Was it a trend to break the couch when angry?

Aeli gulped as she looked at some of the wrecked couch armrest debris that had fallen to the floor in pieces.

It was unlikely that he didn’t understand the meaning of the conversation they just had, so he must have realized there was a spy inside the mansion.

‘The reaction is…’

More intense than Noel’s.

If he had openly attacked or gotten angry like Noel, she would have thought it possible. But destroying the innocent couch without a word left her unable to open her mouth.

In the first place, it seemed more appropriate to think there was no room for her to intervene in the conversation between Lutis and her father.

Aeli blinked rapidly at her father’s hand, which was thinly stained with blood from some embedded wood splinters.

“For now…”

“……”

“−I will listen to the rest for now.”

The voice of the man who pressed his eyes tightly with his uninjured hand, as if to continue, dropped low.

She couldn’t just run out of her seat right now. Because even if she did, there wasn’t much she could do.

It had already been several years since the count’s position was passed down to Noel, and judging from the circumstances, the spy was likely to be in the capital mansion.

‘I heard he rarely goes out even beyond the estate mansion, let alone the capital, so there won’t be much he can actually do.’

Most of the countermeasures her father would be thinking of would have already been taken care of by Noel.

To point out an even more fundamental problem, hadn’t it already been several years since that incident?

It was uncertain whether the person managing the communication tunnels at the time was still working now, and if not, they would have to ask around to find them.

Even so, there was no clear way to confirm whether it was really the administrator who deliberately broke the communication tunnels− it would take time to grasp the situation anyway.

Lutis opened his mouth.

“…It was I who sent the child to the annex, but I took measures so that she would not fall behind compared to when she stayed in the main building before I left for the war. But when I returned, I found that the budget was being embezzled.”

“……”

“I don’t think I’m without fault. But the chief attendant at the time of the embezzlement had already taken his own life, so he couldn’t be interrogated and…”

“…So.”

“−So instead, I traced back the ghost accounts I received from his son, and the banks where the embezzled budget was deposited were different each time.”

“……”

Aeli’s expression became strange upon hearing Lutis’s words.

She wondered when he had investigated that, but was it really unusual?

‘Isn’t that intentional so as not to arouse suspicion or be quickly exposed if they keep frequenting one place?’

If he had wandered around here and there in vain to cover his tracks, it wouldn’t have been such a noticeable problem.

In fact, if someone who didn’t appear to be a nobleman or a wealthy person constantly deposited large sums into a commoner’s account, it would have been suspicious.

Since his position prevented him from going far as he couldn’t leave the mansion for long− he most likely alternated between several banks within the capital.

It was more surprising that he had done that for several years without getting caught for that long.

As Aeli was thinking that, she opened her mouth slightly in surprise at Lutis’s next words.

“The deposit records were found in banks all over the empire. Places where there were so many customers that it would be difficult to remember who had visited after time passed.”

It was impossible for the chief attendant to be away from the mansion for long periods.

So it was impossible for him to have traveled long distances himself.

“……”

Then it meant he didn’t act alone.

It wasn’t that there weren’t some loose ends, but she didn’t expect there to actually be more to it.

Aeli clenched her fists in bewilderment. She felt the dress skirt crumple slightly in her grip.

Afterwards, when no answer came from her father, Lutis continued.

The child being kidnapped after going down to the estate. A magic stone containing black magic being discovered in the process.

The emperor summoning the child to the imperial palace. Ordering her to receive blessings alone at the temple, etc.

“……”

Although the story about the hidden princess and herself was omitted, anyone who wasn’t a fool could understand from just this much.

The imperial family was openly wary of them.

If not, there would be no reason for them to go this far.

“…Are you saying the emperor is displeased with the young lord?”

“Currently, there is only a princess in the imperial family, so that’s likely the case. In the first place, the current emperor’s position was obtained by pressuring the previous emperor with his maternal relatives, wasn’t it?”

He had become the crown prince by pushing aside his elder sister, so he couldn’t help but be concerned about being in the same situation now.

There was nothing he excelled at compared to his sister, whether it be academics, swordsmanship, or horse riding, so as soon as the current emperor succeeded the throne, he found fault with the princess and exiled her.

‘−And that too, disguising it as a fall from a horse to make her legs crippled.’

Although there was no physical evidence, everyone knew it wasn’t a simple accident.

After that, the weakened previous emperor passed away, and with nothing left to hold him back, he subtly spread rumors that it was because his sister was a woman that she fell off the horse.

But ironically, his only child was a princess, so he wanted a prince to gain legitimacy for his own words.

Unfortunately, the empress became unable to bear any more children after giving birth to the princess.

‘From the empress’s perspective, there is already a princess, so if a prince is born, the position of the next emperor will be jeopardized, so she can’t just sit still.’

Meanwhile, there were rumors that the emperor was not properly attending to state affairs as his attention was focused on securing an heir.

Although everyone was keeping it hush-hush as it was still all being discussed behind the scenes, she knew roughly how the situation was unfolding since she shared the information Lutis had learned after returning from the war.

If only the emperor’s sister had taken care of state affairs, the country wouldn’t have been in such turmoil.

There were some who thought this way, but the princess’s whereabouts became unknown after her exile, and rumors circulated that she might be dead.

So while his position wasn’t immediately threatened, he was being pressured by the empress’s family as he continued to bring in concubines.

‘In this situation, the only existing son from the meritorious families who founded the nation is the Ratcliffe’s child.’

And as if to make matters worse, the head of the family was a Sword Master, so it was obvious he would be seen as a thorn in their side.

They had no intention of doing such a thing, but she couldn’t understand why they were so eager to devour them.

‘On top of that, they were so desperate to prevent Lutis from doing his job properly while he was the captain of the imperial knights.’

Perhaps it was all an inferiority complex.

When Aeli first heard about this, she almost fainted but barely held it in.

If this was how they were going to live, they might as well defect to another country.

…But to say that, there were too many troublesome things starting with Mason who would remain in Magnar, so she only thought about it.

Really, just a thought.

As Aeli was listing out those thoughts, her father opened his mouth as if the conversation had ended.

“−I understand. Then, Duke, your words mean that you want me to add Mason’s name so that the young lord can be safe, don’t they?”

“……”

“However, there seems to be no reason anywhere that the young lady must use Mason’s name to protect the young lord.”

“……”

At the voice that suddenly turned sharp, Aeli kept her gaze lowered.

“When I saw you on the first day, the young lady got off the same carriage as the Duke and the young lord. Although the Count vouched for your identity, I can roughly tell that you are related to the Duke.”

“……”

“I believe you are aware that you are asking such a person to lend Mason’s name.”

“……”

“−Let’s pretend I didn’t hear it. When the young lord returns, please leave the estate.”

Thump, clunk!

Before she could open her mouth any further, her father left his seat and her mother hurriedly followed after him.

She had expected it to turn out this way, but actually experiencing it made her heart ache more, and Aeli bit her lip hard.

‘Perhaps…’

As if regretting bringing her into this mansion.

Because of the gaze that glared at Lutis as if looking at someone shameless and rude before leaving−

That might be why it hurt even more, she thought.

[This is the timeline separator]

“…? Already going?”

“…Yeah. But Adi, it looks like you received a lot of gifts from uncle?”

“Ah, not really.”

“……”

“I did receive a little bit though…”

But he’s not Santa Claus. Aeli smiled faintly as she watched the child grumbling while hugging a rabbit doll to his chest.

How much of an amazing time must they have enjoyed while Noel and the two of them were out?

Even as she sat in the carriage preparing to leave as soon as the child returned to the mansion, Aeli’s gaze couldn’t seem to leave one place.

What on earth did he buy and hug the child with that there seemed to be at least two more luggage carriages than when they arrived?

Aeli smacked her lips as she glanced at the scenery visible through the window of the slowly departing carriage.

[I fixed it just in case while preparing to go to the drawing room because I thought you might cause trouble.] […..]

[It’s a good thing I did, since you arbitrarily detached the brooch.]

She roughly heard from Noel the reason why the magic wasn’t released even after removing the brooch.

He said he changed the formula so that the effect would be maintained for a certain period of time even if she wasn’t wearing the brooch because he was worried.

As a result, Noel’s guess was quite accurate.

‘…Why do I feel so indignant?’

As Aeli was narrowing her eyes with a strange displeasure. The child spoke to her.

“Are we riding the carriage again…?”

“Do you feel sick? I saw uncle cast a magic on Adi to prevent motion sickness.”

“That’s not it, but…”

Krrr.

Judging from the child’s gaze moving here and there, it felt like such a sound could be heard.

To the child who looked somewhat anxious and fidgety, Aeli, who thought it strange, was about to open her mouth halfway.

Thud, krrr.

Thump, rumble−.

Bang!

“Ahhh!”

An object that flew from somewhere crashed into the carriage window with a loud thud.