The porcelain flew against the solid wall and shattered with a harsh sound.

“C-calm down, Kedilen!”

Celia’s flustered call followed that sound, but such things did not enter Kedilen’s ears.

Just moments ago, the article about him prominently featured on the front page of the morning newspaper with a photo was enough to blind Kedilen’s eyes.

Unable to contain his anger, Kedilen threw and smashed everything in his hands, venting his rage.

But even so, it was difficult to quell the anger that had once surged. How hard had it been with those recent rumors?

Until those rumors died down, he had to stay secluded in this stuffy mansion, unable to go out.

At least now the situation had improved and he had returned to normal life. Yet for such an article to appear again. It was clearly a malicious attack on him for anyone to see.

“How dare… how dare they!”

That blatant act of targeting dug deep into Kedilen’s core.

His political life was a carefully built tower based on thorough masks and image management. Before marriage, a successful businessman and local nobleman.

After marriage, a man of power who obtained Ludmila, a royal bastard but half-royal.

That image allowed him to be at the forefront of the new era nobles to lead the new age.

Most imperial citizens would choose Kedilen when asked about a politician to lead the new era.

Unlike the old nobility who were only obsessed with power, his background of growing up in the provinces and his ability to obtain a royal.

And his harmonious married life with Ludmila was unlike the corruption and licentiousness prevalent in noble society.

Eventually, the parliament and the imperial family appointed Kedilen to his current position, equipped with fame and undeniable influence.

But the marriage that was the most fundamental basis for bringing him to this position was being shaken to its roots.

This also meant that his tower might collapse.

Until now, the problems that had erupted could be excused with even nonsensical pretexts. But this went beyond that level.

“Calm down, Kedilen.”

“How can I calm down after seeing this!”

Kedilen frowned as he roughly shook and threw down the newspaper in his hand.

No one could maintain composure in a situation where everything built up so far was about to fly away in an instant.

Kedilen exhaled roughly and furrowed his brow.

Where did it go wrong? Kedilen tried to retrace past events, but he found it difficult to find where things had gone awry.

Under the layers of beautified and rationalized dust of the past, Kedilen could not find even a trace of problem in his actions, and could only frown and blame Ludmila.

He could do nothing more or less than that.

“I’ve sent people to the newspaper to immediately issue a correction, so wait. And if we contact other newspapers to inform them that this is clearly false reporting and those injuries were caused by reasons other than being hit by you, surely the misunderstanding will be cleared up.”

“What use is that? People only see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear. Now that such a sensational article that suits their taste has come out. Unless Ludmila comes directly and declares this is a misunderstanding, nothing will improve.”

Celia bit her lip thinly.

As he said, no matter how much Kedilen ranted here, nothing would change.

‘Ludmila…’

Resentment rose towards Ludmila who had caused this situation.

You run away just because of a little mistreatment? If you’re going to run away, why not leave quietly instead of spreading ashes like this?

That vulgar blood flowing in her body clearly hadn’t gone anywhere.

I should have stopped him when Kedilen forced the marriage, saying that a bastard of such status would rather improve his image.

Parents pointed fingers saying that bastard would eventually ruin the family. Just as they said, the family’s situation was in shambles.

“I’ll have to torture Emma.”

“…Sister?”

Kedilen’s gaze, immersed in excitement, rose at the words Celia uttered as she slowly straightened her back.

Her eyes, cold as ice, rippled in the silence as if she had made a decision.

“To put that wench on the press conference stage, we need to find out where she disappeared to, don’t we? Emma is the only one who knows that.”

“But didn’t you say torture shouldn’t be done because of Emma’s age?”

She was a woman nearing her seventies.

If something went wrong and she died, they might have to dispose of a corpse before even finding out Ludmila’s location.

With all eyes on the situation, if it became known that Ludmila’s nanny had died, how would the ripple effects grow…

One of the most criticized relics of the old era was torture.

The method of inflicting physical harm on the other party to extract desired information or situations was now being criticized.

And Kedilen had been at the forefront of that criticism.

For him to directly torture Emma? If that fact were to be revealed, it would spiral into an uncontrollable major problem.

Although the crisis in married life with Ludmila was a big blow, it was not the end of his political life.

But if the torture was revealed, it would be tantamount to a political death sentence.

The new nobility who had been on the same side would take the lead in ousting him.

“That’s why I have to do it.”

“Sister?”

“You’re the vanguard of the new nobility and I’m just an ignorant countess, right? Even if we get caught, I’ll take all the blame.”

“But if something goes wrong, sister…”

“Don’t worry.”

Celia smiled gently and stroked her grown brother’s head as if he were a child.

“I’ll bear it all.”

That was Celia’s way of survival, keeping Kedilen under her skirts and swaying him.

It was a rare leisurely afternoon.

The warm sunlight made her eyes droop lazily, feeling like she could fall asleep at any moment, but Ludmila headed to the art studio instead of seeking her bed.

Although she hadn’t been able to enter for the past few days, the room was still filled with the familiar scent of oil and paint.

Ludmila let out a low exclamation as she brushed the hardened paint on the wooden palette with a brush.

I should have cleaned this up before leaving. It could still be used, but the problem was the palette.

The palette she had taken out to practice was worn out, with paint seeping into the cracks and hardening.

If used in this state, the colors would bleed and mix.

“I’ll have to bring a new one.”

Ludmila sighed softly, put down the palette, and left the art studio.

Smiling faintly at the servants who greeted her, Ludmila’s lips settled calmly as she headed to the storage room to get a new palette.

‘I wonder if the letter has arrived by now.’

It should have reached Dexter by now. I hope that letter reaches Emma soon too.

There was some impatience, but still thinking it was alright for now, she pushed away the distracting thoughts.

Ludmila wanted to stay quiet here as much as possible.

She wanted revenge on Kedilen, but that wasn’t something to do now.

She planned to resolve everything before leaving this place later. When she leaves for a place so far away that he will never find her.

There was no need to set fire where mice live. Even a lion can be bitten by a cornered mouse.

Moreover, Kedilen was no mouse.

If she completely shattered and destroyed everything of his, he would eventually search for her with all his might.

Although he’s exercising some restraint now, if he loses his mind and tries to find her, it would only be a matter of time before he discovers she’s here.

So, she had scattered just enough traces for him to find her. Of course, those traces didn’t point to her real location.

They only gave Ludmila some time, and Kedilen false hope. The vain hope that he might soon find his wife.

But actually grasping real hope instead of such vain hope was a different story.

Kedilen, with Emma in his grasp, would try to find out her location by any means.

That’s why it was necessary to divert Emma again and also turn Kedilen’s attention elsewhere.

However, there were still two uncertainties.

One was whether Emma might not have given up her thoughts even after seeing that article she had released, and the other was whether Kedilen might do something terrible to Emma if he loses his mind.

These two things were not something Ludmila could control.

Just sending a letter to Emma was all she could do.

“Haa-.”

Ludmila sighed softly and ran her hand through her hair, her head aching from the complexity. Whatever the case, it was a complicated situation all the same.

“…is not certain.”

“This is a big problem. Since there’s no one who knows this…”

It was then that she heard the troubled voices.

She noticed Salom standing in the corridor, exchanging words with some man.

With their faces deeply furrowed as if very troubled, she tilted her head in their direction.

The two were discussing something they were holding in their hands. Ludmila, who had been staring at that scene, slowly approached while tilting her head.

“Ah, Lady Ludmila.”

Salom recognized her first and bowed his head.

At the same time, the man who had been talking with him also bowed to Ludmila. She too returned a short bow before smiling faintly.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. That you’re the master’s guest. I’m Tenver Nuaja.”

“I’m Ludmila. By the way, is there a problem? I apologize if it was a rude question.”

It was rude for an outsider to intervene in family matters.

Knowing this well, Ludmila was going to ignore it, but she asked out of thought that perhaps there was something she could help with.

“Ah, it’s not like that.”

Fortunately, her question didn’t seem too rude as Salom showed a troubled smile and slightly revealed the paper he was holding.

“It’s a report related to the financial audit conducted at the end of last year, but they said to send a revised version because there were insufficient parts, and set a very tight deadline. Moreover, there are many languages we don’t know mixed in the report. Usually, this kind of thing is handled by the finance manager or trade manager, or the Duke himself…”

Aden was currently in the capital, and both the finance manager and trade manager had been dispatched to the capital on Ludmila’s orders.

In other words, there was no one to resolve this issue.

‘…It’s my fault.’

Ludmila, who quickly grasped the situation, swallowed a small sigh, then scanned the contents written on the document before raising her head.

“If it’s alright, may I help you with this?”

“…Do you know ancient languages?”

Ludmila nodded briefly to the two people looking at her with surprised eyes, then smiled faintly.

“Yes. I do, at least…”

Because I was royalty.