Hayd shrunk his neck. At the same time, the steward seemed slightly relieved.

It seemed that way because the responsibility was shifting away from me.

“Hayd was busy guiding the knight. That was what I ordered him to do yesterday.”

Hayd’s sunken neck straightened again. I told Philip precisely.

“Why do you think I gave that order?”

So Philip, it would have been fine if you hadn’t knocked down Alexandr.

Philip’s mouth snapped shut.

Seeing him glance momentarily to the side, I realized he understood my words and was inwardly acknowledging their accuracy.

But he soon shook his head.

“There’s no law saying it won’t happen again, is there? Accidents should be prevented in advance…….”

“No. Blahnath is my dog. I will decide, so don’t kill it as you please.”

I cut him off firmly, and Philip looked at me dumbfoundedly.

I felt a little guilty. Even though I claimed it as my dog, I had never fed it myself.

“Blahnath just wanted to play outside. The breeding grounds are wide, but he is so big that he might have felt stuffy.”

I tried hard to make excuses and looked at Blahnath and the steward.

“Isn’t that right?”

This was a leading question.

The answer was decided, and you just have to respond.

“Grunt.”

Blahnath looked at me, wagging his tail gently.

I was a bit surprised when he suddenly ran over earlier, but he looked so gentle and cute now.

“Hand.”

Standing upright, I commanded, and snap! A large front paw was raised in the air.

“Stand up.”

Blahnath stood up.

“Sit down.”

Snap! He sat down.

“Why did you do that?”

One ear perked up, Blahnath’s large head tilted to the left.

“Why did you do that? Don’t you know that running around on your own is ruining your dog life?”

“Grunt.”

As I scolded, Blahnath’s spirit was dampened.

“You, do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Grunt.”

“Can’t you answer properly?”

“Ooong oong oong ooong…….”

A strange sound, neither barking nor whining, came out.

The sound was cute, not matching his size.

“The breeding ground is wide, isn’t it? But you still wanted to come out?”

“Woof.”

Blahnath barked softly, wagging his tail.

“But you can ignore the steward’s words? Can’t you?”

Like scolding a child, I scolded, and Blahnath’s head again dropped slightly. The guy glanced at me and Philip with his eyes wide.

The sight of Blahnath watching my eyes made me burst into laughter.

The steward, who had been quietly watching until then, quickly nodded his head.

“He understands everything and still does it, so it makes me angrier.”

Then he bowed his head to Philip.

“I apologize, master, but as I listen, it seems the lady is right.”

One of Philip’s eyebrows shot up.

“He spent all day walking with you three days ago, didn’t he? Since then, he’s wanted to leave the breeding ground.”

“See that! It’s probably like being bored at home. But…….”

I chimed in and then realized that there was something unusual in the steward’s words.

“Three days ago? You went for a walk with Blahnath all day?”

I recalled what I had said to Philip three days ago.
“That’s enough, you can rest at home. If you have nothing to do, you might as well take the dog for a walk.”

Could he have heard my words?

“Cough!”

Philip, his face flushed, coughed loudly and put his sword back in its sheath.

“Well, anyway, it’s not as if Blanc’s sudden action is justified, is it?”

“That may be so, but….”

Having admitted that, no rebuttal came to mind. But I couldn’t just let Blanc be punished.

After a moment’s thought, I brushed Blanc’s head. Blanc obediently nuzzled against me.

The fur was soft and warm. It didn’t even smell like a dog.

“When did you bathe him?”

“Yesterday.”

Absolute obedience to my words? The thought that it might be okay crossed my mind.

“Unleash the leash and give it to Sir Mild.”

The manager handed Blanc’s leash over to Sir Mild.

“Don’t scare the horse, and make sure you get Blanc in the carriage.”

“Yes?”

“While you’re at it, make sure to see if he can also get a walk.”

He seemed puzzled, but Sir Mild led Blanc and got him on the carriage properly.

Blanc, taking up about half of the carriage, settled into his place. I informed Philip.

“For now, punishment is not an option.”

“How strange. Normally, my lady would have insisted on severe punishment first….”

The original Ellen might have, but not me.

‘I can’t say let’s kill Blanc either….’

I must give up on trying hard to act like Ellen.

I’ve tried to fit into the character, forced myself, said wrong things, made many efforts, but I’m not Ellen after all. I’m even less a villainess.

‘It’s not like one or two things have already gone wrong, and after the divorce and leaving the mansion, I’ll probably see Philip very little….’

What I need to care about now is my life after leaving the mansion.

Living well without being entangled with the main characters, meeting a good man who doesn’t know Ellen’s past, enjoying some romance, and living a second life with a silver spoon.

I remembered spending a lively night with Philip yesterday, but I steadied my heart.

‘I can’t maintain a death flag with my own hands.’

The events of last night are a matter of legal spousal mutual rights or obligations, so I don’t need to worry about them.

Having sorted that out, I said calmly to Philip.

“I’ll keep him in the kennel until I leave the mansion.”

Philip’s expression was strange.

“…Yes? What’s that?”

“Is it strange that I take care of my dog?”

“That’s not it, but….”

“Yes, then it’s settled. I’ll take him with me when the divorce consideration period is over, so please bear with it for a while.”

“…?”

“If he had bitten a person, it would be another story, but he can’t be slaughtered in advance. Now, I have some backedup business to attend to, so I’ll leave.”

“…?”

I felt refreshed, saying what I wanted to say in my own way. But Philip said nothing more. It looked as if he had been hit on the head with a hammer or something.