Seeing Peter’s rigid expression, Monique exclaimed triumphantly.

“I’ve found her! Lowell Hessen, known to be dead!”

It was the moment when Lowell’s trap began to reveal its existence.

The day the conservatory garden was ruined.

In the shadow of the wall that would never open again, Lowell asked Rene to take care of something.

“I’ve received an invitation to Tilleman, Rene.”

“Really? Congratulations. You’ll be the first Martinek to attend Tilleman.”

Despite understanding what it meant to be invited to a banquet they had no intention of attending, Rene joked.

“The first uninvited guest at Tilleman, more like.”

Starting the rumor that ‘Lowell Hessen might be alive’ and the invitation to the Tilleman memorial banquet.

The card game between Lowell and Peter was remarkably clear.

Each showing their hand to the other, coaxing what the other would play.

Her true aim was just one thing.

‘Peter’s reaction to the rumor.’

Peter, you must be curious about what I’m planning and what I want.

The answer is only for you to hear.

‘Because you were always what I wanted.’

If Lowell was alive, would Peter look for her?

She hadn’t heard a direct answer to that question, but Lowell already knew it.

If Peter wanted to find Lowell, he would have sought her out as soon as she spread the rumor.

But Peter didn’t look for her. Instead, he even shattered the memories of Lowell.

That meant one clear thing.

‘You want to deny me, Peter.’

You don’t want to cling to that slim hope of me being alive and wither away day by day.

Maybe you’ve already had such a time in the last ten years and don’t want to experience it again. Maybe you suffered so much with the memories of me that you gave up on me.

But what now, Peter?
‘That’s exactly what I want.’

Hope begets despair, despair begets anxiety, and anxiety begets confusion. A person trapped in confusion and anxiety can do nothing.

That thin hope that Lowell might be alive. If Peter clings to that hope, Lowell can easily push him into the darkness of a sealed-off abyss.

That’s why she spread the rumors. But if this doesn’t work, she’ll have to throw something bigger.

‘Slightly hesitated but…’

The moment the conservatory garden was ruined, the answer was decided.

Peter will eventually seek Lowell.

His despair was predetermined.

And so, this was the result she created.

Lowell deliberately turned the ribbon in a case into a parcel. She subtly made sure that Monique saw it through Devona. Greedy Monique would never just pass by such an opportunity.

“I did as you said, Lady Annet, and Dowager Empress took the parcel. Surprisingly, she didn’t take the letter.”

“If it was a delivered parcel, there should have been a record of it being forwarded to me. Probably didn’t take the letter to avoid the hassle of explaining a total loss.”

Taking the letter would have been more amusing, but that was greedy.

The item Lowell asked Rene for, and the one Monique eagerly brought, was the only proof Lowell had kept.

Proof of her identity as Lowell Hessen, now impossible to verify.

‘Had I not been wearing it in my hair when I left the mansion, it would surely have burned too.’

This ribbon was a gift from Peter to Lowell. She often wore it in her hair, and the day she went to see a doctor far away was no different.

Of course, when she returned, it was difficult to tie it in her hair, so she just put it in her bag. It was a stroke of luck. If she had worn it in her hair on her return, her identity would have been revealed.

The gift from Peter thus returned to its original owner.

Something like this, Peter would surely recognize.

‘How about it, Peter.’

Do you believe now that I might be alive?