Joyce’s eyebrow twitched when she saw the dark shadows under Neris’s eyes.

“……Did you have an uncomfortable sleep, Lady Neris?”

“I think it was more comfortable than Lord Joyce’s.”

At the calm retort, Joyce unconsciously touched under her own eyes.

In fact, she had known even before it was pointed out. She hadn’t slept a wink all night, so how could her eyes be bright and sparkling like a fawn’s?

The previous night had been a nightmare for everyone in this household. Probably the Earl and Countess McKinnon, as well as other relatives, had a restless sleep too.

“I apologize for summoning you so early. But there is something I need to confirm.”

Hearing Joyce’s polite words, Neris smiled slightly.

Diane was sleeping late, and knowing that she had been tossing and turning all night, Neris left her be and got up to have breakfast served by Betty.

And as soon as she changed clothes, she was summoned to Joyce’s study.

How precious is Joyce’s stiffness, never forgetting manners at any time, compared to Nualan’s kindness that smiles while thinking of turning someone into a murderer.

“This, this woman visited in the morning mentioning Lady Neris’s name. But what I heard was so shocking.”

“The ‘words’ you heard?”

Neris raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Joyce made a sound like grinding teeth for a moment before correcting her words.

“The matter I could infer from what I heard was so shocking.”

Joan Morrie, standing by the door of the study, wore a solemn expression. Only then did Neris turn to look at Joan.

Joan’s appearance wasn’t very good. Having to hide in the village for several days to avoid Angelo’s eyes, it must have been difficult to care about her appearance.

Although there were traces of trying to look as neat as possible, evident in her hair that looked pressed down as if wet, her clothes were all wrinkled. However, her expression was certainly brighter than before.

“Lady Neris helped this woman?”

Joyce asked with a face of disbelief.

A flicker of anxiety crossed Joan’s eyes. Her daring request for a private audience with the young lord of the Earl’s family early in the morning was half bravado. It was only possible because she had heard about what happened at the mansion last night.

Joan faithfully disclosed the fact that the Railing Company was systematically manipulating ledgers and diverting goods meant for the McKinnon Company.

This young lord granted her an audience upon hearing that she had urgent matters to discuss about Sivna McKinnon, but he frowned throughout her story.

And at the end of the story, he sharply asked.

“So, was my uncle helping with this?”

Because she was nervous, Joan realized only then that she should have started with that story.

Knowing that she had no place to retreat now, Joan cited as actively as possible all the circumstantial evidence she knew.

When the denunciation was over, Joyce silently ordered to bring Lady Neris, and Joan stood holding her breath until Neris walked into this study with determined steps.

A twelve-year-old girl, not the person in charge of practical affairs. Joan felt somewhat relieved seeing Neris, younger than many of her own siblings. However, she couldn’t shake off the doubt about whether her own behavior was rational.

The courage to let go.

The words Neris had said a few days ago couldn’t be considered a child’s statement. How much could a young noble lady know about Joan’s situation?

But Joan had to admit that she herself was already too exhausted.

That’s precisely why she fell for those few words.

She decided to stop the thing that had tormented her so much it came to strangling her, and reveal all the truth.

Neris saw Joan’s face and smiled slightly. And then.

“Oh, is that so?”

She smiled while poking both her cheeks with her index fingers. It was an action that any other child, no, that any other child wouldn’t call childish, but combined with Neris’s delicate features, it was breathtakingly cute.

Joyce wore an expression of disbelief. Joan also had a dumbfounded look. A moment later, the deep eyes behind Joyce’s glasses flashed.

“What are you doing?”

“The behavior you would expect from me.”

“I never expected such behavior.”

If a real child had seen that expression asking what she was doing, so unlike him, they might have been hurt. But Neris rather smiled.

As expected, Joyce was clever. He was a person who trusted the judgments he had seen and learned. Not relying on vague prejudices about what that age group would be like.

So this would be better for the McKinnon family as well.

“You believed that Diane wouldn’t know because she’s young, that Nualan would act honestly because he’s family, that Angelo would be diligent because he was introduced by family. I’m also young and introduced by family, don’t you believe me, Lord Joyce?”

Joyce’s eyes trembled.

Confusion and anger in clear eyes, and then acquiescence. The only reason Neris could read the last emotion was because she had already guessed its existence.

“I don’t think what I say has stronger evidentiary value than other circumstances. You probably have several ways to know whether what Ms. Morrie is saying is true or not. Yet you purposely called me to test me, right?”

It was accurate.

Joyce was at a loss for words and looked down at the girl before him. A sister who still appeared to him as squirming in swaddling clothes, making him want to keep taking care of her. Was this child really the same age as that sister?

Though it was hard to tell because she was emitting such a strong light, he felt an inexplicable impression that her eyes seemed to hide desperate sadness and cynicism. But what reason could there be for such emotions to be hidden at the mere age of twelve?

Neris chuckled and puffed out her chest dignifiedly.

“I won’t waste time repeating explanations to someone who already knows everything. Just make sure to protect Ms. Morrie, as she could be in danger. You can do that, right?”

Joyce silently looked at Neris for a while. And after about three breaths, he guaranteed while clenching his fist.

“……I will.”

“You ungrateful bastards! After all I’ve done for you!”

Even as he was being seized and thrown out by the servants of the McKinnon family, Nualan’s mouth didn’t stop. The maids who saw vulgar words coming out of the mouth of the once genial cousin young master for the first time shook their heads, and the hands of the servants holding him tightened.

Sivna cried out with tears welling up in his eyes.

“Brother! Brother, it’s all a misunderstanding! Sister-in-law! You know how much I cherish Diane!”

Joyce, who had kept them confined in the basement until the end of the holiday precisely in anticipation of such a scene, wore a cold face.

The Earl and Countess McKinnon didn’t even pretend to hear. They were just giving Diane, who stood in front of the carriage, affectionate kisses.

Behind Diane, the guards cum attendants who would leave for school with her were busily loading Diane’s newly tailored dresses, books, and toys into the new carriage.

“D, if anything happens, make sure to write to your brother right away. I’ll come running immediately.”

“My daughter, now that you’re leaving, how will I bear missing you?”

“If our baby feels uncomfortable with anything while living there, just put it on Dad’s tab and buy whatever new thing you need.”

Diane got annoyed, telling them not to call her baby in front of her friend, but her own eyes were a bit red too.

From the day after the festival, the family’s guests started leaving one by one appropriately, and by today, Neris was the only outsider left.

Neris didn’t even pretend to look away and watched with great interest as Sivna and his son were seized by servants, tied up, and loaded onto a cargo carriage.

The lord’s expulsion order is carried out in different ways in each territory, and it seemed that in this region, the old method of literally dragging them out beyond the territory immediately remained.

Nualan’s struggling eyes suddenly stopped on Neris’s face. Neris casually brushed off his resentful contempt.

Seeing this, Joyce naturally stepped between Nualan and Neris, shielding her.

“Lady Neris.”

Under the clear and blue winter sky like expensive glass, Joyce bowed with sparkling eyes.

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Neris replied elegantly and monotonously. It was a voice devoid of any emotion, so there was no sense of satisfaction or pride that one might usually have in such a position.

Joyce looked down at her and, surprisingly, smiled.

“Integrity is an excellent virtue, but sometimes there’s a need to reveal one’s own merits.”

Integrity? If one were to pick the most wicked person here, it would be Neris Trude. Moreover, who is saying such things to whom?

Neris was a bit dumbfounded at the words of Joyce, a man who at first glance seemed to care for the weak and value trust.

She smiled bitterly and deliberately answered casually enough for Joyce to understand the nuance.

“Thanks for the advice.”

“If you ever need help, please contact the McKinnon family anytime. Though our power is meager, we will help whenever we can.”

The McKinnon family can grow further using this incident as nourishment. No need to decline, Neris lifted her skirt to bow.

“I appreciate even just your words.”

The cargo carriage carrying Sivna and his son was already far away. Next to be dragged out were Angelo and his daughter. Joyce frowned at the commotion Angelo was causing, saying similar things to Sivna and his son.

“Young master! Oh, Madam Countess! Madam Countess! I’ve been wronged! No, I was deceived! How could a powerless person like me refuse the orders of the Count’s brother!”

“Shut up!”

Based on Joan’s testimony, Angelo was to pay for his crimes of embezzlement and conspiracy to murder the Count’s daughter. Many of the things he had been doing until now were revealed, and investigations into additional crimes were also underway.

Knowing all these circumstances, the servants of the McKinnon family didn’t hesitate to beat him up and roughly gag him.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Unlike Sivna and his son who were relatives of nobles, Angelo was a commoner. The punishment to be imposed on him was of course more than exile, and the gate he had to pass through was not the front gate but the back door.

To convey such gist to the servants, Joyce strode towards where Angelo and his daughter were, and Neris glanced at Heather.

Although Heather hadn’t committed any legal crimes, since her father had fallen from grace, she would never set foot in this mansion again. Her appearance was also terrible, having been locked up in the basement for days.

Heather’s gaze, which had been glancing nervously at Joyce from beside her father, brushed past Neris and turned towards Diane.

Diane was also looking at Heather. Neris went to Diane’s side, becoming a wall blocking between the two girls.

Since Diane was taller than Neris, she couldn’t completely block Heather’s gaze, but Diane smiled comfortably with a relaxed face. Rather, Diane seemed to have no interest in Heather at all now.

“It was fun going around the lake together, wasn’t it?”

Although there was that commotion at the festival, Diane and Neris spent the remaining holiday period quite enjoyably. They rode horses around the lake—Joyce held the reins—and went to the forest to collect pine cones. They also spent all day reading books together in the luxurious library of the McKinnon mansion.

Neris didn’t dislike such times either. She could think thoroughly about her future plans while walking, and in the library, she gained a lot of information about the national situation of this period. She nodded.

“Yes.”

“Let’s come again next year!”

As her father was being dragged towards the back door, Heather followed behind, crying pitifully. As Heather completely disappeared from view, Earl McKinnon said.

“You are welcome anytime, Neris.”