“Hey, did you hear the news? The Grand Duchess illegally siphoned off and extorted funds meant for rebuilding the North!”

“Really?”

“You didn’t know? It’s been causing quite a stir lately.”

“Seeing those who boasted about their successful businesses getting arrested one after another for investigations is truly shocking.”

“And that’s not all. There are rumors that during the charity event at the Grand Ducal Residence, they tried to slander and frame the Grand Duchess.”

“No way, that can’t be true.”

“They tried to make her out to be a scandalous woman who fooled around with Genen Yeong-sik.”

“Didn’t you see the newspaper? It had quite detailed information about the situation the Grand Duchess was put in.”

“Oh my. So it’s true then?”

“I can’t believe the Grand Duchess would do such a thing. Who would have ever imagined?”

People everywhere were busy huddling together, chattering non-stop.

Karina sipped her warm fruit tea while listening to the conversations around her.

Her escort Mikhail also had an amused expression as he overheard the conversation at the next table.

“The rumors are spreading faster than we anticipated.”

At Mikhail’s words, Karina smirked.

“Of course. I put in some effort behind the scenes to make it spread quickly, so it’s only natural.”

Karina had pulled some strings to ensure the details of what happened at the charity event would become widely known as rumors.

She deliberately called the young lady and Yeong-sik of the Medius Earl family, who held shares in a newspaper company, and asked them to publish an article containing only the facts.

From their perspective, it was more of a warning than a request.

But so what?

Newspapers are a means to widely disseminate facts, and she had only asked them to write the facts as they were, so she hadn’t done anything particularly wrong.

And she told Selena and Heistine to secretly scatter the newspapers in places where anyone, commoner or noble, could easily see them.

Honestly, she had been worried that Jeremiah would find out and stop it in advance, but nothing of the sort happened.

‘He values the Grand Ducal family’s prestige above all else, so why isn’t he saying anything? He must have known before the newspapers were even published…’

It was puzzling, but she decided not to dwell on it.

The newspapers had already been published, and facts were facts.

Karina took another sip of tea and shook off the unanswerable question.

With this, Caroline’s social burial was practically set in stone.

A satisfied smile spread across Karina’s face.

“You were the one who scattered the newspapers in prominent places for people to see well, right?”

She said to the child sitting in front of her.

“I figured I should earn my keep.”

It was the orphan child who had been caught pickpocketing at the orphanage.

The child answered with a slightly proud expression.

“You already more than earned your keep by coming to the event.”

“That was done to give the director a proper lesson.”

The child snickered gleefully.

“The higher-ups don’t really care about how we actually live. They don’t even try to find out. So the best way is for us to go and show them directly.”

Before the event, Karina had sent Mikhail to inform the orphanage children in advance of what they needed to do.

She had told them to come to the event venue and fully display their disheveled appearances as they were.

Karina had thought the child would definitely refuse, saying they didn’t want to.

The child cherished their younger siblings, and just because they were orphans didn’t mean they had no pride.

‘That’s why I sent Mikhail to persuade them well.’

But when Mikhail returned, he said something completely different from Karina’s expectations.

‘The child is clever. As soon as they heard, they said they understood. They seemed to grasp right away what you were trying to do, Grand Duchess.’

There was a smile playing at the corners of Mikhail’s mouth as he said that.

Despite calling the child impudent and brazen, he seemed to have taken quite a liking to them.

Now Karina could see why Mikhail had been fond of the child.

She chuckled.

“Since you played such a vital role, I thought I should reward you, so I called you here. Eat to your heart’s content.”

Karina treated the child to a sweet hot chocolate and an appetizing assortment of bread.

But despite drooling at the sight of the desserts, the child didn’t reach for the food.

Noticing the child’s hesitation, Karina spoke.

“I already arranged for the orphanage children’s portions to be bought and sent separately. This is prepared just for you, so don’t worry about the other children and eat until you’re stuffed.”

“Ah…!”

Only then did the child eagerly stuff the bread and pastries into their mouth as if they had been waiting.

The child’s cheeks puffed out.

It must have been delicious, as the child’s eyes sparkled.

Seeing this, Mikhail poked the child’s cheek with his finger.

“Eat slowly so you don’t get indigestion. No one’s going to take it from you.”

The child nodded and diligently chewed the mouthful of bread.

Having quickly polished off all the food in front of them, the child finally downed the slightly cooled hot chocolate in one gulp.

“Phew.”

The child set the empty cup on the table with a satisfied expression.

Then they looked at Karina as if they had something to say.

“What? Should I order more if it’s not enough?”

The child shook their head vigorously, then lowered their gaze to the table.

Scratching the bridge of their nose, they mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“…Thank you.”

“Hm?”

Karina asked back, not having heard properly as the voice was too soft.

“…I said thank you.”

“For buying you bread today?”

“No.”

The child raised their eyes to look at Karina.

“For everything.”

“…”

Karina was inwardly surprised.

She had never expected to receive thanks from this child.

“You…”

“It’s Aiden.”

The child interjected.

“Hm?”

Karina tilted her head at the child’s sudden words.

“Aiden. My name…”

“Ah…”

“The late director gave it to me.”

The child said with an awkward expression.

Karina’s heart warmed at the child revealing their name.

“Aiden. It’s a wonderful name.”

Karina smiled gently and complimented them.

“It really suits you. The previous director gave you a great name.”

Aiden pursed their lips, trying not to show their bashfulness.

“I know that too.”

Although their tone was gruff, Karina could see the tips of the child’s ears turning red.

“I’d like your help in the future as well, if that’s alright?”

As Karina said that, Aiden’s face instantly lit up.

Aiden forcibly pulled down the corners of their mouth that were rising sky-high.

“Well, if you say you need me, I have no choice but to help.”

But it was evident that their expression had already softened and they were beaming.

“I know the back alleys like the back of my hand. There’s probably no one who knows as well as I do when and where people gather in large numbers.”

Karina and Mikhail chuckled at Aiden’s boasting.

Knock knock.

“…”

Jeremiah, who had come to Karina’s room, opened the door and entered.

He had knocked several times but received no response from inside.

As Jeremiah stepped in, he furrowed his brows upon realizing Karina was not in the room.

But that was only for a moment; he grew a bit puzzled as he took in the state of Karina’s room.

Karina’s room contained only a few essential pieces of furniture, with almost no decorations or embellishments commonly found in the rooms of noble ladies.

Even the furniture was very old, having been used in the Grand Ducal Residence for a long time.

A single framed pressed flower on the wall and a half-filled water jug and cup on the table were the only things.

Jeremiah suddenly realized that he had never personally visited Karina’s room since their marriage.

For now, in order to find out where Karina had gone, Jeremiah called for Ron and Janssen.

“I was told the Grand Duchess went out with her escort,” Ron reported.

“Where to?”

“As usual, she did not disclose her destination today either.”

“…”

Feeling slightly deflated, Jeremiah asked Janssen about something that had been on his mind.

“Did you know the Grand Duchess’s room was like this?”

Karina’s room felt barren and empty.

Jeremiah slowly entered the area with the bed to take a closer look.

The bedding was heavy and the fabric stiff. Only enough firewood for a single use was bluntly placed beside the fireplace.

The air in the room held no warmth and barely any traces of occupancy.

“No. Caroline said she would take care of the Grand Duchess’s room herself and told us not to worry about it… I apologize.”

Janssen bowed, expressing his remorse.

Jeremiah’s brow creased.

“Summon the maid-in-charge right now.”

Jeremiah ordered for the maid responsible for managing Karina’s room to be called.

While waiting for the maid to arrive, Jeremiah opened Karina’s dressing room.

The dressing room also exuded the same cold and empty feeling.

In fact, there was a separate reason why Karina’s dressing room was empty.

Karina had disposed of as much as possible to secure funds for investments, commissions, or expenses necessary for executing her plans.

As a result, more than half of Karina’s dressing room was vacant.

All that remained in the dressing room were a few everyday dresses brought from her marriage and two gowns worn to banquets.

The adjacent jewelry box for storing accessories was nearly empty as well.

“It’s quite empty.”

Ron muttered as if seeing such a vacant dressing room for the first time.

“…”

Jeremiah didn’t respond but shared the sentiment.

Although he had never closely examined a woman’s dressing room, he knew this level of emptiness was not the norm.

He was aware that Caroline had new dresses made for every banquet.

Even if Karina had only bought as many clothes as the number of times Caroline had them tailored, her small dressing room should have long been overflowing due to lack of space.

Yet more than half of that space was utterly empty.

The crease between Jeremiah’s brows showed no signs of smoothing out.

“You called for me, Your Grace?”

Just then, Charlotte, the head maid, arrived before Jeremiah.

“Why is the Grand Duchess’s room in this state?”

Jeremiah asked bluntly.

Charlotte answered without faltering.

“It has been this way from the beginning.”

“From the beginning?”

Charlotte tensed at Jeremiah’s visibly worsening mood.

At the same time, she thought this might be an opportunity to reveal the unfair circumstances Karina had been facing.

Swallowing dryly, Charlotte spoke again.

“It was Lady Caroline’s instructions. From the very first day the Grand Duchess arrived at this residence, Lady Caroline took full charge of managing and preparing the Grand Duchess’s room.”

“…”

“Saying that frugality and simplicity should be practiced in daily life, she furnished it only with previously used items and strongly discouraged procuring any new dresses or accessories beyond what was already owned.”

Taking a silent breath, Charlotte continued while gauging Jeremiah’s reaction.

“Furthermore, Lady Caroline said it would be better to use the Grand Duchess’s living expenses for the North. Claiming that she would put it to good use on behalf of the Grand Duchess who was unfamiliar with the North, she took over the management authority.”

Jeremiah’s expression finally contorted unpleasantly.

No matter how much his sister insisted on doing so, he couldn’t understand Karina actually complying with those demands.

“Are you saying the Grand Duchess meekly accepted everything?”

At that question, Charlotte hesitated before carefully responding.

“Lady Caroline said that if she did so, Your Grace would come to favor the Grand Duchess more. Upon hearing those words, she accepted.”

“What…?”

Jeremiah stood there blankly as if slightly shocked.

“Is that true?”

His tone suggested disbelief.

“It is the truth.”

Jeremiah swept his gaze around the room once more as if in a daze.

His eyes landed on the framed item hanging on the wall.

Noticing where Jeremiah’s gaze was directed, Charlotte spoke up again.

“That frame on the wall is decorated with dried flowers from the bouquet used on your wedding day. It is the Grand Duchess’s most cherished possession.”

“Her most cherished?”

“Yes.”

“…”

At those words, Jeremiah pressed his lips together firmly.

After staring at the frame for a while with a complicated expression, Jeremiah let out a long sigh.

“Huu.”

Then he commanded.

“For now, leave the things the Grand Duchess cherishes and frequently uses as they are, but replace everything else with usable items. Immediately.”

Charlotte gladly followed Jeremiah’s order.

“Yes, I understand, Your Grace.”