Karina returned to her room.

She raised her hand to grasp her throbbing head.

‘I’m tired.’

She already felt drained after dealing with Jeremiah for that short time.

“Mikhail. Bring me a glass of water.”

Mikhail worried at Karina’s visibly exhausted appearance.

“Are you alright?”

He asked while pouring water into a cup and handing it to Karina.

“I’m fine.”

As he watched her drink the water, Mikhail spoke seriously.

“I will help you.”

“Huh?”

Karina asked with a puzzled expression at his sudden words.

“What do you mean?”

“I can help you. With the Grand Duchess’s divorce.”

“Ah…”

Karina was a bit taken aback by his offer to help with the divorce.

Mikhail moved closer to Karina.

And he covered her hand holding the empty cup with his own.

“I hope the Grand Duchess can be free as soon as possible.”

Mikhail’s gaze deepened.

“There’s absolutely no reason for the Grand Duchess to receive such unfair treatment in the Grand Duke’s household.”

Mikhail spoke so coldly that he almost seemed angry.

But his voice didn’t feel cold at all.

It felt strange, as if he was getting angry on her behalf.

“I’m your guard, so even if you leave the Grand Duke’s house, I’ll go with you.”

His words conveyed a sincerity that he would take her side no matter what happened.

She felt grateful and reassured at the same time.

“Thank you for saying that.”

Karina smiled, her eyes curving gently.

Mikhail’s eyes widened as he faced her smile.

“But it’s not time yet.”

Karina said with a serious expression.

“It’s not over just because we get divorced. We have to wait until all the preparations are done.”

“What preparations do you need? Please tell me. I’ll prepare everything that’s lacking.”

Karina laughed silently at his words.

It was about preparing for a future where she would live independently along with the divorce.

“No, this is something I have to do myself.”

She wanted to live a self-directed life where she wasn’t swayed or disregarded by others.

To do that, she needed to know how to stand on her own without relying on others.

She felt she shouldn’t depend on others from the start.

“And it’s right that I finish it.”

Karina wanted to end all the past wounds and connections with her own hands.

Only then did she feel she could completely erase even the tiniest bit of lingering attachment within her.

“This is all for my sake.”

A strong determination could be felt in Karina’s eyes as she spoke those words.

Mikhail quietly watched Karina lost in thought for a while.

“If that’s what the Grand Duchess says, then it must be so. I’ll believe whatever the Grand Duchess says.”

Mikhail smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth.

A warm warmth could be felt in that smile.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Huu.”

A deep, suppressed sigh echoed through the office.

An unpleasant feeling welled up from deep in his chest.

It was because the image of Karina nestled in the arms of her guard mage kept coming to mind.

That alone was enough to make him angry, but what made him even more uncomfortable was Karina’s parting words.

‘Divorce?’

The impact of the word divorce was tremendous.

The moment he heard the word divorce, Jeremiah felt like his breath was suddenly cut off.

But he soon came to his senses.

‘What on earth is she plotting?’

Jeremiah dismissed the idea of divorce as nonsense.

‘Does she think divorce would be that easy?’

He almost laughed at her naivety.

And the more he thought about her actions in bringing up such words, the more indignant he felt.

Crack.

The birch quill in his hand, which had unknowingly tensed up, broke messily.

As a result, his hand was covered in ink.

“Gasp! Your Highness!”

Janssen, who was nearby, quickly ran over to try to wipe his hand.

“It’s fine.”

He raised his hand to stop Janssen and stood up from his seat.

In this state, it was impossible to process any paperwork.

It felt like something hot as flame was rampaging through his chest.

He felt he wouldn’t be able to calm down at all unless he resolved this boiling energy.

“I’m going to the eastern training ground. Go and tell everyone to clear out.”

“Pardon…?”

Janssen was flustered.

Jeremiah had been frequenting the training ground lately.

So the order to prepare for sparring was familiar.

But it was the first time he had ordered the entire training ground to be cleared.

“Right now.”

“Ah… Yes, yes!”

Janssen quickly went out to deliver the order.

Jeremiah headed to the training ground, exuding a murderous aura as he carried his sword.

That day, rumors spread throughout the mansion that the floor of the eastern training ground had been shattered to pieces by Jeremiah’s single strike.

[This is the timeline separator]

“What? Really?”

“Yes, the maid in charge of cleaning the central staircase saw it herself.”

“So Karina was really caught by Jeremiah embracing her guard?”

Caroline’s refreshing laughter filled the room.

“Hahaha, things are getting interesting.”

Caroline was satisfied that things seemed to be unfolding more easily than expected.

She had been furious at Mikhail’s behavior of ignoring her summons not long ago.

‘He’s quite good-looking, so I was going to give him a special chance. Such a foolish guy.’

She had intended to call him right away and give him a beating for his arrogant attitude, but she only received a report that he was out with Karina and not in the mansion.

So she had been waiting for the two to return while holding a grudge.

While waiting, she had also dropped some unfavorable stories about Karina to Jeremiah whom she met in the dining hall.

“She’s been getting all worked up lately without knowing her place, so this serves her right. It’s good to see.”

Caroline hummed through her nose, imagining Karina’s embarrassed appearance.

Caroline thought it would be nice if Karina and that guard got into even bigger trouble this time.

She did think it was a waste of the guard mage’s looks, but his behavior of ignoring her words was hard to forgive.

“Even when given a chance, he couldn’t take it. That’s why he’s just playing guard to such a stupid wench.”

Caroline sneered with a scoff.

After pondering something for a moment, Caroline smiled slyly.

She called Nicole, her close maid.

“Send a letter to ‘that place’. Say that I want to meet.”

“When shall we set it for?”

Nicole asked familiarly, as if used to this, even though no specific place was mentioned.

“Tomorrow night would be good. Tell them to bring that as usual too.”

“Yes, Grand Duchess.”

Her close maid Nicole bowed her head and answered.

In the room left alone after Nicole left.

Caroline smiled brightly with an excited expression.

A few days later.

“Grand Duchess.”

Mikhail called Karina.

“About that job you left with the ‘flower shop’ last time. An answer just came in.”

The ‘flower shop’ he mentioned referred to Selena and Heistine.

Karina had bought the entire building of the pub where she had met them.

As it turned out, it was a place that ran a pub on the first floor and an inn on the second floor.

They had agreed beforehand to deliberately call it a ‘flower shop’.

Just in case someone overheard, to prevent suspicious words like pub or information broker from accidentally slipping out.

Karina planned to keep the existence of the information brokers a secret.

There were many reasons.

Many things were needed to live leisurely in a far-off place where no one knew her after the divorce.

She had to create a fake identity, and buy a mansion and land.

Money was essential to maintain a comfortable and pleasant life.

Karina intended to secure her own independent source of funds that would be difficult to trace through these information brokers.

To do so, she judged it was better to keep the very existence of the information brokers hidden.

‘There’s no need to reveal it anyway.’

In fact, Karina’s judgment was not wrong.

The more competent and good at their job an information organization was, the better it was for them not to be exposed above the surface.

‘I’m going to grow it steadily from now on, so it’s best not to receive outside checks or attacks as much as possible while it’s growing.’

Karina planned to greatly expand the scale and power of the information brokers by utilizing the knowledge of the future she knew.

To the point where no one could ignore them.

The start of that was winning over Selena and Heistine to make them her people.

Since it was the first time, she had asked for a simple job of finding a person.

“But who is this person?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, after hearing the report contents, it doesn’t seem like someone who would be good to keep close.”

“There’s no need to worry. I didn’t look for this person to keep them close.”

Karina gestured with her eyes for Mikhail to hand over the report while extending her hand.

The document she received contained exactly the content Karina had expected.

‘It’s the same as in the past.’

Karina smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth.

“Anything else?”

Mikhail continued his report at Karina’s question.

“About that orphanage from before, it was true that the director was using most of the support funds for alcohol and personal expenses, and offering up the remaining portion to the Grand Duchess.”

‘So it was true after all.’

Karina’s eyes narrowed.

“Additionally, they also uncovered some interesting facts.”

“Interesting facts?”

Karina examined the related content closely at Mikhail’s words.

Karina’s eyes widened as she confirmed the contents.

“…Is this true? If it’s true, this is an unexpected harvest.”

“Looking at the information source and situation, there’s a high probability that the report contents are true. Honestly, it’s harder to think that only one orphanage was embezzling support funds. What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do?”

“The matter might become much bigger than you think.”

“The matter becoming bigger is what I want. Tell them to investigate more extensively.”

Despite Karina’s confident attitude, Mikhail couldn’t shake off his concerns.

“You might end up getting hurt because of this too, Grand Duchess. People’s trust and faith in the Grand Duke’s family will fall.”

“Are you worried about me right now?”

Karina retorted lightly, as if joking.

“…”

But Mikhail still didn’t relax his stern expression.

Karina smiled as if she had no choice and opened her mouth.

“I’ll be fine, so there’s no need to worry. And even if I pretend not to know about this, it will be revealed someday anyway. Rather than that, it might be a better method for me to step forward and reveal it myself. We might end up thinking it’s fortunate we found out early.”

“…”

“If you’re thinking of me, do as I say. And if anything happens, you can protect me. You’re my guard, right?”

At Karina’s words full of trust, Mikhail’s lips moved a few times.

And soon, as if admitting defeat, he smiled wryly and nodded.

“Understood.”

“What about the orphanage children?”

“For now, we’re regularly providing them with firewood, food, daily necessities, and medicine for the sick children.”

“I see. Then now go back to the flower shop and…”

“Here’s one more.”

Just when she thought the report was over, he held out a thick paper document.

“What’s this?”

“It’s the list of business ventures you wanted, they say.”

“Already?”

Karina’s eyes widened in surprise.

The day she was persuading Selena and Heistine to accept her work.

She had only mentioned it once in passing, saying it was work she intended to assign later.

Karina received the document with renewed admiration.

“But why did you ask them to find this out? Looking at it, there doesn’t seem to be anything helpful at all.”

What Karina wanted were business plans from ventures waiting for large investors.

‘High risk, high return businesses.’

No one was willing to step forward to invest in businesses that met these conditions.

It was because the risk was simply too high.

And most of the business plan contents were either too absurd or just unrealistically grandiose, which also played a part.

But it was different for Karina.

‘I already know what will succeed.’

Karina smiled brightly, lifting the corners of her mouth.