“But why are you suddenly leaving the house? Does elder brother know you’re leaving, sister-in-law?”

Feeling bad about being ignored, Brian kept following and bombarding her with questions.

“Elder brother doesn’t know, right? Well, there’s no way he would. There’s no way sister-in-law would have told him. Since elder brother has no interest in sister-in-law anyway.”

Whether Brian was blabbering or not, Lily quickly traversed the corridor and descended the stairs at the edge mainly used by the servants. Samantha was near the central staircase. There was nothing good about running into Samantha, who would be fuming and throwing a fit.

For the same reason, Lily left the mansion through the side door instead of the main entrance.

“Have a good trip, sister-in-law.”

Brian, who had stubbornly followed her all the way here, waved his hand with a bright smile.

“Wandering is good, but don’t drift for too long. The place for you to return to may disappear forever.”

Lily slammed the crude wooden door shut in response. As Brian disappeared from view, her churning stomach calmed down a bit. It was also due to the relief of safely escaping the mansion.

The reason she couldn’t feel completely at ease yet was because of the Benjamin Earl’s residence in front of her eyes. It was a house barely visible over the tall walls, but even that was enough to make her choke as if someone was strangling her neck.

“It would be best for you to stay put, lady.”

The figure of that someone was naturally Fredrick.

“If you get on my nerves any more here… then even I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Reminded of Fredrick’s spine-chilling voice and expression, Lily gripped the bag handle so tightly that her veins bulged. Her tightly clenched hand trembled. She took a deep breath, pushing her trembling green eyes under her thin eyelids.

“Let’s go quickly.”

There was nothing good about staying here any longer. So saying let’s go now, Lily turned towards the main entrance where Herald and the children were waiting and soon discovered Herald Braden standing with his back to the red sunset.

“Why are you here…?”

Herald, who had quickly approached, took the bag that Lily had been tightly holding.

“Is this all your luggage?”

“What? Ah, yes. It is, but… I’ll carry it.”

Lily, who came to her senses belatedly, tried to get her luggage back but failed. Even when Lily said it was fine and that she could carry it herself, Herald did not hand the bag over to her.

“Why are you here and not at the main entrance? Where are Emily and Harry?”

Finally giving up on retrieving her luggage, Lily asked about something else she was curious about.

“The children are waiting by the main entrance. I was waiting here because I had a feeling you would come out this way.”

“I’m curious how you knew that.”

“I just had a feeling you would.”

Herald spoke in a light tone as if it was nothing and firmly grasped Lily’s hand. Since they were still in front of the Benjamin Earl’s residence, Lily flinched and curled her fingers inward.

But that was it; she couldn’t shake off his hand. She absolutely could not give up the serene touch that instantly calmed her anxious heart, as if someone was chasing her.

If she couldn’t give it up, she should have openly accepted it, but her fingers that couldn’t do either remained bent. Seeing that it looked like her own state of mind, neither accepting Herald’s heart nor rejecting it, Lily made a bitter expression.

It was as Lily had expected. Fredrick was convinced she would not return home today, so he ignored her. What was the point of thinking about the woman who would be in Herald Braden’s arms receiving comfort? He was also too busy with various matters, starting with Second Prince’s work and his business, to pay attention to her.

“You know what, elder brother? Sister-in-law ran away from home.”

The person who reminded Fredrick of Lily’s existence, which he had momentarily forgotten, was none other than his ill-fated younger brother. Brian had suddenly started acting friendly with a gleeful face after cutting off support, so Fredrick thought it was strange, but as expected, there was a reason.

More importantly, Lily running away from home made no sense, so Fredrick smirked as he undid his cuff links.

“If you have the energy to say useless things, why don’t you go out and work? How long are you going to just eat and play around like a loafer?”

“If you hate seeing me eat and play around, you can just give me a position.”

“You mean hire you at my company?”

Fredrick asked as if he was saying something absurd. At the blatant contempt, Brian’s face flushed red. Blood flowed from his tightly bitten lips. Fredrick turned his back on Brian.

“If you have nothing more to say, get out.”

“…You don’t seem curious as to why sister-in-law ran away.”

“You’re wrong, Brian.”

Fredrick turned his head to look at Brian.

“She didn’t run away, she went out.”

“You want to believe she went out, not ran away?”

As Brian gloated, annoyance crept into Fredrick’s brown eyes that were weary with fatigue. Fredrick glared fiercely, but Brian did not back down. His resentment and disappointment towards his elder brother overcame his fear.

“Sister-in-law. She came during the day, packed her bags, and left. She directly said she was leaving the house. Even so, do you really think sister-in-law went out, not ran away?”

“……”

Fredrick couldn’t firmly answer no to the following question. If what Brian said was true, then it was correct that Lily had run away from home.

That woman running away from home… Fredrick was dumbfounded, but it wasn’t that he couldn’t guess the reason at all. It must have been because he was the culprit who dug up his father’s grave.

But the reason he thought it was impossible until just before was because the Liliana Benjamin he knew was an extremely timid and fragile woman. She also fiercely cherished and loved her only family, Grace Benjamin.

So Fredrick firmly believed that even if Lily got angry and lost her temper, she would never leave the house, and that she would return after receiving comfort in Herald Braden’s arms.

But that woman had packed her bags and left.

This wasn’t a simple act of running away. It was tantamount to declaring that she would quit her role as the Benjamin Earl’s wife and Fredrick’s spouse.

“Haha……”

Fredrick laughed as if smirking and took off his glasses. Brian, who faced the eerie eyes hidden behind the lenses, instinctively backed away. Cold sweat ran down his spine. A red alert blared loudly in his head.

“Ahem. Since I have nothing more to say, I’ll get going now.”

Sensing danger, Brian quickly turned tail. Left alone, Fredrick brushed back his disheveled hair and glared at the floor.

Liliana Benjamin had run away from home.

That fact echoed in his mind, tormenting him. When the image of Lily and Herald holding hands affectionately and leaving together came to mind, Fredrick’s eyes stiffened.

“…Did that man incite her?”

Fredrick was convinced that Herald Braden must have coaxed her, as there was no way the fragile Lily would have thought of running away first.

Next, he would tell her to divorce. To leave a commoner like him and come to Herald, seducing her with a sweet voice. Lily, who was originally dull-witted and now blinded by love, would surely fall for it without realizing it was a poisoned chalice.

Divorce. It was a word that should never exist in his life. The moment he divorced Lily, he would lose the noble status he had tried so hard to obtain. No matter how capable and wealthy he was, there was a limit to what a commoner could do, so he absolutely had to maintain his noble status.

So he would never let her go. He’d rather kill her than let her go. If they divorced, he would lose his status, but if she died, it would be maintained.

“Should I really kill her…?”

It was something he thought of in anger, but it seemed like not a bad idea, so Fredrick seriously pondered it.

It was close to midnight when Dillon came to find Herald, who was staying at the Prasis Hotel.

“Come in.”

As Herald stepped aside to let him in, Dillon asked in bewilderment.

“The Countess Benjamin is inside, is it alright for me to enter?”

“What are you talking about? I’m alone.”

“What? Weren’t you together with the Countess?”

“No. She’s in the room across the hall.”

At those words, Dillon glanced at the room opposite and then entered Herald’s room. Thinking Herald would naturally be alone since he said so, Dillon abruptly stopped upon discovering Harry standing behind the sofa.

“…I thought you said you were alone?”

“Did I?”

As if he had utterly forgotten what he just said, Herald answered indifferently and waved his hand. At the signal to leave for a moment, Harry bowed in greeting and went out.

“Is that okay now?”

“……”

What exactly was okay now? Dillon looked at his superior with dumbfounded eyes, then soon sighed deeply and stated his reason for coming.

“When the captain went to the trading company operated by Fredrick Benjamin, I felt a strange presence and checked, it was someone hired by the Marchioness Ariand.”

So that’s why he was away. Herald, who had momentarily forgotten that question, asked as he sat on the sofa.

“You mean Second Prince’s side was keeping an eye on Fredrick Benjamin?”

“I couldn’t confirm the exact reason why they assigned someone, but it seems certain there is a special reason. Fredrick Benjamin had contact with Second Prince.”

“You mean the two met in person?”

“Yes. It has been confirmed they met at a tea room on Royal White Street.”

Herald frowned. Second Prince was someone who valued status and background more than anyone else. No matter how capable, he wouldn’t even glance at commoners, and he considered nobles as disposable. So it was strange to hear that Second Prince personally met with Fredrick Benjamin.

“Did you find out what they discussed?”

“No. We couldn’t find that out, but we discovered something else instead.”

“Something else?”

“I heard that Fredrick Benjamin’s younger brother showed up at the illegal gambling den where Megan’s husband Olben is.”