In a reception room of a mansion. With the sound of the door opening, Ludmila rose from her seat.

As she calmly turned around, a wrinkled face came into view.

“Oh my…!”

Emma, unable to fully suppress her emotional voice, ran towards Ludmila, who was quietly smiling.

Grasping Ludmila’s hands, Emma’s eyes, creased with wrinkles, filled with hot tears as she gazed at Ludmila for a long while.

“Emma.”

At the gentle call, Emma bit her lip and stretched out her arms to embrace Ludmila.

Ludmila smiled faintly at the warm touch.

Emma simply patted Ludmila’s back, without saying a word.

Crackle, crackle – only the sound of burning logs in the fireplace echoed in the room.

No further conversation was needed between the two women exchanging warmth.

“I’m truly… truly relieved.”

The long silence was broken after quite some time had passed.

Emma slowly loosened her embrace and bit her lip as she cupped Ludmila’s face with both hands.

Though Emma had aged even more in the past few months, her hands were still very warm.

As Ludmila covered those hands with her palms, a long sigh escaped Emma’s lips.

“Seeing you so healthy, not thin or harmed, this old nanny could die without regrets now. How is your life there? Is there perhaps any problem?”

“I’m fine, Nanny. There’s no problem at all. Rather, they treat me too well, look. I’ve gained weight.”

“Yes… I can see that. Your complexion has improved from before, and you’ve put on weight, becoming even more beautiful.”

Her once pale complexion, like a canary withering away singing in a cage, had regained its color, and her sunken cheeks, once envied by many noble ladies, were now filled with plump flesh.

Her face, tinged with a rosy hue, looked very healthy.

Emma, silently scanning that face, let out a small sigh.

The joy of meeting Ludmila again was brief.

It was because she was reminded once again of her own inadequate actions towards her.

Seeing this, Ludmila also recalled Emma’s actions and the letter she had sent to Emma.

Complex memories once filled with frustration and at times with regret.

Even the suspicion that she might have tried to poison her, which she had erased when Emma directly walked into danger.

At the end of this train of thought, Ludmila quietly sighed and led Emma to a chair, holding her hand.

After seating her, Ludmila personally served tea and smiled faintly.

“Nanny, how have you been all this time? Is life here alright? I heard you’re not even allowed to go out.”

“…Well, it just turned out that way. But it’s fine. It’s fortunate enough that this old woman, who almost faced a dangerous situation, is alive and well like this. I’m just grateful to Duke Havertz.”

Ludmila quietly smiled at Emma’s calm response.

When she first heard the story from Aden, she couldn’t believe her ears.

In fact, apart from the incident Emma caused, she had been preparing to bury her in one corner of her heart, ready for the danger she faced against her will.

But as if rendering her preparations meaningless, Aden had rescued Emma, and thanks to that, they could sit face to face like this, exchanging conversation, smiling, and feeling each other’s warmth.

“Is it also thanks to the Duke’s consideration that you were able to come here, my lady?”

“That’s right, Nanny. He said he would let us meet if I wanted.”

“He’s truly a good person. Although his expressions are rough and his behavior unbecoming of a noble, he still possesses a warm nature unlike other nobles.”

Emma sighed softly and dropped her shoulders. Her eyes sank into the cooling teacup as if submerging.

“I feel sorry for having doubted such a person and tried to cause trouble.”

“It’s alright. It’s all in the past now, so don’t worry too much. Ah, by the way.”

Ludmila smiled brightly and let out a soft exclamation.

She took out a small box from the bag she had brought and held it out.

Emma’s wrinkled eyes stared blankly at the box being pushed towards her.

“What is this?”

“It’s a gift, Nanny. Your birthday is next month. I brought it early since I might not be able to give it to you then.”

“Oh my, goodness. You didn’t have to…”

Emma let out a deep sigh and carefully lifted the box with both hands as if it were a precious treasure.

Emma unwrapped the packaging that Ludmila had tied herself and opened the box, caressing the colorful high-quality ribbons inside.

“I wasn’t sure if you enjoy knitting here too, but I thought you might need these.”

Not just ribbons, but cubic zirconia and small shiny ornaments were included underneath.

It was a gift that accurately captured Emma’s preferences. Emma’s eyes reddened as she silently caressed those items for a long while.

It wasn’t difficult to guess what meaning Ludmila’s gift held, even without words.

Emma wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, let out a long sigh, and then raised her head.

“I’m sorry, my lady. I should have helped you. This old woman’s thoughts were too narrow-minded, thinking that’s how we used to live in the old days. I shouldn’t have… I’m not even worthy to be called a nanny.”

Ludmila just quietly smiled at Emma’s belated regretful lament.

But in fact, she had nothing to apologize for. It had always been like this.

There were others who should apologize, yet it was always someone else, not the wrongdoer, who spoke words of apology.

Although her life had been twisted from birth, she had still tried her best not to deviate from the normal track.

But after becoming entangled with Kedilen, her life kept going astray no matter how hard she tried.

“Don’t say such things, Nanny. It’s all in the past now.”

“But…”

“Rather, I have a favor to ask.”

Emma, who had been on the verge of tears, looked up.

Seeing that resolute willingness to do anything she asked, Ludmila held out another box she had prepared in advance.

Emma carefully opened the box and widened her eyes upon confirming the amount of gold coins inside.

“Use this to bribe someone.”

“B-bribe someone? What power do I have to…”

“I know well that even if you’re confined, a few letters from you can move many people. There are many who respect a nanny who has served in the Imperial Palace for 50 years, right?”

Emma bit her lip and hesitated for a moment, flustered.

As she said, there were quite a few people who had maintained special friendships with Emma, who had served in the Imperial Palace for over 50 years.

If Emma still exchanged letters with them, it wouldn’t be difficult to use people.

“Plant someone in the hunting competition hosted by the Imperial Palace.”

“May I ask exactly what the purpose is?”

Ludmila quietly closed her eyes, which were like a calm lake.

“Kedilen.”

As she softly uttered the familiar name, Emma’s shoulders flinched.

Ludmila opened her eyes that had been calmly closed, looked at Emma, and quietly smiled with an expressionless face.

“I need someone to watch my husband.”

It was late afternoon, past noon, when Ludmila returned to the annex.

Aden still hadn’t returned, it seemed, as Ludmila scanned the quiet annex once before returning to her room to review the documents she had brought again.

It was a report she had already reviewed several times. There wasn’t much meaning in reading it again, but she didn’t want to just sit still.

But that didn’t mean she was really reading the documents.

Her gaze was fixed somewhere between the black ink written on the documents and the white paper.

After silently flipping through the papers for a while, Ludmila let out a low sigh and raised her head.

Planting someone on Kedilen. She knew it was a reckless act, but it was a problem that needed to be solved.

She no longer even thought about receiving an apology from him or making him pay for what he had done to her as karma.

According to what she had heard while being here, Kedilen had already suffered considerable damage.

A businessman who lived off his image had collapsed overnight, so he might not be able to continue his political and business activities anymore.

Of course, being a man who still wants many things, he probably won’t give up everything without a struggle.

Separate from that, there was something that needed to be made certain.

It was her own death. She needed to know the truth related to her death.

One might think, what’s the importance of that when she’s about to leave, but still, she needed to know.

Perhaps, whether the person who tried to kill her had enough influence to track down the traces she left behind and eventually find out where she had stayed, potentially devastating that place.

Kedilen didn’t kill her.

It was a fact she had already acknowledged several times, and what remained was just the question of why he had shown such obsession towards her.

Why did I have to die? In the past, she simply thought Kedilen had killed her because he hated and despised her.

But if he wasn’t the culprit, who else would go to the trouble of dropping the chandelier, and even show the dedication to slowly kill her by continuously administering small amounts of drugs?

Above all, Ludmila hoped that the anger that arose from not being able to harm her wouldn’t later be directed at Havertz.

“Haa-.”

Ludmila sighed softly and pressed her stiff eyelids firmly before turning her attention back to the documents.

As the report ended, information about investment opportunities she had looked into in the past appeared on the next page.

They were quite promising investment opportunities compiled based on the information she knew.

“I should decide on the next investment targets in advance.”

Pouring money into just one place could lead to bankruptcy if any problems arose.

To prepare for this, investments needed to be diversified in advance.

There wasn’t much time, but there were still too many things left to do.

Although she knew she had fulfilled the contract sufficiently by now, somehow it still felt lacking.

Acknowledging that she wanted to do even more for none other than Aden, Ludmila smiled bitterly and turned the page.

Her dry eyes quickly scanned the investment information. From top to bottom. Her mechanically moving eyeballs stopped when she reached the last page.

Ludmila’s upper body, which had been sitting upright in the chair, seemed to jerk and then leaned forward.

“…What is this?”

A perplexed voice slowly flowed from Ludmila’s lips.