and just stared at them, Fredrick let out a small sigh and placed them on the carriage steps. Then, as if his role was finished, he turned and entered the mansion without looking back.

Left alone, Lily stared blankly at the shoes Fredrick had left before carefully slipping one foot into them.

“…They fit perfectly.”

The shoes fit perfectly, as if they had been prepared just for her. When did he prepare these? And if he knew, why didn’t he say anything? Why give these to her now? It’s just a short walk to the mansion…

If it had been someone else, she might have thought it was a kind gesture, but because it was Fredrick, all sorts of suspicions arose. So Lily didn’t put on the shoes Fredrick had left, and instead walked barefoot, having taken off her remaining heel as well.

“……”

Unbeknownst to her, Fredrick, who had entered the mansion first, was watching her from a window.

Austin had expected Herald, who disliked parties, to disappear during the event, but his prediction was off. Herald did vanish for a while, but he soon reappeared and even stayed until the end of the party.

That wasn’t all. He asked if he could stay at the Crown Prince’s palace, saying he was too tired to return to Duke Maximilian’s residence. Austin was pleased by the request from Herald, who was like a brother to him despite not being blood-related, but he was also uneasy. There was a saying that when someone suddenly does something out of character, it means their time is near.

Of course, Herald wasn’t going to die, but Austin felt anxious that he might have some other motive. This unease intensified the next day at noon when Herald showed up without notice. Austin looked at Herald with trembling eyes and asked,

“Wh-wh-wh-why did you w-w-want to s-s-see me…?”

“I’m not going to say anything strange, so stop stuttering.”

Austin immediately shut his mouth at Herald’s tone, colder and more frigid than the perpetual snow of the North. He didn’t know what was going on, but he could tell right away that something was wrong.

Seated across from Austin, Herald closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opened them again and said,

“I’ve come to finish the conversation we couldn’t have last time.”

“Last time…?”

“We only talked about strange things and left because Her Highness the Crown Princess was there, remember?”

“Ah, that time.”

Finally recalling that incident, Austin nodded but continued to watch Herald closely. Herald’s expression was completely different from that day. He didn’t look like someone who had come to have the same conversation.

“What’s this about?”

Deciding to listen before making any judgments, Austin asked, and Herald began to speak about the things he couldn’t say because of Sonia.

Starting with how Fredrick Benjamin had tailed Liliana Benjamin, to the death of those men, and Fredrick Benjamin’s reaction upon learning of it.

“At first he was surprised, but it seemed like something occurred to him because he quickly regained his composure. And he insisted that we absolutely hide the fact that those men had been following Liliana Benjamin.”

“Well, having his wife followed isn’t something to be proud of, so that makes sense… The real question is who killed those guys.”

Austin’s fidgety behavior while watching Herald’s reactions had completely disappeared, leaving only the serious Crown Prince.

“I think Derius might be the culprit… What do you think?”

“I think the same, but there’s no physical evidence. And I can’t imagine why the Second Prince would kill them.”

“That’s true. Ah, really. I just can’t figure out what this bastard is trying to do.”

Herald watched Austin, who was ruffling his hair in apparent frustration, and said,

“That’s why I was thinking… I’d like to reinvestigate the fire incident at the Benjamin viscounty from two years ago.”