“Do you think you’re something special just because you’re marrying into the Grand Duke’s family? You’re going to the North where you can’t even survive winter without our family’s help!”

“Apologize.”

“You insulting me is a family matter. But you’ve just insulted the North where I’m to be married. I cannot forgive that, if nothing else.”

Anette’s voice echoed. The voice of the eldest daughter of the Porche family.

Could it be that she had requested a private meeting with him this evening just to show him her quarrel with her younger sister? However, at that moment, Anette’s voice seemed to be genuinely filled with anger.

‘Why?’

Could it be that she truly thought of the North as the territory where she would live from now on, as she had said?

That couldn’t be. They hadn’t known each other long enough to build a friendship, and she couldn’t have already developed an affection for the North, a place she had never set foot in.

‘Is it boldness or acting skill?’

If it was boldness, one could say the Marquis had raised a formidable person. If it was the latter, she could excel as a con artist.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Daniel approached and attended to him. Darius removed his mask. The young Grand Duke’s face, which had been hidden behind the silver mask, was finally revealed.

His face, framed by raven-like hair, shone white in the moonlight.

It was a visage so striking that if Caitlin, who had mocked Anette for marrying into the North, had seen it, she would have changed her mind and died of jealousy. Jealous that Anette was marrying not a gloomy Northern Grand Duke, but a handsome one.

“What is your assessment of the South on your first visit?”

“They’re all just fools dulled by peace.”

The young Grand Duke coldly replied to the knight Daniel’s question.

Extravagant foods that knew no moderation, a careless attitude that never once considered the possibility of war.

“I wonder how many of these idiots would survive if even one of the North’s snowstorms were to hit this place.”

“The South is a place where one can live without any preparation. It’s different from our North in every aspect.”

Their North never allows those who don’t prepare for winter to survive.

“But there seems to be at least one person in the South who thinks.”

Anette Porche.

She was different from the other Southern fools intoxicated by peace. She clearly knew who she was going to marry and where she would live in the future.

She had already donned a sturdy armor in her heart, as if preparing for the cold of the North.

She was cool-headed.

“A woman who lives quietly, pushed aside by the children of the second wife?”

The Grand Duke snorted derisively.

How could that be a woman who couldn’t even speak up properly?

“I apologize. There seems to have been a confusion in the report.”

Daniel made an awkward expression.

While apologizing, Daniel couldn’t hide the laughter rising from within.

“Lady Anette seems to be a very good person. I was worried, but I’m relieved now.”

Until they arrived at the Porche Marquis’ residence, Daniel had repeatedly advised that they should be cautious as they didn’t know what strategies the Porche family might be plotting. Seeing him soften so quickly, Darius felt displeased.

“I thought only the informant was distracted, but you’re the same, Daniel. Have you already lowered your guard after tasting the peace of the South?”

Anette’s bold confrontation with Caitlin earlier was impressive. But that was all.

“Don’t forget why our North has shed blood.”

It hadn’t even been a year since the previous Grand Duke had passed away.

They had been a father and son who barely saw each other properly, both busy taking care of their respective territories.

“Darius, be happy.”

The previous Grand Duke, on his deathbed, had wished for his happiness as his last words.

Some view marriage as the first step towards happiness in life.

‘But the purpose of this marriage is solely to obtain food from the South.’

Thinking of the territory’s people in the North suffering from cold and hunger, Darius could easily give up his own happiness.

‘A woman from the Southern family that brought down the North.’

He had not the slightest intention of truly trusting a woman from the Porche family.

* * *

‘That Anette girl has been strange lately.’

Anette’s nanny had been a maid since Anette was born. Without a mother, Anette had been timid from a young age, and would obey without a word when scolded. She was an easy child to raise.

‘She’s been like this ever since they said the Grand Duke was coming. Putting on airs just because she’s getting a husband!’

Even now, it was the same.

Suddenly saying the Grand Duke was visiting, she had ordered her to clean the room, saying it looked too shabby. She had clearly become arrogant, thinking she had something to rely on now.

‘I can’t even correct the manners of a girl who’s about to leave in a few days!’

The nanny irritably scrubbed with the rag. That’s when it happened.

A glittering light from the slightly open drawer caught the nanny’s attention.

“What’s this…?”

The nanny, as if possessed, opened the drawer, just in case.

Hidden among the clothes, as if Anette had tried to conceal it in her own way, was a jewelry box. However, the attempt was clumsy.

The jewelry box was left unclosed, fully displaying the radiance of the jewels inside.

‘It seems Anette properly got her belongings back after persistently confronting Miss Caitlin that time.’

The nanny took out the items from the jewelry box one by one. Whether rings, necklaces, or bracelets, they were all high-quality items.

Among them, a blue emerald necklace particularly caught her eye.

‘Anette only got these items back recently… Would she notice if one of them went missing?’

The nanny swallowed hard. The emerald necklace in her hand was gleaming alluringly.

* * *

Bang.

As I entered the room after a brief walk, the nanny was cleaning as I had ordered.

“Nanny.”

“Ah, Miss Anette.”

The nanny trembled like a thief caught red-handed.

“Have you finished cleaning the room?”

“Yes, yes…”

The nanny answered softly, unable to make eye contact with me more than usual.

“Hmm…”

As I ran my finger along the windowsill, dust that hadn’t been thoroughly wiped off stuck to my finger. The nanny watched anxiously as I rubbed my fingers together expressionlessly.

“Come to think of it, this room was originally old and shabby. No matter how much you clean, it doesn’t show.”

I snorted, belittling her efforts. The nanny’s face immediately contorted at my dismissive words. To show such a displeased expression before her master, she still hadn’t fully corrected that arrogant habit.

“What are you doing? Go. Don’t waste time here.”

“Yes, yes! Miss Anette.”

The nanny hurriedly left the room. As if she had something to hide.

As soon as the nanny left, I opened the drawer first. There, the jewelry box I had deliberately left was shining brightly.

“She’s not as brainless as I thought.”

There were traces of someone touching the items, but none of the valuables inside were missing. Disappointingly so.

If she had laid a hand on even one of these items, I would have exposed her theft and immediately driven her out of the Marquis’ household.

“Just you wait if you’re keeping even one of my belongings. On the day I become the Grand Duke’s wife, I’ll make sure the entire social circle knows about your sticky fingers, Caitlin.”

On the day I fought and pulled Caitlin’s hair, after Darius left, I went to find Caitlin and warned her sternly.

I told her if she wanted to be known as a vulgar thief in social circles, she should keep my belongings. Caitlin, crying and wailing, returned all of my jewels she had.

“There are a few missing items, but I’ll let it slide especially, considering our sisterly affection.”

Anyway, compared to what I was ‘planning to take’ from the Porche Marquis’ family, a few missing jewels were nothing.

“Do you know how many of my things I had to sell to replace those jewels?”

“How should I know? Who told you to borrow them carelessly?”

That day, Caitlin returned the jewelry box to me with swollen eyes, as if she was giving away a piece of her flesh.

Her helplessly frustrated appearance refreshed my soul.

This is what revenge is. Watching from above as the one who humiliated you struggles, not knowing what to do.

In that sense, I was not pleased with the nanny’s cautious choice.

‘In fact, even now, if I were to say I want the nanny dismissed, the Porche Marquis’ family would fire her.’

Anette was the nanny’s master. If I were to say that the nanny disobeyed my orders and showed an insolent attitude, the Marquis Porche would dismiss the nanny, if only to save my face as I’m marrying into the Grand Duke’s family.

‘But that would be nothing more than a noble lady throwing a tantrum.’

Without a clear justification, even after being expelled from the Marquis’ household, the nanny would go around complaining that she had been wronged. People would think as they pleased that Anette was mean for firing the nanny who had taken care of her since childhood.

That wasn’t the ending I wanted.

The nanny deserved to be pointed at by people.

To never be able to set foot in a noble household again, to regret deeply for looking down on a motherless girl.

“How should I punish her properly…”

Though her liver was too small to dare touch the jewels, the nanny had clearly wavered for a moment.

The unfocused look in her eyes when I entered the room spoke to that fact. Eyes captivated by desire. She was a foolish person who wavered even at a simple test.

“Should one harbor something they can’t handle?”

I smiled faintly. As long as I was Anette, I had no intention of letting those who disrespect Anette live.

“Nanny, come here.”

I called back the nanny whom I had just sent away.

“Nanny, you’ve worked hard all this time. Now that it’s time for me to leave, I want to show my gratitude.”

I smiled brightly. It was a step towards pushing her into hell.