When Clea left her seat due to feeling unwell, the nobles also rose from their seats.

“I didn’t expect that Hersher Duke would fall so easily.”

“Indeed. Who would have thought that the family with the most power after the imperial family and the grand duke’s family would fall due to their inability to manage their own child.”

“By the way, it seems His Highness the Crown Prince has found a proper consort.”

They each shared their thoughts about what had happened today.

The nobles knew that Clea had originally set up this gathering targeting the Hersher Duke.

This was because the list of attendees for today’s event was attached to the invitation.

While they might have frowned at such blatant intentions, no one stood on the Hersher Duke’s side.

He had already been marked by Odin, and Aria had repeatedly committed acts that anyone would deem unacceptable.

They shifted the topic to their curiosity about Clea.

“We heard she had changed, but I didn’t expect her to show such a resolute side.”

Once tarnished in high society, it wasn’t easy to erase that stigma.

It was no different for Clea.

There had been many unfavorable rumors about her since her academy days.

Due to her villainous image, some nobles still viewed her with concern.

But today, those concerns were completely dispelled.

“If she’s that kind of person, we should be careful not to offend her.”

There were also those from the noble faction present.

They had thought to appropriately oppose her if she showed too forceful behavior, even if she held the position of acting authority.

However, they were left in awe at Clea’s flawless handling of matters.

She not only blocked any way to save the Hersher Duke but also completely prevented any outside interference.

So the nobles thought it would be better to get along with her rather than oppose her in the future.

No one wanted to voluntarily put themselves on the brink of extinction like the Hersher Duke’s family.

“More surprising is that Duke Odoi stood on Her Majesty the Queen’s side.”

Meanwhile, there was one more thing that concerned the nobles. It was that Grit, whom they thought had completely fallen out with her, had sided with Clea.

The nobles had believed that the relationship between the two was already at its worst.

The reason they thought so was because Clea had first severed ties with her family. There would have been no reason to leave the family if their relationship wasn’t bad.

Hadn’t her commoner status been an issue in the process of marrying Admund?

Moreover, Grit disliked it whenever Clea’s name came up anywhere. He even spread unfavorable rumors about her.

Even at the wedding, Grit didn’t visit the bride’s waiting room, let alone speak a word to Clea.

Considering these points, it wasn’t difficult to predict what kind of relationship the two had.

But suddenly today, the story changed.

“Is it that no matter how much you dislike someone, they’re still family?”

“I’m not sure, Her Majesty the Queen doesn’t seem like someone who would be bound by such things.”

“We’ll only know for sure as time passes.”

What became certain through today’s gathering was that the Hersher Duke’s family was the target.

And that all the families who were particularly close to the Hershers had turned their backs, leaving no family willing to help the Duke’s family.

The power of the acting authority was too great.

With the Emperor supporting her intentions from behind, who could easily offer help?

“We’ll have to watch and see what unfolds from now on.”

* * *

“Darling! Why on earth are you doing this!”

“We’ve been raising something worse than a beast all this time! Don’t interfere and step aside!”

“Darling!”

The Duke, who had hurriedly returned home, no longer had anything to hold him back.

As soon as he entered, he immediately sought out Aria’s room.

The Duchess, sensing something was amiss, tried to calm the Duke’s agitation first, but to no avail.

Standing in front of Aria’s room, he knocked on the door and shouted.

“Open up at once!”

But the firmly closed door did not open.

At this, the Duke tried to pull the doorknob, but it was locked from the inside.

Anticipating this, the Duke took out a key from his pocket.

He had prepared it in case she wouldn’t listen until the very end, intending to forcibly open the door and scold her.

The locked door opened due to the key.

“What’s the matter?”

Aria, who was inside, asked with a composed expression what business he had with her.

Seeing this, the Duke’s anger surged.

It seemed brazen that she maintained such an attitude while clearly knowing where he had been and what words he might have heard there.

“What’s the matter? You ask what’s the matter? Didn’t I tell you to tell me everything before I left the mansion?”

But perhaps due to seeing his daughter’s face after a long time?

The Duke’s fiery momentum momentarily wavered.

But it was only for a moment, as the Duke’s demeanor turned fierce again at Aria’s next words.

“Would anything change even if you knew?”

“Nothing would change?!”

“That’s right. Even if you found out, what would change… Ugh.”

The Duke, unable to contain himself any longer, slapped Aria’s cheek.

He didn’t know how many times this had been already.

At first, he hit her with a truly aching heart, hoping she would come to her senses.

However, far from coming to her senses, she had shown increasingly rebellious behavior as time passed.

Could that sharp gaze, looking at him while holding the struck area, really be a look directed at one’s parents?

The Duke was dismayed. Thinking that everything had fallen apart due to his failure in raising his child, his feeling of resentment only grew.

“You will no longer enjoy any of the Hersher family’s privileges from now on.”

“Darling.”

Behind the Duke, there was someone calling out to him desperately, sobbing.

The Duke turned around and looked at her once.

His heart softened for a moment, but upon looking at Aria again, he immediately hardened his resolve.

“Why did you do such a thing?”

The Duke asked for the last time.

It was a question that didn’t need to be asked in a situation that had already completely fallen apart, but the Duke was curious.

She could have lived comfortably as a noble lady even if she wasn’t the Crown Prince’s consort.

If she couldn’t be the Crown Prince’s consort, she could have become the heir to the Hersher family under the Duke.

If she didn’t like Lloyd, she could have found someone else of equal standing.

Yet the Duke couldn’t understand why she had made such a choice.

“Is there anything meaningful to me besides the position of Crown Prince’s consort?”

Hearing Aria’s answer, the Duke let out a deep sigh. Then he signaled to those beside him.

Those who understood what his signal meant hesitated for a moment, but soon moved to Aria’s sides.

At this, Aria shouted.

“Father, how can you do this to me? That’s what you wanted too!”

The Duke had also wished for Aria to become the Crown Prince’s consort.

But if it would lead to such a catastrophe, he could give it up without hesitation.

“Let go! Why should I leave! What wrong have I committed!”

Aria resisted as if she couldn’t accept it.

However, no matter how much she resisted, there was nothing she could do.

“You have no right to do this to me. You can’t do this!”

The most she could do was to drive a final nail into her parents’ hearts.

“Sob, did you really have to go this far?”

The Duchess, who couldn’t even bear to look at Aria being dragged away, approached the Duke with tears and asked.

Did they really have to go this far with their precious daughter?

To those words, the Duke bit his lip and answered.

“Have you ever said a harsh word to Aria?”

“Da-darling.”

The Duchess’s voice trembled at the Duke’s words.

She had only been busy doting on Aria, never once teaching her as a parent should.

Of course, children of noble families usually spend a lot of time with nannies and tutors.

But still, the ones who have the biggest influence are undoubtedly the parents.

“It’s enough if I alone am the bad person, so blame me.”

The Duke tasted bitterness in his mouth.

Recalling Aria shouting at him until the very end made him feel empty.

At the gathering Clea had prepared, the Duke felt betrayed that his daughter hadn’t told him everything that had happened until the end.

So he became angry, and eventually, this result came about.

Now that everything had completely fallen apart, the Duke felt fatigue.

While the Duchess was crying in Aria’s room, the Duke, who had come outside, instructed the butler.

“Assign someone to watch over that child. And since she shouldn’t starve to death outside, pack a bag with some simple belongings and a little money to send with her.”

Aria might have prepared for this possibility from the moment she decided to keep quiet.

If Aria were to run far away or end up in a situation where she couldn’t appear, it would truly be the end of everything for the Duke.

If Aria, who was already no different from a criminal, didn’t appear for trial, the Hersher Duke’s family could be misunderstood as harboring a criminal.

Therefore, the Duke also gave the following order.

“If there are signs of her trying to escape, bring her back to the mansion.”

Hearing this, the butler asked the Duke with a worried face.

“What should we do if the young lady is in danger?”

The moment of danger.

The Duke scoffed.

Aria’s misdeeds had already been revealed in the presence of all the notable nobles.

Since Clea hadn’t bothered to ask them to keep it confidential, this news would spread before long.

In this situation, the safest place for Aria was inside the mansion.

In other words, there was no safe place for Aria outside the mansion.

“Tell them not to protect her.”

At the Duke’s firm words, the butler bowed his head.

“Except for running away, no matter what happens.”

The Duke no longer wanted to be involved in whatever happened to Aria.

So he drew a complete line.

He watched from afar as Aria was dragged away.

Aria was constantly saying something in the direction where the Duke was. But there was no way it could reach the Duke’s ears.