I didn’t feel any sympathy looking at Nora crying pitifully. With all the frustration I felt because of her, hearing excuses that she had no choice only made me angrier.

Arasila coldly spoke to Nora, who was staring at her blankly.

“Then let’s consider that I had no choice either, and you can deal with the aftermath yourself, my lady.”

“Madam Vandermir!”

“But I’m curious. When my scandal broke, I had no shame so people around me supported me, but I wonder if the same will be true for Lady White.”

“……”

Nora was at a loss for words. It felt as if someone had stabbed a knife into her lungs.

Thousands of thoughts flashed through Nora’s mind and scattered. Only one question remained.

Would her family and Duke Grant help her if her adultery scandal broke?

‘……No.’

The answer was that there was no way. They would abandon her immediately.

From the beginning, putting her at the forefront of an issue involving the Crown Prince had an obvious intention.

If it went well, good. If not, use her and throw her away.

Faced head-on with the fact she had been wanting to avoid, Nora’s legs gave out and she collapsed.

Cliffs surrounded her on all sides. One step in any direction would surely lead to a fall.

“……What do you want from me? What do you want me to do?”

To the question that slipped through her clenched teeth, Arasila calmly replied.

“You would know that best, Lady White.”

“……”

“I know that you didn’t orchestrate this incident entirely on your own anyway.”

Nora’s shoulders jumped. Her face was hidden by her fallen hair, but Arasila could guess what expression she was making.

Nora, who had been breathing unsteadily, clenched her fists tightly. Soon after coming to a decision, she opened her mouth.

“……You’re right, madam. Someone ordered me to do this, and I simply followed.”

With trembling lips, she spilled everything that had happened to her. For a moment she wondered if she should really reveal this much, but once opened, her mouth wouldn’t stop.

Learning that Duke Grant was behind Nora, Arasila furrowed her brow.

Isn’t he Frederick’s maternal uncle? Then why did he instigate the White ducal family to do this?

“Do you know why the duke urged you to take revenge?”

“……I don’t know for sure. But somehow, it seemed related to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

Arasila’s expression hardened for a moment. Related to Frederick? Then does that mean he wasn’t a complete victim like herself?

Her mind became complicated in an instant. She had thought it was a scheme by Frederick’s political opponents, but the person himself was involved.

“Why would Frederick……”

Arasila muttered to herself.

Even if Frederick truly orchestrated this scandal, she couldn’t understand why he would do such a thing.

A scandal with a married woman would be a huge blow to himself as the Crown Prince.

Why would he do something so detrimental to himself? What benefit could he possibly gain from this scandal?

“Hmm, I think I know why.”

“……Pardon?”

Lost in thought, Arasila asked back a beat late. Nora opened her mouth again, though hesitantly.

“Could it be because His Highness likes you……”

“……Why do you think that?”

To the quiet question, Nora answered hesitantly.

“Just, I’ve had that feeling for a while. When we were at the academy, the way His Highness looked at you sometimes was strange.”

Embarrassingly, Nora often stole glances at Arasila during their academy days. It was due to her feelings of inferiority and competitiveness towards her.

Whenever she did, Arasila was always with Frederick. Paula was there sometimes and not others, but Frederick was by her side almost every moment.

And one day, Nora saw it.

Frederick using his hand to shield Arasila’s face from the sunlight streaming onto her as she slept face-down in the academy library.

At the time, knowing what it felt like to ardently like someone, Nora immediately recognized what intimate emotion was contained in the smile that spread across his face for that moment.

That smile appeared briefly and disappeared, but the emotion of his that Nora had glimpsed remained in a corner of her mind for a long time.

“O-Of course, it’s just my one-sided speculation so it may not be true….. But ask the others who attended the academy with us. The closer they were to you, the more likely they felt it at least once.”

Since Nora had noticed it while carefully observing Arasila, if there were people who saw them more closely and frequently, they would likely know as well.

Even after the story ended, Arasila stood there with a serious expression, saying nothing. Fidgeting her fingers and glancing nervously, Nora carefully opened her mouth.

Now that she had confessed her wrongdoing, it was time to apologize.

“I’m sorry, madam. Although I had no choice due to pressure, I caused you great harm. You probably won’t believe me saying this now, but I was sincere when I said before that I regretted my past actions towards you.”

Transparent tears welled up in Nora’s eyes. After going around spreading forced lies for so long, trying to express her true inner feelings made her voice tremble finely.

“While confined to my room by my parents, I endlessly reflected on myself. That’s when I realized. How foolish and stupid it was of me to hate you……”

She felt ashamed and embarrassed of herself for tormenting an innocent person while merely harboring an unrequited love.

There wasn’t a single moment in her past that she could be proud of, making her hate and resent herself.

“Instead of hating you, I should have disliked Peter for saying cruel things to me. No, before that, I should have resented my parents for planting feelings of inferiority in my heart through endless comparisons.”

Now Nora clearly knew at whom she should have aimed her arrows. She wanted to let Arasila know this fact as well.

“I truly regret the times I hated you to death just because I couldn’t win the heart of the man I liked……”

She had to, so that her current apology would feel even a little more sincere.

Nora clasped her hands together and bowed her head deeply towards Arasila.

“I’m truly sorry. I know well that I can’t be forgiven for my sins with an apology like this, but still, I’m sorry.”

“……”

“And…… though it’s shameless of me, may I make one request? Please don’t spread rumors about me and Count Dryad……”

Nora’s words trailed off plaintively.

If rumors spread, her life would truly be over. Her very existence would vanish futilely, with no reward for her repentance.

The moonlight streaming through the window illuminated Nora’s tears. Arasila read the emotions of shame, regret, and remorse contained within them.

She’s sincerely apologizing to me.

Quietly observing Nora, who for the first time revealed her bare face and stood upright, Arasila slowly opened her mouth.

“Alright. From now on, don’t live like that. It’s your life, so don’t do what others tell you to do, and don’t spend it hating someone.”

Nora immediately nodded. Though it wouldn’t be easy to rebel after living a lifetime of obeying her parents, she felt that for the sake of her future, she could no longer live this way.

“Ah, and—”

Arasila, continuing her words, suddenly pulled back the curtain behind Nora. The place where she had said Count Dryad was sleeping drunk.

Nora’s eyes widened. Beyond the curtain were a sofa and table, but no people.

Not a single one.

“It was just the two of us from the start. Count Dryad probably didn’t even attend the party today. His wife said she couldn’t stand to see him.”

“……”

“If someone had really been there, I would have suggested moving to talk elsewhere. Even if they were drunk and asleep, how would I know they wouldn’t eavesdrop.”

This was all a false setup Arasila had devised to make Nora open her mouth. She never actually intended to implicate Nora in the same rumors as herself.

That would be too despicable.

Nora’s mouth fell open as she learned the truth. Tears of relief fell drop by drop from her eyes. Now that the worrying matter was resolved, her tear ducts couldn’t be controlled.

Arasila approached Nora, who was softly sobbing, and spoke calmly.

“But when the truth of the scandal is revealed, your future will still be difficult. It’s the price for what you’ve done, so I hope you endure it well.”

“……Yes, I’ll try to persevere.”

Even as she answered with some determination, Nora couldn’t stop her tears. All sorts of emotions – relief, reassurance, worry – were mixing together and flowing out as tears.

Leaving her continuing to sniffle, Arasila left the lounge first.

Though she had learned the truth she so desperately wanted, she didn’t feel refreshed. In addition to the shocking fact that her friend was the mastermind behind her predicament, she had learned of his hidden feelings.

That he liked her.

Sitting in the carriage, Arasila carefully went over Frederick’s strange behaviors up until now.

‘So that’s why……’

Coming to the wedding and saying incomprehensible things, showing excessively friendly words and actions whenever they met afterwards, antagonizing Demian for no reason.

Trying to meet only when Demian wasn’t around, and making nauseating remarks and skinship when there were onlookers.

Now she was certain. Even calling Arasila out to the lounge during the Founding Festival was Frederick’s attempt to make it look like they were having a private meeting.

Arasila’s fists clenched.

Just then, as if the party had ended, people came streaming out. Someone carelessly opened the door of the carriage Arasila was in and climbed in.

Arasila looked at the person without surprise.

“Did it go well, Arasila?”

“……Paula.”

Paula, who had arranged to meet in the carriage beforehand, faced her friend with a flushed expression.

She had come expecting to hear how Arasila had given Nora a good thrashing, but contrary to expectations, her friend’s mood was heavy.

Sensing something was off, Paula’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What’s wrong, did it not go well?”

“Paula, answer me honestly.”

“Huh?”

“Does Frederick like me? Romantically?”

Paula was the person who had watched Arasila and Frederick most closely for the longest time.

Being quick-witted and not insensitive about love, if Frederick truly harbored other feelings, she would have known.

Paula couldn’t immediately deny it with a shocked face. Arasila heard the answer in that silence.

“So you did know…… Why didn’t you tell me?”

“……Frederick hadn’t confessed to you or anything, how could I go around talking about his feelings based on just my guess.”

Paula answered with an apologetic expression. That reasoning made sense, so Arasila couldn’t say anything more.

To begin with, Paula hadn’t known his true feelings, so there was nothing to be sorry about or to blame her for.

“But how did you suddenly know to ask about that?”

“……It seems Frederick is behind this scandal.”

“What? Really?”

Paula asked back in shock. Arasila nodded with a heavy face.

“Yes. I’ll need to confirm more, but it’s almost certain.”

“My goodness, what on earth has Frederick done……”

Paula recalled Frederick, who had seemed particularly precarious lately. Showing blatant hostility towards Demian during the sick visit and all, his emotions were becoming more and more twisted.

That’s why she had even given a warning to Arasila on purpose, but to no avail, he directly created a scandal.

She could only think his purpose was to destroy Arasila’s family.

Sinking into gloom, Paula closed her mouth, and in the deep silence that occupied the carriage, Arasila thought.

‘I need to meet Frederick.’

She needed to talk with him. Since nothing was clear at present, she wanted to hear his story directly. After all, they had been friends for 7 years.

Turning her head to look out the window, her face sank coldly. The scenery of the street with its twinkling large and small lights was less turbulent than Arasila’s heart.

On the surface of the black magic bomb Ken had detonated was written the word ‘A76’. Demian traced the purchase route based on that.

Quite a long time had passed since the assassination attempt until now, but fortunately, he obtained results worth the effort he put in.

He caught the black magician who made that bomb. The man was boldly residing in an alley in the bustling capital, manufacturing and distributing magical tools.

Even when the Red Hawk Knights identified his hideout and surrounded the area, he was in the middle of crafting a lethal magical tool that would spread poison gas.

“He’s got guts. To dare make and sell black magic tools in the capital.”

“Indeed. If the Magic Tower had caught him, there wouldn’t even be bones left.”

Isaac clicked his tongue softly in agreement. Demian glanced at him and asked.

“So, is the interrogation over?”

“Yes, he said a merchant bought all the bombs from A70 to A85 last year. We even secured the transaction record.”

Demian took the document Isaac handed over and opened it. The name Brandon, who runs the merchant group ‘Dom’, was written at the top.

Perhaps because it was a common name, he felt like he might have heard it before. Demian closed the document and gave orders.

“We need to find the connection between this man and Duke Grant. Investigate the capital investment details of the merchant group, and find out who bought what from this group in the past 5 years.”

“Yes, Commander.”

Isaac greeted respectfully and left. Left alone, Demian carefully read all the documents when suddenly another thought occurred to him.

‘The Vandermir ducal family is still quiet.’

He had expected them to pick a fight at least once since Arasila now had a point of attack, but surprisingly, the ducal family’s side remained silent.

In fact, they had been that way ever since Oscar’s illegitimate child scandal.

The entire family was living as quiet as mice, with the troublemaker eldest son tightly hidden away in the ducal territory.

It could be out of embarrassment, or perhaps they were being careful not to give any other reasons for criticism.

But Demian knew there was a bigger reason.

‘I suppose they’re going crazy trying to find grandfather’s will?’