– A few hours ago.

“……”

On the morning of her second day at the Braden estate, Lilly’s face was filled with questions and worries. It wasn’t because she was uncomfortable staying at the estate, but because of the letter that Harry had brought her.

The white envelope sealed with red wax felt like a blemish, making her uncomfortable. What made her even more uneasy was the fact that the seal on the wax bore the emblem of the Benjamin family.

This was a letter from Fredrick Benjamin to her. To be precise, it was a reply. After all, Lilly was the one who had sent him a letter first.

Last night, Lilly had sent a letter to Fredrick through a messenger. She had no intention of forgiving him for his crimes, so she wanted to make it clear that she wouldn’t be returning home for a while. Of course, what she really wanted was to divorce him and never return, but she didn’t express her true feelings.

If he knew that Lilly was considering divorce, he would surely try to do something strange. Fredrick Benjamin was the kind of person who would dig up his father-in-law’s grave just because he was angry, so it was best to keep her plans hidden until everything was perfectly prepared.

She didn’t expect a reply when she sent the letter. She didn’t even think Fredrick would bother to respond.

But now, looking at the letter that had arrived, she was very perplexed. Lilly stared at the envelope, curious about what was written inside, but also afraid.

She couldn’t avoid it forever just because she was afraid. Moreover, if the other party was Fredrick Benjamin, she didn’t want to avoid it even more.

Thanks to her anger towards Fredrick Benjamin, Lilly overcame her fear and checked the letter.

The contents of the letter were so simple that the tension she had been holding completely unraveled in an instant. Lilly tried various things like holding the letter up to a candle, just in case, but there was no hidden content.

Was this really all there was to it? Lilly found it ridiculous that she had been trembling over just this, but at the same time, she was puzzled.

What did he mean by doing as she pleased? It probably didn’t mean she could never return home for the rest of her life. Did it mean that he didn’t care whether she forgave him or not?

Knock knock-

As Lilly was pondering over the short sentence, she heard a knock at the door and hastily slipped the letter between a stack of papers.

“Yes.”

When the door opened and Herald entered, Lilly stood up, slightly startled. The clock on the side table pointed to 10 o’clock.

“You’re here early.”

As she had said she would be staying at the Maximilian estate instead of the Braden estate, Herald had returned to the duke’s residence last night. She knew he would come back since he said he would see her tomorrow, but she didn’t expect him to come at such an early hour.

“I came to have lunch with you.”

“It’s a bit early for lunch.”

“I thought we could have a simple tea time before eating.”

Herald approached Lilly with a smile, and his gaze fell on the messily arranged stack of papers on the coffee table. He couldn’t read the writing on the papers at all, as if it was a foreign language.

As Herald stared intently at the stack of papers, Lilly suddenly became afraid that Fredrick’s letter hidden among them would be discovered, and without thinking, she grabbed his hand.

Naturally, Herald’s gaze shifted to her. After meeting his dazzling golden eyes, as radiant as the brilliant sunlight illuminating the world, Lilly came to her senses and let go of his hand in surprise.

“I’m sorry.”

At her sincere apology, as if she had truly made a mistake, Herald laughed in frustration. It wasn’t that he was disappointed in Lilly. He was mocking his own pathetic self for briefly getting his hopes up.

At the same time, he wondered why Lilly had grabbed his hand to divert his attention from the stack of papers.

What was so special about those papers that made her do that?

Herald was curious but didn’t look at the stack of papers or ask Lilly about it. He didn’t want to put the woman he liked in a difficult position.

“The weather outside is really nice.”

Instead, he wrapped his arm around Lilly’s shoulders and spoke in a gentle and affectionate tone.

“On a day like this, it’s better to go outside than stay in the room, so I’ve set up a spot in the garden.”

The tea time naturally led to lunch. Sitting across from each other under the warm sunlight, Herald was chatting with Lilly when he noticed Dillon appearing behind her and stood up. Judging by the way he was rushing over with a pale face, it was clear that something serious had happened.

Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t good for Lilly to hear, so Herald took Dillon and headed out of the garden. Dillon, who had rushed over, shouted without even catching his rough breath.

“Si- sir. Something terrible has happened…!”

“Shh.”

Herald brought his index finger to his lips, gesturing for him to speak quietly in case Lilly heard.

Even though he was in a hurry, the loyal assistant listened well to his superior’s words. Dillon approached Herald closely and whispered.

“The rumors have spread throughout the empire. Everyone in the empire knows about what happened that day!”

“What happened that day?”

“The confrontation you had with Viscount Benjamin over his wife at the company he runs!”

Ah, that. Herald’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the events of that day. There were many witnesses at the time, but he wasn’t too worried. He believed without a doubt that Fredrick Benjamin would take care of silencing them. If it became known that he had fought with Herald, he would be shunned by the noble society he so desperately yearned for, and it would cause problems for his business, so naturally, Fredrick would handle it.

As if mocking Herald’s belief, Fredrick Benjamin did not silence the witnesses. On the contrary, he even tipped off the gossip columnists to spread it widely, which was absurd.

Why on earth? What did Fredrick Benjamin gain from doing that?

Herald stroked his chin and pondered deeply. Simply wanting to mess with Lilly or him wasn’t a good enough reason, as Fredrick Benjamin stood to lose too much.

Above all, having a mistress in noble society wasn’t really a flaw, though there might be some gossip. Of course, Lilly was soft-hearted, so she could be hurt, but Herald didn’t care at all.

‘Was it ordered by the Second Prince?’

It was a very plausible scenario. Fredrick Benjamin and Derius had even met in person that day, so it seemed even more likely, but it was too early to be certain. Derius had nothing to gain from it either.

“What if we meet with the reporters now and tell them that you only have a slight acquaintance with Viscount Benjamin’s wife, and that your actions that day were simply out of chivalry? We could ask them to publish a correction article.”

At Dillon’s suggestion, Herald laughed as if in disbelief and tilted his head.

“Well, I don’t think that’s a very good idea. It would make me look like someone who is anxiously trying to hide the truth.”

“But we can’t just sit back and do nothing. It will tarnish your reputation, sir.”

“Don’t worry, my reputation won’t be tarnished by something like this.”

Herald’s gaze turned towards the garden where Lilly was.

“The problem is her.”

If Lilly found out about this news, she would surely turn pale and try to leave the Braden estate. Not only that, under the pretext of not wanting to cause trouble for Herald, she would refuse his help and pretend not to know him in the future.

She didn’t even realize that would be more troublesome.

Herald let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. His shadowed golden eyes traced the sunlight shattering brilliantly in the air.

All she had to do was ask for help. If she just said she wanted him to help her escape Fredrick Benjamin’s grasp, he would do anything for her right away, but she kept being stubborn, which was a bit frustrating.

Of course, he understood her desire not to rely on others. She had been deeply hurt by relying on Fredrick, so she would be even more reluctant to depend on someone else’s help. More precisely, she was afraid of not being able to stand on her own.

Herald didn’t like that aspect. It seemed like Lilly thought of Fredrick Benjamin and him as the same. It meant he hadn’t earned her trust, so he had nothing to say.

Forcibly holding onto someone who said they didn’t need help and insisting on helping them was foolish. The usual Herald would never do such a thing.

But she was different.

The moment he recalled Lilly’s tearful face, Herald felt a pain in his heart, as if a sharp needle was piercing it.

For whatever reason, he never wanted to see her cry.

If she had no choice but to cry… wouldn’t it be better if it was because of him rather than that bastard?

“Sir, you mustn’t forget the promise you made to me.”

At the sudden words, Herald turned to Dillon. At that moment, the dazzling sunlight clawed at his eyes, and Herald unknowingly frowned.

“You always said to keep your word, sir.”

Dillon, who took it in a different sense, grabbed Herald’s hand tightly and spoke as if pleading.

“So please, keep your word that you would return to Cardin and remain as my commander.”

Only then did Herald realize why Dillon was saying this, and he chuckled. How many times had he been asked this already? It was amusing to Herald that he couldn’t even gain the trust of his assistant. It would be best to nail it down firmly this time.

“……”

His mind thought he should do that, but strangely, his mouth wouldn’t open, and Herald couldn’t say anything.

“Sir.”

Dillon, who became even more anxious at his reaction, held his hand tightly. Herald stared at Dillon’s trembling eyes for a moment, then let go of the hand that was holding his.

“I understand, so don’t think about unnecessary things and do what I ordered you to do well.”

“To protect your wife?”

“Yes. And if she tries to go out when I’m not around, stop her by any means necessary.”

Although nothing was certain, one thing was clear.

He had to prevent Liliana Benjamin from hearing the rumors.