Demian received orders to return. The superficial reason was the deterioration of his wife’s health.

However, the real reason was that family issues had made headlines in the capital, causing a stir, so he was to return quickly and sort things out.

Having packed his bags according to Arasila’s letter just in case, he departed for the capital as soon as the order came. Though he was returning early as she had predicted, given the reason, he wasn’t particularly pleased.

On the way to the capital, Demian read a newspaper his subordinate had procured. The events at the Hounds’ Count’s tea party were described in exaggerated terms.

‘Starved, beaten, and worked to exhaustion.’

They did it all evenly, just like when I was young. His straight lips twisted. He folded the newspaper almost crumpling it.

Demian knows. That this is all Arasila’s plan. The fact that she had advised him to prepare for his return in her letter beforehand was proof enough.

She set a trap for the Duchess, and took drastic measures to summon Demian as well.

So half of it must be overly inflated words, but strangely, Demian couldn’t calm down. His heart beat with an unpleasant sensation, like an anxious and impatient person.

‘What is this emotion?’

Is it concern and worry that there might be another victim like himself, ridiculously?

Or is it already feeling a pathetic sense of kinship and sympathy, wondering if Arasila went through similar hardships in her youth?

‘She couldn’t have done exactly the same as to me. That was only possible because I was young then.’

Demian judged coldly. Even the Duchess couldn’t have treated Arasila exactly the same as back then.

He unfolded the crumpled newspaper again. And carefully scanned the article. His golden eyes stopped at the phrase ‘Lady Vandermir collapsed with a pale complexion like a dry leaf falling on barren ground’.

‘―Is she very ill?’

He remembered the white, thin nape and slender wrists and waist he had seen up close once.

Unlike her bold personality that could go in any direction, her appearance was quite delicate. So he couldn’t even distinguish whether the claim of illness was true or false.

‘Not sympathy, but worry.’

Realizing that he was now worried that Arasila might really be sick, Demian sighed, rubbing his face with his palm.

Since when had he become such an affectionate person? He soon opened the carriage window and called his subordinate to order.

“From now on, we ride to the capital without rest.”

In the old-fashioned aristocratic society that values etiquette, it’s natural for a married woman to become a member of her husband’s family.

At this time, the new bride becomes a newcomer to the family, and her husband’s family members become her superiors who teach her. Among them, the husband’s mother or grandmother who must give up the position of lady of the house is the direct superior.

Usually, to protect the existing order, the superior harshly teaches the newcomer. They make her cry her eyes out and keep her head down, crushing her spirit.

Then, when the newcomer has a child and time passes, the superior’s position is passed on. Before she knows it, she becomes the superior welcoming a new newcomer.

In other words, it means that everyone has experienced harsh treatment as a young noblewoman.

In this conflict between Duchess Vandermir and Lady Vandermir, more people than expected are taking the latter’s side for this reason.

I’ve been through that too, so I know it was too much.

Moreover, the exaggerated misdeeds that passed through many people’s mouths made it seem like the Duchess had crossed the line, which led to sympathy for Arasila.

How much the young lady must have suffered.

As she lay bedridden for days after collapsing at the tea party, unable to recover her strength, the sympathetic public opinion strengthened.

‘Ah, when on earth is Demian coming?’

In fact, Arasila had long since regained her strength but was pretending to be sick and lying in bed on purpose, which made her itch.

“Audrey, how far has Demian come?”

Arasila asked Audrey, who was the only one who knew about her feigned illness. She would get up only when her husband arrived.

“He’s crossed the eastern wall faster than expected, so he should arrive tomorrow afternoon.”

“Oh, really? Then I should send a letter to elder sister telling her to come visit with mother.”

The article turned out bigger than expected, throwing the Duke Hugo’s household into chaos. They desperately tried to stop them from rushing over immediately through Iris.

Since things had come to this, she planned to appeal her relationship with Demian and gain her family’s support, so they shouldn’t come before he arrived.

Above all, Demian had to come to officially oust the Duchess.

‘If I send the Duchess away, it might cause a negative reaction.’

One way or another, it’s better for the grandson to send his grandmother away than for the granddaughter-in-law to do so, which could seem presumptuous.

Thanks to this, despite such an uproar, the Duchess was still staying in the mansion, and Arasila was not sending her away either.

‘Demian should be the one to drive the final nail.’

Arasila was thorough in not giving the Duchess even a small gap. She intended to make sure she never barged in at will again during their married life.

On the long-awaited day of Demian’s expected arrival.

Arasila widely opened the doors to visitors, which she had blocked under the pretext of recovering her health.

She intended to show off her affection with her husband in front of others, to let them know there was no problem between the couple.

“Ah, I should have told Demian to bring a bouquet when he comes.”

As this thought occurred to her belatedly, she was about to send a magic messenger.

Knock, knock, someone knocked on the door.

Thinking it might be her elder sister and mother, Arasila immediately let the unidentified visitor into the room.

“Come in.”

But the person who appeared as the door opened was neither her elder sister, nor her mother, not even Demian.

It was Duchess Vandermir.

The Duchess had been distressed for the past few days. It was because she had never experienced such humiliation in her life.

Decades of history and honor as a high-ranking noblewoman who had reigned over high society crumbled in just a few days.

For the first time in her life, the Duchess, who was subjected to concentrated fire from the media, couldn’t come to her senses.

Do you know who I am! How dare you to me!

But when she, in the position of the perpetrator, got angry, the newspapers only published articles like ‘Duchess Vandermir, suffering from a disease that makes it difficult to control anger?’

‘I can’t return to the duchy like this. I must restore everything to its original state!’

The Duchess ground her teeth and tried to hold Arasila, the root cause of the current situation, accountable. However, Arasila had gone into seclusion under the pretext of being ill and locked her door.

Even when asked to talk, she didn’t listen.

But forcing her way in was difficult as the mansion maids defended like an iron wall, and she was also cautious about strange rumors spreading.

In the end, the Duchess waited for Arasila to end her seclusion with a feeling of her insides boiling and melting with impatience.

Then, finally hearing that Arasila had agreed to receive visitors, she rushed over.

Thanks to the Duchess’s maids luring away the maid guarding the door, she was able to enter smoothly.

“……”

“……”

Amidst an uncomfortable silence, the Duchess scrutinized Arasila with a sharp gaze.

“Ha, I knew it would be like this.”

Due to makeup that drained her complexion, Arasila still looked somewhat ill. But the Duchess believed she had fully recovered just by seeing her sitting on the sofa.

In fact, it wasn’t a wrong belief. Arasila was indeed healthy now.

“You’ve been healthy for days already, haven’t you been lazily lounging in your room!”

But abruptly scolding and suspecting without clear evidence could only make Arasila feel bad.

“That’s not the case, Duchess.”

“Shut up! I’ve never seen such a vicious and cunning person as you. How dare you tarnish my reputation in front of everyone?!”

As even the rumors spread by the mansion maids were sensationalized in articles, Duchess Vandermir’s image was thrown into the gutter.

She suddenly became a person who ugly-jealously tormented her young and beautiful granddaughter-in-law. As she who had always been above the clouds came down, the result was journalists pouncing on her.

The reputation she had built as a wise and elegant noblewoman, respected by high society figures, crumbled overnight.

They used the power of the Vandermir duchy to pressure the newspaper companies, but strangely, a few places didn’t listen, so they couldn’t stop the stream of gossip articles disguised as follow-up reports.

This is why Duchess Vandermir, with her anger rising sharply, couldn’t help but seek out Arasila. It was all because of Arasila that this happened.

“Even if I were your grandmother, would I have thrown purple violets in a place with so many watching eyes?!”

“If you were my grandmother, you wouldn’t have given me an invitation card dotted with violets in the first place.”

Arasila looked straight at the Duchess with her eyes wide open. Just like on the first day, her blue eyes were shining intelligently and full of life.

Just looking at these eyes, she didn’t seem like someone who had suffered from harsh in-law treatment.

“How dare you talk back now! The image of the Vandermir duchy damaged because of you can’t be recovered even with billions of gold!”

Why is that because of me? It’s the result of your own ruthless actions.

Arasila swallowed the words that rose to the tip of her tongue. There was no need to bow flat to the Duchess anymore, but it wasn’t time to fully reveal this yet.

“I won’t say much!”

The Duchess, who had barely regained her composure, declared with a stern face.

“I will arrange a place, so explain that everything was your misunderstanding and delusion born of excessive imagination, and let’s go down to the Vandermir duchy right away.”

Arasila felt a headache at these nonsensical words. Did she think she would answer ‘yes’ to that?

As she met the Duchess’s gaze, which was clearly still looking down on her, Arasila was about to bare her teeth.

“Have you finally gone senile, grandmother?”

A low, heavy voice intervened between the two. Even without turning around, Arasila could tell who had arrived.

The changed flow of air, the Duchess’s suddenly transformed expression, and the heavy footsteps slowly approaching fully revealed his presence.

Her long-awaited husband had returned.

The first words Demian uttered as soon as he entered the mansion were these:

“Where is my wife?”

The loyal butler informed him that the lady was in her bedroom. So Demian headed straight to the bedroom without even changing his clothes.

Thanks to this, he could catch the Duchess spouting nonsense to Arasila.

“Why should my wife follow you to the duchy, grandmother? Her husband, me, is right here.”

While shooting at his grandmother with an icy voice, his eyes were fixed on one person.

As if feeling the sharp gaze, Arasila slowly turned her head. Demian, who was approaching her, was startled.

Her eyes, glistening with faint moisture, looked like they might shed tears at any moment.

“Demian……”

A slightly sunken voice called him, trembling faintly. Demian moved faster and more nimbly than ever before.

In just three steps, he reached her and stood covering Arasila with his large body.

The expression of the Duchess watching this was not good. She opened her mouth, sending a hostile gaze to her grandson.

“Even if you can’t greet this old woman as soon as you see her, how truly rude.”

“Not as rude as you, grandmother, who came without notice.”

“Well, you should have sent greetings regularly. How could I bear not knowing how my grandson was living?”

At this brazen response, Demian didn’t even let out a scoff. He just looked down at the Duchess with coldly frozen eyes and spoke in a low voice.

“Leave our house immediately.”

“What?”

The Duchess, who questioned as if in disbelief, snorted loudly. She raised her chin arrogantly, crossing her arms.

An undeniable aura flowed from her, who had lived as the lady of the Vandermir duchy for decades.

“Why is this your house! This place originally belongs to the Vandermirs. Don’t dare use it as if it’s yours when it’s not!”

Demian was not hurt by the statement that subtly treated him as an outsider. He was so accustomed to this kind of talk that it didn’t even tickle him.

He deliberately raised the corners of his mouth smoothly and faced the Duchess. At his smile devoid of warmth, the Duchess faltered.

“No matter how much you deny it, grandmother, I am also a Vandermir.”

A fierce voice that seemed to scratch the back of her neck vibrated the Duchess’s eardrums.

“You raised me as an orthodox Vandermir who doesn’t hesitate to use any means for his goals, so don’t turn your back on me now.”